Papias (Greek: Παπίας) was an Apostolic Father, Bishop of Hierapolis (modern Pamukkale, Turkey), and author who lived circa 70–163 AD. It was Papias who wrote the Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord (Greek: Λογίων Κυριακῶν Ἐξήγησις) in five books.
This work, which is lost apart from brief excerpts of Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. 180 AD) and Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 320 AD), is an important early source on Christian oral tradition and especially on the origins of the canonical Gospels.
Very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as “an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp” by Polycarp’s disciple Irenaeus (c. 180).
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Keywords: Papias of Hierapolis, Papias, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Ante-Nicene, anti-nicene, Ante-Nicean, anti-nicean, before Nicene, Before Nicean, Before Nicean creed, Nicean creed, Nicene creed, Before Nicene creed, Early church, Early christianity, Prenicene, Pre-nicene, Pre-nicean, Prenicean, early church father, Apostolic Age, Before Nicea, Before Nicaea, Church Father, Apostolic Fathers, anti-nicene fathers, anti-nicean fathers, Apostolic Church, Apostolic church father
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