The Apostolic Fathers

But the use of the term meant more than just a collection of early Christian writings. The authors of these writings were claimed by Christian tradition to be the pupils and friends of the apostles. [2] The apostolic fathers are part of the proof to the claim of the Christian church of their apostolic faith. We will examine this claim closely here.

We start with this quote on the apostolic fathers by New Testament scholar Edgar J. Goodspeed (1871-1962) in his book The Twelve: The Story of Christ's Apostles (1957):

Modern research have considerably reduced their [the apostolic fathers-PT] closeness to the apostolic circle...Hardly any one of their authors can be confidently said to have known the apostles, or any of them...[3]

Indeed many of the writings are by anonymous or pseudonymous authors, of which no claim to apostolic succession can be demonstrated:

• The Epistle to Diognetus [b] is an anonymous document probably written around 120-200 CE. The main reason for the inclusion of this writing in the apostolic fathers is the claim of its author to be a "pupil of the apostles" in chapter 11 of the epistle. Yet, as the editors of Early Christian Writings point out, "any Christian who believed the creed could say that". [5]

• The Didache, or Teachings of the Apostles, [c] is another document of which the author, date and place of origin are unknown. It is normally dated to around 90-110 CE. Although some scholars have argued for a 70 CE date of composition. [9] In any case, the work make no reference or claim to have been written by an apostle or by someone who knows any of the original apostles. Indeed the exhortation to the congregation to "choose for yourselves bishops and deacons" (Didache 15) expressly argues against any idea of apostolic succession of church leaders.

• The Epistle of Barnabas [d] made its way into the collection because this Barnabas was associated with the friend of the Jerusalem apostles who introduced Paul to them. (Acts 9:27, 11:22-26, 13:1) However the work does not explicitly name its author. The document was attributed to Barnabas by Clement of Alexandria (c150-c215 CE). However Clement's contemporary, Origen (c185-254), rejected this attribution. Modern scholarship agrees with Origen in rejecting the idea that it was written by the first century Barnabas. It is normally dated by scholars to around 130-135 CE, although one finds estimates ranging from 70 to 200 CE in the literature. [7]

The next two sets of writings in the apostolic fathers are not anonymous but the writers make no claim to having known the apostles or having been in a line of succession from them:

• The Shepherd of Hermas [e] is not an anonymous work because the author repeatedly referred to himself as Hermas. The work is normally dated to between 90-150 CE. The Muratorian Canon, a document dating to 170 CE, mentioned that Hermas was the brother of Pius I, bishop of Rome. Pius I was bishop between the years 140-155 CE. This would make Hermas a mid second century work. The work does not make any claim of being apostolic. [9]

• The seven epistles of Ignatius were written by Ignatius, bishop of Antioch on his way to martyrdom in Rome somewhere around the end of the reign of Trajan (98-117 CE). The seven epistles were written to the churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna with a personal letter to Polycarp (c69-c155 CE). Nothing is known about Ignatius prior to these seven letters, and nothing further is known about him (except the obvious extrapolation that he was martyred in Rome) after he had written them. In his epistle he argued for the supremacy of bishops, yet made no mention of succession (apostolic or otherwise) at all. [10]

The succession claims regarding the remaining two apostolic fathers, Polycarp and Clement of Rome, are examined elsewhere. But even there it can be seen that neither Polycarp nor Clement knew any of the apostles.

Our analysis of the apostolic fathers had essentially confirmed the extreme case of Edgar Goodspeed's remarks above: namely that no case can be made for any of the apostolic fathers to have known any of the apostles.

Back to the top

Notes

Back to the top

References

Back to the top