Scholarly Observations
Sim, David C. "Chapter Eight: Matthew and Ignatius of Antioch." in Sim, David C., and Repschinski, Boris (editors). Matthew and His Christian Contemporaries. London: T&T Clark, 2008, 139-154.
Sim observes that both Matthew and Ignatius can be placed in Antioch in Syria, within about 20 years of each other. This should suggest great similarity, but Sim notes striking contrasts. "Matthew belonged to the Law-observant strain of the Christian tradition that had not broken with Judaism and which opposed the Law-free Pauline tradition, while Ignatius represented the Pauline version of the Christian message and saw no compatibility whatsoever between the Christian tradition and the practice of Judaism" (Sim 2008, 139). Sim adds to this philosophical difference a suggestion that the two factions had been in conflict by the time of Ignatius.
Sim assigns the Gospel of Matthew to someone who was not a disciple of Jesus, but doesn't provide reasons, simply affirming the author is unknown (Sim 2008, 140). In contrast to Matthew's identity, Sim is confident that we know a good deal about Ignatius from his letters, that he was Bishop of Antioch and that he was transported to Rome for execution. On the way he wrote letters which tell the theological orientation held by himself and his church.
Matthew can be dated, in Sim's opinion, to 85-95. He places it in Antioch, though he admits to some scholarship suggesting Galilee. The evidence against Galilee is mainly based on the composition in Greek and the lack of discussion of the Jewish war (Sim 2008, 141). Ignatius' letters identify the author as Bishop of Syria, who resided in Antioch (Sim 2008, 142). The date during the reign of Trajan (98-117) is fairly certain, and most will assign the events to a date of 107 or after.
In their theological orientation, Sim sees a substantial difference between Matthew and Ignatius. Matthew fits into a pattern Sim calls "Christian Judaism," characterized by a high level of continuity of thought with the Old Testament and traditional Judaism (Sim 2008, 143). The practices of Jewish life were continued, and Christian theology and practice were additional layers of their lives. Sim details elements of Matthew which show Jesus clearly as the Messiah as well as elements which affirm Jewish traditional practices (Sim 2008, 144-147). Sim suggests that the apparent dispute with Formative Judaism after 70 AD may have indicated a schism within Judaism or that the Matthean community was already separated from Judaism (Sim 2008, 147). Sim is fairly certain that Matthew had a strongly negative attitude toward Paul (Sim 2008, 148).
Counter to Matthew, Ignatius shows a heavy influence of Pauline thought (Sim 2008, 148). Ignatius makes many references to Paul's thought and refers to Paul in the context of his letter to the Ephesians (Ignatius thinks it was written by Paul, though Sim does not). Sim assumes that at the time of Ignatius there would be no concept of Paul being considered authoritative Scripture and that Ignaitus, as a prisoner, would not have access to reference sources so would depend on his memory (Sim 2008, 149). Sim does think Ignatius was very familiar with a good number of Paul's letters. His concept of the Law is remarkably similar to that of Paul, who directs people to live acording to faith, not the Law (Sim 2008, 150).
Sim compares the views of Matthew and Ignatius, noting they would have been in sharp opposition at their time, and speculating that Matthew either would write as a corrective to Paul's influence or possibly as a corrective to the growing community which Ignatius would lead (Sim 2008, 151). Ignatius warns about opponents within Christianity. These warnings may be against two different factions or one, including elements of Judaizing behavior and docetism (Sim 2008, 152). Ignatius, while he doesn't adopt Matthew's theology, does use Matthean language to describe the Judaizing tendencies of his detractors (Sim 2008, 153). This suggests a broad knowledge of Matthew but a rejection of the Jewish tendencies of his Gospel.