The Didache: The Epistle of Barnabas, the Epistles and the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, the Fragments of Papias, the Epistle to Diognetus

Ancient Christian Writers #6

by The Twelve Apostles, Barnabas, Papias of Hierapolis

The Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, probably written before the end of the first century, purports to be an instruction based on sayings of the Lord and given by the Twelve Apostles to pagans who wished to become Christians. The Epistle of Barnabas is a homily on the mistaken Judaistic conception of the Old Testament.

The Epistles consist of a covering note and a letter, which is an exhortation to the Philippians on Christian life in general. The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp is the story of this bishop of Smyrna's death at the hand of the Roman authorities in Asia for the defense of the Christian faith.

The Fragments of Papias. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, was the author of five books, entitled Exegesis of the Lord's Gospel.

The Epistle to Diognetus is an apology for Christianity, presented by an unknown writer to a pagan of high social or political rank.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Church History, History, Nonfiction, Catholic, Spirituality

248 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1948

Reviews

[Tessa]

Worth reading! The Martyrdom of Polycarp made me cry :(

[Joshua Pearsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly no in depth review. I am currently reading/re-reading many of the works in the early fathers and do not have time to write an in depth review, but I encourage anyone and everyone to go back through these same works (all for free on CCEL:https://www.ccel.org/fathers & I am finding them in audio source as well for free and putting them together here:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp...)

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read 2 portions of this book. The Epistles of Barnabas and The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp.
I recommend the small portion written of Polycarp's martyrdom. It is encouraging to the Christian faith.

[Raymond Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear translation with extensive notes.

[Brian Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, Ancient Christian Writers, was a great read. I initially bought it for the goal of reading the Didache but soon realized it was a very short “book.” However, I really enjoyed reading all the other writings of Barnabas, Polycarp’s letters and the story about his martyrdom, fragments of Papias, and lastly the letter to Diognetus.

Each have their own merit, but I will say broadly that something these letters displayed to me was how obvious books that are inspired by God and books written by early Christians are not the same. The authors have great intentions and even display wisdom in their teachings, yet cannot even compare with Inspired Scripture.

[Josh Dockter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good and necessary. Will stay on the shelves to pull down once in a while.

[Liam Andres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating early Christian works!

[Dagmara R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many books from the ancient Christian writers. However, I cannot think of a better edition of the Early Church Fathers than this. These translations and notes are solid academically and theologically. If you want to know what early Christians really practiced and believed, you will find your answers here. This book will equip you with enough knowledge to distinguish truth from heresy. Excellent read!