A mystical blend of parable, penitence, and prophetic vision, the Shepherd of Hermas straddles the threshold between apostolic piety and early Catholic consciousness, offering the church a mirror of its own moral struggle and a glimpse of its eschatological destiny. Though marred by literary crudity, the work exudes spiritual earnestness and commands a remarkable legacy in the development of Christian doctrine and ecclesiastical identity.
Editions
The publication history of The Shepherd of Hermas reflects the fragmentary nature of early Christian transmission and the arduous path of textual recovery. The earliest known edition was an incomplete Latin version printed by Faber Stapulensis in Paris (1513), drawn from a defective manuscript tradition. Subsequently, more Latin manuscripts surfaced, gradually enriching the textual witness.
The recovery of the Greek text proved pivotal. In 1856, R. Anger published a Greek manuscript brought from Mt. Athos by the controversial Constantine Simonides, known as Codex Lipsiensis. Anger’s edition was prefaced by G. Dindorf. Shortly after, Constantin von Tischendorf included it in Dressel’s Patres Apostolici (Lipsiae, 1857), and revised it further in the second edition of 1863. There, Tischendorf withdrew his prior suspicion—aroused before the discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus—that the Athonite Greek was merely a medieval translation from the Latin. The Greek Poimēn Horasis (“Shepherd Vision”) was subsequently printed in volume IV of the Codex Sinaiticus edition (pp. 142–148, 1862), revealing substantial agreement with the Athos manuscript.
An Ethiopic version emerged in Leipzig in 1860, edited and translated into Latin by Ant. d’Abbadie. Critical engagement followed swiftly: Dillmann contributed to the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft (1861), while Schodde’s Hêarmâ Nabî (Leipzig, 1876) examined the Ethiopian version in depth—a work critiqued by Harnack (“Theol. Lit. Zeitung,” 1877).
In 1877, O. von Gebhardt and Adolf Harnack produced a scrupulous edition in Patrum Apostolicorum Opera, Fascicle III (Leipzig), based chiefly on the Sinaitic manuscript. Their recension, supported by extensive Prolegomena and Harnack’s critical commentary, remains foundational. Likewise, Hilgenfeld’s editions (1881 and 1887), deriving from both Athos and Sinai, contributed substantially to textual refinement and interpretive framing.
Among English translations, notable versions include Wake’s (1693, from Latin), Crombie’s (1867, from the Greek Sinaitic), Hoole’s (1870, from Hilgenfeld’s 1866 edition), and Robinson’s (1888).
Essays and Monographs
Scholarly interpretation of Hermas has yielded a rich body of secondary literature:
- Jachmann’s Der Hirte der Hermas (1835) and Gaâb’s Der Hirte des Hermas (1866) laid early groundwork.
- Theodor Zahn’s Der Hirt des Hermas (1868) offered rigorous analysis, paired with a penetrating review of Gaâb in Studien und Kritiken.
- Charles Hoole’s 1870 translation, enriched by introductions and annotations, made the text accessible to English readers.
- Other notable contributions include Heyne’s inquiry into the date of authorship (1872), Donaldson’s extended treatment in The Apostolical Fathers (1874), Behm’s critical exploration of authorship (1876), and Brüll’s investigations into origins and content (1882).
- Link’s studies on the christological themes and structural unity of the work (1886, 1888), and Baumgärtner’s mediating view of single authorship over time (1889), continue to inform scholarly consensus.
I. The Shepherd of Hermas: Nature and Literary Form
Bearing the name of its author, Hermas, this singular work derives its title from the figure of the angel of repentance, who appears in the garb of a shepherd. Unlike any other text among the Apostolic Fathers, The Shepherd adopts a dramatic and allegorical format, akin to an apocalyptic romance or visionary novel. As the oldest extant Christian allegory, it resembles a primitive Pilgrim’s Progress, a sacred fiction wrought in the forge of penitential imagination. Though crude by literary standards, it captivated the early Church through its vivid imagery and moral urgency.
For centuries, only a clumsy Latin version was known, until the Greek originals—from Mount Athos and the Codex Sinaiticus—emerged in the mid-nineteenth century, validating its ancient roots and restoring much of its original tone.
II. Character and Contents
The Pastor Hermae is fundamentally a manual of Christian ethics veiled in symbolic visions. Its aim is penitence, renewal, and readiness for the impending judgment. It divides into three major books:
- Visions: Four revelatory episodes where the Church appears first as a matron with a book, then a tower under construction, and finally a virgin. These represent the call to repentance, which is possible only while the tower remains unfinished.
- Mandates: Twelve moral commandments delivered by a celestial shepherd, calling for holiness, truth, and spiritual vigilance.
- Similitudes: Ten parables portraying the Church as a building and virtues as living stones and trees. These allegories echo the Gospel parables but lack their elegance and profundity.
Set in the environs of Rome, Hermas references the Tiber but omits imperial life or Greco-Roman literary allusions. Figures include Hermas himself, Clement, Grapte, an old lady, virgins, and angels.
The book is repetitive and prosaic, its literary execution uninspired. Yet its spirit is sincere. Hermas was a layman of humble origins, ignorant of classical refinement but gifted with an earnest pastoral instinct. He finds divine parables in sheepfolds, vineyards, and village life. His visions, though naive, are suffused with heartfelt piety.
