The Shepherd of Hermas is part of the tradition IMHO. Throughout the text, the narrator writes how he used fasting and prayers before receiving the visions and insights provided to him:
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/t ... pherd.html
Fifteen days after, when I had fasted and prayed much to the Lord, the knowledge of the writing was revealed to me...
The vision which I saw, my brethren, was of the following nature. Having fasted frequently, and having prayed to the Lord that He would show me the revelation which He promised to show me through that old woman...
Then I see the old woman in a vision of the night saying unto me: "Every prayer should be accompanied with humility: fast, therefore, and you will obtain from the Lord what you beg." I fasted therefore for one day.
The vision which I saw, my brethren, was of the following nature. Having fasted frequently, and having prayed to the Lord that He would show me the revelation which He promised to show me through that old woman...
Then I see the old woman in a vision of the night saying unto me: "Every prayer should be accompanied with humility: fast, therefore, and you will obtain from the Lord what you beg." I fasted therefore for one day.
The Shepherd of Hermas seems to have been written around 140-170 CE. It was so popular that it was almost considered canon. The author is traditionally ascribed to the brother of the Pope at the time, though that is doubtful.
The text describes a series of visions by the narrator. They are very abstract, but fortunately he has guides throughout that explain the meanings. The first guide, an old woman, turns out to be the Church/Bible. The words "Jesus" or "Christ" aren't mentioned in the text, though at one point the narrator meets up with "the shepherd" who is some kind of angelic stand-in:
After I had been praying at home, and had sat down on my couch, there entered a man of glorious aspect, dressed like a shepherd, with a white goat's skin, a wallet on his shoulders, and a rod in his hand, and saluted me. I returned his salutation. And straightway he sat down beside me, and said to me, "I have been sent by a most venerable angel to dwell with you the remaining days of your life." And I thought that he had come to tempt me, and I said to him, "Who are you? For I know him to whom I have been entrusted." He said to me, "Do you not know me?" "No," said I. "I," said he, "am that shepherd to whom you have been entrusted."
The shepherd requests the narrator to make note of commandments, which range from the standard: "be simple and guileless", "love the truth", "guard your chastity", then go on to be about loving God and more metaphysical in nature. There is a lot of discussion around them.
What is interesting is that there is no talk of Jerusalem, Jews, Christians; no references to Scriptures and Gospels; no naming of "Jesus" or "Christ". The narrator does refer to "the Son of God" a few times:
"Hear," he answered: "the Son of God is not in the form of a slave, but in great power and might." "How so, sir?" I said; "I do not understand." "Because," he answered, "God planted the vineyard, that is to say, He created the people, and gave them to His Son; and the Son appointed His angels over them to keep them; and He Himself purged away their sins, having suffered many trials and undergone many labours, for no one is able to dig without labour and toil. He Himself, then, having purged away the sins of the people, showed them the paths of life by giving them the law which He received from His Father.
That this is a Christian text, though, seems beyond doubt, since it describes the work of "apostles" and hints at the use of baptism. Furthermore, the apostles apparently have always been in agreement with each other!:
Those square white stones which fitted exactly into each other, are apostles, bishops, teachers, and deacons, who have lived in godly purity, and have acted as bishops and teachers and deacons chastely and reverently to the elect of God. Some of them have fallen asleep, and some still remain alive. And they have always agreed with each other, and been at peace among themselves, and listened to each other. On account of this, they join exactly into the building of the tower."
...
... these apostles and teachers who preached the name of the Son of God, after falling asleep in the power and faith of the Son of God, preached it not only to those who were asleep, but themselves also gave them the seal of the preaching. Accordingly they descended with them into the water, and again ascended... By these, then, were they quickened and made to know the name of the Son of God.
...
... these apostles and teachers who preached the name of the Son of God, after falling asleep in the power and faith of the Son of God, preached it not only to those who were asleep, but themselves also gave them the seal of the preaching. Accordingly they descended with them into the water, and again ascended... By these, then, were they quickened and made to know the name of the Son of God.
This is a long text, and frankly I found it a little boring since it cycles through "allegorical vision --> explanation" many times. Often the point seems to be about how the church represents the work of Christ in a time after Christ had been expected to return and end the world. But it is an interesting insight into the metaphysical development of the early church. The contents are quite different to what's found in the Church Fathers and early Christian literature generally. It makes me wonder how it was used in churches of the time. Perhaps it was written as a competitor to gnostic ideas, though not directly. There is no reference to Hebrew scriptures, ancient texts nor to Greek philosophers, the presence of which one of them is a feature in most early Christian texts.