Polycarp

Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna and, by the testimony of his own student Irenaeus, a direct disciple of the apostle John. His one surviving letter, to the Philippians, is woven almost entirely from Scripture — including some of the earliest citations of 1 Peter. Arrested in old age and told to curse Christ, he answered: 'Eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?' The account of his burning, the Martyrdom of Polycarp, is the earliest detailed record of a Christian martyrdom after the New Testament.

He is a living link in the chain from the apostle John to Irenaeus of Lyons.

Polycarp has 5 commentary entries in HolyStudy’s verse-by-verse Church Fathers commentary. Open any Gospel chapter, tap a verse, and choose the Church Fathers tab.