People connected to Jesus
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Polycarp's only surviving writing is his Epistle to the Philippians, and the focus of his epistle is teaching the gospel rather than talking about himself.
We can glean much about Polycarp's beliefs from his epistle, but it tells us almost nothing about his personal life. The biographical information we know about Polycarp comes principally from 3 sources:
- The Martyrdom of Polycarp, written by witnesses of his death
- The writings of his student Irenaeus
- Ecclesiastical History, written by Eusebius of Caesarea
There are those who wish to discredit Polycarp because they do not like his teachings, but the historical record is quite consistent that he was indeed a disciple of John. The rebuttal that "he doesn't claim to be a disciple of John" is pretty irrelevant, since he doesn't claim much of anything about himself in his surviving epistle. His audience already knew who he was. Gratefully, others who knew Polycarp have told us much more about Polycarp than he himself did in his Epistle to the Philippians.
Other notable writers with a close connection to the teachings of Jesus:
- Matthew (apostle)
- Mark (missionary companion to Peter & to Paul)
- Luke (missionary companion to Paul)
- John (apostle)
- Paul (apostle)
- James (the Lord's brother)
- Peter (apostle)
- Jude (lots of people had this name but the writer of the New Testament book is probably the Lord's brother)
- Clement of Rome (one of the most prominent apostolic fathers, author of 1 Clement, a 2nd generation Christian leader who was taught by the apostles)
- Ignatius of Antioch (one of the most prominent apostolic fathers, author of 7 surviving epistles, a 2nd generation Christian leader who was taught by the apostles)
- Papias of Hieropolis (one of the most prominent apostolic fathers, a 2nd generation Christian leader who was taught by the apostles, author of the 5-part work Exposition on the Oracles of the Lord which save for fragments has been lost)
- Irenaeus of Lyons (a 3rd generation Christian leader who was taught by Polycarp, author of multiple works including the extremely influential 5-part series Against Heresies)
- Clement of Alexandria (a 4th generation Christian leader who in the 2nd century diligently sought out the testimony of early Christian leaders, author of numerous works)
Irenaeus & Clement of Alexandria are a little further removed than the others, but they were extremely scholarly writers with prodigious output.
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