Editor's Note:  After the Apostles' passed away, there emerged new leaders to guide the Church through their pastoring and teaching. These subsequent early generations of leaders are commonly referred to as the Patriarchs of the early church. Their writings help to illustrate how the Church's teaching continued and evolved from those of Christ and the apostles contained in the Scriptures. The excerpts in this subsection focus particularly on the Gospel message of freedom from sin through faith in Christ. 

If you know of other texts that might be helpful to include, please contact the editor.