INTRODUCTION

The name “Apostolic Fathers” A term used by historians to describe a group of early Christian authors who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD and were believed to have been taught by the original Apostles. is so firmly established by usage that it will certainly never be abandoned; but it is not altogether a satisfactory title for the collection of writings to which it is given. It means that the writers in question may be supposed to have had personal knowledge of some of the Apostles, but not actually to have belonged to their number. Thus, for instance, Clement and Hermas are reckoned as disciples of St. Paul, and Polycarp as a disciple of St. John. It is not, however, always possible to maintain this view: Barnabas, to whom one of these writings is ascribed, was not merely a disciple of the Apostles, but belonged to their actual number, and the Didache original: Διδαχὴ (Didachē); a short early Christian treatise on morals and church practice, often called "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles." claims in its title to belong to the circle of “the Twelve.” It should also be noted that the title does not represent any ancient tradition: there are no traces of any early collection of “Apostolic Fathers,” and each of them has a separate literary history.

There is very little important difference in the text of any of the more recent editions; but various