Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] An important early christian writing written by Bart Ehrman, read by Mike Johnson.
[00:00:09] I have been doing a thread in response to a reader who asked how we know we have the originals of the books of the Bible. On one hand, the question involves how we know the words the authors originally wrote. Ive been dealing with that question over a number of posts, but the question has another interesting and less talked about what is the original for a book that appears to have had chapters or passages added to it here or there, or when a book appears in fact to have been several books that were later combined into one book, even before scribes started copying what we have today.
[00:00:50] There are few examples of that in the New Testament, but before dealing with those, I thought it might be useful to mention a less controversial case. Less controversial because hardly anyone has read this particular early christian writing, and even fewer people would regard it as sacred scripture. It is one of the apostolic fathers, the proto orthodox writers who produced their work soon after the New Testament period for the most part, and is known as the Didakay pronounced did a k.
[00:01:25] I have talked about it on the blog before, but it may be most useful to repeat either to tell or remind you the basic information about it before devoting the next post to the issue im most interested in for this thread, which is the fact that scholars are widely convinced that what we have now is a scissors and paste job of three documents being combined into one. Here's what I say about the book in my textbook the New a historical introduction to the early christian writings Oxford University Press the second century book known as the Didache of the Twelve Apostles, dideche literally means the teaching was virtually unknown until the end of the 19th century, when it was discovered in a monastery library in Constantinople. Since then, it has made a tremendous impact on our understanding of the inner life of the early christian communities. Among other things, it a preserves our earliest account of how the early Christians practiced their rituals of baptism and the Eucharist b discloses the kinds of prayers that early christians said, c indicates the days on which they fasted, and d demonstrates the existence of itinerant christian apostles, prophets, and teachers who roved from town to town, addressing the spiritual needs of the christian communities in exchange for daily food and shelter.
[00:02:59] The first six chapters of the book present a set of ethical admonitions organized according to the doctrine of the two ways, those of life and death. In many respects, the way of life is more interesting than the way of death. At least the author devotes considerably more space to it. All of chapters one through four as opposed to merely chapter five.
[00:03:26] Many of the moral exhortations are reminiscent of James. A Christian's words are to be backed up by actions. Chapter two, verse five, compared to James chapter two, verses 14 through 26.
[00:03:39] Jealousy and anger are to be avoided since they lead to murder. Chapter three, verse two. Compare with James chapter four, verses one and two.
[00:03:48] Believers should associate with the humble and upright rather than the high and mighty.
[00:03:54] Compare with James chapter two, verses five through seven and christians are not to show favoritism or to turn their backs on the needy. Chapter four, verse three. Compare with James chapter two, verses one through four, but instead to share their goods with one another. Chapter four, verse eight. Compare with James chapter two, verses 14 through 16.
[00:04:16] The way of death is described far more tersely. It involves murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, deceit, arrogance, malice, stubbornness, greediness, filthy talk, jealousy, audacity, haughtiness, and so on. Chapter five, verse one once again, the exhortations are not uniquely christian in that other moralists of the greco roman world agreed that such activities and attitudes were to be avoided. As a result, some scholars have maintained that this notion of the two ways ultimately originated in non christian jewish circles. Still, the various authors who incorporate this source into their writings, Barnabas, the Didache, and several later writers, were all christian.
[00:05:13] Moreover, just as James has a number of parallels to Matthews Sermon on the Mount, so too does the didache even more, in fact, including references to praying for ones enemies, turning the other cheek, and going the extra mile.
[00:05:30] Like the teaching of the two ways, the second portion of the didache may be drawn from one or more earlier sources, or it may represent the anonymous authors own composition.
[00:05:43] It is a kind of church order in which instructions are given for various kinds of church activities.
[00:05:51] For example, christians are to perform their baptisms in cold running water, that is, in an outdoor stream wherever possible, although standing or warm water is permissible where necessary.
