This volume demonstrates that we should understand nascent Christianity and early Judaism as sharing to a large extent the same traditions. It throws fresh light on the Jewishness of the Two Ways teaching in Didache 1-6 as it presents a cautious reconstruction of the Jewish prototype of the Two Ways and traces the Jewish life situation in which the instruction could flourish. In the field of liturgical studies, a significant contribution is made to the discussion of Didache 7-10. It improves our understanding of the Jewish provenance and historical development of Baptism and Eucharist. The book also presents an intriguing look into the ministry of itinerant apostles and prophets (Didache 11-15) considering the larger environment of Jewish religious and cultural history.

Dating from the first century, the Didache offers a unique window into early Jewish Christianity. Its Jewish-Christian author seeks to mediate the Torah for the text's gentile recipients, steering diplomatically between the Scylla and Charybdis of the Law-observing church in Jerusalem and Paul's more open teaching. The Didache is thus very clear that gentile believers do not need to convert to Judaism, but at the same time its author argues that the Torah - particularly the second table of the Decalogue - is universal. The Deuteronomic paradigm of the 'Way of Life' against the 'Way of Death' applies to all. In Torah for Gentiles? Daniel Nessim explores this juxtaposition in depth. How is Jesus' 'easy yoke' to be held alongside the strenuous commands of Mosaic Law? What does it mean to attain perfection? The path the Didache offers is not as straightforward as one might suppose, yet both Jews and Christians would recognize its moral basis as largely the same as that which underpins Judaeo-Christian values today. Moreover, the Christian community it describes, from a time when that community still looked very much to its Jewish forebears, makes it a fascinating example of the origins of Christian life and worship.

"Sharing many traditions and characteristics, the Gospel of Matthew, the letter of James, and the Didache invite comparative study. In this volume, internationally renowned scholars consider the three writings and the complex interrelationship between first-century Judaism and nascent Christianity. These texts likely reflect different aspects and emphases of a network of connected communities sharing basic theological assumptions and expressions." "Of particular importance for the reconstruction of the religious and social milieu of these communities are issues such as the role of Jewish law, the development of community structures, the reception of the Jesus tradition, and conflict management. In addition to the Pauline and Johannine "schools," Matthew, James, and the Didache may represent a third religious milieu within earliest Christianity that is especially characterized through its distinct connections to a particular ethical stream of contemporary Jewish tradition." "The contributors are Jonathan Draper, Patrick J. Hartin, John S. Kloppenborg, Matthias Konradt, J. Andrew Overman, Boris Repschinski; Huub van de Sandt, Jens Schroter, David C. Sim, Alistair Stewart-Sykes, Peter Tomson, Martin Vahrenhorst, Joseph Verheyden, Wim J. C. Weren, Oda Wischmeyer, Jurgen K. Zangenberg, and Magnus Zetterholm."--BOOK JACKET.

The Didache, or Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles, is an important source for our knowledge of early Christianity. The Didache demonstrates that we should understand nascent Christianity and early Judaism as sharing to a large extent the same traditions. The volume throws fresh light on the Jewishness of the Two Ways teaching in Didache 1-6. It presents a cautious reconstruction of the Jewish prototype of the Two Ways and traces the Jewish life situation in which the instruction could emerge and flourish. This attempt is important, as it provides us with a Jewish source (and its transmission) underlying Christian and Jewish writings. For example, it is shown how acquaintance with these traditional materials benefits our perception of the antithetical section in Matthew 5:17-48. In the field of liturgical studies, a significant contribution is made to the discussion of Didache 7-10. It improves our understanding of the Jewish provenance and historical development of Baptism and the Eucharist. The book also presents an intriguing look into the redactional stages behind the materials about church discipline. The ministry of itinerant apostles and prophets moving from town to town, and their settling down in the community, is considered in the perspective of the larger environment of Jewish religious and cultural history. This volume will prove indispensable for all those engaged in the study of early Judaism, the New Testament, Patristics, the origins of Christian liturgy, and early Church history in general.

Takes a new look at the Jewishness of the Christian Didache.

Most Christians believe that everything about Jesus and the early church can be found in their New Testament. In recent years, however, the discovery of the Gospel of Thomas and the reconstruction of the Q-Gospel have led scholars to recognize that some very early materials were left out. Now, due to the pioneering efforts of Dr. Aaron Milavec, the most decisive document of them all, namely, the Didache ("Did-ah-Kay"), has come to light. Milavec has decoded the Didache and enabled it to reveal its hidden secrets regarding those years when Christianity was little more than a faction within the restless Judaisms of the mid-first-century. The Didache reveals a tantalizingly detailed description of the prophetic faith and day-to-day routines that shaped the Jesus movement some twenty years after the death of Jesus. The focus of the movement then was not upon proclaiming the exalted titles and deeds of Jesus - aspects that come to the fore in the letters of Paul and in the Gospel narratives. In contrast to these familiar forms of Christianity, the focus of the Didache was upon "the life and the knowledge" of Jesus himself. Thus, the Didache details the step-by-step process whereby non-Jews were empowered by assimilating the prophetic faith and the way of life associated with Jesus of Nazareth. Milavec's clear, concise, and inspiring commentaries are not only of essential importance to scholars, pastors, and students but also very useful for ordinary people who wish to unlock the secrets of the Didache. Milavec's analytic, Greek-English side-by-side, gender-inclusive translation is included as well as a description of how this document, after being fashioned and used 50-70 C.E., was mysteriously lost for over eighteen hundred years before being found in an obscure library in Istanbul. The study questions, bibliography, and flowcharts enable even first-time users to grasp the functional and pastoral genius that characterized the earliest Christian communities.

"In this study, Aaron Milavec comprehensively examines how the first-century pastoral manual known as the Didache enumerated the step-by-step training of converts for the full, active participation in the earliest Jewish-Christian communities. Milavec shows how the Didache can, in turn, illuminate our understanding of how these first Christian men and women organized their community life socially, religiously, and politically in order to safeguard its members from the challenges of the surrounding Roman, pagan society of the first-century Mediterranean basin. He argues not only that the Didache's textual and contextual clues demonstrate the document's organic unity from beginning to end, but also that it dates from a period before the gospels were written and had gained acceptance."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved