Didache

This is a short Greek text, Didache kyriou dia ton dodeka apostolon ethesin (‘The teaching of the Lord through the twelve apostles’), of uncertain date, but thought to be one of the earliest instructive manuals of the Christian church, perhaps originating from Syria. It has sixteen sections, beginning with ‘the two ways and the first commandment’, and ending with ‘Watchfulness; the coming of the Lord’. It is a brief introduction to the Christian life, beginning with the two ways, ‘one of life and one of death’, and continuing with instructions for services, and for the behaviour of members of the church. It was discovered at Constantinople (a manuscript dated 1056) in 1875 by Philotheus...