In the
new book The Teaching of the Twelve: believing &
practicing the primitive christianity of the ancient didache community, Tony Jones is doing what Tony Jones does best – making
something like the Didache (pronounced
Did uh KAY) accessible and relevant
for today. He has done this with You Converted Me: The Confessions of St. Augustine and in many ways throughout his book The Sacred
Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life.
So
starts the Didache, considered one of
the most important non-canonical documents in the history of Christianity. Those who have tried to “label” and
“dismiss” Tony Jones will have a hard time believing that Tony would be so
interested in a text that starts out, “There are two ways, one of life and one
of death! and there is a great difference between the two ways.” But, he is, and so we reap the benefit.
The Didache is a small text about half the
size of the Gospel of Mark. The Greek word didache
means “teaching.” Strong scholarship places the origin of the Didache between 50 – 70 AD. around the same time frame that the
synoptic Gospels were being written. This jewel from our Christian archives is literally titled Teaching (Didache) of the Lord through the
Twelve Apostles to the Gentiles.
The Didache is a fascinating peek into a community of Jesus followers who are attempting to give order and provide meaning to the way they live their lives together. These chapters deal with the way the ekklesia, today translated "church" in the New Testament, was to order their lives together in some very practical ways. More specifically, it can be considered a "rule of life" for the Didache community. This is very interesting to me because Youthfront (the youth ministry organization I lead) has been engaged, for several years, in defining a Way of Life and we are in the final stages of this process.
The concern
of this section of the Didache is the
“particular practices that constitute the rhythm of life for the gathered
community. Instructions about eating sacrificial meat, baptism, the Eucharist,
prayers, and welcoming wandering prophets and teachers ensue.” The detail of the practices of this
first century community of Christians in comparison to our current practices of
baptism, fasting, prayer and Eucharist our astonishingly fascinating.
There are many things in the Didache that will stir up a plethora of reactions among Christians across the wide theological spectrum of current North American Christianity. If you want dogmatic clarity, you can find it among this ancient community of Christians. “You shall not murder a child, whether it be born or unborn (2:2). " My child, don't be a liar, since a lie leads to theft. Don't love money or seek glory, for these things lead to thievery (3:5)"
But the Didache is also filled with amazingly beautiful ambiguity and practicality, "Let your alms sweat in your hands until you know to whom to give them (1:6)." How's that for stewardship? Christianity would be much more fragrant in the complexity of our culture, if the instruction from the Didache 6:2 was practiced by Christians and Christian communities. "For if you are able to bear the entire yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect; but if you are not able, then at least do what you can (6:2)." Tony does an excellent job of letting the text of the Didache speak for itself but he also provides commentary that helps the reader contextualize this ancient text with current realities. “Had we heeded the Didache’s
advice to ‘do your best’ in these issues, we might not have had the ideological
battles that have so hurt the proclamation of the gospel.” Pg 97.
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