1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
APOSTOLIC FATHERS, a term used to distinguish those early Christian writers who were believed to have been the personal associates of the original Apostles. While the title " Fathers " was given from at least the beginning of the 4th century to church writers of former days, as being the parents of Christian belief and thought for later times, the expression " Apostolic Fathers" dates only from the latter part of the I7th century. The idea of recognizing these " Fathers " as a special group exists already in the ti…
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- Vol. 2, pp. 201-204