Loading...What does our earliest Christian sermon outside the New Testament look like? It is found in one of the apostolic fathers, in a book called 2 Clement, allegedly (but not really) written by the early bishop of Rome, Clement, and historically associated with another book of the Apostolic Fathers, 1 Clement.
The following is an edited version of the Introduction to my translation of the text in The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1 (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003)
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Second Clement is probably the most overlooked and least appreciated of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. This is somewhat to be regretted, as it is in some ways a historically significant work.
As with 1 Clement, the book is misnamed – even more so, as in addition to being written by a different author, who cannot be identified as Clement of Rome, it is not even a letter. Readers have long recognized that the book appears in fact to be an early Christian homily, a written exposition of Scripture with an accompanying set of exhortations, delivered to a congregation gathered for worship.
The service of worship — whether a weekly meeting or a special baptismal service– evidently
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