The Apostolic Fathers are a small number of Early Christian authors who lived and wrote in the second half of the first century and the first half of the second century. They are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, although their writings were not included in the New Testament. They include Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna.
The label "Apostolic Fathers" has been applied to them since the seventeenth century to indicate that they were thought of as being of the generation that had personal contact with the Twelve Apostles. Thus they provide a link between the Apostles—who had personal contact with Jesus—and the later generations of Church Fathers, which includes the Christian apologists, defenders of orthodoxy, and developers of doctrine.
Read more about Apostolic Fathers: Apostolic Fathers and Their Works, Apostolic Authority, List of Works
Famous quotes containing the word fathers:
“We become male automatically because of the Y chromosome and the little magic peanut, but if we are to become men we need the help of other men—we need our fathers to model for us and then to anoint us, we need our buddies to share the coming-of-age rituals with us and to let us join the team of men, and we need myths of heroes to inspire us and to show us the way.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)