The Apostles whom Jesus chose fulfilled a central role as unique witnesses to the world of his resurrection from the dead. The first Apostle to die was James the brother of John in the year 44; the last to die was John around the year 100. During this time, the "baton" was passed from the Apostles, like Peter, John and Paul, to the next generation of Christian leaders. Ephesus was the place that Paul had "handed over" leadership of the church, and also the place where John was the last Apostle to die, and thus represents the first stage in post-Apostolic church history. The first generation of post-Apostolic writers were called the Apostolic Men or Apostolic Fathers. They included Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna (see below) and Papias of Hierapolis. Many of these were men who had been discipled by the Apostles. In Polycarp’s case, he had been discipled by John the Apostle at Ephesus. Besides these individuals, there are also a number of tex...