The Didache
, or "teaching", is a treasured gem in the crown of Christian writings, being as close a link as there is to Jesus' original teachings.
Written in the first or second century A.D. by early Jewish followers of Jesus, it mysteriously disappeared in the fifth century only to reappear again 1400 years later, in 1873.
's remit was to disseminate early Christian ethics and rules of conduct to the gentiles, although it was never included in the canon of the New Testament. It is a short work in four parts: the first section, Chapters 1-6, are moral guidelines for converts; the second part gives advice on Christian ritual - such as baptism, fasting, and the Eucharist (Chapters 7-10); the third centres on the ministry and how to treat apostles, prophets, bishops, and deacons (Chapters 11-15); and the final section (Chapter 16) is eschatological in nature and speaks of Christ's second coming.
This easy-to-read translation by Hitchcock and Brown was the first English translation to be published and comes with both an introduction and notes.