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The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing & Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community

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Before the New Testament was written, much less compiled, the early Christians had to figure out what their community of faith would look like. The Didache (DID-ah-kay) is a document that gives us a glimpse into those early years before creeds (Council of Nicaea- AD 325) were written and church hierarchies and orders were put into place (Constantine- 313) and most likely before any of the Apostle Paul's letters were written.

This small document, which takes about 20 minutes to read, is broken into four parts. It is very possible that these four sections started as separate writings that were later put into one document to make it easier to share with a new follower of Jesus.
* Training in the Way of Life - a teaching on morals (very Jewish)
* The Rhythms of Community Life - including baptism, the Eucharist, fasting and praying
* Visitors Welcome - hospitality to those within and without the community
* The End is Nigh - signs towards the end of days

The document was not considered to be sacred and was not added to the cannon of the New Testament, but that does not make the contents unimportant. The writing has very little to do with theology- what to think about God; instead the focus is on how believers should live with each other.

In recent years the Didache has primarily been studied in academic circles. Author Tony Jones and Paraclete Press have partnered together to make it available again, and they have done with an interesting approach. Jones found a community of believers in Missouri that have been studying the Didache to understand the early Christians' approach to community and implementing it into their lives today.

"The Teaching of the Twelve" starts with a history lesson of the manuscript, provides the actual text, and gives background to both the early Christians who followed these guidelines as well as the believers in Missouri that emulating them. This is followed by a chapter of commentary on each of the four sections. I found the writing to be encouraging and thought provoking and certainly worth discussing in communities of faith today.

I've got bad news for Tony Jones haters. There's nothing to hate about his latest book, The Teaching of the Twelve. In fact, you may love it.

Last week, I finished reading his little book about the little book, the Didache. The didache is a book that dates back to the ancient church but didn't quite make it into the cannon of Scripture. Unlike some of its contemporaries, it didn't make it in because it was steeped in gnosticism... instead the didache likely didn't make it in because it didn't provide deep theological teachings, warnings, or narrative about Jesus. It's not really a letter or narrative at all. Authorship is also unclear. Instead, it's a group of teachings- probably from various authors- that baptismal candidates likely studied before being accepted as Christians in a small town in the first century.

In other words, the Didache (greek word meaning teaching) is a practical guide for living in community with other believers. That's an area I am growing. I've spent the last 10 years teaching on and focusing on individualistic growth in relationship to God. All the while, I've been fascinated by books about first century Christians, Essenes, the Qumran community, and early church history. There was a contradiction there between the individualistic faith of American believers and the community faith I read about in the first century. I have long been trying to figure out how to rectify the two as there is a gulf of difference between what we do today and what was practiced then. Deep down, the Holy Spirit has stirred in me a desire to figure out how we can do life together. I don't have it figured out... but I'm on a journey of discovery towards figuring it out.

Like a lot of conservative Evangelicals, I tend to approach books by Tony Jones with my ears finely tuned to look for a twist to something traditional about his hermeneutic. For some reason I'm left looking for the agenda behind his words. I don't know where this started... but it was something I carried into buying and reading this book. My radar was finely tuned!

So, for those haters, here is the bad news. Tony's latest book approaches Scripture in a thoughtful, academically pure way. It reads the same as many of the scholarly texts places like Dallas Theological Seminary, Wheaton Graduate School, or Trinity Evangelical Divinity School would require of New Testament students. He doesn't lift the didache up as Scriptural, rather uses this groups application of Apostolic teachings to explain how that culture was applying early Christian teachings. Even when the text permits him to hypothesize to tear away at traditional Christian values, he instead affirms them. When the text talks about a pre-millenial view of the community in the first century, he doesn't try to spin it to another viewpoint... instead affirms what the text makes clear, that community looked forward to the imminent return of the risen Christ.

Conservative haters are left with nothing to hate. In fact, I think a lot of my friends need to read this book as we all figure out... "What does it mean to live in community as believers?" Yeah, we need to learn. Yeah, we may just be doing community wrong. Gasp! The horror!

I will leave you with the same encouragement that lead to me buying this book in the first place. Before you hate, before you criticize, before you call names, take the time to read for yourself. Read it, like I did, with a critical eye. Then, when you go to critique, you can do so intelligently. But my feeling is that if you actually read the Teaching of the Twelve, you'll be as impressed as I have been with the treatment.

"But the time has come for this ancient document to inspire its intended audience: those starting out in their faith" (14). Thus you and I, people interested in the development of others and our encouragement for them to engage Scripture on a higher level, find a partner in this book, giving newcomers an excellent way to begin reading and comprehending biblical truth in a short, 20-minute read (the Didache) and a clear commentary in this excellent book. I am a slow reader and I consumed it in one sitting in about 2 hours--be of good cheer, slow readers. You'll love this book.

