He that is within the altar is pure, but he that is without is not pure; that is, he who does anything apart from the bishop, and presbytery, and deacons, such a man is not pure in his conscience.
The Letters of Ignatius are very early. Hisg seven epistles preserved under the name of Ignatius are generally considered authentic, since they were mentioned by the historian Eusebius in the first half of the fourth century.
We see the same structure in the early church that we see today.
Some Protestants have tended to deny the authenticity of all the epistles because they attest to a monarchical episcopate in the second century.
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