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Recently we added an apocryphal reference to the site: "The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles" also known as the Didache [Greek: teaching]. The Didache is a short, first century document attributed to the twelve apostles and thought to be the basic instructions for the Gentile believers who are new to the faith. While it is not Scripture the Didache definitely provides valuable insight into the focus of the apostles early teachings. It was originally known from references to it by Athanasius [3rd century], Didymus [4th century], and Eusebius [3rd century], and Serapion of Thmuis (4th century) has a quotation from it in his Eucharistic prayer.{footnote}Didache, The Development of the Canon of the New Testament, Glenn Davis, (December 12, 2009). http://www.ntcanon.org/Didache.shtml {/footnote}
The Didache has two major parts:
- The two ways: the way of life (Didache 1:1-4:14) and the way of death (Didache 5:1-2)
- A manual of order and practice (Didache 6:1-16:8)
This is not an exhaustive list but simply represents an initial record of some observations regarding this historical document and the teachings it contains:
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The Way of Life
Focus: Gentiles
The very first line of the document after the title but preceding what is considered to be "chapter 1" is this:
The teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the twelve apostles.
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