"...the Didache is a book entirely consumed with a Christianity that is both everyday and ordinary" (15). This is the Christianity we live and encourage others to live. A faith based solely upon emotional manipulation is a faith that makes it though summer camp and three weeks into the school year for high school kids.

Youth pastors, listen up; this book effectively teaches what it is to live the Christian life every day, drawing the distinctions between right and wrong, "a way of life that was fundamentally concerned with love of God, love of others, self-control in matters of sex and money, and orderly worship. In other words, the new Christians had nothing to hide" (59).

We are reminded "what is truly important in Christianity: showing the love of Jesus to the world" (18). While not Canon, the Didache and Tony's excellent translation and commentary, are a boost of encouragement from the early church, whose voices ring out just as clearly today as they did nearly 2,000 years ago. Thanks Tony.

[This review originally appeared in
THE ENGLEWOOD REVIEW OF BOOKS
Vol. 3, #2 - 22 January 2010 ]

The Didache was one of the first texts that sparked my interest in the life of the earliest church communities. In the wake of 9/11 and the many signs of the church's domestication to American culture, the Didache as a powerful reminder that another way was possible, a way that is not rooted in returning evil for evil, a way that leads to life. Over the last decade, I have read a number of books on the Didache, but none has been so vibrant and accessible as Tony Jones' new book The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing and Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community. Jones not only seeks to introduce the Didache to a broad audience - an excellent task by itself - but also to make a case for the significance of its message in these postmodern times that in many ways resemble the era in which the Didache was written. He says in the book's introduction:

The Didache offers something of an alternative to what many know of Christianity. The real power of the Didache is its ability to remind us of what is truly important in Christianity: showing the love of Jesus to the world. (11)

In addition to the full text of the Didache (in English translation) , which is roughly similar in length to one of Paul's Epistles, Jones offers his own reflections on the text illustrated with stories from a church community in Missouri that calls themselves the Cymbrogi (pronounced koom-BRO-gee), a Celtic word meaning "Companions of the Heart." Jones engages this community primarily through conversations with one of their more scholarly members. The Cymbrogi, Jones argues, are a community not unlike the original Didache community whose members are striving together to understand and shape their lives around Jesus' teachings.

For churches in the pre-Ignatian era of Christianity - i.e. before Ignatius argued for a systematic hierarchy of church leadership and before the canonization of Scripture - the church's work of discernment was crucial in interpreting what it meant to follow in the way of Jesus. Similarly, the Cymbrogi today offers us a compelling vision of the life of a church community in conversation. Jones says: "[The Cymbrogi] don't talk about how to grow their church! Instead they study Greek together. They don't worry about paying someone to lead them and teach them. Instead, they all pitch in to the conversations about how to live faithfully" (44).

Jones begins the book by setting the Didache in its context, briefly describing its relatively recent discovery, and what is known about the community out of which it was written. He establishes here some parallels - to which he will return over the course of the book - between the world in which this original Didache community existed and the world of today. Following the introduction is the full text of the Didache, and after that Jones reflects on four key themes developed over the course of the text:

1) Training in the Way of Life

2) Sex, Money and Human Relationships (a surprisingly brief chapter)

3) Living Together in Community

4) The End is Nigh (Thankfully, a brief chapter!)

The chapter on "Living Together in Community" struck me as the heart of the book. Here Jones explores what the Didache says about idolatry, baptism, Eucharist, fasting, hospitality and leadership. He summarizes these facets of life in the Church community:

Live reconciled with one another;
Confess and forgive one another;
Appoint some among you to preside over the community and others to serve;
And treat those you've appointed with respect (111)

As one who has a deep appreciation and who has written about the life of the early church communities, I am excited to see the Didache explored in fresh and exciting ways as Jones does here. However, what is even more enthralling about The Teaching of the Twelve is the rich, organic and conversational vision of the church community that it offers.

In recent conversations with a number of churches, I have found that there is a growing hunger for churches to be more than merely religious communities, but rather real, holistic communities, the gathered life of which extends throughout the week. This distinction was a key facet of a missional church gathering at which I spoke recently. It seems that what Jones offers us here is an historical and theological grounding for deeper, conversational church communities - like the one of the Cymbrogi that he describes. Without the textual authority of the Canon or the guiding authority of institutional church hierarchies, the original Didache community had to labor together to discern the shape of their obedience to Christ. In these postmodern times, when the authorities of texts and institutions are - for good reasons - suspect, we find ourselves in a situation not unlike that of the Didache community. As Jones so wonderfully expounds here, we would do well to reflect on their example and discern together the shape of our faithfulness in today's world.

