The Didache (Koine Greek: Διδαχὴ, Didachē, meaning
"Teaching"[1]; IPA:
/ˈdɪdəkiː/ in English, IPA: [ðiðaˈxi] in Modern Greek) is the common name of
a brief early Christian treatise (dated to any
point in the first three Christian centuries), containing instructions for Christian communities. The text is possibly the first
written catechism, with three main sections dealing with Christian lessons, rituals such as
baptism and eucharist, and Church
organization. It was considered by some of the Church Fathers as part of the
New Testament[2] but
rejected as spurious by others,[3] eventually not accepted into the New
Testament canon with the exception of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church "broader canon". The Roman Catholic Church has accepted it as part
of the collection of Apostolic Fathers.
Discovery
Considered lost, the Didache was rediscovered in 1873 , and published ten years later by Philotheos Bryennios, a Greek Orthodox
metropolitan bishop of Nicomedia, in the Greek
Codex Hierosolymitanus written in 1053, from which he had already published the
full text of the Epistles of Clement in 1875.
Shortly after Bryennios' initial publication, the scholar Otto von Gebhardt
identified a Latin manuscript in the Abbey of Melk in Austria as containing a translation of the first part of the Didache; later scholars now believe that to
be an independent witness to the tradition of the Two Ways section (see below). Dr. J. Schlecht found in 1900 another
Latin translation of chapters 1 through 5, with the longer title, omitting "twelve", and with the rubric De doctrina
Apostolorum. Coptic and Ethiopian translations have also been discovered since Bryennios' original publication.
Date of composition
Some commentators argue for a date of effective origin as early as around 70 or soon thereafter,[4] and others as late as the later 2nd century[5] or even the 3rd century.[6] There is no question it was known by the third century, but most scholars have chosen to accept 100
to 120.
Early references
The Didache is mentioned by Eusebius (c. 324) as the Teachings
of the Apostles following the books recognized as canonical (Historia
Ecclesiastica III, 25):
- "Let there be placed among the spurious works the Acts of Paul, the so-called
Shepherd and the Apocalypse of
Peter, and besides these the Epistle of Barnabas, and what are
called the Teachings of the Apostles, and also the Apocalypse of John,
if this be thought proper; for as I wrote before, some reject it, and others place it in the canon."
Athanasius (367) and Rufinus
(c. 380) list the Didache among Deuterocanonical books. (Rufinus
gives the curious alternative title Judicium Petri, "Judgment of Peter".) It is rejected by Nicephorus (c. 810), Pseudo-Anastasius, and Pseudo-Athanasius in
Synopsis and the 60 Books canon. It is accepted by the Apostolic Constitutions Canon 85, John of Damascus and the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church. The Adversus Aleatores by an imitator of Cyprian quotes it by name.
Unacknowledged citations are very common, if less certain. The section Two Ways shares the same language with the
Epistle of Barnabas, chapters 18-20, sometimes word for word, sometimes added
to, dislocated, or abridged, and Barnabas iv, 9 either derives from Didache, 16, 2-3, or vice versa. The
Shepherd of Hermas seems to reflect it, and Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen also seem to use the work, and so in the West do Optatus and the Gesta
apud Zenophilum. The Didascalia Apostolorum are founded upon the
Didache. The Apostolic Church-Ordinances has used a part, the
Apostolic Constitutions have embodied the Didascalia. There are echoes in Justin Martyr,
Tatian, Theophilus of Antioch, Cyprian, and Lactantius.
Contents
The contents may be divided into four parts, which most scholars agree were combined from separate sources by a later
redactor: the first is the Two Ways, the Way of Life and the Way of Death (chapters
1-6); the second part is a ritual dealing with baptism, fasting, and Communion (chapters 7-10); the third speaks of the ministry and how to deal with traveling prophets (chapters
11-15); and the final section (chapter 16) is a brief apocalypse.
Title
While the manuscript is commonly referred to as the Didache, this is short for the header found on the document and the title
used by the Church Fathers, "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" (Διδαχὴ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων,
Didachē tōn dōdeka apostolōn). A fuller title or subtitle is also found next in the manuscript, "The Teaching of the Lord
to the Gentiles[7] by the Twelve Apostles" (Διδαχὴ κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, Didachē kyriou dia tōn dōdeka apostolōn tois
ethnesin).
