Introduction

From its original composition and wide distribution in the early second century, the Shepherd of Hermas has both puzzled and intrigued readers with its strange images, surprising language, and challenging rhetoric.

Today, both critical and confessional scholars struggle with placing its message in its original historical-theological context while lay readers find the work to be riddled with countless puzzles.

Purpose of the Volume

To help dispel some of the mystery and misunderstandings concerning the Shepherd of Hermas, this volume offers a new lucid translation that recreates the original colloquial tone of the work.

Accompanying the translation is a commentary that unpacks the meanings of the ancient text.

Alongside these, a number of introductions focus on matters of date, authorship, genre, theological and practical content, and the writing's relationship to other ancient literature.