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Greek Fathers #9
The Apostolic Fathers, Volume 1
The writings of the Apostolic Fathers give a rich and diverse picture of Christian life and thought in the period immediately after New Testament times. Some of these writings were accorded almost Scriptural authority in the early Church. This new Loeb Classical Library edition, a translation facing the Greek text, reflects the latest scholarship. documents of early Christianity. These letters, addressing core theological questions, were written to a half-dozen different congregations while Ignatius was en route to Rome as a prisoner, condemned to be martyred in the arena. Also here is a letter to the Philippian church by Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and friend of Ignatius, as well as an account of Polycarp's martyrdom. There are several kinds of texts in The Apostolic Fathers collection, representing a variety of religious outlooks: the manual called the Didache sets forth precepts for religious instruction, worship and ministry; the Epistle of Barnabas searches the Old Testament, the Jewish Bible, for testimony in support of Christianity and against Judaism; probably the most widely read in the early Christian centuries was The Shepherd of Hermas, a book of revelations that develops a doctrine of repentance.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 100
14 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
About the author
Bart D. Ehrman
68 books2,106 followersBart Denton Ehrman is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also authored six New York Times bestsellers. He is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 13, 2023
I‘m Polycarp’s biggest fan.
June 9, 2018
All Christians should read these, if only to let true Scripture shine all the more against mere religious writings. And some (1 Clement and Ignatius) are worth reading on their own.
Bart Ehrman is a wonderful translator—who sadly would come to reject Christianity. Yet he provides wonderful introductions to each book. I really appreciate his honest approach to translating the Greek, as he puts in brackets the literal translation for the parts where he chose to translate interpretively. Pray for the wonderful man, dear Christians, a man in a worse second state, yet not beyond God’s great arm.
Bart Ehrman is a wonderful translator—who sadly would come to reject Christianity. Yet he provides wonderful introductions to each book. I really appreciate his honest approach to translating the Greek, as he puts in brackets the literal translation for the parts where he chose to translate interpretively. Pray for the wonderful man, dear Christians, a man in a worse second state, yet not beyond God’s great arm.
February 9, 2025
Tulisan-tulisan pertama dalam alam pikir Kekristenan tapi yang bukan Perjanjian Baru. Lebih tepatnya lagi, tulisan yang dianggap ditulis oleh pemikir penting dari zaman Apostolik. Di zaman ini kemungkinan kuat Kekristenan masih banyak sekali ragamnya, nah yg dialih bahasa, diteliti & dianalisa oleh Ehrman adalah mereka yg dianggap Bapa Gereja proto-Ortodoks. Tulisan mereka mengawali kepercayaan Kristen bahwa Kristus adalah Sang Anak yang melalui-Nya Kematian ditaklukkan. Tapi jujur sebagian besar dari kompilasi surat-surat ini itu mengenai keutuhan gereja & cara hidup seorang Kristen sih, minim tentang Kristologi itu sendiri. Ehrman memberi analisa yg tajam dari substansi, penanggalan dan konteks sejarah. Buku ini menyajikan tulisan asli dengan bahasa Yunani dan/atau Latin lalu hasil alih bahasa ke Inggris oleh Ehrman.
June 28, 2025
I liked Erhman's edition in the Loeb series. Nice introductions, bibliographies, and translations. A great way to read Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, and the Didache.
June 27, 2018
Didache and Polycarp was pretty good. 1 and 2 Clement and Ignatius not so much.
July 19, 2025
Excellent introduction to the Apostolic Fathers. Ehrman's introductions are succinct and informative Includes two letters from Clement of Rome, the Didache, and seven of Ignatius of Antioch's letters, all of which give a fascinating insight into the early Church. But the account of the Martyrdom of Polycarp is its most exciting entry and is an inspiration even today.
October 31, 2021
This a collection of some of the most important early writings of the church not included in the New Testament. Some important themes that are found throughout these early writings and epistles are the dangers of schism, heresies, and false teachings, practicing humility over pride, and the importance of following the instructions of bishops, and the unity within the church.
