In the past year I have been trying to do more reading in the area of church history - both original documents and history books. I believe understanding the formation of doctrine and practices in the church helps me to understand its current state. Modern "advances" can often be best understood through the lens of history. One brief, early church document that I have read is called the Didache. It is also referred to as the Teachings of the Twelve Apostles. It is believed to date to the late first or early second century based on its content and references in other writings.
The Didache is a collection of rules that were followed by first century churches (if you believe it is what it claims to be). The section on baptism caught my attention. According to it, the preferred way to perform a baptism is in a river. If a river is not available, a lake is the next best option - but make sure the water is cold. No cold water, then you can use warm and if all else fails, dump water on the person's head. Another interesting tidbit is that the person was instructed to fast for a day or two beforehand.
Comments
Interesting, but much of it is nothing more than the traditions of men. How sad that unscriptural traditions (some of which can be found in this document)entered the church so early and became recognized as binding on God's people when the authoritative Epistles of the Lord (by His apostles) were disregarded.
Posted by: David on Thursday, July 14, 2005
Don't you think you are being a little harsh on those poor first century Christians? This document was most likely (almost certainly) written before there was an accepted canon of NT Scripture. In fact, many people date it before some of the gospels and epistles were written. It could have been based on the verbal teachings of Barnabas as remembered by the writer(s). I am sure many of the written teachings of Paul, John, and Peter did not circulate that quickly - especially by today's standards. The early church struggled with doctrine as evidenced by the council at Jerusalem and many of Paul's letters.
It is also important to understand that there are very few extant texts of this and some of them are recent (recent meaning only several hundred years old). Some believe sections were added later on based on the current doctrine of the church. We are not able to figure out the original version like we can with the NT because there aren't enough texts available for criticism.
Which traditions bothered you the most?
Posted by: CJ Costello on Thursday, July 14, 2005
I should have mentioned that the Didache did not have a wide distribution so not every church used it as a handbook. Some of the commentary on it suggested that it was mainly rural churches that used it.
Posted by: CJ Costello on Saturday, July 16, 2005