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Apostolic Fathers

American  

plural noun

  1. the fathers of the early Christian church whose lives overlapped those of any of the apostles.

  2. the collection of works attributed to them.


Apostolic Fathers British  

plural noun

  1. the Fathers of the early Church who immediately followed the Apostles

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Apostolic Fathers

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

High point of The Apostolic Fathers is the "Letter to Diognetus."

From Time Magazine Archive

The first volume of the series,* The Apostolic Fathers, is already out.

From Time Magazine Archive

And of this the Apostolic Fathers afford no scrap of evidence.

From Frauds and Follies of the Fathers A Review of the Worth of their Testimony to the Four Gospels by Wheeler, Joseph Mazzini

The result is an octavo of forty-six pages, of pure and unsophisticated doctrines, such as were professed and acted on by the unlettered Apostles, the Apostolic Fathers, and the Christians, of the first century.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

The Apostolic Fathers are those who lived nearest to the time, and to some extent contemporary with the Apostles, viz.

From The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia by Miller, William James

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