What Is the Apostolic Fathers Commentary Series?

The Apostolic Fathers Commentary Series (AFCS) proposes to offer a literary and theological reading of individual works among the Apostolic Fathers cor- pus. Although the compositional development and textual history of some of the texts are quite complex, the series offers a literary and theological reading of the final form text in an intelligible fashion for a broad audience.

Each volume in the series will offer a similar, two-part structure. Part 1 will include introductory essays, and part 2 will consist of exegetical, theological, and historical commentary on the final-form text in a section- by-section format. In the first part, each volume will include an essay on preliminary matters, such as historical placement, provenance, and social setting; an essay on the use of scripture; and an essay on themes and the- ology. All volumes will offer a fresh and readable translation of the text, along with brief textual notes.

The AFCS is designed to engage historical-critical scholarship and to synthesize such material for a wide range of readers. The series will make use of international scholarship, ancient languages (with English cotransla- tions), and primary research, aiming to elucidate the literary form of the text for students and scholars of earliest Christianity. The exegesis of AFCS will engage grammatical, rhetorical, and discourse features within the given work. In particular, the series will expansively discuss the elements relevant to theological interpretation of the texts. The AFCS thus seeks to fill a niche by offering a theological and literary reading of the Apostolic Fathers in both an economical and accessible form for a wide readership.

Paul A. Hartog

Shawn J. Wilhite

AFCS Series Editors