The First Epistle of Clement is purported to be written by Pope Clement possibly around 80 BCE in the form of a letter to the church of Corinth. It addresses a dispute in which the elders (presbyters) were removed from their positions in an act of “sedition” by certain members of the congregation The letter makes the case that the natural state of the church should be one of harmony and peace between brothers and that schism is to be avoided at all cost. Only arrogance and pride rather than humility could have led to the act of sedition by the congregation against the presbyters. The writer of this epistle draws on many stories from the Old Testament to support his arguments about the dangers of jealousy; it is interesting to see how an early Christian incorporated the Old Testament and how early schisms began in the church. Unfortunately, the reader doesn’t have any idea what the presbyters did that caused them to be removed other than being told that those who removed them acted in pride.
The next major apostolic father was Ignatius of Antioch who has seven extant epistles. His letters tend to follow the format in which he praises the congregation he is addressing in the letter and the good qualities of their bishops, presbyters, and deacons. Some key themes in Ignatius’ letters are the role of a bishop as leader of their congregation, the importance of achieving peace by maintaining unity in the church and loving one another, avoiding schism, heresy, and false teachings, faith as a way to protect against Satan’s worldly snares and tricks, and that all Christians must be role models.
Ignatius puts a very strong focus on the authority of bishops. Bishops ought to be role models for their congregation as they sanctify the congregation and make its members’ actions official before God. Ignatius suggests it is a sin to perform Christian rituals outside the church without the approval of the bishop. The bishop’s authority stems from the will of Jesus. Therefore the congregation should follow the will of the Bishop. All members, including the leaders, should show humility, foster unity as if they had one mind and one thought, built on equality and love. Christians should maintain unity by following the will of God. It is in the unity and harmony of the congregation and the bishops that peace is to be found.
Like the Epistle to Clement, Ignatius notes that pride is one of the worst sins and opposing bishops is an act of pride and puts one in opposition to the church and jeapordizes salvation. True Christians can love nothing material or carnal in the world; they must love only God Himself. They must also avoid false teachers who don’t represent the Will of God and sow strife. Nevertheless, Christians must pray for nonbelievers and heretics to repent and come to God. They must not wish ill on their enemies. Christians must use good works as a way of convincing others of the goodness of Christianity more generally. Christians should respond with kindness and humility to angry insults and boastfulness of non-Christians:
“Be ye meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be ye stedfast in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord (who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned? ), that so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit.”
They must not respond to bad behavior or evil with anger.
The Epistle to the Magnesians deals with many of the same themes, but also addresses the youth of the bishop of the Magnesians. Ignatius argues that the congregation should honor and listen to their youthful bishop despite his youth. Ignatius develops his ethical ideas and the importance of unity by stating that Christians must be respectful to each other and not covet what their neighbor possesses, but love each other with all their hearts. We also see an early form of anti-Judaism in which Ignatius warns against embracing Jewish practices as part of Christianity. In this letter he also uses a metaphor of the world as two different coins that reflect two different realities: one is the material world and the one is the spiritual world of God. We each decide what we would like as our wages. This dichotomy between the spiritual realm and material world is also taken up in the apostolic work known as the didache and developed further by major thinkers like St. Augustine.
In his epistle to the Magnesians, Ignatius defends martyrdom, suggesting Christians must be willing to die at any moment like Jesus; the willingness to do so shows their true faith. However, it is in the Epistle to the Romans where Ignatius develops his ideas about martyrdom to the fullest. He warns the Christians in Rome not to attempt to save him from his impending martyrdom. He defends martyrdom by suggesting that willingness to die as a martyr reveals whether one is a Christian in truth or in name only. No one should prevent him from dying as a martyr because Ignatius believes he will have eternal life and join in union with God once he dies for his beliefs. He describes martyrdom as emancipation from the slavery of life and argues that there is nothing worthwhile in the material world, which is corruptible.
