the name usually given to the principal writers of the early church. Those who were contemporary with the apostles, and are supposed to have been their disciples, are called Apostolic Fathers. Their works are not numerous, and they have unfortunately come down to us in a state which renders them very little worthy of confidence. The genuineness of some of them has been justly suspected, because it is well known that writings were forged in their name for the purpose of giving authority to particular doctrines or rites; and there can be no doubt that even their genuine writings were interpolated to promote the hierarchical interest which arose in the church.

The earliest of the writings ascribed to the Apostolic Fathers is the apocryphal epistle which, in the second century, was known in the Alexandrian Church under the name of Barnabas, the companion and fellow-labourer of the apostle Paul. The design of this epistle was to diminish the respect which the Judaizing members of the church entertained for the peculiar institutions and rites of the Mosaic economy, and to show that these were not binding upon Christians. It does not contain any hint that the author wished to have it supposed that he was Barnabas; and the spirit and style of the epistle indicate that the writer was a Jew of the Alexandrian school who had embraced Christianity.

Next to Barnabas we place Clement, who was bishop of the church at Rome about the end of the first century, and is believed to be the same Clement whom Paul (Philip. iv. 3) calls his fellow-labourer, and one of those whose names are in the Book of Life. The "Epistle of the Church of God sojourning at Rome to the Church of God at Corinth," which bears the name of this father, was written about the year A.D. 96, and has been termed the most important monument of this apostolical age remaining to us, and is probably the most ancient of uninspired Christian writings. It was held in such high respect during the first centuries that it was read at public worship in many of the churches along with the scriptures of the New Testament. The object of the writer was to allay some internal dissensions in the Corinthian church, and to conciliate the minds of the people to their pastors, some of whom they had expelled from their offices, undeservedly as Clement asserts, and had thereby introduced much confusion into the church. This epistle is genuine in the main, but it has been subjected to several important interpolations. A portion of what is termed a second genuine epistle of Clement has been preserved, but it is manifestly only the fragment of a homily. Two other epistles ascribed to this father, and termed Recognitions, have been preserved in the Syrian Church. They are circular letters addressed particularly to those Christians of both sexes who lived in the state of celibacy. These epistles, however, are found nowhere cited before the fourth century, and they bear every mark of having been forged in some Eastern church about the close of the second or during the course of the third century.

Under the name of Hermas (whom some suppose to be the same as the person mentioned in Paul's epistle to the Romans [chap. xvi. 14]) we have a work entitled "The Shepherd," because in the second book an angel, the appointed guardian of Hermas, is introduced in the character of a shepherd. The work, which was written originally in Greek, but has been preserved for the most part in a Latin translation, was held in high repute among the Greek writers of the second century, and is cited by Irenaeus under the title of "The Scripture." It consists of three books, in the first of which are four visions, in the second twelve commands, in the third ten similitudes. The first and third parts are very fanciful, yet they were not perhaps unsuited to the genius of the countries and age to which they were addressed; the second contains some excellent moral precepts, and all abound with paraphrastical allusions to the books of the New Testament."

