Publisher's Synopsis
The Analytical-Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (ALT) is translated by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org). The ALT consists of seven volumes. They are. Volume I - The Old Testament: The Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) Volume II - The Old Testament: The Historical Books (Joshua to Esther) Volume III - The Old Testament: The Poetic Books (Job to Song of Solomon) Volume IV - The Old Testament: The Prophetic Books (Isaiah to Malachi) Volume V - The Apocryphal/ Deuterocanonical Books Volume VI - The New Testament Volume VII - The Apostolic Fathers This Volume VII of the ALT contains the Apostolic Fathers (APF). These are the writings of Church leaders of the late first to mid-second centuries, most of whom were direct disciples of the apostles. Some of these books were seriously considered for inclusion in the canon of the NT. These are marked with an asterisk on the Table of Contents. They were ultimately rejected for the canon, but all of these APF books were popular in the early centuries of the Church. They give insight into the mindset of the early Church shortly after the apostles and provide background to the NT. As such, they are very much worth reading. However, most Christians today are unaware of these APF books, and there are only a few English translations of the Greek language they were originally written in. To remedy these deficits, this Analytical-Literal Translation of the Apostolic Fathers is being presented to the English-speaking Christian public in hopes it will enrich understanding of the NT and of the time immediately after the apostles. The purpose of the ALT is to provide a translation of these APF books that will enable the English reader to come as close to the Greek texts as possible without having to be proficient in Greek. For background and in-depth discussions of the canonicity of all of these books, see the translator's three volume set, "Why Are These Books in the Bible and Not Others?"
