THE EARLY

CHRISTIAN BOOKS

A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO
CHRISTIAN LITERATURE TO THE MIDDLE OF
THE SECOND CENTURY

BY

WILLIAM JOHN FERRAR, M. A.
VICAR OF EAST FINCHLEY, LATE SCHOLAR OF HERTFORD COLLEGE, OXFORD

WITH A FOREWORD BY THE
BISHOP OF LONDON

LONDON
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING
CHRSITIAN KNOWLEDGE
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1919

It is to gather together in a compact form what is known of the earliest writings of Christianity outside the New Testament, that these short studies are written. They lay no claim to originality, they simply attempt to reproduce the opinions of the best scholars. At the same time the writings themselves have been studied in detail. An effort has been made to set each book in its historical setting, to let the writer by means of summaries and quotations speak for himself, and to lay special emphasis on passages which describe with any vividness the actual life of the developing Church. The Bibliography will show where fuller knowledge of these books and of the age in which they were written can be found.

CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION v
BIBLIOGRAPHY xiii
TABLE OF DATES xvii
EPISTLE OF CLEMENT OF ROME I
A HOMILY BY AN UNKNOWN WRITER 10
THE EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS 13
THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP 20
THE LETTER OF THE SMYRNÆANS 24
THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES (THE DIDACHE) 30
THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS 37
THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS 42
THE EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS 50
PAPIAS 55
GNOSTIC SYSTEMS 60
APOCRYPHAL BOOKS 65
THE ODES OF SOLOMON 76
JUSTIN MARTYR 81
THE APOLOGY OF ARISTIDES 91
TATIAN’S ORATION AND DIATESSARON 98
INDEX 105