DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH VS DIDACHE
Alan R. Naas October 2020
I am sure you all have had the same thought as I have:
What happened to the gospel of the Body of Christ after Paul died?
What influenced the early believers in the late first century and the second century?
When we read the writings and fragments of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, and other post-Biblical “bishops”, there is a clear absence of any knowledge of Paul’s gospel of the Body of Christ.
Is it possible that there were Jewish believers who never heard Paul’s teaching; either Acts or post-Acts?
Paul did not teach or minister in Jerusalem or thereabout. The Twelve Apostles were the witnesses of that region.
Would you agree that Paul’s Gospel was not the same as Pete’s gospel, or James’ gospel?
1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Paul experienced this same issue at Antioch with Peter. Paul preached a gospel different from that preached by the twelve.
Acts 14-15
14:25 And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:
26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
28 And there they abode long time with the disciples.
Paul had some pretty sharp words about Peter and company in Galatians.
And certain men which came down from Judaea (Peter, et al) taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, (Gal 2:11-21) they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch with Judas and Silas as backup from the Jews.
Look at what James said about Paul in Acts 21
18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
22 What is it therefore?
Was Paul set up By James?
Near the end, Why were those in Asia being turned away from Paul?
2 TIM 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
Remember what Paul said to the elders of Ephesus
Acts 20:29-31
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
Paul’s warnings
Phil 3:1-3
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Phil 3:17
17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Phil 4:9
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
Eph 4:14
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 5:6
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Eph 6:11
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Col 2:4-8
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:20-23
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
So what happened to the message of Paul about the Body of Christ? Did anyone at Ephesus or Colosse or other cities understand or acknowledge the gospel of the Body of Christ? Was Timothy able to overcome his obstacles with his carrying on Paul’s ministry? (Do we have more obstacles to overcome today than Timothy did?)
After Paul died, the believers in Christ were not all one group in agreement. I believe they were fragmented and separate companies scattered throughout the region. There were several doctrines grew out of these separate groups. Christianity was just one of many mystical religions in the Roman Empire.
How many tried to carry on under the kingdom program? How many knew that the kingdom hope had been suspended? Not everybody understood or agreed with Paul. After all, Paul was a prisoner accused of many things. Paul changed his doctrine twice. Even Peter found Paul hard to understand.
So if the mystery dispensation was not comprehended and the Jew and Gentile believers continued in the kingdom hope, what were they teaching?
There was a document of rules that the Jewish Christians adopted and shared. The author is unknown, but it was written in Koine Greek.
THE DIDACHE
The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles
The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Gentiles)
“The Lord’s Teaching to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles”
(Britannica)
The Didache is the oldest surviving Christian church order, probably written in Egypt or Syria in the 2nd century. In 16 short chapters it deals with morals and ethics, church practice, and the eschatological hope (of the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time) and presents a general program for instruction and initiation into the primitive church.
Some early Christian writers considered the Didachē canonical, and Egyptian authors and compilers quoted it extensively in the 4th and 5th centuries. Eusebius of Caesarea quoted it in his Ecclesiastical History (early 4th century), and it formed the basis of chapter 7 of the 4th-century Apostolic Constitutions, a collection of early Christian ecclesiastical law. It was known only through such references in early Christian works until a Greek manuscript of it, written in 1056, was discovered in Istanbul in 1873 by the metropolitan Philotheos Bryennios. He published it in 1883. Two fragments of the work were later discovered, a 4th-century Greek papyrus in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, and a 5th-century Coptic papyrus in the British Museum.
The Didachē is not a unified and coherent work but a compilation of regulations that had acquired the force of law by usage in scattered Christian communities. Evidently several pre-existing written sources were used and were compiled by an unknown editor.
Chapters 1–6 give ethical instruction concerning the two ways, of life and of death, and reflect an early Christian adaptation of a Jewish pattern of teaching in order to prepare catechumens (candidates for Christian baptism). Chapters 7–15 discuss baptism, fasting, prayer, the Eucharist, how to receive and test traveling apostles and prophets, and the appointment of bishops and deacons. Chapter 16 considers the signs of the Second Coming of the Lord.
Codex Hierosolymitanus (also called the Bryennios manuscript or the Jerusalem Codex, often designated simply "H" in scholarly discourse) is an 11th-century Greek manuscript, written by an otherwise unknown scribe named Leo, who dated it 1056. Its designation of "Jerusalem" recalls its resting place in Jerusalem, at the library of the monastery of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The codex contains the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the First Epistle of Clement and the Second Epistle of Clement, the long version of the letters of Ignatius of Antioch and a list of books of the Bible following the order of John Chrysostom. It was discovered in 1873 by Philotheos Bryennios, the metropolitan of Nicomedia, at Constantinople. He published the texts of the two familiar Epistles of Clement in 1875, overlooking the Didache, which he found when he returned to the manuscript.
But no copy was known until 1873, when Bryennios discovered the codex Hierosolymitanus, which contained the full text of the Didache which he published in 1883. Hitchcock and Brown produced the first English translation in March 1884.
The Didache contains 2300 words in 16 chapters.
Chapter 1. The Two Ways; The First Commandment
Chapter 2. The Second Commandment: Gross Sin Forbidden
Chapter 3. Other Sins Forbidden
Chapter 4. Various Precepts
Chapter 5. The Way of Death
Chapter 6. Against False Teachers, and Food Offered to Idols
Chapter 7. Concerning Baptism
Chapter 8. Concerning Fasting and Prayer (the Lord's Prayer)
Chapter 9. The Thanksgiving (Eucharist)
Chapter 10. Prayer After Communion
Chapter 11. Concerning Teachers, Apostles, and Prophets
Chapter 12. Reception of Christians
Chapter 13. Support of Prophets
Chapter 14. Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day
Chapter 15. Bishops and Deacons; Christian Reproof
Chapter 16. Watchfulness; The Coming of the Lord
The original title “Didache” simply means “teaching”.
So who added the subtitle(s)?
The teaching of the Apostles
The teaching of the Twelve Apostles
Jesus Christ is only mentioned once other that Jesus Your Servant
Chapter 4 of The Didache quotes the post-Acts writings of Paul, but entirely excludes any credit or mention of Paul, who is not one of the Twelve Apostles
If we did not have the post-Acts Epistles of Paul, then the Didache would make some necessary sense.
The Didache Bible (2014) is the Catholic answer to the Companion Bible.
The RSV Didache Bible presents extensive commentaries based on the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church for each of the books of the Bible. It also includes numerous apologetic inserts to assist you in understanding the Church's teachings on current issues.
The Didache Bible is a valuable resource for serious study of the Bible-seeking a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith and intended to be accessible by all Catholics in its level of scriptural scholarship