The Apostolic Fathers
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship…” (Acts 2:42) — the Apostolic Fathers stand in the fellowship of the apostles’ teaching, the generation that came just after them.
The Apostolic Fathers are the first generation of Christian writers after the apostles — men of the late first and second centuries who knew the apostles or their immediate disciples. Their writings bridge the New Testament and the later Church, preserving the faith, worship, and organization of the earliest Christian communities.
CONTENTS & SIGNIFICANCE
- Clement of Romec. 96 CE
First Letter to the Corinthians (c. 95–96 CE), calling a divided church back to peace and echoing the apostle Paul.
- Ignatius of Antiochc. 107–115 CE
Seven letters written on the road to martyrdom in Rome (c. 107–115 CE).
- Polycarp of Smyrnac. 110–140 CE
Bishop, letter-writer, and martyr, said to have been a hearer of the apostle John.
- The Didachec. 50–120 CE
A short manual of Christian practice, the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.”
- Papias of Hierapolisc. 110–130 CE
Fragments preserved in later writers, concerned with the oral tradition about the Lord.
Source citation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Fathers