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Didache: What does it say about church organization? [Active]
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Regarding the Organization of the Church. The Didache (late 1st century? early 2nd century?) in chapter 15 mentions only bishops and deacons, and does not give a hint that the decision is other than local: "Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers. Despise them not therefore, for they are your honoured ones, together with the prophets and teachers." It also in these few sentences does not describe a division of labor between bishops and deacons, i.e., specialized, differing functions.Remember, not mentioning something is not the same as denying something.
More loosely regarding the Organization of the Church. A remark not directly relevant to Susan's question but matching the topic title: The Didache does give us some hints on the organization of the church when it was written and used.
Chapters 11-13 describe a world in which Christians of various sorts were travelling from church to church. The Didache does not mention any institutional mechanism for validating these people and their ministries. We can guess, based on examples from various epistles in the NT and from general practices at that time, that a person might show up with a letter of recommendation, but the Didache doesn't mention letters. We can also guess that with all this moving around people would have shared acquaintances whom a new arrival could mention. We see evidence of this I think in some of the epistles. There weren't all that many Christians at this time. Again, the Didache does not mention this.
Anyhow, the picture I get is of a network of churches, no formal hierarchy among the churches, with people constantly moving among them. This reminds me of a less developed version of what in the discussion on Cyprian I called a "decentralized network of mutually validating nodes" or some such, but there the interaction was primarily among bishops.
(Please note the use of the word "reminds." It means what it means, and does not mean "I assert that ...".)
(No formal hierarchy does not mean no hierarchy.)
Susan said, "uh-oh..."Please expand? The suspense is killing me.
BTW, nothing in the above messages threatens the Catholic and Orthodox three-tier hierarchy. ("Three-tier" hierarchy requires some refinement but it will do for now.)
Clark wrote: "Susan said, "uh-oh..."Please expand? The suspense is killing me.
BTW, nothing in the above messages threatens the Catholic and Orthodox three-tier hierarchy. ("Three-tier" hierarchy requires som..."
Hahaha. I was just afraid now my comments would be in the wrong place again.....
The second message is an orphan because it doesn't fit the question you asked. That's okay with me.
I have made this thread into a topic of its own.
[Moderator's Note: I moved Susan's comment here from another thread, as she is responding to Clark's comment in msg.3]Clark wrote: "A remark not directly relevant to Susan's question but matching the topic title: The Didache does give us some hints on the organization of the church when it was written and used.
Chapters 11-13..."
Yes..... but the Didache did mention how to note someone 'not' of them....not all 'Christians' at that time were of the same fidelity it seems...
You bring up something I never thought much about before....when it says so and so started this church, and so and so started that church.....were they localities somehow meaningful to that specific person? Why did one go to Ephesus or one go to Antioch etc. etc.. How did they decide where each went to go evangelize, if you know what I mean...they were pretty effective at covering quite an area!
Nemo said, "the Didache did mention how to note someone 'not' of them....not all 'Christians' at that time were of the same fidelity it seems..."Definitely the Didache warns against people who teach wrong stuff. Chapter 6:
"See that no one cause thee to err from this way of the Teaching, since apart from God it teacheth thee. 2 For if thou art able to bear all the yoke of the Lord, thou wilt be perfect; but if thou art not able, what thou art able that do. 3 And concerning food, bear what thou art able; but against that which is sacrificed to idols13 be exceedingly on thy guard; for it is the service of dead gods."
Chapters 11-12 repeatedly mention false folk.
The most easily described and recognized false person is the one who travels around getting free food and lodging, taking unfair advantage of Christian charity and hospitality. If two or three days after his arrival he refuses to work, "he is a Christ-monger. Watch that ye keep aloof from such." The note in my edition uses the term "Christ-trafficker" for "Christ-monger" and says that this was a recognized term because many people did this.
The guideline in Chapter 6 seems to refer more to the rules and practices of morality and ascetic labor (ch 1-5) than to theology.
Chapters 11-12 have a lot of material to unpack: A bunch of terms ("teacher," "apostle," "prophet") and guidelines for recognizing false folk. Most of the guidelines seem to refer to whether or not the person asks for money or hangs around too long. One guideline does mention wrong teaching. People should feel free to figure out what the terms mean and what the guidelines are.
Nemo said, "when it says so and so started this church, and so and so started that church.....were they localities somehow meaningful to that specific person?"That is a nifty question, certainly worth exploring, but I don't see anything in the Didache relevant to it.
Clark wrote: That is a nifty question, certainly worth exploring, but I don't see anything in the Didache relevant to it. Your messages 9 and 10 respond to my questions even though it says, "Nemo says" and I asked the question above originally in the Church Organization thread I believe. I was not implying it had to do with the Didache (although it does relate to them roaming around spreading the news I guess...)
Status: Open 2017-11-14