Library › Hippolytus of Rome

Apostolic Tradition

Traditio apostolica

Written about 215, by tradition in Roma (now Rome, Italy). The date comes from church tradition; history cannot confirm it.

A church manual with the oldest full prayers for ordination, baptism and the Eucharist.

Church order · first written in Greek (lost; known from Latin, Coptic, Arabic and Ethiopic versions) · a major work

The link to Hippolytus is disputed.

Not yet on the site. An English translation of this work exists, but we are not yet sure that it is in the public domain, or its text is not yet made ready. So it is not shown.

How we know the date and place

Date written by tradition

The usual date, from the link to Hippolytus; Bradshaw, Johnson and Phillips (The Apostolic Tradition, Hermeneia 2002) see a text that grew from the second to the fourth century

Place written by tradition

The link to Rome depends on the link to Hippolytus, which is disputed (Bradshaw 2002)