Apostolic men

Apostolic men ( Greek Αποστολικοί Πατέρες - apostolic fathers) are the authors of a number of early Christian texts of the second half of the 1st and 2nd centuries. The name "apostolic husbands" is intended to demonstrate their direct connection with the apostles , which many of the apostolic husbands personally knew. The term appeared only in the XVII century and is usually associated with the name of the pathologist Kotelerius , published in 1672 under the name Lat. Patres aevi apostolici scriptures of Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Hermas , Ignatius and Polycarp.

The writings of the apostolic husbands show the attitude of the early Christian church towards Judaism and paganism , contain information about the services and sacraments of the ancient church, as well as about the life of the Christian community of that time. The writings of the husbands of the apostles were compiled in Greek, and then translated into Latin , Syriac , Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian and others.

Among the apostolic husbands include ^[1] :

• Apostle Barnabas ;
• Clement of Rome ;
• Dionysius the Areopagite ;
• Ignatius of Antioch (God-bearer) ;
• Polycarp of Smyrnsky ;
• Papia of Hierapolsky ;
• Ermu .

The writings of the apostolic husbands also include the variously attributed works of Didache and Shepherd Herma .

Excerpts from the writings of Papius , a disciple of the Apostle John , are undoubtedly authentic; the works of the rest critic criticize more or less doubt ^[2] . The message of Barnabas is attributed by some ^{[ who? ] to} another author; from the writings of Clement of Rome, only his first epistle to the Corinthians is recognized as authentic. The work of Hermas “The Shepherd” is attributed to the wrong author of whom the apostle Paul speaks ( Rom. 16:14 ). The message of Polycarp of Smyrna to the Phoenicians and the message of Ignatius of Antioch are also disputed. On the contrary, some of the pathologists protect their authenticity.

Be that as it may, these works are very important for the ancient history of Christianity .