job in the community.}} The epistle warns against a number of disorders in the church and against apostasy, and encourages the Christians to persevere in good works. It also acted as a covering letter for a collection of writings by Ignatius of Antioch, whose works were being collected by the church at Philippi after Ignatius' visit there.Glenn Davis, The Development of the Canon of the New Testament Here is one quotation from the epistle: One of the epistle's more important features is its use and citation of other early Christian writings, many of which later came to be part of the New Testament. The epistle has even been described as "pastiche-like" due to its heavy use of allusions and citations to other writings, which make up a large portion of the text. In Chapter 7, Polycarp exhorts the Philippians to reject various heretical doctrines, but never mentions any particular heretics by name. For example, he attacks docetism, the belief that Jesus did not appear on Earth in the flesh, by citing the First Epistle of John: ("For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is an antichrist"). He also attacks unnamed individuals who claim that "there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment," calling them "the first-born of Satan" (Pol. Phil. 7.1). Importantly, the Christian apologist Irenaeus of Lyon claimed in his book Against Heresies that Polycarp had called the unorthodox Christian thinker Marcion of Sinope "the first-born of Satan." This led P. N. Harrison to conclude that Polycarp was in fact referring to Marcion in this epistle, albeit at an early stage in Marcion's ideological development. Many other scholars, however, have found Harrison's argument to be unconvincing. References Bibliography Richardson, C. C. ed. Early Christian Fathers''. Philadelphia. Westminster. 1953. reprinted Macmillan 1970. External links Greek text of the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians Early Christian Writings on Polycarp Rick Brannan's translation of Kirsopp Lake's Greek text of Polycarp's epistle to the Philippians. Letter to the Philippians: 2012 Translation & Audio Version Works by the Church Fathers Apostolic Fathers Christianity in Roman Macedonia Ancient Philippi 2nd-century Christian texts