The Didache: Text, Translation, Analysis, and Commentary - Softcover

Milavec, Aaron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814658318 ISBN 13: 9780814658314

Publisher: Liturgical Press, 2003

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Aaron Milavec, Professor Emeritus, has served as a seminary anduniversity professor for over twenty-five years. He brought his freshapproach to the Didache to the attention of biblical scholars byoriginating a new program unit of the national Society of BiblicalLiterature, "The Didache in Context," which he chaired 2002-2005.Meanwhile, his website, Didache.info, promotes pioneering researchand scholarly exchange on issues of the early church. His thousand-page commentary, THE DIDACHE: FAITH, HOPE, AND LIFE OF THE EARLIESTCHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES, 50-70 C.E., received a 2004 Catholic Press Clubaward recognizing the best books in theology. To date, Aaron haspublished twenty books in theology and ministry.

From 2007-2014,Aaron joined with a group of academics from the UK to create, torecruit, and to train a visionary international faculty operating within CATHERINE OF SIENA VIRTUAL COLLEGE, an online college devoted toempowering women for life and leadership through engaged gender studies. In July of 2014, the University of Roehampton (London) took over thepioneering methodology while retaining the name, CATHERINE OF SIENAVIRTUAL COLLEGE.

Aaron's recent eBook publications can be found here and at payhip.com/milavec

Review

This little book is a gem—learned, accessible, illuminating and challenging to both scholarly conventions and conventional Christianity. Students of early Christianity are in Milavec's debt, not least for his innovative website, www.Didache.info.Pacifica

. . . a useful means of introducing the Didache to beginners.Theoforum

Any future bibliography on the Didache will have to include this ambitious, impressive work.Theological Studies

This is a book of rare quality and importance that has already been recognized by the most prominent scholars in the field as the fundamental reference work of the study of the Didache.Robert J. Daly, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

This is a book of rare quality and importance that has already been recognized by the most prominent scholars in the field as the fundamental reference work for the study of the Didache . . . Extensive indexes make the book an extrodinarily valuable research work. Fourth R

Will undoubtedly challenge many who seek to understand the background and perspectives of the Didache.The Catholic Biblical Review

Milavec’s work merits wide study and discussion especially because it presents alternative views and profound challenges to what has been the scholarly consensus on the development and interpretation of the text.Worship

This volume, however, is significant by itself and provides for a wider audience a very accessible introduction to Milavec’s work on this important document.Worship

Edition details

• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0814658318
• ISBN 13: 9780814658314
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128