The Apostolic Fathers

The Apostolic Fathers are those authors of primitive Christianity who had some contact with one or more of the Apostles. They form a subset within the Church Fathers, comprising writers of the first century and the early second century whose writings are of profound importance for the knowledge of primitive Christian faith. They are characterized as descriptive or normative texts that seek to explain the nature of the novel Christian doctrine. Among these texts are:

The Didache.

The Epistle of Clement of Rome.

The Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch.

The Epistle and Martyrdom of Polycarp.

The Epistle of Barnabas.

The Fragments of Papias.

The Shepherd of Hermas.

The Epistle to Diognetus.

If you wish to read the entirety of these texts, they are freely available in English at the New Advent website (newadvent.org/fathers) and at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org/fathers.htm). For those who read Spanish, the work of Daniel Ruiz Bueno titled Padres Apostólicos, published by the Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, is highly recommended, as is the translation by the Protestant theologian J. B. Lightfoot, available through Editorial Clie.