Apostolic Fathers
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIANS WHO LIVED IN THE 1ST AND 2ND CENTURIES CE, WHO ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE PERSONALLY KNOWN SOME OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES, OR TO HAVE BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCED BY THEM
Apostolic Father; Apostolic fathers; Early Christian Fathers; Apostolic patriarchs
The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles, or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though widely circulated in Early Christianity, were not included in the canon of the New Testament.