Papias of Hierapolis

About Papias of Hierapolis

Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis and an important early Christian writer who knew people who had known the apostles. Writing around 110-140 AD, his five-volume work "Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord" is mostly lost, but fragments preserved by later writers provide valuable information about Gospel origins. Papias stated that Mark wrote down Peter's preaching, and Matthew compiled Jesus's sayings in Hebrew. He preferred oral tradition from those who knew the apostles to written accounts. Though his millenarian views later fell out of favor, Papias's testimony about Gospel authorship and his connection to the apostolic age make him a crucial early witness.