Baptism, Communion, and Prophecy in the Late 1st Century
For the past couple weeks we’ve been examining the earliest known church manual, known as the Didache. We first gave a brief introduction, as well as understanding how the manual (along with the rest of the early Church writings) follows the teachings of Jesus. Now we are going to shift into the liturgical section of the Didache, and give some focus to its instructions regarding baptism, communion, and prophecy.
Before we look into baptism, it needs to be stressed once again how the Didache instructs all things under a scope of the Church living in constant community and fellowship. This can sadly be overlooked today in many church circles. The Church has probably never in history been as individualistic and divided as it has been for the last century. As a result, it can be difficult to actually understand the community context that these teachings are given in.
“And you shall seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that you may rest upon their words. You shall not long for division, but shall bring those who contend for peace. You shall judge righteously, you shall not respect persons (not show partiality) in reproving for transgressions.
...You shall not hesitate to give, nor murmur when you give; for you shall know who is the good repayer of the hire. You shall not turn away from him that is in want, but you shall share all things with your brother, and shall not say that they are on their own; for if you are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal?”
Of course, the Church was much smaller back then, and the foundation of apostolic succession was still in effect. Sadly, the division of denominations will most likely never be undone by this point. But this does not mean we separate ourselves from our brothers and sisters and not seek fellowship and unity as much as possible.
Baptism
Something that strikes some commentators of the Didache as unusual is how little theological description there is in its instruction for baptism. This is not to say the early Church didn’t discuss or understand the significance of baptism. The manual is clearly meant from beginning to end to be a simple, practical way of practicing the Christian faith. To discuss the deeper theology would be the role of the local church’s teachers and prophets. So with that in mind, the instructions for baptism reads as this:
“And concerning baptism, thus baptize ye: Having first said all these things, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if you have not living water, baptize into other water; and if you can’t in cold, in warm. But if you have not either, pour water three times upon the head into the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whatever others can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or days before.”
The instructions for baptism are pretty straightforward. The ideal, but not absolutely necessary instructions for the mode of water show that it is the heart of the person being baptized that matters significantly more than how they’re being baptized. The Trinitarian order follows the instructions Jesus gives in Matthew 28:19, and there is a call for the people involved to fast prior to the baptism.
Communion/The Eucharist
While different churches refer to the Lord’s Supper as communion, I will be spending the rest of the blog calling it the Eucharist, as that is the traditional name. This also is a controversial theological topic, and what the Didache offers us is some fascinating detail as to how it was practiced.
I plan on discussing the Apostolic Fathers’ theology of the Eucharist another time, because it deserves an entire blog post. Instead of focusing on how they understood the presence of Christ being or not being in the bread and wine, I would rather focus on a few other important features the Didache gives.
First, the instructions for the Eucharist take up a big portion of the Didache. It seems that this part of the worship was the “main event”, more so than the sermon. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the primary meeting of worship is instructed to be done on Sunday (Didache 14). It has prayers to recite for the bread, the wine, and after everyone partakes in the Eucharist:
“We thank You, holy Father, for Your holy name which You have caused to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which You have made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory for ever. You, Master almighty, did create all things for Your name’s sake; You gave food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to You; but to us You have freely given spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Your Servant.”
There are three primary takeaways I’d like to bring on this blog concerning the Didache’s instructions for the Eucharist.
One, this was to be done every Sunday when gathering to worship. Chapter 14 instructs this, along with instructing all Christians to confess their sins prior to partaking in the Eucharist. This follows Paul’s instructions on the Eucharist as well in 1st Corinthians 11:27-29. It also strictly commands in chapter 9.5 that the Eucharist is exclusively for Christians who have been baptized, and not for anybody outside the Church.
Two, there is a significant focus on understanding the Eucharist as a practice of unifying the Church to each other and Christ. This would be a consistent understanding in the early Church, and part of why it was considered so essential to do every Sunday. After giving the prayer for the bread and wine, it says:
“Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for Yours is the glory and power through Jesus Christ forever.”
