Apostolic Writings

The writings in this volume cast a glimmer of light upon the emerging traditions and organization of the infant church, during an otherwise little-known period of its development. A selection of letters and small-scale theological treatises from a group known as the Apostolic Fathers, several of whom were probably disciples of the Apostles, they provide a first-hand account of the early Church and outline a form of early Christianity still drawing on the theology and traditions of its parent religion, Judaism. Included here are the first Epistle of Bishop Clement of Rome, an impassioned plea for harmony; The Epistle of Polycarp; The Epistle of Barnabas; The Didache; and the Seven Epistles written by Ignatius of Antioch - among them his moving appeal to the Romans that they grant him a martyr's death.

Now with a new foreword by Mark Galli. A collection of the earliest known writings of the church, The Apostolic Fathers includes a sermon and six brief documents: the First and Second Epistles of Clement, the Didache, the Epistles of Ignatius, the Epistle of Polycarp, the Epistle about Polycarp's Martyrdom, and the Shepherd of Hermas. "There are two ways, one of life and one of death," begins the Didache, "and between the two ways there is a great difference." Followers of the way of life today will find much encouragement of those who first embarked on the path two millennia ago. The John Lightfoot (1602-1675) translation was the source used for this edition of Apostolic Fathers.

The Apostolic Fathers is an important collection of writings revered by early Christians but not included in the final canon of the New Testament. Here a leading expert on these texts offers an authoritative contemporary translation, in the tradition of the magisterial Lightfoot version but thoroughly up-to-date. The third edition features numerous changes, including carefully revised translations and a new, more user-friendly design. The introduction, notes, and bibliographies have been freshly revised as well.

A member of the Dominican Order guides readers carefully and intelligently through the major figures and debates of this key age in the emergence and spread of Christianity.

Who were the Apostolic Fathers? What did they care about? Why did they write what they wrote? The Apostolic Fathers: A Narrative Introduction is the most engaging introduction to Apostolic Fathers you will ever read. Imagine what it would be like to ask Polycarp about the documents that were composed during his lifetime. You don't have to imagine any longer. Situated during the final week of Polycarp's life, these fictional dialogues will introduce you to the earliest Christian documents after the time of the apostles. You will come to know Clement, Ignatius, Hermas, Papias, and others. Freshly translated excerpts from the writings themselves are included after each chapter.

Kenneth Laing challenges the concept of Irenaeus as the primary witness to the point at which the New Testament achieved scriptural status, and calls into question some of the most basic conclusions and assumptions of New Testament canon formation scholarship. Laing proposes a new interpretation of Irenaeus' understanding of the nature and basis of authority of the New Testament writings, based on his christocentric theology of revelation. By exploring the texts themselves, the concept of authority, scriptural tradition and the question of inspiration, Laing argues that while the writings possess authority equal to the Jewish scriptures, it is their apostolic origin and the apostles' relationship to Christ – not inspiration – which forms the basis of the unique revelatory authority of the New Testament writings. Laing thus stresses that Irenaeus regards the New Testament writings as a written record of the apostolic tradition and the primary means of accessing its content, rather than as a purely scriptural text.

The Apostolic Fathers were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though widely circulated in Early Christianity, were not included in the canon of the New Testament. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature, which came to be part of the New Testament. Some of the writings found among the Apostolic Fathers appear to have been as highly regarded as some of the writings which became the New Testament. These writers include Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Hermas, Barnabas, Papias, and the anonymous authors of the Didachē (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles), Letter to Diognetus, Letter of Barnabas, and the Martyrdom of Polycarp. Not everything written by the Apostolic Fathers is considered to be equally valuable theologically, but taken as a whole, their writings are more valuable historically than any other Christian literature outside the New Testament. They provide a bridge between it and the more fully developed Christianity of the late 2nd century.

The Writings of the Apostolic Fathers refer to a group of miscellaneous Christian writings produced in the first and second centuries. The authors of these writings were considered by seventeenth century scholars to be the next generation of Apostles and as a result were named The Apostolic Fathers. Perceived by many scholars to be the most important collection of post-New Testament writings, a number of these texts were in fact considered for the Canon of the New Testament but later rejected. Their obvious significance stems from the fact that they are the first Christian writings produced outside the New Testament Canon and as such contain an essential insight into the development of the early Christian Church and Christian thinking. Much Christian Doctrine came, not from the New Testament, but from the writings produced by the early church and in particular the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. Therefore, these texts are crucial to an understanding of the shaping of Christian thought and Christian doctrine. This volume will provide readers with an overview of each of the eleven texts, together with a general introduction. Communicating the best recent scholarship to a broad audience, each chapter offers a treatment of the most controversial aspects of each text and discusses the theology of each of the writings in order to orient readers to the development of Christian thinking in the second century. Each article ends with a carefully chosen select bibliography to enable further reading.