Papias may be one of the most important church fathers that you have never heard of. Unlike other fathers, we only have short fragments of his works quoted by later authors.
Papias was the bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor. He was active in the second century, although he was born in the first.
Other writers tell us that he personally knew the Apostle John. He is best known for his work, An Interpretation of the Sayings of the Lord. Sadly this work is lost to us. It shared traditions about early Christianity, including the origins of the Gospels.
Here is a passage from Papias that has survived in the writings of Eusebius:
“But I shall not regret to subjoin to my interpretations, also, for your benefit, whatsoever I have at any time accurately ascertained and treasured up in my memory as I have received it from the elders, and have recorded it in order to give additional confirmation to the truth by my testimony. For I have never, like many, delighted to hear those that tell many things, but those that teach the truth; neither those that record foreign precepts, hut those that are given from the Lord to our faith, and that came from the truth itself. But, if I met with any one who had been a follower of the elders anywhere, I made it a point to inquire what were the declarations of the elders; what was said by Andre\v, Peter, or Philip; what by Thomas, James, John, Matthew, or any other of the disciples of our Lord; what was said by Aristion and the presbyter John, disciples of the Lord. For I do not think that I derived so much benefit from books as from the living voice of those that are still surviving.”
