The Didache

In a recent catechism study group, I made reference to the Didache, or The Teachings (of the Apostles), a 1st-century catechism & liturgical guide that was apparently in wide-spread use throughout churches of the Near-East. It provides an amazing insight into the earliest Christian faith & practice - all of which we still hold today - even though this document was lost apparently from the early Middle Ages until 1873.

The whole document is found here, but here are some interesting highlights:

On Baptism: "Immerse in running water 'In the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Ghost...' If [not] practicible, then pour water three times on the head 'In the name of...' Both baptizer & baptized ought to fast before the baptism... the candidate himself should be told to keep a fast for a day or two beforehand."

On Fasting & Prayer: "Do not keep the same fast-days as the hypocrites. Mondays & Thursdays are their days for fasting, so yours should be Wednesdays & Fridays. Your prayers, too, should be different from theirs. Pray as the Lord enjoined in His Gospel, thus: Our Father, who art in heaven..." Say this prayer three times every day."

On Worship: "Assemble on the Lord's Day, & break bread & offer the Eucharist; but first make confession of your faults, so that your sacrifice may be a pure one. Anyone who has a difference with his fellow is not to take part with you until they have been reconciled, so as to avoid any profanation of your sacrifice."

On Reception of the Eucharist: "No one is to eat or drink of your Eucharist but those who have been baptized in the Name of the Lord; for the Lord's own saying applies here, 'Give not that which is holy unto dogs.' Whoever is holy, let him approach. Whoso is not, let him repent."

On Life: "In your prayers, your almsgiving, & everything you do, be guided by what you read in the Gospel of our Lord."

Interesting stuff, no?

As a commentary, I would add that the Didache is wonderfully edifying, as we catch a glimpse of the intense faith of the early Church, how they lived a new life in Christ, & how they joyfully & expectantly awaited the parousia. I suppose it is not much mentioned these days, because, 1) we have a tendency today to find something neat, figure out its secret, then file it away, & 2) this document holds a unique temptation that, used wrongly, could effect great harm on the Church & the faithful.

What is that temptation? I would call it the temptation to crawl back into the Apostolic womb.

What is that? Well, here's an example: I have a friend who doesn't go to church on Sunday, because the New Testament doesn't specifically tell him to do so, but rather says that followers of the Way met in their homes. Well, that's clearly not the Old Testament (or NT) view of the people of the God of the hosts of the armies of Israel (or maybe that was the origin of the phrase, Army of One).

Other examples: the Didache also mentions the laos, the people, choosing their own bishops & deacons, the cleros; much as many liberal dissident "Catholic" groups demand now (they can't claim their support for abortion or infanticide on those grounds, because the Didache specifically mentions & forbids those common Roman practices). It mentions celebration of the Eucharist, not as a re-enactment of the Last Supper, nor as the representation of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the Cross for man's sins, but simply as a meal of bread & wine with many thanks given to God, both before & after. The temptation, then, is to strip Catholicism of all its "Medieval accretions" - even the Vatican II documents use language similiar to this - by which some take to mean things like a male-only ordained priesthood, an infallible pope, Transubstantiation, & so on. Generally, it seems to me that those who deny such things attempt to seize power for themselves or their interest group, or simply to reassert individual primacy over the Church's Teaching while claiming the authority of "That's the way it was in the early Church." Maybe a better way of saying it is, "And you shall be like gods."

The Didache does, however, refer to giving thanks to God for the gift of "spiritual meat & drink," what seems to me prima facia to be an expression of understanding of Transubstatiation (why else would you call bread "meat"?). And there's the rub: the early Church had not yet gone through the shredder of heresy & persecution that was soon to descend upon it & forced it to define what's what with some precision. Just because the first Christians didn't fill tomes with writings expounding their deepest theological understandings doesn't mean that they didn't believe it; it only means that they didn't write it, or that it hasn't come down to us. What some would deny, then, is the ablity for things to be pondered throughout the ages & better understood & expressed as time goes on. It would not take so long for the Church's writers to begin to explain what the Eucharist is, what the ordained priesthood is, what the Church is.

Ultimately, those who want to crawl back into the Apostolic womb deny that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Church & the Church itself as the sign & instrument of Christ's salvation for the whole world. Personally, I glory in all the "Medieval accretions", because without them, the whole thing is gutted of its meaning & power - which ultimately is the presence & power of God at work among his people. Perhaps the greatest witness the Didache offers us is a people filled with gratitude to God for everything without exception, with zeal for a new life in Christ, & burning with hope for the coming glory of heaven. Let us declare in unison with them, Marana tha!