The Didache
(C. 90 - 150 AD)
Historical Note
The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is of undoubted antiquity
and integrity. It is the belief of many Patrologists that this document was in
use in the early Church even during the lifetime of St. John the Evangelist:
“…many scholars would date the Didache to a point somewhere in the
latter half of the first century, earlier, that is, than much of the New
Testament itself” (Andrew Louth, Early Christian Writers, Penguin Books,
1968, p. 189). Other scholars are unwilling to give it a date earlier than the
mid-second century AD.
The Didache is the earliest known catechism in the Church. It was used to
instruct catechumens and neophytes well into the fourth century:
“Appointed by the Fathers to be read by those who newly joined, and who
wish for instruction in the word of godliness…that which is the ‘Teaching
of the Apostles’“ (St. Athanasius, Festal Letter 39).
The contents of the Didache fall into two distinct divisions. The first part,
or The Two Ways, provides an outline of Christian morality, virtues and
vices under the headings of the Way of Life and the Way of Death; the
second part sets out regulations dealing with Church worship with regard to
baptism, fasting, the Eucharist, missionaries, etc., as well as a final
eschatological chapter.
The author of the Didache remains a mystery. Some scholars have inferred
that it might have had its origins in Alexandria. Nevertheless, the consensus
nowadays is that the Didache is a compilation of pre-Christian Jewish
materials and the author’s own alterations and additions.
The Didache in its full text had been lost for over fourteen centuries. It had
been long known that such a work existed, being referred to by St. Clement
of Alexandria (Miscellanies 1, 20, 100), Eusebius of Caesarea
(Ecclesiastical History 3, 25) and St. Athanasius (Ibid.). It was only
rediscovered in 1873 in a Constantinople monastery by Philotheos
Bryennios, Metropolitan of Nicomedia in the Codex Hierosolymitanus
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