Apostolic Fathers is the next segment Fr Tadros explores in this Patrology series.
He describes that the Lord chose apostles and disciples who lived with Jesus Christ and enjoyed life with Him. After their time, they accepted the Holy Spirit and started to preach. The apostles also had disciples for themselves for example, St Ignatius of Antioch was guided by St Peter.
Fr Tadros also explains that the works and writings of the people at the time, serves as a link between the lives of the apostles and the lives of the fathers. This in fact, was considered as the starting point of Patrology.
It is very important that every Christian studies these works of the Apostolic Fathers so that each individual can trust that what they are practicing is beautifully an extension of the life of the Church at the time of the apostles.
Interestingly, the term ‘Apostolic Fathers’ was not used in the early Church, but was rather introduced by 17th century scholars. More importantly, the majority of their works were not written with the intention to defend the Church but instead were aimed for the pastoral concerns of the Church. The Didache is a prime example of this and is known as The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations.
