The Church after the New Testament: An Introduction to the Apostolic Fathers

It was my second semester in college, and I was sitting in New Testament History. My professor was going over the New Testament canon and in his lecture mentioned some writings I had never heard of. He believed that while epistles like 1st Clement are great reads from the early Church, they shouldn’t be considered inspired Scripture.

What caught my interest in looking up these resources after class was realizing that there were multiple writings by Christians that took place so soon after the New Testament. Sure, I knew a little bit about the Gnostic forgeries in the second century and after. But writings from Church leaders that were direct descendants of the Apostles? I couldn’t believe I had never heard of these writings!

Depending on the church/denomination you are in, perhaps you’ve been well educated on Church history. Personally, being a typical American Evangelical, I was not. Don’t get me wrong, I was raised in a loving Christian home and have always had a loving church supporting me. But like many Evangelicals, I was very oblivious to the history of my faith beyond the Bible. I had created in my mind this uneducated narrative that as soon as the Apostles died the Church became corrupt and greedy until the Reformation saved the day.

It was both humbling and exciting to learn more about what the Holy Spirit did in the Church after the New Testament. It was encouraging to see the teachings of Jesus faithfully recited and lived out by so many while facing Roman persecution. It was challenging and strengthening to learn a more accurate history of how we got the Bible and how we developed our understanding of doctrines like the Trinity. And I realized that reading the testimonies and sermons of Christians from the early years of the Church can help us better understand the Scriptures and how to live them out.

Here at Tis Mercy All, many of the blogs focus specifically on a group from the early Church known today as the Apostolic Fathers. This is the group previously mentioned that is believed to be disciples of the Apostles such as John, Paul, and Peter. I still post blogs about other subjects such as current events or Bible studying. But it is my hope to make discussion of the Apostolic Fathers a regular occurrence on the website.

When first reading Church history, one may quickly notice how many groups of Christian writers get a certain title with “fathers” placed after it. There’s the Apostolic Fathers, the Ante-Nicene Fathers, The Nicene Fathers, the Cappadocian Fathers, the Desert Fathers, and so on. It can be a bit overwhelming!

It’s important to know two things when going into this study. First, the Apostolic Fathers are a very specific group of individuals and writings. These writings span from the late first century to the early-mid second century. The dating of these writings as well as the authors’ relation to the Apostles is what constitutes these in the Apostolic Fathers category.

Second, my fellow Protestants may feel a bit uneasy labeling these Christians as “fathers”. Perhaps it sounds a bit pretentious or implies too much of a church hierarchy. But it’s worth pointing out that this was never a title they gave themselves. The title Apostolic Fathers was coined long after their time, and is now the general title used to categorize the writings, including in academic circles.

I have wanted to write extensively on the Apostolic Fathers because the Holy Spirit convicted me strongly when first reading these writings, and I pray He will do the same for you. The Fathers had a passion, integrity, and love of the Gospel. No, these writings are not inspired Scripture, but they strongly honor the Scriptures, and put the commands of Jesus into action.

Yes, the Apostolic Fathers were flawed just like us, and we don’t have to agree with everything they wrote. But considering that many of them learned from the Apostles themselves, we may at times have to ask ourselves when reading their writings if they are teaching truths from Scripture that we have missed in the 21st century Church.

The Apostolic Fathers Canon

1. 1st Clement

2. 2nd Clement

3. The Epistles of Ignatius

·         To the Ephesians

·         To the Magnesians

·         To the Trallians

·         To the Romans

·         To the Philadelphians

·         To the Smyrnaeans

·         To Polycarp

4. The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

5. The Martyrdom of Polycarp

6. The Didache

7. The Epistle of Barnabas

8. The Shephard of Hermas

9. The Epistle of Diognetus

10. Fragments of Papias

There is certainly much content to examine and discuss, so I will definitely take my time posting about these writings. I also will be going by my own order, and will most likely do multiple blogs on certain writings. The first writing I would like to look at is 2nd Clement, which is quite possibly the earliest sermon we have in Church history after the New Testament. Being the oldest surviving sermon we have on record, it should be worth seeing what was preached and what was focused on in the early Church.

Introduction Blogs:

Thumbnail image: The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer- Jean-Leon Gerome

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The Oldest Written Sermon: 2nd Clement

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Simple Creeds from the early Church