In a discussion following our church service yesterday the pastor touched on a text of the early church called the Didache or “The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations.” I was intrigued to learn about this manuscript, but haven’t had time to do more than poke around on Wikipedia. If you know more about it and would like to add to (or correct!) my post, I’d love to hear your comments.

The Didache is not part of the Biblical canon but most likely dates to the first century AD. Thus it gives insight into the practices of the early church. The Didache consists of 16 chapters with a total of just 2,300 words. It can be divided into four sections, dealing with 1) the Way of Life and Way of Death, 2) baptism, fasting, and Communion, 3) apostles, prophets, bishops, and deacons, 4) a prophecy of the Second Coming.

The Didache is considered the earliest text in the genre of Church Orders, writings that deal with conduct, liturgy, and church organization.

Although references to the Didache existed in the writings of later church fathers, the complete text disappeared until the 19th century. A copy dating to 1056 was found in Istanbul in 1873 within the Codex Hierosolymitanus by Philotheos Bryennios, metropolitan (archbishop) of Nicomedia. He published it in 1883; English, German, and French translations quickly followed. In 1900 a Latin translation of the first five chapters was discovered by Dr. J. Schlecht.

If you’re curious about the contents of the Didache, you can read it in English here.