Apostolic Fathers - I added a link ("Apostolic Fathers") to a handy online set of texts of the Apostolic Fathers, Christian leaders of the early second century who had direct ties to the apostles and who therefore had a sound claim to legitimacy. Clement of Rome, Polycarp, and Ignatius are in this group. More generally, the term "Apostolic Fathers" also covers documents without clearly identified authors, such as the Epistle of Barnabus, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Didache (or Teachings of the Twelve Apostles), that were regarded as orthodox documents by Christian leaders of the second and third centuries.
I added a second link ("Christian Writings") which contains a more extensive collection. The Didache, the text of which was not discovered until the late 19th century, is especially interesting as illustrating the transition from the era of roaming apostles, prophets, and teachers to congregational leadership by bishops, elders, and deacons.
Crossan relies heavily on the Didache in The Birth of Christianity, his controversial reconstruction of early Christianity, discussed briefly in a review of the Didache here.
10:36:20 AM 
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