The title—coined in the 17th Cent— given to Christian writers from the period immediately after the NT era, and whose life and ministry overlapped with the apostles. The list is not definitive but is often taken to include Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Hermas, Polycarp, Papias, and the authors of the Epistles of Barnabas, the Epistle to Diogenetus, 2 Clement, and the Didache.
The writings of the Apostolic Fathers are generally assessed by scholars to be "faithful" but not intellectually brilliant.
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