The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian literary work held in high esteem by Christians in the early Church.   Early Christian writers such as Origen of Alexandria identified the author as Hermas of Dalmatia, who is mentioned in Romans 16:14.  Several ancient witnesses support an early dating and there is internal evidence for an early date in the language and theology of the work. The reference to an unknown Clement is presumed to be Clement of Rome, which would suggest a date c. 90 A.D.

The Muratorian fragment (a list written c. 170 AD that may be the earliest known canon of New Testament writings) identifies Hermas, the author of The Shepherd, as the brother of Pope Pius I, bishop of Rome, whose pontificate was not earlier than 140–155 AD.  This has led many scholars to date the Shepherd to late second century, although the reliability of the Muratorian fragments claim has been called into question by scholars as it seems to contradict most of the internal evidence within the Shepherd.  It would also seem to contradict the tendency of early Christians to consider The Shepherd to be written during Apostolic times, as it was considered canonical scripture by some of the early Church fathers such as Irenaeus.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons describes it as “Scripture” in his work, Against Heresies 4:20:2. Around 200 A.D., Clement of Alexandria repeatedly used the work and said it was written “by divine inspiration” (Stromateis 1:29:181:1). Origen of Alexandria also refers to it as Scripture, though he said it was “not acknowledged by all to be divine” (Commentary on Matthew 14:21).  Origen cites ‘the Shepherd’ at least three separate times in ‘First Principles’.  Tertullian implies that Pope Callixtus I had quoted it as an authority, although not as Scripture, for he says: “I would admit your argument, if the writing of The Shepherd had deserved to be included in the Divine Instrument, and if it were not judged by every council of the Churches, even of your own Churches, among the apocryphal.” And again, he says that the Epistle of Barnabas, which is Tertullian’s name for the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews, is “more received among the Churches than the apocryphal epistle of the Shepherd”. The Shepherd was very popular amongst Christians in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries and it is included in the Codex Sinaiticus as well as being listed between the Acts of the Apostles and the Acts of Paul in the Codex Claromontanus.