29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Didache for Scholars, September 20, 2005
This review is from: The Didache: Faith, Hope, and Life of the Earliest Christian Communities, 50-70 C.E. (Hardcover)
"The Didache: Faith, Hope, & Life of the Earliest Christian Communities, 50-70 C.E." by Aaron Milavec is a lengthy academic tome of over 1,000 pages to explain the 1,000 to 1,100 words of the Didache. If you are only looking for an English translation with perhaps some interpretive or religious explanations, this book is not the book for you. An uncommented translation, with an introduction, is available at www.ewtn.com/library/SOURCES/DIDACHE.TXT. Translations with shorter, more directly related comments can be purchased here on Amazon.
The Milavec tract is principally an academic, historical analysis of the Didache to support his hypotheses regarding its construction and use. Essentially, he believes that the Didache was a training process to be delivered orally to Gentile converts, and that it was written early in he First Century A.D. ("50-70 C.E."), rather than later in the century. He also believes some of it is as much economic training as religious. This does differ from several other analyses, but he provides a lot of research to back it up. This is not a religious work per se, but for those interested in an historical analysis of the times during which the Didache was originally written, this book will be interesting.
I feel, however, it is marred in several ways. Milavec goes through excruciating detail to explain the meaning and reason for his choice of words for translation, but he personally likes to write in a gender neutral manner. He states that the Didache was 99% gender neutral; so, he uses gender neutral translations, such as "s/he" and "him/her". In the text, however, the Greek declensions are clearly masculine, and he is inserting his own social convictions into it. This is not to say that the Didache was only for men, only that the Greek probably used masculine much the way English does when the sex of the person can be male or female. While his distracting use of gender neutral pronouns in his own writings is his choice, I think it is academically dishonest to do that to the translation.
Another problem is the presence of lengthy comments that have nothing to do with the Didache. I believe the occasional polemics weaken the book as an objective academic analysis.
Finally, a minor point, I disagree with his translation of didache as "training" versus "teachings" of the Twelve Apostles. Milavec is unique in that translation, which conforms to his hypothesis, but makes no sense.
As a final note, to go with the book, he does sell oral deliveries of the Didache on tape and CD in normal text or feminist versions.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Analysis But Needs Editing, February 24, 2011
This review is from: The Didache: Faith, Hope, and Life of the Earliest Christian Communities, 50-70 C.E. (Hardcover)
If this book had been properly edited, I would have given it five plus stars. It provides brilliant insights into an early Christian community. However, as a reviewer has previously noted, it is entirely too long. The author goes off on long tangents which add little to the subject matter.
This book gives us a window into an early form of Christianity which existed before the gospels were written, when the traditions and teachings of Jesus were passed down by oral transmission. The author demonstrates that the Didache itself probably started as an oral teaching which was meant to be memorized. The Didache teachings were formulated by Jewish Christians but were addressed to gentile converts. The Didache is an instruction manual to initiate gentile converts into "The Way of Life" given by God through his servant Jesus. "The Way of Life" is not just any teaching, but it is the "Way" that leads to salvation and entry into God's Kingdom. It exhibits a primitive Christology. There is no mention of sacrificial atonement and the Lord refers to God the Father and it is God who will bring his reign to earth.
The author makes a good argument that the Didache was not dependent on any written gospel yet it was privy to many of the same oral traditions which were used in composing the synoptic gospels. However, the Didache used these traditions in a different context in order to meet the specific needs of its community.
The Didache community was outside of the Apostle Paul's sphere of influence but shows no hostility toward Paul and was not directly opposed to everything he wrote. Like Paul, the Didache showed no interest in fully Judaizing gentile converts by circumcision or kosher food laws. The "hypocrites" in the Didache refer to Jewish Christians who wanted to impose Jewish ceremonial laws and the Temple cult on gentile converts for their own political agenda. The Didache rejected the centrality of Jerusalem and the Temple in its eschatological scenario and shows no interest in any kind of political zealotry to manipulate the future. The final judgement was entirely God's prerogative.
