First Christian Voices: Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

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First Christian Voices

Still, there are disputes. For example, although Clement is never identified by name in 1 Clement, there are numerous testimonies, mostly based on Eusebius, that the letter came from Rome with Clement as the author. 3 Irenaeus (AD 130–202) might be the most reliable source as he maintains that during Clement’s time as bishop a letter came from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth. 4 However, I contend that the later testimonies regarding Clementine authorship reflect a maturing “monarchical episcopacy,” that is, a church which was governed solely by a bishop who acted as a teacher and shepherd. This form of church governance appears much later. 5 The collective title of those who wrote in the late first to early second centuries, Apostolic Fathers, is a modern convention attempting to communicate that these were disciples of or closely related to the apostles, Jesus’ disciples. This apostolic connection held authority in the early church. Some authors most definitely were disciples of the original twelve apostles, as we noted. However, one letter takes the name of an apostle but clearly was not written by him. The Letter of Barnabas was written well after the Apostle Barnabas (1 Cor 9:3–6) would have died. It could be that the letter communicated Barnabas’ ideas though he did not write it, as the letter includes information 3 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Volume I: Books 1–5 , trans. Kirsopp Lake, Loeb Classical Library 153 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926), 3.38. 4 Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.3, in The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, vol. 1 of The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 , ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and Arthur Cleveland Coxe (Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing, 1885). 5 I do not include 2 Clement as it was not written by Clement and contains some gnostic references, but most scholars agree that it is an early example of a Christian sermon outside of the New Testament. For that reason, I encourage you to read it.