Over the years, I've developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with Tony Jones' work. On the up side, I've found his advocacy for emerging church topics to be intelligent, and he has helped develop a good bit of energy around some topics that North American evangelicalism needs to engage and re-engage. I loved his book The Sacred Way, and found it to be a helpful, historically based way of approaching some spiritual practices that good evangelicals have typically found to be "too Catholic." On the other hand, I've found that while he's made efforts at congeniality, he seems to enjoy being a lightning rod for controversy . . . even when controversy isn't helpful (mind you, it IS helpful at times). Also, I've found his use of language to be elitist. His book The New Christians is a good example of that, not to mention that it's an inaccurate, and possibly self-centered, portrayal of the emerging church movement.

I write all of the above as an introduction to this review mainly because this book encapsulates a good bit of my love-hate feelings. Jones tells the story of the Didache, which is an ancient document describing a sort of rule of life that was practiced by the earliest Christians. It is a compelling look into the ways that people were rearranging their lives around following Jesus, even while the gospels were being written. This book contains the Didache, and then a good bit of Jones' commentary, which I found to be well-balanced, for the most part. In an attempt to bring the Didache into a 21st century context, Jones describes how it is being used in the life of a faith community in the U.S. midwest. This is where I think things don't go so well. I admire the attempt to demonstrate how this old document that clearly has some value, can be relevant in today's culture. But he dwells very heavily on his friend, Trucker Frank, the reluctant pastor of this faith community. Frank seems like an incredibly intelligent, genuine soul, and it is certainly interesting to see the way he applies himself to this text, but I just didn't need "thoughts from Trucker Frank" at the end of every chapter of the book.

Additionally, I'm not sure Jones successfully navigated some tricky ground when it comes to textual criticism. Having taken a classic postmodern textual approach to the Bible in the past (one that I think is valid, by the way), Jones takes on the task of elevating a clearly non-scriptural text to a level of importance that it ought to be taken seriously and even practiced in contemporary times. But then he stops short of doing the same kind of textual criticism that he's previously done on Scripture itself. I realize this was a tall order, and I give him kudos for trying. I just don't think he navigated the tension effectively.

This may be Tony at his best. The Teaching of the Twelve dives into the ancient text of the Didache. Tony does a great job of giving a historical and contextual background of this text. My favorite aspect of this book is the practical aspect that Tony explores. Tony and Trucker Frank explore what purpose this text served in the development of the Christians in the first century and its possible uses in Christian communities today. If you are interested in a early depiction of a pre-Ignation Christian community the Didache is great and Tony's commentary is fantastic, I would recommend this to anyone in search of primitive or early church document. It would also be a great supplement for any Christian community large or small.

Early on in Christendom, the Didache was esteemed as holy scripture by some churches and early leaders after the apostolic age, but was eventually kicked out of the canon. I appreciate the efforts of Tony Jones to bring to the Christian reading audience an old book to complement their efforts to worship God rightly, especially in their lifestyles with his book, The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing and Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community. I found out it was on sale in the Kindle store for under a dollar and grabbed it.

The text itself is uncomplicated. It is brief and speaks simply. There is not much nuance. I appreciated some of these verses.

1:6 Let your alms sweat in your hands until you know to whom to give them.

2:2 you shall not murder a child, whether it be born or unborn

2:7 Hate no one; correct some, pray for others, and some you should love more than your own life.

3:3 My child, don't be lustful, for lust leads to illicit sex. Don't be a filthy talker or allow your eyes a free reign, for these lead to adultery.

4:5 Do not be one who opens his hands to receive, or closes them when it is time to give.
4:6 If you have anything, by your hands you should give ransom for your sins.
4:7 Do not hesitate to give, and do not complain about it. You will know in time who is the good Rewarder.
4:8 Do not turn away from one who is in want; rather, share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own. For if you are sharers in what is imperishable, how much more in things which perish!

With such direct statements, what is Jones to do with it? He finds a fellowship of believers who try to use the Didache as a way to live, and shares the perspective of one of their teachers, Trucker Frank.

