It does not appear from the New Testament that any of the writers held a commission to close the Christian canon neither on the one hand, Paul-as would, independently of date, be very improperly inferred from Col. 1:25-nor on the other, John; though in his case there is more semblance of finality. (Rev. 22:18,19.) We pass on to the generation of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna, generally called " Apostolic Fathers," as being each a link between the apostles and those Christian leaders of later epochs, who have been dignified with the simpler title of " Fathers."