The Didache restructured the law to apply to gentiles. Special emphasis was placed on condemning idolatry, sorcery, magic, abortion, and pedophilia which were problems specific to the gentile community. Sorcery and magic are linked to idolatry since only God controls the future and man cannot manipulate it. Gentiles cannot be held accountable for breaking Sabbath laws and the use of graven images, ie Roman coins prior to their conversion. Honoring one's parents is not mentioned since gentile converts had to renounce their family ties prior to being adopted into the community. For Jews, this was never an issue. In fact the "enemies" which one must love and turn the other cheek to referred to former family members who scorned and rejected them.
The actual conversion occurs during the initiation process followed by baptism which represents adoption into a new family with God as your father. Thus, no one could pray "Our Father" until the adoption process was completed by baptism.
The Didache community rejected any alliance or patronage to the rich and powerful whose values were a direct contradiction to "The Way of Life" and thus represented "the way of death". However, it provided an economic safety net to gentiles who were disinherited by their families and were in danger of being sold into slavery. Sharing one's resources without compensation was not simply a nice thing to do. Members of the commnity were expected to emulate God who gave His gifts in the same manner.
The apocalyptic fervor and radical lifestyle of Jesus and his disciples which was illustrated in the gospels is toned down in the Didache. While the Didache community was focused on preparing for God's Kingdom, it had to cope with its delay and survive in a hostile world in the interim. Wandering apostle-prophets provided the messianic zeal and apocalyptic fire which energized the community but the leadership came from the householders within the community in order to maintain order and unity. Overly zealous prophets could disrupt unity and needlessly endanger the community from the outside. The spirit of prophecy was to be invoked in the communal setting of the Eucharist and was not to be transmitted in secret or for monetary compensation.
The author gives us brilliant insights into the central rite of the commnity, the Eucharist, which superceded the Temple sacrificial rituals. Partaking of the "Holy Vine of David" which represented Israel, is symbolic of gentile converts sharing in the blessings promised to Israel. The bread, which is a staple of life, represents life in the community. By partaking a fragment of the consecrated loaf, one becomes part of the scattered community which will be reassembled as one "loaf" in God's Kingdom. This also explains the "daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer as "our loaf that is coming" which is the gathering together of the community (loaf).
The downside of this book are the long-winded tangents which add very little to the subject matter. The author tries to illustrate modern correlations to the Didache community which I feel completely miss the mark. He uses a horrendous example with the Nation of Islam..."both movements have very much in common" (p.683). The author obviously hasn't read Alex Haley's biography of Malcolm X who defected from that organization and was ultimately murdered by members of that organization. It baffles me how a man who so eloquently describes the Didache community could even remotely compare it with the Nation of Islam. Based on the author's description of the Didache community, I would compare it with pious, non-violent communal societies like the Amish or the Hutterites.
I found it somewhat repugnant that the author uses this book as a platform to spout off his political opinions. I realize that it is his book, but I purchased it to learn about the Didache, not the political views of Dr. Aaron Milavec. The end of what would have been an outstanding book was marred by the author's multi-page rant against western culture. This is the same culture which allowed him to become a professor, write books, have them published, and reap the profits and accolades from the same. This is the same evil industrial culture which manufactured and marketed this book.
In regard to the Didache and early Christianity, this book was definitely worth reading, even though I had to do alot of skimming to get to the point. Next time Dr. Milavec writes a book, I hope he spares us from his political sermons.
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12 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Milavec's book receives award, July 16, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Didache: Faith, Hope, and Life of the Earliest Christian Communities, 50-70 C.E. (Hardcover)
Aaron Milavec's volume, THE DIDACHE, was awarded a 2004 Catholic Press Association Award in the category of theology. The winners of the 2004 Catholic Press Awards were announced on Friday, May 28, 2004 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC, at the Catholic Press Association Annual Convention.
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