Introduction to the Didache
Chapter One Introduction to the Didache The telephone call came after we had just finished our evening meal at the Knight's Palace Hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem in May 2005. The message instructed me to come now to the library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch if I wanted to see the manuscript. I had been planning that evening to lead a group of students from The Masters College and Seminary on a walk to Ben Yehuda
Street in the "new" city of Jerusalem.
I excused myself, changed my clothes quickly, and began to scurry through the labyrinthine lanes of the Old City.
After entering the Greek Orthodox monastery, I made my way upstairs to the library. Soon the gentle librarian, Bishop Aristarchos, delivered to me what I had waited years to see - a 950 year-old, 200-page parchment manuscript containing over a dozen individual writings from the early church. My particular interest was in a little work in the midst of the manuscript, consisting of only 10 pages (5 leaves) in length. Its name is the Didache (the "Teaching," pronounced
"didakhay"), short for The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. For the next two hours, sometimes with trembling hands, I pored over this precious document, finding answers to some questions that I had for years. Why was I so excited to see first hand this piece of parchment, the only complete manuscript copy of this work that is known to exist? And why has that experience led now to a book on the Didache?
Although for years I had heard of the Didache and understood basically what it said, I began a serious consideration of it in the Spring of 1997 when I translated sections of it with my Intermediate Greek class. In subsequent years, the class began to translate the entire document, only about the length of Paul's
Epistle to the Galatians. 1 became progressively captivated by its contents and began to read and research widely in an academic area that I soon learned was quite extensive. During my sabbatical in the Spring of 2004, I made the Didache one of the main interests of my research in the Buswell Library of the Wheaton
College and at the Tyndale House Library in Cambridge, England. By the time I
2) Introduction to the Didache attended a conference on "The New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers" at Oxford University in April, 2004, I was convinced that I should someday make my own contribution to the field of Didache research. The last two and a half years I have continued to lead my classes through the study of this little document, testing my ideas on them. I have personally spent hundreds of hours closely examining its contents and attempting to pull out of its chapters its
"message." I have also studied intensively the scholarly issues that have been discussed by writers on this document from the 1880's until the current day. I have even made some modest contributions to the discussion—a journal article on the Didache's use of scripture and a popular article on what the little book can possibly teach us about how we should "do church" today.' This book is the result of my now decade long love affair with the Didache.
In the course of studying hundreds of articles and books about the Didache, I have encountered many general comments about its value and the fascination it holds for its readers—far beyond what might be expected for a document its size. One of those authors opened her own article on the Didache with the following effusive words.
The discovery of the Didache in 1873 has been acclaimed in many a eulogy, in many a language and by many a scholar. And rightly so.
For this work has cast a spell over even the most cautious who, finding its magic irresistible, seek time and again to prise its secrets. For however else can one explain the unending fascination expressed in such an abundance of words for a work written with few words—a bibliography which exceeds any reasonable expectation?
If Professor Walker was amazed at the size of the bibliography on the Didache in 1981, what amazement would she express a quarter century later at the continued scholarly interest in this little document of less than 2,200 words? In the last decade alone, two major commentaries have been published on the Didache, the most recent being 800 pages in length.' Furthermore, within the past decade four major volumes consisting of scholarly articles on the Didache by multiple authors have been issued.* The journal articles also continue to appear at a regular pace.' In April, 2004, an international conference convened at Oxford University to discuss "The New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers." No less than five of the twenty five papers presented dealt directly with the Didache and a number of the other papers discussed indirectly issues raised by the document.
