I’m going to depart from my traditional series of Thursday posts on the New Testament to spend a little while on an early Christian document called The Didache. This little document, which I think comes from the period 51-57, but which some will date as late as 120, is a very early guide to churchly practices. We’ll walk through it a bit at a time before returning to actual New Testament texts.
The Didache. (translated by Kirsopp Lake) Loeb Classical Library #24. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1912, reprint 1985, pp. 303-334.
Chapter 1, pp. 308-311.
The text is credited to “the Twelve Apostles.” Initially it distinguishes two “ways”, very different from one another (Didache I.1). The first, the way of life, is that of loving God and one’s neighbor, doing what you would like done for you (Didache I.2) The habits are explained with allusions to portions of the Gospels, though only allusions. If someone is in need, the Christian is to seek to supply that need (Didache I.5). Lake observes that a brief passage is in Hermas 4, suggesting a date later than Hermas, ca. 140.