Ignatius, bishop of the church at Antioch, during the journey to Rome which, according to tradition, terminated in his martyrdom, is said to have written seven epistles—six to the churches in Asia Minor, and one to Polycarp bishop of Smyrna. Five other epistles, which were for some time received as his composition, are now admitted to be spurious; and even the seven genuine epistles have been grievously corrupted and interpolated. These interpolations have evidently been made by some zealous partisans of the priesthood, for the purpose of unduly exalting the episcopal dignity. In the epistle to Polycarp it is said, "Attend to the bishop that God may attend to you. I pledge my soul for those who are subject to the bishop, presbyters, and deacons. Let my part in God be with them." "All of you," says the epistle to the Church of Smyrna, "obey the bishop as Christ obeyed the Father, and the presbytery as you would reverence the apostles, and the deacons as the commandments of God. Wheresoever the bishop may appear, there let the multitude assemble; even as the Catholic Church is there where Christ Jesus is. It is not lawful either to baptize or to celebrate an Agape without the bishop, but whatsoever he shall approve that is likewise well-pleasing to God." Again—"He who honours the bishop is honoured by God; he who acts without the knowledge of the bishop is in bondage to the devil." And the Ephesians are told that "it is their manifest duty to look up to the bishop as to the Lord himself." Statements such as these, inculcating upon the people the most unlimited and blind obedience to the hierarchical order, present such a marked contrast to the sentiments which had prevailed in the apostolic age, and which continued to prevail in the second century, that they can scarcely have come from the pen of Ignatius, who is supposed to have written about the sixteenth year of that century. A recent ecclesiastical historian, who is disposed to regard these and other similar expressions as genuine, accounts for them on the ground that it was the principal object of Ignatius to preserve the churches in strict union and discipline during the persecution which then threatened their destruction, by subjecting the faithful in rigid obedience to every order of their priesthood, but most especially to the highest. The days were then approaching, and were already come, he thinks, in which some severe system of subordination was absolutely necessary (under God's providence) for the preservation of the church.

Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who had been a disciple of the apostle John, according to Irenaeus, wrote several epistles, but only one is now extant, addressed to the Church at Philippi. This epistle appears to have been written soon after the death of Ignatius, as it refers to his patience under suffering, and requests any information which the Philippians had obtained respecting him. It teaches the charitable spirit of Christian piety, and is valuable for containing many scriptural expressions and frequent quotations of the recorded words of Christ. It consists of thirteen sections, but the original Greek of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth is lost, and they have been preserved in an ancient Latin version. As Polycarp suffered martyrdom in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 167, in the nineteenth year of his age, his epistle to the Philippians was probably written before the middle of the second century.

Another class of the fathers of the church are the Apologists, who in the order of time immediately succeeded the Apostolical Fathers. The first of these is Quadratus, an evangelist or Christian teacher not connected with any particular church, but travelling about as a missionary to preach the gospel. His Apology has unfortunately not come down to us, but Eusebius has preserved the following remarkable passage from it:

"The works of our Saviour were always to be seen, for they were real. Those that were healed and those that were raised from the dead were seen, not only when they were healed or raised, but they were always there; not only whilst he dwelt on the earth, but also after his departure, which they long survived, so that some of them have lived even to our own times."

The first of the Apologists whose writings have come down to our times is Justin Martyr. He was a Samaritan by birth, and successively adopted the tenets of the Stoics, the Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans, and the Platonists, probably not so much from a taste for speculative inquiries, as from a longing after some stable ground of religious conviction. Having discovered by experience the insufficiency and emptiness of these systems of philosophy, he seems to have been attracted to Christianity by the courage and constancy with which its adherents endured the sufferings inflicted upon them by their persecutors.

"I was once," says he, "an admirer of the doctrines of Plato, and I heard the Christians abused; but when I saw them meet death and all that is accounted terrible among men without dismay, I knew it to be impossible that they should live in sin and lust. I despised the opinion of the multitude. I glory in being a Christian, and take every pains to prove myself worthy of my calling." The conversion of Justin Martyr is supposed to have taken place about the year 133 He wrote two Apologies for Christianity; the first addressed to Antoninus Pius, the second probably to Marcus Aurelius. They are valuable compositions, not only because they contain the most convincing arguments which had then been published in defence of Christianity, but also because they give numerous quotations from the four Gospels, and relate many interesting facts respecting the religious customs and ceremonies of the Christians of those early ages.

