The Didache: The Ritual of Baptism
What light does “The Didache” shed on Christian life, practice, and/or thought at the time and place it was written. Focus on one aspect of the text you think is the most significant.
In this essay, the writer will use ‘The Didache’ as a torchlight to show Christian life, practice and thought at the time and place it was written, with a specific focus on the ritual of baptism.
The Didache, also titled “The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles, through the Twelve Apostles”, was written in Greek in 1056 but was discovered in the library at Constantinople in 1873. The date of its original work, its authorship and provenance are unknown. The work may have originated either in Alexandria, Antioch, or Syria. Amongst its seminal teachings, the Didache lists the following baptism instructions (Staniforth 1968: 225-231):
The procedure for baptizing is as follows. After rehearsing all the preliminaries, immerse in running water ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. If no running water is available, immerse in ordinary water. This should be cold if possible; otherwise warm. If neither is practicable, then sprinkle water three times on the head ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. Both baptizer and baptized ought to fast before the baptism, as well as any others who can do so; but the candidate himself should be told to keep a fast for a day or two beforehand (ibid).
The baptism ritual is rooted in the New and Old Testaments. In the New Testament, baptism was first performed by John the Baptist by immersion in the river Jordan. This was a call to repentance, forgiveness of sins, moral purification, and cleansing (Mark 1:4-5). The Didache is silent on repentance and the symbolic death into Christ. The New Testament record also shows that baptism was done spontaneously without prior preparations of fasting, body anointing, and other preparations discussed below. Jesus Christ also commanded his disciples to make
In this essay, the writer will use ‘The Didache’ as a torchlight to show Christian life, practice and thought at the time and place it was written, with a specific focus on the ritual of baptism.
The Didache, also titled “The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles, through the Twelve Apostles”, was written in Greek in 1056 but was discovered in the library at Constantinople in 1873. The date of its original work, its authorship and provenance are unknown. The work may have originated either in Alexandria, Antioch, or Syria. Amongst its seminal teachings, the Didache lists the following baptism instructions (Staniforth 1968: 225-231):
The procedure for baptizing is as follows. After rehearsing all the preliminaries, immerse in running water ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. If no running water is available, immerse in ordinary water. This should be cold if possible; otherwise warm. If neither is practicable, then sprinkle water three times on the head ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. Both baptizer and baptized ought to fast before the baptism, as well as any others who can do so; but the candidate himself should be told to keep a fast for a day or two beforehand (ibid).
The baptism ritual is rooted in the New and Old Testaments. In the New Testament, baptism was first performed by John the Baptist by immersion in the river Jordan. This was a call to repentance, forgiveness of sins, moral purification, and cleansing (Mark 1:4-5). The Didache is silent on repentance and the symbolic death into Christ. The New Testament record also shows that baptism was done spontaneously without prior preparations of fasting, body anointing, and other preparations discussed below. Jesus Christ also commanded his disciples to make
References: Chadwick, H.1968. The Early Church. London: Holder and Stoughton. Chidester, D. 2000. Christianity: A Global History. London: Penguin. Guy, L. 2003. ‘Naked Baptism in the Early Church: The Rhetoric and the Reality’, Journal of Religion History, Vol 27, No 2, pp 133-142. Kelly, J.N.D. 1977. Early Christian Doctrines. 5th Edition. London: Continuum. McGrath, A.E (ed.), 2007. The Christian Theology Reader. 3rd Edition. Oxford: Blackwell. Staniforth, M (ed. & trans), 1968. Early Christian Writings. Harmondsworth: Penguin.