Readers Lexicon of the Apostolic Fathers

The apostolic fathers (late first century to mid second century) are early and important links to apostolic Christianity, although there is vigorous debate regarding their connection with the normative teachings of the primitive church. This new reference work, designed to be used alongside Michael Holmes’s third edition of the Apostolic Fathers (Baker, 2007) makes these vital writings more accessible by providing students with contextually sensitive glosses of words that occur fewer than thirty times in the New Testament These definitions are presented in the order in which they occur in the texts, along with the frequency of the word in the book, to facilitate a seamless reading process. Thus, students of New Testament Greek will be able to more comfortably expand their studies to read the works of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, the Shepherd of Hermas, Polycarp of Smyrna, Papias, and others. This work will spur many students of the New Testament to explore the writings of the apostolic fathers and wrestle with their content, theology, praxis, use of the New Testament, and devotion to the risen Lord.