Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood, and being attached to one another, joined together in the truth, exhibiting the meekness of the Lord in your intercourse with one another, and despising no one. When you can do good, defer it not, because "alms delivers from death." Be all of you subject one to another, "having your conduct blameless among the Gentiles," that ye may both receive praise for your good works, and the Lord may not be blasphemed through you. But woe to him by whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed! Teach, therefore, sobriety to all, and manifest it also in your own conduct.
St. Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians (first half of the second century)
Strictly speaking, the Letter to the Philippians is less a letter than a treatise on virtue. The other extant texts associated with Polycarp are (1) the Letter from the Church of Smyrna on the Martyrdom of Polycarp, which was written probably in the third quarter of the second century, assuming that the traditional date for Polycarp's death (155/156) is more or less right; and (2) the earlier Letter to Polycarp from Ignatius of Antioch (St. Ignatius was martyred in the first quarter of the second century). As with all ancient texts, our certainty that these are genuine and dated properly is less than perfect; but while the evidence is very limited, it tends to favor authenticity and the traditional dates, thus making texts like these important for understanding something of the beliefs and interactions of second-century Christian communities. Plus, as I've said before, I think there is good reason to think the Letter to the Philippians, as well as the Clementine and Ignatian letters, to be inspired (albeit not in a canonical way -- canonical inspiration has to do with the way the Church is inspired to use the text).
