This study is concerned with this question: should Polycarp be viewed as a student of the apostle John, as was the view throughout church history, or does he stand more in the tradition of the apostle Paul, as what seems the case simply by reading the letter Polycarp himself wrote?

This article on church history looks at the church from the West and East with attention given to: the apostolic fathers - Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp; the apologists - Justin Martyr and Tertullian; and the polemicists - Irenaeus, Cyprian, and Origen.

This article is about Polycarp (born about 69 A.D.), elder and minister in Smirna.