Torah for Gentiles?: What the Jewish Authors of the Didache Had to Say

Dating from thefirst century, the Didache offers a unique window into early JewishChristianity. Its Jewish-Christian author seeks to mediate the Torah for thetext's gentile recipients, steering diplomatically between the Scylla andCharybdis of the Law-observing church in Jerusalem and Paul's more openteaching. The Didache is thus very clear that gentile believers do not need toconvert to Judaism, but at the same time its author argues that the Torah -particularly the second table of the Decalogue - is universal. The Deuteronomicparadigm of the 'Way of Life' against the 'Way of Death' applies to all.

In Torah forGentiles? Daniel Nessim explores this juxtaposition in depth. How is Jesus''easy yoke' to be held alongside the strenuous commands of Mosaic Law? Whatdoes it mean to attain perfection? The path the Didache offers is not asstraightforward as one might suppose, yet both Jews and Christians wouldrecognize its moral basis as largely the same as that which underpinsJudaeo-Christian values today. Moreover, the Christian community it describes,from a time when that community still looked very much to its Jewish forebears,makes it a fascinating example of the origins of Christian life and worship.