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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 56 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 56 pagesAbout this book
How does a young church learn to pray, settle disputes, and face death before its traditions are firmly settled?
Apostolic Fathers gathers early Christian writings from the generation after the apostles. In letters, teaching, a sermon, and visions, these writers address communities learning how to live together. The First and Second Epistles of Clement, the seven letters of Ignatius, and the Epistle of Polycarp bring questions of order, belief, and courage close to everyday life.
The collection also includes the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Papias fragments, and the Shepherd of Hermas. The Didache offers practical teaching for church life; Hermas presents a world of visions. Together, these varied works reveal how early congregations pray, baptize, argue, and suffer while the New Testament is still being gathered.
What you’ll discover
- Faith in daily practice Explore the Didache’s plain instructions and discover the practical concerns of early church life.
- A community in conflict Read the appeal to Corinth traditionally attributed to Clement, urging a divided church toward order.
- Letters under the shadow Meet Ignatius through urgent letters, traditionally understood as written on his journey toward execution.
- Memory and witness Encounter Polycarp, whom later Christians remember as a link to the apostles’ own generation.
- A world of visions Enter the Shepherd of Hermas and discover a different kind of early Christian writing.
Who will love it
Readers drawn to origin stories, early church history and ancient letters will love this collection. It also appeals to those fascinated by real people under pressure and a young faith finding its courage.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The generation after the apostles had to decide
- An empire and a Jewish past shaped these voices
- The Didache is a handbook for daily church life
- Ignatius and Polycarp faced death with open eyes
- Clement tells Corinth that jealousy tears churches apart
- Humility, repentance and the order of creation heal division
- Order, love and prayer bind a community together
- Visions, apologies and the questions that last
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Apostolic Fathers
by Various early Christian authors
A letter from Rome tells a divided church in Corinth that jealousy, from Cain to Paul, destroys what love builds.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to readfrançais
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In short
Picture a church in Corinth tearing itself apart over who should lead it. A letter arrives from Rome.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The generation after the apostles had to decide
The writings of the Apostolic Fathers come from a decisive moment. The direct witnesses of Jesus have died. A small, scattered and often persecuted movement must now decide what it is going to be.
The collection holds the Didache, the letter of Clement, seven letters of Ignatius, the letter of Polycarp and the Martyrdom of Polycarp. It also holds the Epistle of Barnabas, the Epistle to Diognetus, fragments of Papias and the Shepherd of Hermas. Clement of Rome may have known Peter and Paul. Polycarp is said to have been a disciple of John the Apostle. Ignatius wrote his most passionate letters on the road to his own death.
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A letter from Rome tells a divided church in Corinth that jealousy, from Cain to Paul, destroys what love builds.
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- 56 pages · 6 × 9 in
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- 88 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
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Cite this edition
Apostolic Fathers. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apostolic-fathers.
Apostolic Fathers. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apostolic-fathers
Apostolic Fathers. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apostolic-fathers.
@book{anonymous2026apostolic,
title = {Apostolic Fathers},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-apostolic-fathers}
}
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What are the Apostolic Fathers?
They are early Christian writers from the generation after the apostles, along with works that come from the same era. Their letters, manuals, visions and accounts of martyrdom date from the late first century to the middle of the second.
Who wrote the letter of Clement to the Corinthians?
It is sent in the name of the church in Rome and is linked with Clement of Rome. It dates to around 96 CE and answers a crisis in Corinth, where younger members had pushed out the elders.
What is the Didache?
The Didache is a short early Christian manual with no named author. It gives instructions for baptism, fasting, prayer, the Eucharist and the welcome of travelling teachers, and it opens with the teaching of the Two Ways, life and death.
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