Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles
Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles
A short treatise which some of the Fathers accounted as next to Holy Scripture, supposed to have been written A.D. 65 -80 . It was rediscovered in 1883 by Bryenhios, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Nicomedia, in the codex, from which, in 1875 , he had published the full text of the Epistles of Saint Clement. It may be divided into three parts:
first, the “Two Ways,” the Way of Life and the Way of Death;
second, a rituale dealing with Baptism, fasting, and Holy Communion;
third, a treatise on the ministry.
Doctrinal teaching is pre-supposed, and none is given. The Way of Life is the love of God and of our neighbor; the Way of Death is a mere list of vices to be avoided. The second part begins with an instruction on Baptism; the third speaks of teachers or doctors in general, and the last chapter exhorts to watching and tells the signs of the end of the world. See also: The Didache (text).