Papias (c. 60–130)

One of the Apostolic Fathers of the early Christian church. He was the bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia. He is chiefly important for three statements in the surviving fragments of his Account of the Sayings of the Lord: the first reference states that ‘Mark, having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered, but without recording in order what was said or done by Christ’; the second reference is to Matthew; and the third is his reference to John the Presbyter, apparently as distinct from John the disciple.