One of the value of the letters of Ignatius is to see what ideas had developed in Christianity by this time period. In one letter, Ignatius mentions that Jesus was with the Father at the beginning of time, which alludes to the same idea in the Gospel of John. In the letter to the Magnesians, Ignatius references Paul and his martyrdom and alludes to Paul’s epistles. At one point, Ignatius mimics Paul’s language that Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross was a stumbling-block for non-believers and salvation and eternal life for believers. He also seems to be familiar with Mary’s virgin birth and Jesus as the seed of David, the great star at Jesus’s birth, mentions that Jesus was God manifest as flesh, and claims that Jesus is both a son of man and son of God, foreshadowing a theological issue that Jesus was both divine and mortal that wouldn’t become official doctrine of the church until the Council of Nicaea. He mentions the Eucharist in The Epistle to Smyrnaens. While most of his letters attack heresy and schism in general, he alludes to a particular heresy in the Epistle to Trallians known as Docetism, which was the belief that Jesus’s physical body was merely an illusion and he didn’t really suffer on the cross.
“But if, as some that are without God, that is, the unbelieving, say, that He only seemed to suffer (they themselves only seeming to exist), then why am I in bonds? Why do I long to be exposed to the wild beasts? Do I therefore die in vain? Am I not then guilty of falsehood against [the cross of] the Lord?
Flee, therefore, those evil offshoots [of Satan], which produce death-bearing fruit, whereof if any one tastes, he instantly dies. For these men are not the planting of the Father.”
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians argues that Righteousness comes from loving God, Jesus, and our neighbors. We must act morally and support others to be worthy of God. Christians are obligated to act brotherly, help others, and not show hate or spite so outsiders won’t speak poorly of Christians and blaspheme Jesus and God. People who deny the resurrection and the final judgement to come serve Satan. Nevertheless, Christians should pray for their enemies and their persecutors. It is interesting to see that Polycarp picks up on similar themes as Ignatius. He also quotes directly from the gospels in his letter.
The Didache is the most distinct of all the texts in that it is written more like a manual of core beliefs rather than a letter. After describing the division of the world into two realms, material and spiritual, it begins with ethical ideas such as loving God with all your heart and the Golden rule. It argues one must love not only their neighbor, but even their enemies. It describes acts that are forbidden to Christians and evil from the perspective of Christianity. It also discusses ritual practices such as baptism, fasting, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Eucharist.
The First Epistle of Clement is purported to be written by Pope Clement possibly around 80 BCE in the form of a letter to the church of Corinth. It addresses a dispute in which the elders (presbyters) were removed from their positions in an act of “sedition” by certain members of the congregation The letter makes the case that the natural state of the church should be one of harmony and peace between brothers and that schism is to be avoided at all cost. Only arrogance and pride rather than humility could have led to the act of sedition by the congregation against the presbyters. The writer of this epistle draws on many stories from the Old Testament to support his arguments about the dangers of jealousy; it is interesting to see how an early Christian incorporated the Old Testament and how early schisms began in the church. Unfortunately, the reader doesn’t have any idea what the presbyters did that caused them to be removed other than being told that those who removed them acted in pride.
The next major apostolic father was Ignatius of Antioch who has seven extant epistles. His letters tend to follow the format in which he praises the congregation he is addressing in the letter and the good qualities of their bishops, presbyters, and deacons. Some key themes in Ignatius’ letters are the role of a bishop as leader of their congregation, the importance of achieving peace by maintaining unity in the church and loving one another, avoiding schism, heresy, and false teachings, faith as a way to protect against Satan’s worldly snares and tricks, and that all Christians must be role models.
