Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 25:1 (Winter 2012)
Article: The Testimony Of The Didache
Author: Anonymous

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The Testimony Of The Didache

The Didache, also called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is a late first century AD Christian document and is one of the earliest extra-canonical Christian texts known to exist. For a period of time, some Church Fathers considered it to be part of the NT canon. It was previously known only through secondary sources, such as Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History. Approximately the size of the epistle to the Galatians, it contains three main sections, primarily dealing with Christian ethical conduct.

Chapter two contains a list of prohibitions, clearly derived from Old and New Testament ethical admonitions. Of particular interest is Didache 2:2, which states:

You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not corrupt children, you shall not fornicate. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not mix poison. You shall not murder a child, whether by abortion or by killing it once it is born (emphasis added).

Several important observations should be made from this important text. First, we clearly see that the earliest Christians recognized that a child’s life should be protected, whether inside or outside the womb. Second, there is no distinction made between them concerning personhood; both are equally human. The Greek term used here for child is teknon. It is found in the NT in many places, and refers to children of varying ages. The non-canonical Epistle of Barnabas (19:5) contains identical phraseology concerning the condemnation of abortion. The early Church recognized the unborn child as a teknon, and so should we. Third, the writer uses distinct terms to distinguish the act of killing the child inside or outside the womb. For the child outside the womb, the common Greek term for killing is used, apokteinō. For killing the unborn child in the womb, the specific Greek term used is phthora, which is often translated as corruption, ruin, decay (Rom 8:21). Ancient writers such as Josephus, Plutarch, Philo and Clement of Alexandria use this particular term to describe ancient abortion as well.

The author of the Didache no doubt mentions abortion and the killing of infants because of their prevalence in the ancient world. The medical risks associated with aborting a child in the womb were great, yet, there was still a willingness to commit such a dangerous and horrific act. Killing a newborn through abandonment and exposure was much more common. Many studies have been undertaken to document these horrors, both in the Roman Empire and throughout the ancient world generally.

Consider, for example, an excerpt from a letter from a certain Hilarion to his “sister” (i.e., his wife), in which he tries to mana...

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