Despite the apparent simplicity, Jones is very good at turning over stones and finding complexity. He reflects on the verse from 2:7 noted above,

"Instead, correct them, pray for them, and some, love with a love that you didn't even know you had. What the Didache doesn't say is that the community should shun or excommunicate those who commit the forbidden sins. In fact, "correct some, pray for others, and some you should love more than your own life" makes plain that the worst sinners should be showered with the most love. The obvious parallel comes from Matthew 18, in which Jesus instructs his disciples that in their group, one who sins should first be confronted by an individual, then by the community leaders, and ultimately by the entire community. If the sinner refuses to abandon the unrighteous behavior, Jesus teaches, "let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector." While that sentence has long been used to ostracize sinners from the church, if we take a minute to think about how Jesus treated tax-collectors and sinners, it becomes clear that Jesus was not advocating excommunication but rather hospitality toward the sinner. "Hate no one" is the guiding premise of the community; their tag line; their mission statement. That, says Trucker Frank, is the heart of God on paper."

I can agree with Frank and Jones but I feel more dimension is needed to understand this. Jones posits that this document was written without knowledge of Paul's works. But Trucker Frank and Jones know Paul's writing on excommunication, also, I've wondered whether Matthew 18 even has anything to do with excommunication. I'm perplexed at why Frank's community does not apply the rest of the New Testament and falls back to the Didache as the final authority. That seems backward. Perhaps they don't, but I don't learn from Jones either way. Which is one of the difficulties with this commentary by Jones. Is it a commentary on Trucker Frank's community or on the Didache?

Tracker Frank points out to Jones that the Didache community seem to have a focus on living instead of knowing. But as Jones's book points out, it's hard to live without knowing. Self-contradictory statement reduce the seriousness that I can give to Trucker Frank. Is he making it up as he goes along? It seems to me that the Didache is very much like James, a practical guide for Christian living. But if one elevates the Didache to canon, as it seems Trucker Frank's community almost does, but not any major branch of Christendom, then how do they reconcile with Paul's writings, themselves inspired by the Holy Spirit?

Jones does not answer these questions. Perhaps the answer is best left unknown for those who prefer to make it up as they go along, which is a very popular option among those in the church at large. Where is the locus of authority? The Bible? The extra-canonical writings of the Bible? The church's tradition? The church's hierarchy? Tracker Frank's community is a loose affiliation, with members who belong to a broad spectrum of the church. It's not a community of authority, because the ethic is that of doing their own thing. Hence, it's members still attach to those bodies that do claim authority. It's an interesting exercise, but, in the end, it's recreational, and not transformational over people's life times.

This book is interesting for it's sociological example, but not for it's theological input.

Every Christian should read the Didache (DID-ah-kay). Every one. You can read the whole thing in twenty minutes, so you have no excuse.

Didache simply means teachings. By our best guess, this is the earliest Christian literature not in the Bible. It probably predates one or more Gospels, and may be made up of about four separate writings. The opening portion appears taken directly from the Q source. So early are the teachings of this Didache community that they show no indication of familiarity with any Pauline writings.

The Didache is not a book about believing, but about living. It's not about evangelizing, but about being a neighbor. It's a guidebook about how to share the Eucharist, how to give alms, how to baptize, how to appoint elders and treat prophets, and more. You won't read anything about miracles, the twelve disciples, the crucifixion, or the resurrection. It's just about how to be a Christian.

Jones relates the words of the Didache, provides a short, inspirational analysis, and relates how a group of Christians he knows has taken its teachings and humbly formed a community determined to return to the simple, compassionate teachings of the early church.

After throwing everything i believed out on the table. ( could this be what "born again" feels like? ) The first thing that I picked back up was the Love of Christ. I knew it was the one thing that couldn't be thrown away nor taken away. Since then its been quiet the ride unlearning the belief system that was drilled into me since birth. Reading this book has helped me pick up a few more pieces that can be utilized in the reconstruction of my faith. I'm still trudging through the muck, but I have more than enough to ruminate on for a while. It will certainly be a challenge just putting that 20 min read into practice. At least it looks doable. Thanks for taking the time to share the Didache with us layfolks.

Other reviewers have done a fine job of reviewing the content, so I will simply point out the fact that this book does an excellent job of making an obscure, ancient Christian document immensely accessible and relevant to even the average non-scholarly Christian reader. Tony takes the Didache and shows how it still contains wisdom that can inform our faith and faith communities even today. As an aspiring academic historian, I personally could have wished for more in-depth discussion of some of the controversies and questions surrounding the Didache, but I'm not the kind of person Tony is writing for. He is writing for the ordinary Christian who is interested in expanding their knowledge of the early church and being inspired by those closest to the authors of the New Testament, but who aren't interested in technical discussions or academic debates. For these folks, Tony provide an excellent, short little book that could be used in any variety of small-group discussion formats or for personal devotional reading. It's short enough to be read in one sitting, but meaty enough to provide fodder for a whole series of small-group conversations or sermon topics. I highly recommend it.