Ignatius puts a very strong focus on the authority of bishops. Bishops ought to be role models for their congregation as they sanctify the congregation and make its members’ actions official before God. Ignatius suggests it is a sin to perform Christian rituals outside the church without the approval of the bishop. The bishop’s authority stems from the will of Jesus. Therefore the congregation should follow the will of the Bishop. All members, including the leaders, should show humility, foster unity as if they had one mind and one thought, built on equality and love. Christians should maintain unity by following the will of God. It is in the unity and harmony of the congregation and the bishops that peace is to be found.
Like the Epistle to Clement, Ignatius notes that pride is one of the worst sins and opposing bishops is an act of pride and puts one in opposition to the church and jeapordizes salvation. True Christians can love nothing material or carnal in the world; they must love only God Himself. They must also avoid false teachers who don’t represent the Will of God and sow strife. Nevertheless, Christians must pray for nonbelievers and heretics to repent and come to God. They must not wish ill on their enemies. Christians must use good works as a way of convincing others of the goodness of Christianity more generally. Christians should respond with kindness and humility to angry insults and boastfulness of non-Christians:
“Be ye meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be ye stedfast in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord (who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned? ), that so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit.”
They must not respond to bad behavior or evil with anger.
The Epistle to the Magnesians deals with many of the same themes, but also addresses the youth of the bishop of the Magnesians. Ignatius argues that the congregation should honor and listen to their youthful bishop despite his youth. Ignatius develops his ethical ideas and the importance of unity by stating that Christians must be respectful to each other and not covet what their neighbor possesses, but love each other with all their hearts. We also see an early form of anti-Judaism in which Ignatius warns against embracing Jewish practices as part of Christianity. In this letter he also uses a metaphor of the world as two different coins that reflect two different realities: one is the material world and the one is the spiritual world of God. We each decide what we would like as our wages. This dichotomy between the spiritual realm and material world is also taken up in the apostolic work known as the didache and developed further by major thinkers like St. Augustine.
In his epistle to the Magnesians, Ignatius defends martyrdom, suggesting Christians must be willing to die at any moment like Jesus; the willingness to do so shows their true faith. However, it is in the Epistle to the Romans where Ignatius develops his ideas about martyrdom to the fullest. He warns the Christians in Rome not to attempt to save him from his impending martyrdom. He defends martyrdom by suggesting that willingness to die as a martyr reveals whether one is a Christian in truth or in name only. No one should prevent him from dying as a martyr because Ignatius believes he will have eternal life and join in union with God once he dies for his beliefs. He describes martyrdom as emancipation from the slavery of life and argues that there is nothing worthwhile in the material world, which is corruptible.
One of the value of the letters of Ignatius is to see what ideas had developed in Christianity by this time period. In one letter, Ignatius mentions that Jesus was with the Father at the beginning of time, which alludes to the same idea in the Gospel of John. In the letter to the Magnesians, Ignatius references Paul and his martyrdom and alludes to Paul’s epistles. At one point, Ignatius mimics Paul’s language that Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross was a stumbling-block for non-believers and salvation and eternal life for believers. He also seems to be familiar with Mary’s virgin birth and Jesus as the seed of David, the great star at Jesus’s birth, mentions that Jesus was God manifest as flesh, and claims that Jesus is both a son of man and son of God, foreshadowing a theological issue that Jesus was both divine and mortal that wouldn’t become official doctrine of the church until the Council of Nicaea. He mentions the Eucharist in The Epistle to Smyrnaens. While most of his letters attack heresy and schism in general, he alludes to a particular heresy in the Epistle to Trallians known as Docetism, which was the belief that Jesus’s physical body was merely an illusion and he didn’t really suffer on the cross.
“But if, as some that are without God, that is, the unbelieving, say, that He only seemed to suffer (they themselves only seeming to exist), then why am I in bonds? Why do I long to be exposed to the wild beasts? Do I therefore die in vain? Am I not then guilty of falsehood against [the cross of] the Lord?
Flee, therefore, those evil offshoots [of Satan], which produce death-bearing fruit, whereof if any one tastes, he instantly dies. For these men are not the planting of the Father.”
