Shepherd of Hermas — "Early Christian Text"

The Plymouth Brethren deny canonical status to the Shepherd of Hermas, a second-century Christian allegory and moral exhortation that was sometimes cited by early church fathers and included in certain early biblical manuscripts. Despite its historical importance and spiritual value, the Brethren recognize it as post-apostolic—written generations after the apostles—and therefore outside the canon of Scripture. The Brethren commitment to sola scriptura necessitates a sharp distinction between apostolic witness and subsequent ecclesiastical tradition, no matter how edifying the latter may be.

The authority of Scripture rests on apostolic authorship or apostolic authorization; works by second-generation believers, however spiritually sensitive, do not carry the same binding authority over the church. The Shepherd of Hermas, attributed to a figure mentioned in Romans 16:14, was composed in Rome in the early second century and reflects the concerns and theology of that era, but not the direct teaching of Christ through the apostles. Some Brethren have valued it as devotional reading, much as they read other historical Christian writings, but they maintain firm boundaries between what belongs to the canon and what merely deserves respect as part of Christian heritage. This canonical rigor ensures that the church's doctrine and practice rest on the apostolic foundation, not on post-apostolic elaborations.