This is volume 8 of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, the fathers of the early Christian church who lived before the 4th century.
This volume contains various apocryphal works that were highly influential in the early Christian church. Including:
1) The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
2) Letters and homilies attributed to St. Clement of Rome
3) Apocrypha of the New Testament including:
-The Protevangelium of James
-The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
-The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary
-The Gospel of Thomas
-The Gospel of Nicodemus
St. Clement of Rome ( - )
St. Clement was the bishop of Rome and third in succession from St. Peter. Around the year 95 AD, a letter was written by the Church of Rome to the Church at Corinth that is attributed to Saint Clement. This document is the earliest Christian writing besides the New Testament documents. In fact, the Gospel of John is likely written around the same time as this document. This "first letter of Clement" (a second letter was falsely attributed to him) was copied by the Corinthian Church and circulated all over the empire, rendering the very first papal "encyclical." It was so highly regarded by the universal church that for several centuries the Church in Egypt and elsewhere regarded it as one of the New Testatment scriptures.The Church of St. Clement is one of the most fascinating places in Rome. Excavations revealed that the medieval Church, built in the 12th century, actually was built on top of a 4th century Church which was in turn built over a house church going back to the first century. It is very possible that this was the house of St. Clement himself.
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