Building a Liturgical Identity through Baptism and the Eucharist: The Case of Didache

Abstract

This paper proposes that the Didache crafts a liturgical identity for its community – an identity centred around Baptismal and Eucharistic rites, with which community members become both privileged celebrants and partakers. This liturgically oriented strategy differs from the more familiar theological or ethnic demarcation of communal boundaries. Furthermore, reading Didache as a liturgical identity-forming document potentially resolves a long-standing debate – whether Didache is an ad hoc compilation of mixed texts (e.g. Niederwimmer) or a unified corpus (e.g. Milavec). While disagreeing with Milavec’s conception of a “rule book”, this paper argues that Didache is a unified text that shapes a liturgical identity of its community. The sacramental arrangements (chs 7–10) effectively explain (and even necessitate) the placing of the “Two-Way” moral tractate (chs1–6) before, and the guidelines dealing with itinerant ministers (chs11–15) and the mini-apocalypse (ch.16) after.