The Two Ways
The first section (Chapters 1-6) begins: "There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great
difference between these two ways."[8] It is thought
by many scholars to be taken from an existing Jewish tract of the same name, but with significant alterations, as the
Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906, notes:
- The most acceptable theory among the many proposed on the character and composition of the Didache is that proposed by
Charles Taylor in 1886, and accepted in 1895 by A. Harnack (who in 1884 had most vigorously maintained its Christian origin) — that the first part of
the Didache, the teaching concerning the Two Ways (Didache, ch. i.-vi.), was originally a manual of
instruction used for the initiation of proselytes in the Synagogue, and was converted later
into a Christian manual and ascribed to Jesus and the Apostles.[9]
The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913, notes this view as well, and presents the
perspective of other scholars:
- It is held by very many critics that the Two Ways is older than the rest of the Didache, and is in origin a Jewish
work, intended for the instruction of proselytes. The use of the Sibylline Oracles and
other Jewish sources may be probable, and the agreement of ch. ii with the Talmud may be certain;
but on the other hand Funk has shown that (apart from the admittedly Christian ch. i, 3-6, and the occasional citations of the
N.T.) the O.T. is often not quoted directly, but from the Gospels. Bartlet suggests an oral Jewish catechesis as the source. But
the use of such material would surprise us in one whose name for the Jews is "the hypocrites", and in the vehemently anti-Jewish
Barnabas still more. The whole base of this theory is destroyed by the fact that the rest of the work, vii-xvi, though wholly
Christian in its subject-matter, has an equally remarkable agreement with the Talmud in cc. ix and x. Beyond doubt we must look
upon the writer as living at a very early period when Jewish influence was still important in the Church. He warns Christians not
to fast with the Jews or pray with them; yet the two fasts and the three times of prayer are modelled on Jewish custom. Similarly
the prophets stand in the place of the High Priest.[10]
The more recent Apostolic Fathers, 2nd ed., Lightfoot-Harmer-Holmes, 1992,
notes:
- The Two Ways material appears to have been intended, in light of 7.1, as a summary of basic instruction about the
Christian life to be taught to those who were preparing for baptism and church membership. In its present form it represents the
Christianization of a common Jewish form of moral instruction. Similar material is
found in a number of other Christian writings from the first through about the fifth centuries, including the Epistle of
Barnabas, the Didascalia, the Apostolic Church Ordinances, the Summary of Doctrine, the Apostolic
Constitutions, the Life of Schnudi, and On the Teaching of the Apostles (or Doctrina), some of which are
dependent on the Didache. The interrelationships between these various documents, however, are quite complex and much
remains to be worked out.
The closest parallels in the use of the Two Ways doctrine is found among the Essene Jews at
the Dead Sea Scrolls community. The Qumran community included a Two Ways teaching in
its founding Charter, The Community Rule.
Throughout the Two Ways, there are many Old Testament quotes shared with the
Gospels and many theological similarities, but Jesus is never
mentioned by name. The first chapter opens with the Shema and the Golden Rule in the negative form (also found in the "Western" version of Acts of the Apostles at 15:19 and
29 as part of the Apostolic Decree). Then comes short extracts in common with the
Sermon on the Mount, together with a curious passage on giving and receiving, which
is also cited with variations in Shepherd of Hermas (Mand., ii, 4-6). The
Latin omits 1:3-6 and 2:1, and these sections have no parallel in Epistle of
Barnabas; therefore, they may be a later addition, suggesting Hermas and the present text of the Didache may have used a
common source, or one may relied on the other. Chapter 2 contains the commandments against murder, adultery, corrupting boys,
sexual promiscuity, theft, magic, sorcery, abortion, infanticide, coveting, perjury,
false testimony, speaking evil, holding grudges, being double-minded, not acting as you speak, greed, avarice, hypocrisy,
maliciousness, arrogance, plotting evil against neighbors, hate, narcissism and expansions on these generally, with references to the
words of Jesus. Chapter 3 attempts to explain how one vice leads to another: anger to murder, concupiscence to adultery, and so forth. The whole chapter is excluded in Barnabas. A number of precepts
are added in chapter 4, which ends: "This is the Way of Life." Verse 13 states you must not forsake the Lord's commandments,
neither adding nor subtracting (see also Deut 4:2,12:32). The Way of Death (chapter 5) is a list of vices to be avoided. Chapter 6 exhorts to the keeping in the
Way of this Teaching:
- See that no one causes you to err from this way of the Teaching, since apart from God it teaches you. For if you are able to
bear the entire yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect; but if you are not able to do this, do what you are able. And concerning
food, bear what you are able; but against that which is sacrificed to idols be exceedingly careful; for it is the service of dead
gods. (Roberts)
Many take this to be a general recommendation to abstain from flesh, not merely from the meats from sacrificial offerings, as
some explain Romans 14:2. Others explain "let him eat herbs" of Paul of
Tarsus as a hyperbolical expression like 1
Cor 8:13: "I will never eat flesh, lest I should scandalize my brother", thus giving no support to the notion of
vegetarianism in the Early Church, even
though, according to Epiphanius of Salamis, the Ebionites were vegetarians. More likely the Didache is referring to Jewish
meats. The Latin version substitutes for chapter 6 a similar close, omitting all reference to meats and to
idolothyta, and concluding with per Domini nostri Jesu Christi ... in saecula saeculorum, amen, "by our lord Jesus
Christ ... for ever and ever, amen". This is the end of the translation. This suggests the translator lived at a day when
idolatry had disappeared, and when the remainder of the Didache was out of date. He had no such reason for omitting chapter 1,
3-6, so that this was presumably not in his copy.
Rituals
The second part (chapters 7 - 10) begins with an instruction on baptism,
which is to be conferred "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" in “living water” (that is, natural
flowing water), if it can be had — if not, in cold or even warm water. The baptized and the baptizer, and, if possible, anyone
else attending the ritual should fast for one or two days beforehand. If the water is insufficient for immersion, it may be
poured three times on the head. This is said by Dr. C. Bigg[11] to show a late date. All the New Testament examples show all baptisms as being immediate, and never
put off. The best case example is the midnight baptism of the Philippian Jailer, below:
From Acts 16:22 through 16:34 is the entire account, but we only need to see the immediacy of biblical baptism:
- Acts 16:33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and
all his household.
All ten conversions in the bible culminate with immediate baptism.
- 1. Acts 2.37-38 The very first Christians ever
- 2. Acts 8:12 Samaritans get saved
- 3. Acts 8:13 Simon Magus the magician gets saved
- 4. Acts 8:35-39 Eunuch gets saved
- 5. Acts 10:44-48 Centurion Cornelius gets
saved
- 6. Acts 16:14-15 Lydia, the 1st European gets saved
- 7. Acts 16:22-34 The Philippian jailer gets saved
- 8. Acts 18:8 Crispus, the leader of the Jews gets saved
- 9. Acts 19:1-5 One Ephesian church is started with 12 men being saved
- 10.Acts 22:16 Apostle Paul is saved by calling on the name of the
Lord
Chapter 8 suggests that fasts are not to be on Monday and Thursday "with the hypocrites" — presumably non-Christian Jews — but
on Wednesday and Friday. Nor must Christians pray with their Judaic brethren, instead they shall say the Lord's Prayer three times a day. The text of the prayer is not identical to the version in the
Gospel of Matthew, and it is given with the doxology
"for Thine is the power and the glory for ever," whereas all but a few manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew have this interpolation with "the kingdom and the power" etc.
Chapter 9 concerns the Eucharist or Lord's Supper or
Last Supper:
- " Now concerning the Eucharist, give thanks this way. First, concerning the cup:
- We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which You madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to
Thee be the glory for ever..
And concerning the broken bread:
- We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the
glory for ever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy
Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus
Christ for ever..
- But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, unless they have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this
also the Lord has said, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs." (Roberts)
These prayers correspond generally with Christian practices of Communion, but not their order. The Didache has a reversed
order as though it never knew or had forgotten what Paul and Luke had written and is strangely opposite of almost all Christian
tradition:
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in
which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this
in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do
this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
- Luke 22:14-20 When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have
earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is
fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among
yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He
had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this
in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is
the new covenant in My blood.
Chapter 10 gives a thanksgiving after Communion, slightly longer, which mentions the "spiritual food and drink and life
eternal through Thy Servant". After a doxology, as before, come the apocalyptic exclamations: "Let grace come, and let this world
pass away. Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is
not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen". The prayer is reminiscent of Revelation 22:17-20 and 1Corinthians 16:22. These prayers reflect no reference to the redemptive death of Christ as formulated by
Paul in 1Corinthians 11:23-34. The words in thanksgiving for the chalice are echoed by Clement of Alexandria, "Quis Dives Salvetur?", 29 [12]"It is He [Christ] Who has poured out the Wine, the Blood of the Vine of David, upon our wounded
souls"; and by Origen, "In i Judic.", Hom. vi: "Before we are inebriated with the Blood of the
True Vine Which ascends from the root of David."
Ministry
The Didache is unique amongst early Christian texts by its emphasis on itinerant ministers, which it describes as
apostles and prophets; while it provides for a local ministry of bishops and deacons, these are described in far more detail in
the writings of Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of
Rome. This section warns the reader about the morals of these travelling ministers: they are to be received if they teach
the above doctrine; and if they add the justice and knowledge of the Lord they are to be received as the Lord. However, while
every apostle is to be received as the Lord, and he may stay one day or two, if he stay three, he is a charlatan or false
prophet. On leaving he shall take nothing with him but bread; if he ask for money, he is a false prophet. Likewise with those
prophets: to judge them when they speak in the spirit is the unpardonable sin; but they must be known by their morals. If they
seek gain, they are to be rejected. All travellers who come in the name of the Lord are to be received, but only for two or three
days; and they must exercise their trade, if they have one, or at least must not be idle. Anyone who will not work is a
Christemporos (translated by C. Bigg as "Christmonger") -- one who makes a gain out of the name of Christ. Teachers and
prophets are worthy of their food. First fruits are to be given to the prophets, "for they are your High Priests; but if you have
not a prophet, give the firstfruits to the poor". The breaking of bread and Thanksgiving [Eucharist] is on Sunday, "after you
have confessed your transgressions, that your Sacrifice may be pure", and those who are at discord must agree, for this is the
clean oblation prophesied by Malachi, 1:11, 14. "Ordain therefore for yourselves bishops
and deacons, worthy of the Lord . . . for they also minister to you the ministry of the prophets and teachers". The final chapter
(16) exhorts to watching and tells the signs of the end of the world.
Local ministry
The local ministers are bishops and deacons, as in Paul's epistle Philippians (1:1) and Clement. Presbyters are not
mentioned, and the bishops are clearly presbyter-bishops, as in Acts, 20, and in the Pauline Epistles. But when Ignatius wrote in
107, or at the latest 117, the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons were already considered necessary to the very name
of a Church, in Syria, Asia Minor, and Rome. It is probable that in Clement's time there was as yet no monarchical episcopate at
Corinth, though such a state did not endure much past Clement's time in any of the major
Christian centers. On this ground, the Didache is most likely set either in the first century or a rural church. The
itinerant ministry is obviously yet more archaic. In the second century prophecy was a charisma only and not a ministry, except
among the Montanists.
Itinerant ministry
The itinerant ministers are not mentioned by Clement or Ignatius. The three orders are apostles, prophets, and teachers, as in
1 Corinthians 12:28,29: "And in the church God has appointed first of
all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help
others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets?
Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?" The Didache places teachers below apostles and prophets, the two orders which
Paul makes the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:20). The term apostle is
applied by Paul not only to the Twelve, but also to himself, to Barnabas, to his kinsmen
Andronicus and Junia, who had been converted before him, and to a class of preachers of the first rank. There is no instance in
the New Testament or in early Christian literature of the existence of an order called apostles later than the Apostolic age.
There is no evidence for a second-century order of apostles, which suggests the Didache is earlier, perhaps no later than
about 80. Adolf Harnack, on the other hand, gives 131-160,
holding that Barnabas and the Didache independently employ a Christianized form of the Jewish Two Ways,
while chapter 16 is citing Barnabas -- a somewhat roundabout hypothesis. He places Barnabas in 131, and the
Didache later than this. Those who date Barnabas under Vespasian mostly make the
Didache the borrower in chapters 1 - 5 and in 16. Many, with Funk, place Barnabas under Nerva. The more common view is that which puts the Didache before 100. Bartlet agrees with Ehrhard that
80-90 is the most probable decade. Sabatier, Minasi, Jacquier, and others have preferred a date even before 70. Owen Chadwick
wryly dates the Didache to "the period between about 70 and 110. It may be odd there, but it is much odder anywhere else."
The earliest suggested dating is 44 or 47.[13]
See Also
References
- Audet, Jean-Paul, La Didache, Instructions des Apôtres, J. Gabalda & Co., 1958.
- Draper, Jonathan, ed. 1996. The Didache in Modern Research (Leiden, New York and Cologne)
- Holmes, Michael W., ed., The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, Baker Academic, December 1,
1999. ISBN 978-0801022258
- Lightfoot, Joseph Barber, et al., Apostolic Fathers, London: Macmillan and Co. 1889.
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
Footnotes
External links
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