The first epistle of Clement to the Corinthians --
The epistles of Ignatius : to the Ephesians ; to the Magnesians ; to the Trallians ; to the Romans ; to the Philadelphians ; to the Smyrnaeans ; to Polycarp --
The epistle of Polycarp to
the Philippians and The martyrdom of Polycarp --
The epistle to Diagnetus --
The epistle of Barnabas --
The Didache.
The writings in this volume shed a glimmer of light, in an otherwise dark period, on the emerging traditions and organizations of the infant Church. They are a selection from a group known as the Apostolic Fathers, so-called because several of the authors were most likely disciples of the Apostles themselves. Like much of the New Testament, their writings take the form of letters, and for the most part deal with practical problems of the life of the early Church, as it struggled in the face of persecution to establish itself in the Roman world. They give us a picture of Christianity still drawing on the theology and traditions of its parent religion, Judaism.
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