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians argues that Righteousness comes from loving God, Jesus, and our neighbors. We must act morally and support others to be worthy of God. Christians are obligated to act brotherly, help others, and not show hate or spite so outsiders won’t speak poorly of Christians and blaspheme Jesus and God. People who deny the resurrection and the final judgement to come serve Satan. Nevertheless, Christians should pray for their enemies and their persecutors. It is interesting to see that Polycarp picks up on similar themes as Ignatius. He also quotes directly from the gospels in his letter.
The Didache is the most distinct of all the texts in that it is written more like a manual of core beliefs rather than a letter. After describing the division of the world into two realms, material and spiritual, it begins with ethical ideas such as loving God with all your heart and the Golden rule. It argues one must love not only their neighbor, but even their enemies. It describes acts that are forbidden to Christians and evil from the perspective of Christianity. It also discusses ritual practices such as baptism, fasting, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Eucharist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2008
This should be required reading for all Christians. These are letters written by some of the earliest leaders of the Christian orthodox church, as they encourage other Christians around the known world to be firm in the "truth", guard against heresy and division, and inspire them to hold fast against the persecution they experienced. These early Christians are the role models for us, and we can learn alot about what the early church fathers envisioned for the church, even today.
June 24, 2016
Good intros to every section, great footnotes, otherwise I think 5 stars goes without saying.
February 25, 2022
Polycarp is my favorite
October 16, 2017
In this book, Bart Ehrman introduces the reader to the first half of the Apostolic Fathers, and provides a crisp and contemporary translation of them alongside the Greek text. It is, overall, definitely a success.
Ehrman is particularly gifted at clearly and succintly summarising significant amounts of scholarship, in a way that also draws the reader in by seeing the significance of what he is saying. I've definitely benefited from him and grown in my understanding of these works as a result of this book.
He drops a star, though, for some deficiencies which made him less useful than Michael Holmes' very similar work (entitled 'The Apostolic Fathers: Greek texts and English translations').
Firstly, when it comes to the text itself, Ehrman provides far fewer notes and references to other works being alluded to, such as Old Testament Scripture. I find it hard to tell if he did this on purpose or, more likely, he isn't as attuned to such wide swathes and minute details of the Bible to be able to provide anywhere near as many as Holmes does. I can't help but wonder if Ehrman's scepticism and rejection of Christianity cripples his ability to recognise and understand the vast myriad of Scriptural references in the Apostolic Fathers.
Similarly, Ehrman makes some gaffes as a result of his own atheological bias. For example, he characterises the Reformation principle of "sola scriptura" as meaning, "that "scripture alone," not church tradition, should be authoritative" on page 5. This is a rookie error on Ehrman's part and a straw man; the Reformers always held that Scripture was the only supreme authority, and that tradition, whilst certainly subordinate, was nonetheless also authoritative.
Thirdly, and finally, I found Holmes a lot more convincing and balanced in his assessments of things, such as the integrity of Polycarp's letter to the Philippians. Again, Ehrman's undue scepticism always stretched slightly too far in my estimation.
That being said, I would definitely recommend this book, especially if read alongside Michael Holmes' work, to which I referred above.
Ehrman is particularly gifted at clearly and succintly summarising significant amounts of scholarship, in a way that also draws the reader in by seeing the significance of what he is saying. I've definitely benefited from him and grown in my understanding of these works as a result of this book.
He drops a star, though, for some deficiencies which made him less useful than Michael Holmes' very similar work (entitled 'The Apostolic Fathers: Greek texts and English translations').
Firstly, when it comes to the text itself, Ehrman provides far fewer notes and references to other works being alluded to, such as Old Testament Scripture. I find it hard to tell if he did this on purpose or, more likely, he isn't as attuned to such wide swathes and minute details of the Bible to be able to provide anywhere near as many as Holmes does. I can't help but wonder if Ehrman's scepticism and rejection of Christianity cripples his ability to recognise and understand the vast myriad of Scriptural references in the Apostolic Fathers.
