The Didache
“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven…” — the Didache gives the Lord’s Prayer in the Matthean form and instructs believers to pray it three times a day.
Short for “The Teaching of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations,” the Didache is one of the earliest non-canonical Christian writings — a brief manual of Christian ethics, baptism, fasting, prayer, the Eucharist, and church order, organized around the “Two Ways” of life and death.
CONTENTS & SIGNIFICANCE
- The Two Waysc. 50–120 CE
The way of life and the way of death, a pattern shared with Jewish and early Christian ethics.
- The Lord’s Prayerc. 50–120 CE
Prescribed three times daily, in the same form as the Gospel of Matthew.
- Baptismc. 50–120 CE
In living water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- The Eucharistc. 50–120 CE
A thanksgiving over the cup and the broken bread, with a Jewish-style grace.
- Apostles and prophetsc. 50–120 CE
Tests for distinguishing true itinerant teachers from false ones.
Source citation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didache