The Didache Discoveries - by Alan Garrow (Paperback)

About the Book

This bold exploration of the Didache's influence on the New Testament delves into two texts that have been discovered beneath its surface--the Complete Apostolic Decree and the Missing Epistle of John--offering new answers to questions that have plagued biblical scholars for decades.

Book Synopsis

This groundbreaking study digs beneath the surface of one of early Christianity's most enigmatic documents, the Didache, and finds there two texts hidden side by side for nearly two millennia.

The first, compiled by James the brother of Jesus and the twelve apostles in 48 CE, is the Apostolic Decree. This document, partially described in Acts 15, was treated as foundational Christian Scripture by the writers of the New Testament. In that role it provides the starting point for interactions across Paul's letters, the Synoptic Gospels, and the Johannine literature--enabling solutions to previously unanswerable questions about Paul's theology, the infamous synoptic problem, and the origins of Johannine theological creativity. Crucial to the story of the latter is the discovery of the Didache's second hidden document: the Missing Epistle of John. This text, referenced in 3 John 9, reworks the sometimes eccentric instructions of the Apostolic Decree and makes them more generally applicable--a move that provides an insight into the ways the writers of the New Testament handled their own sacred text.

The Didache Discoveries promises to have an impact on every major aspect of the study of the New Testament and early Christianity.

From the Back Cover

"Has wide ramifications for our understanding of the New Testament"

In this groundbreaking study, Alan Garrow digs beneath the surface of one of early Christianity's most enigmatic documents, the Didache, and finds there two texts hidden side by side for nearly two millennia.

"This highly engaging book argues that embedded within the Didache is the full text of the Apostolic Decree decided at the Jerusalem Council around 48 CE as well as the Missing Epistle of John. The book's detailed and meticulously argued detective work deserves to be taken with the utmost seriousness--for its overall argument has wide ramifications for our understanding of the New Testament."
--Paul Trebilco, University of Otago, New Zealand

"Garrow has a gift for seeing connections previously undetected and for envisioning how 'puzzle pieces' might fit together to form a new picture despite some pieces being lost. His reconstruction of the Original Didache, his case for identifying it as the Apostolic Decree, and his investigation into its traces and further development in the New Testament are intriguing and will certainly require us to reexamine our positions on this important text."
--Nancy Pardee, Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies, University of Chicago (retired)

"Garrow offers a visionary restoration of the Didache with superbly reasoned explanations for some of ancient Christianity's most puzzling texts and traditions. His insight into the value of the Didache's teaching establishes solid footing for the early church's origins and provides intriguing answers to questions that would otherwise remain unanswered. I highly encourage scholars to give this work serious consideration."
--Clayton N. Jefford, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology

"Garrow both consolidates and extends his over twenty years' work on the Didache with the careful argumentation and lucid style for which he is known. This work is strikingly original in arguing that the Apostolic Decree, the Missing Epistle of John, and (in some sense) Q are to be found beneath the Didache. Such theses may appear eccentric, but it is frequently beyond the conventional that we find new ways of seeing old problems."
--Thomas E. Goud, University of New Brunswick (Saint John)

About the Author

Alan Garrow (DPhil, University of Oxford) is vicar of St. Peter's Church, Harrogate, United Kingdom, and is a member of the Sheffield Centre for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies. He is the author of The Gospel of Matthew's Dependence on the "Didache" and numerous scholarly articles.