The Career of the Prophet Hermas Author:William J. Wilson The identity of Hermas is not provided in detail in any literature of the early church. He is generally considered to be the author of the Shepherd, a Christian allegory belonging to the sub-Apostolic age. From this work, it may be ascertained that he was married and had grown sons. He was not a young man when his work was published, but it is q... more »uite possible that it was written over a forty-year period. During this time he seems to have become an ascetic; whether this was the result of conversion or a later change in his practice is unknown. Hermas claims to be a contemporary of Clement, who died in 101 C.E.; however, the Muratorian Canon asserts that he was the brother of Pius, bishop of Rome, who died in 154 C.E. What seems certain is that the Shepherd was a persecution document, perhaps written under Domitian and continued through successive emperors. As a composite document it reflects life in the Roman community after the death of the eyewitnesses to Jesus, y! et before the arrival of the great apologists. In one of a few scholarly attempts to reconstruct the life and character of Hermas, William J. Wilson provides an insight into his identity. While convinced that Hermas was not a great man, and certainly not a theologian, he was able to compose an allegory using a prophetic voice. The several reminders to his readers that the final tribulation is close at hand reflect the intensity of the apocalyptic literature of his day. During the same period, the two principal apocalypses were written-those of John and Peter. Wilson portrays Hermas as a devout, but not fully aware, man of faith. Many of the views he held are inconsistent with those maintained in other quarters of the church. What the Shepherd conveys is a simple message of rewards and punishments, and being a righteous man the writer was persuaded that recompense is experienced in this age as well as in the age to come. Although his work was not on par with scripture, it was popular and appealing to early believers. Becaus! e of this, it almost found its way into the New Testament.« less