Episode 6—What’s in a Name? Anonymous Texts from the Early Church

By Mike Aquilina ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 20, 2019 | In Way of the Fathers (Podcast)

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The work of the early Church was largely done by Christians whose names we’ll never know. In fact, many of the most important documents from the first and second centuries have unknown or uncertain authorship. In this episode we examine some of those fascinating documents—the Didache, the Letter of Barnabas, and Second Clement—and we pay homage to our great (though nameless) ancestors in the faith.

Links
Kenneth Howell’s new translation of the Didache and Second Clement https://www.amazon.com/Clement-Didache-Early-Christian-Fathers/dp/0983082979/

Audiobook of the Didache https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/didache-teaching-twelve-apostles/

Translation of the Didache courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation of the Didache at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1631

Translation of the Letter of Barnabas at CatholicCulture.org https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1646

Audiobook of Second Clement https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/so-called-second-letter-st-clement/

Translation of Second Clement courtesy of Catholic University of America Press: https://www.hfsbooks.com/books/the-apostolic-fathers-walsh-grimm-marique/

Alternate Translation at CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1990

More Works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/

Mike Aquilina’s Website https://fathersofthechurch.com

Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.

Mike Aquilina is a popular author working in the area of Church history, especially patristics. He is executive vice-president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a contributing editor of Angelus (magazine) and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History Series from Ave Maria Press. See full bio.

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