Three, the Didache describes the Eucharist as a sort of spiritual sacrifice. Kenneth Howell points this out in his commentary on the Didache:
“What is even more striking about the Didachist’s language is its association with the notion of sacrifice. In 14.3, the Didachist quotes from Malachi 1:11 and 14 in connection with the confession of sin in Christian worship. Chapter 14 of the Didache contains two moral exhortations: one to confess one’s sins “so that your sacrifice may be pure” (14.1) and the other to reconcile with one’s neighbor “that your sacrifice not be defiled” (14.2) ”
Taking aside for a moment the debates on Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, Spiritual Presence, or Memorialism, the Didache shows us that the early Church held a strong view of the Eucharist and saw it as a crucial part of their worship.
Prophecy
Finally, we get to one of the most striking passages in the Didache. Chapters 11-15 give various instructions for teachers, apostles, and prophets. What I want to focus on in particular is how the early Church was instructed to host prophets. It seems that the writer(s) of the manual were facing an ongoing issue of false prophets visiting churches and trying to take advantage of the community. On the other hand, it seems they still highly valued prophecy and what the Holy Spirit may share.
“But concerning the apostles and prophets, according to the decree of the Gospel, thus do. Let every apostle that comes to you be received as the Lord. But he shall not remain except one day; but if there be need, also the next; but if he remains three days, he is a false prophet. And when the apostle goes away, let him take nothing but bread until he lodges; but if he ask money, he is a false prophet.
And every prophet that speaks in the Spirit you shall neither try nor judge; for every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shall not be forgiven. But not every one that speaks in the Spirit is a prophet; but only if he holds the ways of the Lord. Therefore from their ways shall the false prophet and the prophet be known.”
The first time I read that passage, I was absolutely stunned! For the longest time, I was also very puzzled. One moment, it strictly commands not to judge or test prophets speaking in the Spirit. The next moment, the passage leads into a checklist of recognizing a false prophet. Examples given to recognize a false prophet is if the prophet doesn’t practice what they preach, or if they ask for money for themselves.
This may seem a bit confusing at first. The unpardonable sin is warned against testing a prophet, but then instructions to recognize a false prophet is given! It almost seems a little contradictory. How do we make sense of this?
I believe the Didache is stressing that prophecy should not be ignored, just as Paul instructs in 1st Thessalonians 5:20-21, but there is also discernment to be held. With the long list of instructions given to test false prophets, the Didache is obviously not suggesting that churches should just believe and get behind every prophetic word that is shared.
Rather, I believe it is stating that the prophetic word when being shared should be shared completely with an open mind, and after the word is given there is discernment to be made based on the fruit the prophet bears. Shawn J. Wilhite comes to a similar conclusion in his commentary on this passage. (Wilhite, 2019, Pg. 234) The discernment given in the manual also aligns strongly with Christ’s instructions that we will know false prophets by the fruit they bear.
It’s also clear in these instructions that genuine prophets live very simplistic and disciplined lives. There’s a good reason no prosperity “prophet” ever quotes the Didache! Personally, I do believe the Holy Spirit still brings prophecy from time to time. And I think it is good to seek prophecy (and all the gifts for that matter). However, we need to be very discerning, and not bend the truth or the Scriptures just so we can accept someone’s prophetic word.
So now we have looked at big portions of the Didache. We will most likely go back to it every now and then, but for now I’d like to move on to other writings in the Apostolic Fathers. My current plan is to talk some more about different theological topics that Apostolic Fathers shared, and then we’ll go into the Epistle of Diognetus, one of the earliest apologetic writings we have.
Bibliography
Schaff, P. (2016). The Complete Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Collection of Early Church Fathers. Toronto, Canada. (I have updated some of the English to modern English)
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_VII/The_Teaching_of_the_Twelve_Apostles/The_Teaching_of_the_Twelve_Apostles
Wilhite, S.J. (2019). The Didache: A Commentary. Eugene, OR. Cascade Books.
Staniforth, M. (1968). The Apostolic Fathers: Early Christian Writings. London, UK. Penguin Random House UK
Holmes, M. (2006). The Apostolic Fathers in English (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI. Baker Academic.
Howell, K. (2012). Clement of Rome & the Didache: A New Translation and Theological Commentary. Zanesville, OH. CHResources.
Janicki, Toby. (2017). The Way of Life: The Rediscovered Teachings of the Twelve Jewish Apostles to the Gentiles. Jerusalem, Israel. Vine of David.