Readings in the Apostolic Fathers

A series of ten early Christian writers will be the subject of this course. Written after what is often called the “apostolic period,” these writers lived between roughly 60 CE and 150 CE. Commonly believed to have been associates or students of the Apostles, modern scholarship has questioned this assertion, instead finding value in their writings as individual witnesses to the developing teachings of the early church.

Why study these ancient authors? Because their writings form a bridge between the seminal writings of St. Paul and the gospels and the later writings of the Patristic period. We see in their writings the origins of such concepts as apostolic succession and the authority of bishops in the church, and the beginnings of the formation of what became the New Testament canon. Studying the Apostolic Fathers helps us understand the milieu of ideas and teachings that began to emerge as orthodoxy and that this evolution was anything but a straight-line from the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles to what became established Tradition.

This course will consist of ten lectures (approximately 45 minutes each) participants can view weekly followed by a 60-minute discussion with the instructor on ten successive Saturdays at 11:00 AM eastern time from April 23 through June 25, 2022. The primary textbook for the course will be Rick Brennan’s The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation (© 2017 Lexham Press, Bellingham, WA). The book may be purchased through Amazon.

Please complete registration no later than Saturday, April 16 in order to receive the link to the first lecture. Registered participants should purchase the textbook as soon as possible.