The Didache: What Is It?
What is the Didache? It is perhaps the earliest Christian work written after the completion of the New Testament. The Greek word didache simply means “teaching.” The full title of the work is The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. It is a small book of instruction written for new converts and for new Christian congregations.
The Didache is divided into two parts. The first part could be give the title, “The Two Ways: The Way of Life and the Way of Death. It summarizes the teachings of Christ and His apostles on how a Christian must live, in contrast to the way pagans live. The second part of this work concerns worship and congregational life. It explains the Christian sacraments or ordinances of baptism and communion and gives suggested prayers for celebration of communion or the Eucharist. It also lays forth church organization. It was written at a time when local bishops (overseers) and deacons were replacing the itinerant ministry of traveling prophets and teachers.
The Didache: When It Was Discovered
The existence of the Didache was known for centuries because several early Christian writers refer to it. However, all copies of it had been lost discovery of the Didache in 1873 was one of the most important discoveries of all time of early Christian writings. A manuscript dating back to the year 1056, containing the Didache and other early Christian writings, was discovered by the Orthodox Metropolitan Bryennios at Constantinople in 1873. He published it ten years later.
The significance of the Didache is that it gives the modern reader a window into how the early church was functioning at the close of the apostolic age. It reveals a Christianity whose main focus was on lifestyle, not on theological dogmas. In fact, the Didache contains no theological statements at all. Its concern is the Christian life and maintaining a godly and orderly congregational life.