Apostolic Fathers

The Apostolic Fathers were a small collection of Christian authors who lived and wrote in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries who are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, but whose writings were not included in the collection of Christian scripture, the New Testament Biblical canon. The Roman Catholic label Apostolic Fathers has been used since the 17th century (see below) to emphasize that these authors were thought of as being of the generation that had personal contact with the Apostles. Thus they provide a link between the Apostles who knew Jesus of Nazareth and the later generation of Christian apologists and defenders of orthodox authority and developers of doctrine: the Church Fathers.

Related Topics:
Christian - New Testament - Biblical canon - Apostles - Jesus of Nazareth - Church Father

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