The Collaborative International Dictionary
Apostolic \Ap`os*tol"ic\, Apostolical \Ap`os*tol"ic*al\, a. [L. apostolicus, Gr. ?: cf. F. apostolique.]
Pertaining to an apostle, or to the apostles, their times, or their peculiar spirit; as, an apostolical mission; the apostolic age.
According to the doctrines of the apostles; delivered or taught by the apostles; as, apostolic faith or practice.
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Of or pertaining to the pope or the papacy; papal.
Apostolical brief. See under Brief.
Apostolic canons, a collection of rules and precepts relating to the duty of Christians, and particularly to the ceremonies and discipline of the church in the second and third centuries.
Apostolic church, the Christian church; -- so called on account of its apostolic foundation, doctrine, and order. The churches of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were called apostolic churches.
Apostolic constitutions, directions of a nature similar to the apostolic canons, and perhaps compiled by the same authors or author.
Apostolic fathers, early Christian writers, who were born in the first century, and thus touched on the age of the apostles. They were Polycarp, Clement, Ignatius, and Hermas; to these Barnabas has sometimes been added.
Apostolic king (or majesty), a title granted by the pope to the kings of Hungary on account of the extensive propagation of Christianity by St. Stephen, the founder of the royal line. It is now a title of the emperor of Austria in right of the throne of Hungary.
Apostolic see, a see founded and governed by an apostle; specifically, the Church of Rome; -- so called because, in the Roman Catholic belief, the pope is the successor of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, and the only apostle who has successors in the apostolic office.
Apostolical succession, the regular and uninterrupted transmission of ministerial authority by a succession of bishops from the apostles to any subsequent period.
--Hook.
Wikipedia
The Apostolic Fathers were Christian theologians who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles, or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though popular in Early Christianity, were ultimately not included in the canon of the New Testament once it reached its final form. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature that did come to be part of the New Testament, and some of the writings found among the Apostolic Fathers' seem to have been just as highly regarded as some of the writings that became the New Testament.
Usage examples of "apostolic fathers".
Middleton, it is impossible to overlook the clear traces of visions and inspiration, which may be found in the apostolic fathers.
Though we cannot receive with entire confidence either the epistles, or the acts, of Ignatius, (they may be found in the 2d volume of the Apostolic Fathers,) yet we may quote that bishop of Antioch as one of these exemplary martyrs.
Justin Martyr has apparently been chosen for attack as being the earliest of the post-apostolic Fathers.
We see this already happening with the Apostolic Fathers, particularly Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.