The author of this book confesses to being among those people that Walker describes over whom the spell of the "Teaching" has been cast. As I translated it with my Intermediate Greek classes over the years, I was captured by its profundity in simplicity and its obvious characteristic of multum in parvo. As has been mentioned, this then led to its being one of the major foci of my sabbatical research, which led in turn, to the previously mentioned articles, and now, to this book. And yet, many Christians by and large neglect the study of the Didache
Introduction to the Didache
particularly and the Apostolic Fathers generally. This is especially true in the case of Evangelicals (among whom I count myself), who usually leave such discussions to those who labor in the more liturgical traditions of the Church. In that regard some may be surprised that even Jewish scholars have contributed their unique perspective to this area of study.' It is this author's contention that the Evangelical commitment to sola scriptura plus their general lack of engagement with Church tradition have both contributed to their non-participation in such discussions. Therefore, only when discussions of patristic or apocryphal writings directly impact issues raised in the canonical books do Evangelicals get involved in this area of research. But the Didache and other early Church writings constantly discuss many issues related to New and Old Testament studies.
Ought we not at least listen to and interact with what the earliest Christians wrote about these matters?
It is important to acknowledge that there is a host of other important issues that swirl around the study of the Didache that we hope to address in the following chapters. Some of those questions are as follows. 1. When was it discovered and what has been its history in the tradition of the Church? 2. Who was its author and when was it written? 3. What is the theological framework of the Didache? 4. What implications for liturgy, sacraments and ministry does it have since it appears to many to be a "church manual" in its literary genre? 5. What is its eschatological teaching, since the last chapter has often been viewed as an apocalypse? 6. What is its teaching on the Christian life and spirituality? 7. How do the things that are actually taught in the Didache compare to the teaching of the New Testament on these matters?
These and other related issues will be explored in later chapters.® Perhaps a summary of my suggested conclusions about these Didache issues will help to at least provide the reader with a framework for how this writer approaches the document. Without elaborating the arguments at this point, I should state that I hold to a first century date for its writing, with its provenance probably being Syria. I believe that a strong case can be made for its compositional unity, while acknowledging that it may have utilized a number of Jewish sources and have been edited by its author(s) at least once, although all versions were from the first century. It is clear to everyone that the document exemplifies a Jewish-Christian frame of reference, while addressing primarily new converts from the Gentile world. While the book is intensely practical in its philosophy of the Christian life, it is orthodox in the theological framework that underlies its writing. I am also convinced that the Didachist knew and used what was later called the Gospel of Matthew, although that use of Matthew needs to be nuanced in its details. I also will argue that the basic function of the Didache in the early church was as a "catechetical handbook" designed for those who were joining the Christian family from among the Gentiles.
I realize that in some of these matters, I am going against the current scholarly trend in Didache studies. For example, many writers on the subject now espouse the position that the Didachist did not quote Matthew, but both Matthew and Didache drew on earlier oral traditions attributed to Jesus.' Later chapters
Introduction to the Didache will explore these questions further and provide reasons for my adopting the above positions. I will also explore such subjects as the document's theological substructure and its overall vision for the Church and its ministry.
Its contribution to eschatology and to the implications of living in the "last days" will then be explored. Finally, I offer a brief analysis of the book's language, including a complete concordance of its Greek vocabulary, which I do hope will be helpful to students and scholars who wish to dig deeper into its treasures.
The Date of the Didache One of the first questions I am usually asked about the Didache is, "When was it written?" Occasionally some scholars have proposed a very early date
(prior to 70 AD) for the writing of the Didache.'® A safer approach is to follow
Lightfoot and a number of other scholars who recognize that we are reading a document that reflects the views of a group of Jewish Christians who lived and ministered in the generation following 70 C.E. The strongest arguments for a first century provenance are: 1) the primitive simplicity of the Didache's teaching about the person and work of Jesus; 2) the absence of any warning about specific doctrinal aberrations; 3) the continued existence of itinerant apostles and prophets; 4) a simple pattern for the church's leadership (overseers and deacons); and 5) its silence about any persecution experienced by its readers or writer(s). All of these characteristics seem to be uncharacteristic of the church in the first decades of the second century. Further evidence for this position will be seen as we work through the themes of the book's sixteen chapters. Although there are some exceptions, the trend of current scholarship is certainly toward a first century dating. It should also be acknowledged that a date even earlier than
70 A.D. is still possible. In my opinion, the dating of the Didache is directly related to the relationship of the document to canonical Matthew.
