Product Review

Apostolic Tradition, as this text is best known, was identified in the early years of the twentieth century as the work of Hippolytus, a Christian leader from third-century Rome. The text provides liturgical information of great antiquity, and as such has been massively influential on liturgical study and reform, especially in western churches.

Nonetheless, there have been a number of problems surrounding the text. The attribution to Hippolytus has never been universally accepted; much of the text remained obscure, published without commentary; finally, no adequate English version has been published since 1937. On the Apostolic Tradition seeks to solve these problems. The introduction brings the debate concerning authorship to a new level while the rest of the text is accompanied by lucid commentary. Together with a fresh translation, the book brings light to formerly obscure passages, clears critical impasses and provides new discoveries. It is a significant and important piece of research, enlightening and eminently readable.

Alistair Stewart-Sykes is a leading scholar of Christian liturgical origins. The author of numerous books and articles on early Christianity and its liturgy, he had retired from teaching and is a vicar in the Diocese of Salisbury, England.

On the Apostolic Tradition is part of the POPULAR PATRISTIC SERIES.