Papias of Hierapolis

A famous Christian who, as a young man, learned under the elderly apostle John and sought out the testimony of the other living disciples of Jesus, Papias also relayed information to later church fathers regarding the writing of the Gospels and other New Testament books. Although no complete writings of Papias have survived, we have several quotations of Papias in the writings of other early Christians.

Details

Papias was a Greek Apostolic Father, Bishop of Hierapolis, and author who lived c. 60 – c. 130 AD. He wrote the Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord  in five books. This work, which is lost apart from brief excerpts in the works of Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180) and Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 320), is an important early source on Christian oral tradition and especially on the origins of the canonical Gospels.

Very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as "an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp" by Polycarp's disciple Irenaeus (c. 180). Eusebius adds that Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis around the time of Ignatius of Antioch.