In his highly influential volume on the history of New Testament interpretation, Bishop Stephen Neill had this to say as he reflected on the volume by Audet (footnote ten) that had recently appeared and which argued for a pre-70 AD date.
On the basis of an immensely learned survey of all the materials, Fr. Audet comes to the conclusion that the Didache was written in Syria between AD 50 and 70. It is hardly likely that this conclusion will meet with general acceptance; but it is exciting to consider the possibility that we have here a work outside the New Testament which may have been written earlier than most of the New Testament books."!
Hopefully, it is with that same spirit of excitement and anticipation that we approach this study of the Didache and its value for the Church today.
We will begin our study in the next chapter with a review of the events surrounding the modern discovery of the Didache and also look back on how the document was utilized in the early church. In light of the use that was made of the Didache in the first three centuries of its existence, I will propose my own
Introduction to the Didache
origination hypothesis of why the book was written and how it was used. For my proposal, I will draw upon the hermeneutical method that traces the "effective history" of a text. In other words, I will ask the question, "Does the way the church utilized the document help us to understand its original purpose?
Why another Book about the Didache?
Before we proceed, however, I want to answer a question that some of my readers may legitimately be asking. In light of the abundance of books and articles on this little document, why should another one appear in an already crowded marketplace? The question is a fair one» An enormous amount of literature has been produced on the Didache in the last one hundred and twenty years. One thing that will become clear is that the early consensus about the document has changed to reflect the views of current scholars committed to various forms of source and redaction criticism. Many recent writers are very concerned to isolate the various layers of the document.'? My work is not ἰη-᾿ tended to demean the contributions of these scholars. I am concerned, however, that in the midst of all of this literary critical labor, the overall thrust of the Didache sometimes becomes blunted. My path will follow more in the footsteps of the earliest writers on the Didache, particularly those who wrote in the decade following its discovery. I believe that the modern reader will be surprised to discover that almost every issue being raised by contemporary scholars was discussed, often in detail, by these early writers. Anyone who seriously considers this little document today should be exposed to the thinking of these great scholars of the nineteenth century. "ἢ
Furthermore, in the scholarly writing about the Didache in the last decades I have found little expressed concern about the implications that this little treasure may have for the articulation of theology and the praxis of ministry in the church today. Personally, I have found that most laymen are very interested in my research into the meaning of the Didache. Their interest, however, is not about the arcane issues of what sources were used by the author(s) and the number of its redactors that dominate the current discussion. For those who still care about the church and its ministry, historical scholarship ought to have as at least one of its goals to conclude what, if any, are the implications that such research has for the life of the church. I realize only too well how such an idea will probably be met in some realms of academia. I am willing to face that response for the sake of my attempt at applied research. While I trust that I have not allowed such concern to prejudice my own research, the reader should know that I have always had in mind the pragmatic ministry value of the Didache for the church today. In this regard, I have two readers in mind. One group consists of those who want an up to date answer to the question, "What are they saying about the Didache?"
The second group consists of those who want to know more about what a group of very early Jewish Christians had to say about doing ministry among real people in their day. Perhaps many of my readers will combine those two desires.
Whether have I have succeeded in wedding those two audiences is left for the reader to decide.
Introduction to the Didache Thus, the justification for another book on the Didache is threefold. First, it offers an approach to the Didache that is an alternative to much of what is written today by means of going back to the ideas of early writers on the book. Second, I draw out some practical "lessons" that can be gleaned from this pearl initially formed in the early days of Christianity, but hidden from view for a thousand years before it was again brought to the surface for our study and benefit.
Third, I believe that I do offer in the book some fresh ideas about the Didache based on a re-examination of its fragments. Some of these fragments have survived the centuries by their embedded in the patristic writers, while others are literal fragments that survived in the sands of Egypt.