Updated · each edition is described in its publisher’s own words, checked against the listing
4 in-print translations and 4 audiobooks, compared by who made them, when, and what each one is actually trying to do — Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp & others.
Start with Michael W. Holmes (2006, Baker Academic) for a first read; choose Bart D. Ehrman (2003, Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press)) to stay closest to the original. The longer answer. No single edition of The Apostolic Fathers is best for everyone, because the editions are optimised for different things: for a first read, the editions described as the most readable are Michael W. Holmes, Maxwell Staniforth, revised by Andrew Louth; to stay closest to the original, Bart D. Ehrman; on audio the choice is mostly which translation is being read and whether it is one narrator or a full cast.
Every claim below is the publisher’s or translator’s own description, shown next to it, so you can judge rather than take our word. And you can read the whole thing free on this site first.
Scriptorium Press publishes a complete new plain-English translation of The Apostolic Fathers, free, with a complete free audiobook. No account, no paywall — 34 works in this volume.
Start reading free → Free audiobook → Whole book on one page →Older translations, out of copyright, hosted free by Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Internet Archive, Wikisource. Not our work and not affiliate links — they are here because they are genuinely useful.
| Translator | Year | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kirsopp Lake | 1912 | the older Loeb, Greek and English on facing pages | Internet Archive → |
| J. B. Lightfoot | 1889 | the great Victorian edition with commentary | Internet Archive → |
| Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (eds.) | 1885 | the standard nineteenth-century collection, fully online | Christian Classics Ethereal Library → |
| Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (eds.) | 1885 | transcribed text of the same volume | Wikisource → |
Sorted as the research file records them. The note on each row is that edition’s own published description.
| Translator | Year | Publisher | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael W. Holmes | 2007 | Baker Academic | the standard scholarly edition: revised Greek text facing a modern English translation, with introductions and apparatus | Find it |
| Michael W. Holmes | 2006 | Baker Academic | the same translation without the Greek, the readable one-volume edition most widely recommended | Find it |
| Bart D. Ehrman | 2003 | Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press) | the current Loeb: literal, closely annotated, Greek on the facing page | Find it |
| Maxwell Staniforth, revised by Andrew Louth | 1987 | Penguin Classics | readable prose selection of the main letters with Louth's introductions; the usual first read | Find it |
Those are affiliate links. They cost you nothing extra and pay a small commission to the people who publish these editions, and to us.
The thing that most changes an audiobook of The Apostolic Fathers is which translation is being read — a scholarly text and a colloquial one are different listening experiences before the narrator says a word.
| Narrator | Translation read | Publisher | Year | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Sarris | Michael W. Holmes | Tantor Media | the Holmes English translation, unabridged | Listen | |
| Mel Jackson | J. B. Lightfoot and Charles Hoole | Fifth Estate | public-domain translations edited by Joseph Lumpkin; also includes Justin Martyr and Papias | Listen | |
| James Walmsley | Steven Burger | Volume 1: Clement, Polycarp and Ignatius | Listen | ||
| Virtual Voice (text-to-speech) | Robert Treynol | Independently published | text-to-speech, not a human reader | Listen |
Affiliate links, including the Audible ones. They cost you nothing extra. Our own audiobook of The Apostolic Fathers stays free either way.
The editions described as the most readable are Michael W. Holmes (2006), Maxwell Staniforth, revised by Andrew Louth (1987). Their published descriptions emphasise pace and plain modern idiom rather than strict line-by-line fidelity, which is what makes them easier on a first pass.
The editions noted for fidelity to the source are Bart D. Ehrman (2003) - described as literal, close to the received text, or annotated line by line.
The most frequently recommended are Michael W. Holmes (2007), Michael W. Holmes (2006). "Most recommended" is not the same as "best for you": a scholarly standard and an easy first read are different books, and the table on this page shows which is which.
There are 4 commercial recordings. They differ mainly in which translation is being read and whether it is a single narrator or a full cast: William Sarris reads Michael W. Holmes; Mel Jackson reads J. B. Lightfoot and Charles Hoole. A complete free audiobook of our own translation is also on this site.
Yes. Scriptorium Press publishes a complete new plain-English translation of The Apostolic Fathers free to read, with a complete free audiobook, no account and no paywall - 34 works in this volume.