New Essays on the Apostolic Fathers

Book excerpt: This volume comprises fifteen new essays on the Apostolic Fathers with a focus on 1 and 2 Clement. An introductory essay investigates the role of seventeenth-century librarians in the origination of the collection's title. Five essays concern 1 Clement, exploring its relationship to 1 Corinthians, its generic classification, the discussion of "Christian education" (1 Clem. 21:8), the golden calf tradition, and the well-known legend of the regeneration of the phoenix. Three essays treat 2 Clement, including problems with recent translations of chapter 1, the motif of the barren woman in chapter 2, and the analogy of faith as a race in chapter 7. The volume ranges widely within and beyond early Christian literature-from the streets of ancient Achaean and Asian the early modern libraries of Europe.