A representative excerpt from the First Vision reveals both the tenderness and theological direction of the text, blending personal guilt with divine exhortation. Hermas recalls a youthful affection for Rhoda, which leads to a vision of accusation, heavenly revelation, and a stirring call to amend his life and guide his household.
III. Theology
The theology of Hermas is not systematic but moralistic. He offers no speculation, avoids technical theology, and rarely speaks of Christ. Faith, while central, is reduced to ethical conviction rather than Pauline justification. The book reflects legalism and asceticism more than grace and gospel. Martyrdom is extolled as atoning. Christ appears as the “Son of God,” divine and pre-existent, but without narrative or redemptive centrality.
Despite this, Hermas remains within the bounds of early Catholic orthodoxy. He reveres the Church as the primordial creation of God—aged, yet ever renewed. His ecclesiology is lofty, his theology simple. He affirms water baptism as essential, even for Old Testament saints, but curiously omits the Eucharist. The exclusive salvific role of the Church is assumed throughout.
Hermas’ angelology, drawing heavily from Jewish apocalyptic sources like Enoch and Eldad and Medad, is elaborate. Angels supervise repentance, virtue, and even animals. The twelve virtues appear as virgins; twelve vices as unclean spirits. Every person is torn between opposing spiritual forces.
IV. Relation to Scripture
Uniquely among the Apostolic Fathers, Hermas never quotes the Old Testament or the words of Christ. This silence likely stems from his prophetic style, which claims direct revelation. Nonetheless, allusions suggest familiarity with James, Ephesians, and the Gospel of Mark. He does not mention Paul or the apostles, but this is not to be construed as anti-Pauline, any more than in the case of Justin Martyr.
V. Relation to Montanism
Though sharing Montanism’s emphasis on prophecy and rigorous discipline, Hermas predates it by several decades and does not fall into its schismatic extremism. He allows second repentance and marriage, albeit reluctantly, before the imminent return of the Lord. Tertullian later dismissed him for this leniency.
VI. Authorship and Date
Scholars propose six theories on authorship:
(a) Hermas was the individual greeted by Paul in Romans 16:14. (b) He was a contemporary of Clement of Rome (c. 92–101), supported by internal evidence. (c) He was the brother of Pope Pius I (c. 140), per the Muratorian Canon. (d) The work was composed in stages by multiple authors between Trajan (c. 112) and Pius (140). (e) Hermas was a pseudonym to lend authority. (f) A spurious claim in the Ethiopic version ascribes authorship to Paul himself.
The second theory, combined with the first, remains most plausible. Hermas refers to Clement as his contemporary, and writes as an aged man. The text reveals that he had suffered familial disgrace, business failure, and spiritual awakening. He had once been a slave, sold to a Christian woman named Rhoda in Rome. His Greek style suggests a Gentile or Hellenized Jew, possibly Egyptian in background. His theology and silence on the Old Testament lean toward Gentile origin.
The book lacks hierarchical terminology and reflects a fluid ecclesial structure where presbyters and bishops are indistinct. The Roman Church, while seen as corrupt, is still redeemable. The esteem in which Hermas was held by Irenaeus and others confirms its early composition.
VII. Authority and Reception
No post-apostolic Christian work has experienced such a dramatic shift in reputation. In the early centuries, The Shepherd was revered as divinely inspired. It was read in churches, quoted by Irenaeus as Scripture, and appended to the Codex Sinaiticus. The Alexandrian fathers, with their mystical bent, praised it unreservedly.
Yet by the fourth century, Eusebius categorized it as spurious, though orthodox; Athanasius relegated it to catechetical reading. In the Latin West, it never achieved similar stature. The Muratorian Canon deemed it apocryphal. Tertullian, now a Montanist, mocked it as the “Pastor of adulterers” for its leniency on second marriages. Jerome oscillated in his judgment, sometimes respectful, sometimes dismissive. Ambrose and Augustine ignored it altogether. Pope Gelasius condemned it in his canonical decree (c. 500), and it vanished from ecclesiastical reading until the nineteenth-century rediscovery of its Greek text.
VIII. Later Judgments
Modern scholars have offered starkly contrasting appraisals:
- Mosheim derided the celestial dialogues of Hermas as more inane than contemporary barbershop chatter.
- Niebuhr, as quoted by Bunsen, pitied the Christians forced to hear such readings in public worship.
- Bunsen considered it a well-meant but clumsy religious romance.
Conversely:
- Irvingite scholars (e.g., Thiersch and Gaâb) defended its visionary authenticity.
- Westcott praised its value in illustrating early Judaizing influences.
- Donaldson saw it as the first Christian text to direct the soul toward God, emphasizing moral conversion.
- George A. Jackson expressed near admiration for the book, given the moral degradation it confronted.
- Hoole likened its rough beauty to the naive piety of catacomb art.
- Salmon compared Hermas to Savonarola: a lay prophet grieved by a corrupt church, warning of judgment, yet hopeful of repentance.
Hermas may no longer inspire devotion, but as a mirror of early Christian conscience, it still speaks to the moral imagination of the Church.