Next to the Apologies, the largest and most important work of Justin is his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew. The object of this treatise is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah predicted and promised in the Old Testament Scriptures, and to vindicate the doctrines of Christianity against the objections of the Jews. It contains a good deal of useful matter, mixed up, however, with not a few weak arguments, as well as trifling and even erroneous interpretations of Scripture. It is probable that it was composed at a later period than either of the Apologies. Another production which bears his name is entitled an Admonition to the Gentiles. Its design is to convince the heathen of the insufficiency of their popular mythology as well as of their philosophical doctrines, and of the necessity of a divine revelation. It is supposed to be the same treatise which is cited by Eusebius and Photius under the title of The Refutation. A Short Address to the Gentiles is ascribed to Justin, but it differs from the style of his genuine writings, and its title is not to be found in the ancient indexes to his works. His book against Marcion, and a work which he wrote against all the heretical sects of his day, have both perished. The fragment of a treatise on the Resurrection was published under the name of Justin, by John of Damascus, in the eighth century, but its genuineness is extremely doubtful. The letter to Diognetus on the characteristics of the Christian worship compared with paganism and with Judaism, which is found among the works of Justin, has been classed, on high authority, among the finest remains of Christian antiquity. Its style and turn of thought, however, as well as the silence of ancient writers, prove that it could not have come from his hand, although it bears unmistakable evidence of high antiquity.

After the death of Justin Martyr, Tatian of Assyria, who had been educated a heathen, and was converted by him during a visit which he made to Rome, wrote a discourse to the Gentiles, in which he vindicates the "philosophy of the barbarians" against the contempt of the Greeks, who, nevertheless, had received from them originally the germs of all science and arts. He was followed by Athenagoras, who addressed his apology to the emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus. A work from the pen of Athenagoras, in defence of the doctrine of the Resurrection, has come down to our day. Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, in the reign of the emperor Commodus, wrote an apologetical work in three books, which displays great learning and power of thought. He also wrote a treatise against Marcion and Hermogenes, and composed commentaries on various portions of the sacred scriptures.

The most prominent of the Apologists next to Justin Martyr was Irenaeus, who was bishop of Lyons about the year 178 A.D. His principal work is his Refutation of the Gnostic System, in five books, which contains a confutation of most of the errors which had then appeared in the church. It has come down to us, for the most part, only in the old Latin translation, together with some fragments of the Greek original. Many of the writings of Irenaeus are known to us merely by their names. Two of his epistles possess an historical interest on account of their object. One of these is supposed to have been addressed to Blasius, who was probably a presbyter in the Church of Rome, and who had occasioned a division in that church, by adhering to the custom of Asia Minor with regard to the time of holding Easter. The other epistle was addressed to Florinus, a presbyter with whom Irenaeus in early youth had enjoyed the society and instructions of the venerable Polycarp, and who appears to have taught that God was the author of evil. "These doctrines," says the venerable writer, in his appeal to his former companion, "the elders who preceded us, who associated also with the apostles, did not teach thee; for while I was yet a boy, I saw thee in company with Polycarp in Asia Minor; for I bear in remembrance what happened then better than what happens now. What we have heard in childhood grows along with the soul, and becomes one with it; so that I can describe the place in which the blessed Polycarp sat and spake—his going in and out—his manner of life, and the shape of his person—the discourses which he delivered to the congregation—how he told of his intercourse with John, and with the rest who had seen the Lord—how he reported their sayings, and what he had heard from them respecting the Lord, his miracles and his doctrine. As he had received all from the eye-witnesses of his life, he narrated it in accordance with scripture. These things, by virtue of the grace of God imparted to me, I listened to even then with eagerness, and wrote them down not on paper, but in my heart; and by the grace of God I constantly bring them up again fresh before my memory."

All the writings of Irenaeus which have come down to us display the peculiarly practical character of his mind in his mode both of conceiving and treating the doctrines of the gospel; and while they manifest his zeal for the great fundamental truths of our holy faith, they at same time show his sincere aversion to religious dissensions, and his moderation and liberality of mind in all controversies about unessential matters.

Hippolitus, one of the disciples of Irenaeus, according to Photius, occupied an important place among the ecclesiastical writers belonging to the first half of the third century. But unfortunately, only a few fragments of his works remain. From the list of his writings given by Eusebius and Jerome, it appears that, besides homilies, he composed treatises on a variety of subjects, exegetical, dogmatical, polemical, and chronological. For an account of the later fathers of the church, see articles under their names.

(Neander's General Church History, vol. ii.; Waddington's Church History, vol. i.; Campbell's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History.)