Do any denominations consider the writings of any Apostolic or ante-Nicene Father to be inspired and authoritative to establish doctrines? If so, what criteria are used to make such a determination?
1 Answer
Yes, the Coptic Orthodox Church considers 1 & 2 Clement part of the canon of scripture.
The Ethiopic Orthodox Church has a slightly more complicated relationship with 1 & 2 Clement (see here); at the very least, portions of the Clementine writings are included in the Ethiopic New Testament.
A summary of New Testament canons by denomination is available here
The Coptic Diocese of Los Angeles makes the following statement on its website regarding the canonization of scripture (after offering a review of the relevant history and councils):
In other words, the mechanism used by the Holy Spirit to make His will known was through the Council of the Church leaders. This was the understanding of the early Church from the time of James letter to the gentiles all the way until the protestant reformers, a church span of some 1500 years. It is also the mechanism used to canonize scripture: The Holy Spirit descended upon and acted through the Councils to enable the Church to authorize Her Scriptures.
Those who believe in a sola scriptura position are in a hopeless quandary: If one doesn’t trust in the Authority of the Holy Spirit acting through Church Council, then one has no assurance that the Bible contains all the scriptures!
The authenticity of 1 Clement (i.e. it was written by Clement of Rome) was demonstrated immeasurably well by JB Lightfoot (see here), and is generally held to have been written about AD 96. For a well-written minority view, that it was written by Clement in AD 70, see Edmundson's work here.
The authenticity of 2 Clement is greatly disputed (source).
answered Mar 23, 2022 at 2:38