Similarly, Ehrman makes some gaffes as a result of his own atheological bias. For example, he characterises the Reformation principle of "sola scriptura" as meaning, "that "scripture alone," not church tradition, should be authoritative" on page 5. This is a rookie error on Ehrman's part and a straw man; the Reformers always held that Scripture was the only supreme authority, and that tradition, whilst certainly subordinate, was nonetheless also authoritative.
Thirdly, and finally, I found Holmes a lot more convincing and balanced in his assessments of things, such as the integrity of Polycarp's letter to the Philippians. Again, Ehrman's undue scepticism always stretched slightly too far in my estimation.
That being said, I would definitely recommend this book, especially if read alongside Michael Holmes' work, to which I referred above.
April 27, 2024
This is an updated version of Kirsopp Lake's 1912 translation of the Apostolic Fathers, also available from Loeb's. I have not read Lake's translation, but I have heard that it is fine. Perhaps the Loeb's editors felt it was a little dated. Ehrman's translation is in nice contemporary English; easily readable. I think a good example of his translating style comes from Didache 2.4 where he translates δίγλωσσος as "speak from both sides of your mouth", surely better than the wooden and outdated "double-tongued". Another thing I liked about this translation was his putting alternate translations parenthetically right into the text, for example, he translates εὐχαριστεῖν as "give thanks" but then parenthetically notes that it could mean "celebrate the Eucharist". This is what I do in my translations of the Bible, and I wish I could find a Bible translation that followed this practice. Some translations footnote alternate translations rather than put them in the main body of the text, probably to improve readability.
The introductory material to each section was spot on, as one would expect from a fine scholar like Ehrman, and neither too long or too short for a volume like this. Each introduction contained abbreviations used in the critical apparatus and a short bibliography for those interested in further research. All in all, I was quite impressed with this volume.
The introductory material to each section was spot on, as one would expect from a fine scholar like Ehrman, and neither too long or too short for a volume like this. Each introduction contained abbreviations used in the critical apparatus and a short bibliography for those interested in further research. All in all, I was quite impressed with this volume.
August 7, 2025
A most clear and modern translation, with the greek text obviously, unimpeded by the archaic, hieratic translations we might expect; while the critical apparatus could have been longer, the actual size of the edition wouldn't have allowed for that, it's still solid and informative (there are obviously better editions with commentaries, like Grant for example).
November 10, 2019
The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These texts are poignant and inspiriting balms for the soul. Brings newness to the new testament literature too.
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May 12, 2025A mixed bag here. Regardless of the theological merit, it's interesting to see even a brief glimpse of the early Church. Ehrman's atheism shows through in his commentary but that's not so bad for a historical collection.
January 6, 2019
This is a great resource for anyone wanting to study the writings of the early church father. The introductions to each of the writings are well researched and presented.
October 23, 2020
Den tidiga kyrkan fokuserade mycket strikt på etisk livsföring
July 30, 2025
Polycarp is the coolest.
July 13, 2014
The early church had numerous authorities who protected orthodoxy, prosecuted heresy and spread the word of Jesus. The Churches followed their teachings. Some writings that had at the time near canonical status (the Canon had yet to be decided) fell into disfavor and eventually faded from memory. These two volumes capture some of the writings of the early church. Fascinating reading from a simpler time when theology had yet to become an argumentative system of religious thought.
July 17, 2012
I first read this when I was 14, I went from here into other works to discover the roots , the young branches of Christendom and there are no words to describe the brutality that early Christians endured.
December 23, 2011
Interesting to see the writings of these folks. Mostly it impressed me with how wonderful the New Testament is in comparison. These writings fall short of the original mark.
October 5, 2011
And outstanding job of edition and introduction to these important texts.
September 6, 2012
this book is very important to understanding historical of Christians.. i'd love it!!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews