The Didache

The Didache is an early Christian document that contains what are said to teachings of Christ's 12 Apostles. Some early Christian writings refer to such teachings but until 1875 the actual existence (extant) of such a document was unknown.

In 1875 a copy of the Didache was discovered among early Christian works in Constantinople; which of course was the center of the Byzantine (Greek) Christian Church until the 15^th century when it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks.

The authorship of the Didache is unknown but it for certain wasn't written by the original Apostles. In all likelihood it had many authors. The Didache may be described as a manual of Church instruction. The first part, "The Two Ways," is a statement of the principles of Christian conduct followed by a series of instructions for Christian worship, baptism, fasting, communion, and so forth.

The Didache begins thus...

There are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, and there is a great difference between the Ways

The Way of Life is this: " First, thou shall love the God who made thee, secondly, thy [shall love] your neighbor as thyself; and whatsoever thou wouldst not have done to thyself, do not thou to another."

The two ways of life are of course a combination of what Jesus called the "greatest commandment," Love the Lord they God and love your neighbor as you love yourself and what we call the "Golden Rule," do unto others as you would have them do to you.

Among the "thou shall not's" in the Didache are two that aren't explicitly found in the Bible; "thou shall not procure abortion, nor commit infanticide."

Relative to Baptism, the Didache makes it clear that the preferred method submersion in what is called "living" or running water; i.e.-stream or river. If there is no running water to be had, it's permissible to "Baptize in other water" warm or cold. Finally, if water is really at a shortage then Baptism may be performed by pouring "water three times on the head in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." From the Didache we perhaps see the beginning of Baptism by sprinkling water on the head as is done in the Catholic Church as well as some Protestant churches.

The remainder of the Didache gives general instruction for proper Christian living such as giving to the poor, living holy and making tithes. The Didache ends with a short apocalyptic statement which ends with "Then shall the world "see the Lord coming on the clouds of Heaven."

The Didache remains a controversial document but it contains nothing that could be construed as heresy. It appears to agree with what is known about ideas and practices of the early Christian Church.

Reference:

Kirsopp Lake: The Apostolic Fathers