DIDACHE

DIDACHE. “The Lord’s Teaching according to the Twelve Apostles,” not to be confused with the Didaskalia Apostlorum (q.v.), is generally considered the earliest manual of Christian instruction on morals and worship. Chs. 1–6 are a prebaptismal catechesis on the Way (qq.v.) or alternatively the Two Ways. Chs. 7–15 are a series of instructions on worship, including Baptism, fasting, the Eucharist (qq.v.), treatment of “clerical orders”-prophets, apostles, bishops, and deacons-and Sunday prayer. The final ch. 16 is on the Antichrist and eschatology. Discovered in 1875 by P. Bryennios in Constantinople, and known previously only by title and hypothetical reconstruction, the dating and provenance of the document are difficult, since it is a composite and went through recensions, such as the later Apostolic Constitutions (q.v.). In any case, the disputed time frame is between the 1st c. and 2nd c., and there appear to be literary connections between it and Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas (qq.v.). Some scholars tentatively identify its origins with Syria. Two copies of a Latin version have subsequently been discovered.