Second Clement. William Varner
found in the New Testament).22 A number of the apostolic fathers draw from Jesus traditions and especially the Pauline letters.23 For example, Papias hands on traditions concerning the origins of the Gospels, and Polycarp seemingly provides evidence of the reception of 1 Timothy, 1 Peter, and 1 John.24 The Apostolic Fathers provide insights into biblical interpretation, as well as valuable assistance with linguistic and philological investigations.25
The Apostolic Fathers do not delve deeply into philosophical theology but rather address specific pastoral concerns in particular contexts.26 They reflect a diversity of theological perspectives and emphases, although sharing a common yet malleable core kerygma. The works assume the role of the one God as Creator and Ruler, and they proclaim Jesus Christ as the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord.27 Relatively fewer texts discuss the Holy Spirit’s continuing work in the ekklesia, while some warn of the continuing threats of satanic opposition.28 The Apostolic Fathers underscore future resurrection and judgment. They center salvation in the person and work of Christ, although differing in their explanations of grace and human response.29
The Apostolic Fathers serve as a window into theological trajectories and themes that emerged in early Christianity. Specific developments include the incorporation of the “Two Ways” literary tradition (Didache, Barnabas), apostolic succession (1 Clement), the Eucharist as sacrifice and medicine (Didache, Ignatius), a threefold ministry resembling monoepiscopacy (Ignatius), emphatic Sunday observance (Didache, Ignatius, Barnabas), baptism as a seal (2 Clement), stipulations concerning postbaptismal sin and repentance (Hermas), the metaphor of the church as the “soul” within the world (Diognetus), references to the “catholic church” (Ignatius, Martyrdom of Polycarp), and an incipient veneration of martyrs (Martyrdom of Polycarp). The apostolic fathers confronted so-called docetic and judaizing opponents (Ignatius, Polycarp), as well as pagan critics (Quadratus, Diognetus). The Apostolic Fathers illuminate differing courses of the “parting of the ways” between Judaism and Christianity.30
What Is the Apostolic Fathers Commentary Series?
The Apostolic Fathers Commentary Series (AFCS) proposes to offer a literary and theological reading of individual works among the Apostolic Fathers corpus. Although the compositional development and textual history of some of the texts are quite complex, the series offers a literary and theological reading of the final form text in an intelligible fashion for a broad audience.
Each volume in the series will offer a similar, two-part structure. Part 1 will include introductory essays, and part 2 will consist of exegetical, theological, and historical commentary on the final-form text in a section-by-section format. In the first part, each volume will include an essay on preliminary matters, such as historical placement, provenance, and social setting; an essay on the use of scripture; and an essay on themes and theology. All volumes will offer a fresh and readable translation of the text, along with brief textual notes.
The AFCS is designed to engage historical-critical scholarship and to synthesize such material for a wide range of readers. The series will make use of international scholarship, ancient languages (with English cotranslations), and primary research, aiming to elucidate the literary form of the text for students and scholars of earliest Christianity. The exegesis of AFCS will engage grammatical, rhetorical, and discourse features within the given work. In particular, the series will expansively discuss the elements relevant to theological interpretation of the texts. The AFCS thus seeks to fill a niche by offering a theological and literary reading of the Apostolic Fathers in both an economical and accessible form for a wide readership.
Paul A. Hartog
Shawn J. Wilhite
AFCS Series Editors
1. Jefford, Reading the Apostolic Fathers, xvii. Some scholars have dated the Letter to Diognetus or the Martyrdom of Polycarp into the third century. See Moss, “On the Dating of Polycarp.”
2. Jefford, Apostolic Fathers.
3. Foster, Preface to Writings of the Apostolic Fathers, vii.
4. According to Robert Grant, the term “Apostolic Fathers” was employed by the Monophysite Severus of Antioch in the sixth century, but not of a collection of writings as now recognized. See Grant, “Apostolic Fathers’ First Thousand Years,” 421, 428.
5. Batovici, “Apostolic Fathers in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus.”
6. See Bingham, “Senses of Scripture in the Second Century”; Steenberg, “Irenaeus on Scripture, Graphe, and the Status of Hermas.”
7. Lincicum, “Paratextual Invention of the Term ‘Apostolic Fathers’.”
8. Cotelier, Patrum qui temporibus apostolicis floruerunt.
9. For this and related history, see Fischer, Die ältesten Ausgaben der Patres Apostolici.
10. Wake, Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers.
11. Rothschild, “On the Invention of Patres Apostolici,” 9. See Ittig, Bibliotheca Patrum Apostolicorum Graeco-Latina.
12. Jefford, Reading the Apostolic Fathers, xvii.
13. Gallandi, Bibliotheca veterum partum antiquorumque scriptorium ecclesiasticorum (1765).
14. Jefford, Reading the Apostolic Fathers, xix.
15. Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, I.1 and I.2; Zahn, Ignatius von Antiochien. For a history of this debate, see Hartog, “Multifaceted Jewel.”
16. Jefford, Reading the Apostolic Fathers, xiii. See Ehrman, ed., Apostolic Fathers; and Holmes, Apostolic Fathers.
17. See Pratscher, “Corpus of the Apostolic Fathers.”
18. Khomych, “Diversity of the Notion of Apostolicity in the Apostolic Fathers.”
19. Tugwell, Apostolic Fathers (2002); Jefford, Reading the Apostolic Fathers.
20. See Trevett, Christian Women and the Time of the Apostolic Fathers.
21. Koester, “Apostolic Fathers and the Struggle for Christian Identity”; Kenneth Berding, “‘Gifts’ and Ministries in the Apostolic Fathers”; Jefford, “Prophecy and Prophetism in the Apostolic Fathers”; Borchardt, “Spirituality of the Apostolic Fathers.”
22. Pratscher, “Die Rezeption des Neuen Testament bei den Apostolischen Vätern”; Jefford, Apostolic Fathers and the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006); Gregory and Tuckett, eds., Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers; Norris, “Apostolic