Who were the 'beasts' Ignatius said he was beset with when writing to the church at Rome?
The “beasts” Ignatius described were the ten Roman soldiers who guarded him. In his letter to the church at Rome, he used that same kind of language, comparing his constant opposition to beasts. This illustrates that such imagery referred to human opponents, not literal animals in the Colosseum.
Les explains that Ignatius, one of the early church fathers, wrote to the congregation at Rome using much the same kind of language, saying he was beset with these beasts. Les identifies those beasts as the ten Roman soldiers who were guarding him. He then connects this to Paul’s statement in verse 32 about fighting with beasts at Ephesus. Les says Paul was not speaking of literal lions in the Roman Colosseum; most people read it casually and think of the Colosseum, but Les does not think Paul ever faced the lions there. Instead, Paul’s beasts were his physical enemies, ungodly men who constantly opposed him. So the “beasts” are human opponents, not animals.
If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
More Questions
What did Paul mean by fighting with beasts at Ephesus in 1 Corinthians 15:32?
The "beasts" Paul says he fought at Ephesus in 1 Corinthians 15:32 were not literal wild animals but his physical enemies — ungodly men who constantly opposed him.