Papias of Hierapolis and the Book of Revelation
By Dr. James Papandrea ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 28, 2024 | In Way of the Fathers (Podcast)
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In the first episode of an interim series on lesser known fathers, Dr. Papandrea introduces one of the “apostolic fathers,” Papias of Hierapolis. We only have fragments of his writings, but those fragments started a controversy over the authorship of the book of Revelation and the Johannine letters. Papias is a good example of how the Church fathers, as individuals, were not right about everything —Papias was wrong in his methodology for interpreting the Book of Revelation, among other things, but he gives us some important clues into the authorship and writing of the Gospels.
Links
To read some of the fragments of Papias’ Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1609&repos=8&subrepos=0&searchid=2418437
To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on Ignatius of Antioch: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-4-ignatius-antioch-to-know-jesus-christ-our-god/
To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on Polycarp of Smyrna: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5-st-polycarp-and-social-network/
To listen to Mike Aquilina’s episode on the fourth century historian Eusebius of Caesarea: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-25eusebius-history-from-wrong-side-history/
For more on Papas and the apostolic fathers, in the context of the history of the early Church, see the book: Reading the Church Fathers: A History of the Early Church and the Development of Doctrine: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/reading-the-church-fathers/
For Dr. Papandrea’s take on the Book of Revelation, see the book: The Wedding of the Lamb: A Historical Approach to the Book of Revelation: https://wipfandstock.com/9781608998067/the-wedding-of-the-lamb/
To watch Dr. Papandrea’s short video on the early hierarchy of the Church and the definitions of the Greek words for the clergy, see: Did The Original Church Have Bishops?: https://youtu.be/bXQ0UYfN9a0?si=SxFVGcfkiME9jlXa
To connect with Dr. James Papandrea, On YouTube —The Original Church: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOriginalChurch
Join the conversation in the Original Church Community on Locals: https://theoriginalchurch.locals.com/
Dr. Papandrea’s Homepage: http://www.jimpapandrea.com
Theme Music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed: https://www.ccwatershed.org/
Dr. James Papandrea is a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and a Catholic member of the faculty at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. A theological consultant for EWTN’s series The Heresies, he is also the writer and presenter for The Original Church series on YouTube. See full bio.
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