484 Early Church History 4: The Apostolic Fathers

This is part 4 of the Early Church History class.

Our focus for this episode is the collection of second-century Christian literature known as the Apostolic Fathers. In total, there are 11 authors in this collection, 9 of whom we will briefly cover today. You'll learn about the earliest Christian documents outside the New Testament, two of  which were possibly written even before the last book of the New Testament. What did Christians write about? Although the Apostolic Fathers is far from cohesive, they do give us a great window into some of the dominant threads of Christian thought in the generation after the apostles died.

Listen to this episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJwqv-Y87M&list=PLN9jFDsS3QV2lk3B0I7Pa77hfwKJm1SRI&index=4

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—— Notes ——

The Apostolic Fathers is a collection of Christian writings primarily from the second century.

1. The Didache
2. Epistle of Barnabas
3. 1 Clement
4. Shepherd of Hermas
5. Epistles of Ignatius
6. Fragments of Papias
7. 2 Clement
8. Epistle of Polycarp
9. Martyrdom of Polycarp
10. Fragment of Quadratus
11. Epistle to Diognetus

Sources for APF (Apostolic Fathers)

• Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org)
• Michael Holmes’ translation (available in English or English in parallel with Greek)

Didache (60-150)

• Jewish-Christian document
• partly focused on righteous living and partly on church order (baptism, communion, fasting, hospitality, etc.)
• citations: Didache 9.1-3; 8.1; 2.1-2

Research Recommendation

• David Bercot’s A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs

Epistle of Barnabas (70-132)

• author referred to as Psuedo-Barnabas
• allegorizing method of interpreting scripture, especially the Old Testament
• citation: Barnabas 10.11-12;

1 Clement (80-100)

• letter written from Roman leader to help church of Corinth resolve a dispute
• citations 1 Clement 59.4

Shepherd of Hermas (100-150)

• freed slave writing on holiness and repentance
• citation: Shepherd 59.5-7

Epistles of Ignatius (108-160)

• bishop in Antioch
• arrested and brought to Rome where he faced martyrdom
• three recensions survive: long, middle, and short
• Long Recension
  • To the Ephesians
  • To the M