3.14 After the Apostles II: Holy Books and Blessed Bishops

History in the Bible

Garry Stevens

History, Christianity, Judaism, Bible, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 693 Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2022

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

My second ep about the apostolic fathers, those who followed the disciples. Here I discuss the anonymous authors of the epistle of Barnabas, the gospel of Peter, and the Shepherd of Hermas. All of them were candidates for inclusion in the New Testament. We should be grateful that the virulent anti-Jewishness of the epistle of Barnabas never made it. The gospel of Peter was a best-seller, more popular than the gospel of Mark. It gives an account of the actual resurrection, which none of our canonical gospels do. And what a whacky account it is! The Shepherd was often referred to by the fathers, and is to this day popular with Christians. The Shepherd brims with homely homilies and sermons. The final father is the famously long-lived Bishop Polycarp. It is said that he was mentored by the disciple John, and corresponded with Ignatius. He may have known the great Christian figures of the mid-second century: Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Marcion, and Montanus. If that is so, Polycarp was the man who joined the disciples to the fathers of the imperial church.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Giday, I'm Gary Stevens.
0:09.9	And welcome to the third season of the History in the Bible podcast.
0:15.2	In this final season, I explore how the Jews and the Christians constructed new religions when they
0:23.6	were sent spinning into the void after the destruction of the temple.
0:28.6	All of the history, about all of the books beyond the Bible.
0:43.5	Episode 3.14 After the Apostles Part 2 Holy Books and Blessed Bishops
0:46.5	In episode 3.13 after the Apostles Part 1
0:51.7	I introduced some of the Apostolic fathers, those who followed the Apostles Part 1, I introduced some of the Apostolic Fathers,
0:55.5	those who followed the Apostles.
0:57.7	Ignatius, Clement, Papius, or Papius, or Popius, or Popius,
1:03.4	however you say it, and the anonymous author of the Didikai.
1:07.7	Yes, I know that many scholars object to the term apostolic fathers as outdated and misleading.
1:15.6	But I am fond of it. So indulge me.
1:20.0	Let's explore the rest of the fathers, the authors of the Epistle of Barnabas, the Gospel of Peter, and the Shepherd of Hermes.
1:29.6	And finally, Bishop Polycarp.
1:32.5	The canon of sacred Christian books remained in contention for centuries.
1:39.0	No missionary ever arrived in a town with a big book they called the New Testament. Until as late as the
1:46.9	age of printing, the New Testament was rarely disseminated as a single volume. Instead, it was
1:53.7	circulated in several bundles. The most common were the Gospels on the one hand and the letters of Paul on the other.
2:03.2	Some congregations might have heard of Acts and the general epistles,
2:08.0	and others may have used revelation.
2:11.7	Many of the works of the Apostolic Fathers were considered as holy enough to become sacred scripture, but for one reason or another,
	...

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