Introducing the Apostolic Fathers

The Patristic Literature is a term used to identify the writings of a group to 1^st and 2^nd century Christian apologists and theologians often called the “Apostolic Fathers” or the “Apostolic Church Fathers”. These were men who were on the front end of the initial evangelistic efforts spawned by Jesus’ Apostles and disciples.

It is very likely that these early leaders of the Church never actually knew Jesus personally. They were in the first and second generations of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord. These men were some of the best examples of Christ-likeness that are available to us in the Ante Nicene era.

These early church Fathers were the intellectual and moral leaders of the various Christian communities they were involved with. We could reconstruct practically the entire New Testament from the quotations made by the Church fathers.[1]

There is thought to be 10-12 such Christian men who we now acknowledge as having worked under this title. We cannot be sure because some of the literature is not signed by the actual author. Some of the documents are thought to be pseudonymous.

In this course we will examine the lives and writings of the key five authors. It is in their works that we can best understand the early beginnings of our Christian faith and also receive the earliest and purest transmissions of doctrine and liturgical practice.            

The collections of writings from the first five centuries are called the writings of the Church Fathers and Doctors. The five Apostolic Fathers that we will discuss are Clement of Rome; Ignatius of Antioch; Polycarp of Smyrna; Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons, France.

There are others that may be researched, but they are considered to be secondary in their effect on Christian thought and development. They are the brief writings of Papias, who wrote a five volume commentary on the “Logos”; Hermas, who wrote “The Shepherd of Hermas”; an anonymous letter to Diognetus; the pseudonymous letter of Barnabas; the “Didache”, which is believed to be a teaching on Christian liturgy that might have been possibly passed down directly from the Apostles of Jesus Christ.

            The writings are formed and focused on what we now know to be the earliest orthodox Christian doctrines and positions. When we use the word “orthodox” we are not referring to a denomination or sect of Christianity. The word “orthodox” means straight thinking - straight ideas.[2] Whereas heresy is defined as a belief or opinion which goes against traditional religious doctrine[3] (traditional doctrine = orthodoxy). Heretics are people who adhere themselves to heresies. 

The society and culture that the Patristic literature was produced in was strongly influenced by the Roman Empire at large. Christianity was an undeniable institution operating within the territory of the Roman Empire. The bad news is that Christianity was typically perceived as a problematic cult.

The Roman mindset was that if anything was ancient it had great value. New things, new philosophies were considered to be dangerous and could easily be persecuted just for existing. The good news was that Christianity as a whole was more appealing and intriguing to the Gentiles of the Roman Empire than to Jews. Since there were more Gentiles in the Roman Empire, the odds were stacked in the Christian community’s favor of eventually being accepted.    

The Christian congregations that practiced their faith openly looked more like Greco Roman schools than Jewish Synagogues. The tensions between Judaism and the newly formed Christian Church were obvious. This is probably why the Christian congregations formed easier throughout the Roman world, rather than in the Israeli state of Palestine.