First Christian Voices: Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

Introduction

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is often lacking in the church today: unity of belief and purpose. The early church was united in their belief about Jesus and their purpose to love each other and to love their neighbors. Timeline and Geographical Breadth of the Writings We are very fortunate to have ancient documents that tell the story of the early church. They act as threads that unite the past with the present. When we read these stories, we want to be sure to understand why and by whom they were written. Situating historical documents in their proper time period gives us a greater depth in understanding the motivations behind the author’s intentions (see Map of Important Places). Just as an interpretation of Scripture cannot mean to us what it did not mean to the first audience, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers are the same. They were dealing with particular cultural issues and expressed their practices in uniquely relevant ways. Still, we can learn something about how they applied the teaching of the apostles to their context and even discern doctrinal and practical principles consistent with the New Testament and applicable for us today.

Table 3: Authorship and Audience

Approximate Date (AD)

Title

Author

Origin Audience

Leaders in Rome

First Clement

67-95

Rome

Corinth

Antioch or Philippi

The Didache Unknown 100s

Unknown