[00:06:05] If none of these options is available, water is to be poured over a persons head three times in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Chapter seven christians are to fast twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays, chapter eight, verse one, not on Mondays and Thursdays, since that is when the hypocrites, presumably non christian Jews, compare with Matthew. Chapter six, verses 16 through 18 do so. Nor are they to pray like the hypocrites, but they should repeat the Lord's prayer three times a day. Chapter eight, verse two and three.
[00:06:45] When they celebrate the Eucharist, they are first to bless the cup with a prayer that the author provides, and then to bless the broken bread with another set. Prayer chapter nine, verses one through four. This way of celebrating the Lord's supper by starting with the cup and ending with the bread has long puzzled scholars, since the typical practice of early christians appears to be reflected in the New Testament accounts of the last Supper, where Jesus distributes first the bread and then the cup. See Mark, chapter 14, verses 22 through 25.
[00:07:22] The didache continues by giving extended instructions concerning what to do with the traveling apostles, teachers, and prophets who arrive in town to minister to the community. Chapters 1113.
[00:07:35] These three categories of persons appear to overlap.
[00:07:39] Evidently, problems had arisen because some itinerant christians were scoundrels who had become traveling preachers solely for financial gain. For this reason, the author insists that visiting prophets not be allowed to have more than two days room and board at the community's expense and that they be considered false if they demand money while uttering a pronouncement from God. Moreover, any wandering prophets who disagree with the doctrines expressed in this document or who fail to practice what they preach are to be rejected as false.
[00:08:16] Chapter eleven, verses one, two, and ten. The dedicate finally gives instructions concerning wandering prophets who decide to settle down within the community. True prophets are to be treated with the highest honor and offered the first fruits of the community's wine, harvest, and livestock as if they were its chief priests.
[00:08:41] In addition, the christian communities are to elect bishops and deacons from among their own ranks to run the affairs of the church.
[00:08:53] The concluding chapter of the book provides a kind of apocalyptic discourse, an exhortation to be ready for the imminent end of the world, which will be brought by the Lord coming on the clouds of heaven.
[00:09:08] Given its loose connection with what precedes it, this chapter may have been tacked on to the dideche at a later date.
[00:09:17] What is the date of the earlier portion of the book? Chapters one through 15 scholars have debated the issue for as long as they have known of the documents existence.
[00:09:27] Part of the dispute centers around the question of the books unity, that is, whether or not its different parts derived from different times and places and were combined by someone living later.
[00:09:40] Recent scholars tend to think that the book was produced by a single author on the basis of earlier sources at his disposal.
[00:09:49] Its final production may date to around 100 cell. One reason for choosing some such date is that the document appears to presuppose christian communities that are not yet highly structured, unlike the proto orthodox communities that we know about from later in the second century.
[00:10:08] Moreover, the author knows a wide range of earlier christian traditions, such as those embodied in the sermon on the mount. And it appears that his community, somewhat like Matthew's, held views that were widespread in Judaism even though it rejected Judaism as it was currently practiced. Thus the references to the hypocrites compare with Matthew, chapter 23.
[00:10:32] It appears that the document dates from a time when a variety of christian traditions, possibly even Matthew itself, were in circulation, that is, sometime after the middle third of the first century.
[00:10:46] Yet it was apparently produced before the mid second century, when the proto orthodox churches had developed their rigid form of structure.
[00:10:56] As for the inner life of the congregations that the author addresses, it appears that they are in the process of developing a strict ethical code, or at least that he hopes they are, and establishing the most important early christian sacraments and ceremonial practices, baptism, eucharist, set prayers, and days of fasting. They are also experiencing both the benefits and problems of wandering christian authorities, some of whom provide useful guidance for the communities while others actively exploit them. In our discussion of the pastoral epistles, we saw how charismatic communities like these ended up solving their problems by establishing clerical hierarchies, creedal statements, and canonical authorities.
[00:11:45] In many ways, the communities of the Didice are moving in this direction themselves, as is evident in the appointment of local bishops and deacons, the insistence on conformity to certain views and the devotion to certain recognized traditions, such as those that at an earlier stage had come to be incorporated in the sermon on the Mount.
