The Didache 3

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 11-16

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Prudence

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What kind of teachers should believers receive and to what kind of teachers should they not listen?

2. What, according to The Didache, are three indicators of a “false prophet”?

3. How long should a “wayfarer” be allowed to stay with the believers?

4. What is necessary if a wayfarer decides he wants to stay and live among the believers in a given place?

5. According to The Didache, what is every true prophet worthy of and how should it be provided?

6. How often should believers meet together and “break bread” according to The Didache?

7. Who should not be allowed to the fellowship of the Lord’s day?

8. What offices of ministry should be appointed in every local church?

9. What “will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time”?

10. What four “signs of truth” does The Didache state will be seen before the end of this present age?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why are the given indicators of a false prophet good indicators?

2. What does it mean to say or speak something “in the Spirit”?

3. Why does the text say to “receive everyone who comes in the name of the Lord, and prove and know him afterward”? What does this mean and why might the order matter?

4. Why is it important that no one should live among the believers while being “idle”?

5. Why does The Didache teach that every true prophet is “worthy of his support” through offerings of goods and money while also stating that no true prophet should ask for money?

6. Why should believers be excluded from the fellowship of “breaking bread” if they are “at odds” with one another?

7. Why are “the signs of truth” important? How might believers be at risk without them?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Various Christian traditions throughout the centuries have argued for and against having full time paid ministers. What are the potential goods and drawbacks from a minister being paid full time by the church (as opposed to earning a living by keeping another job as well as his ministry)? Which approach do you think is best? Explain and defend your answer.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Matthew 12:22-32. What is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? How does this relate to what was said in chapter 11 of The Didache?

2. Read Matthew 7:15-20. How does this connect with The Didache’s teaching about discerning true and false prophets?

3. Read 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. How does this passage connect with The Didache’s teaching about discerning true and false prophets?

4. Read 1 Timothy 5:17-18 and connect it to our current reading in The Didache.

5. Read Matthew 5:21-26. How does Jesus’ teaching connect with what is said in our current reading?

6. Read 1 Timothy 3. What does this passage teach about appointing church officers? Does it substantially agree with The Didache? 

7. Read and connect Revelation 6:14 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to the four “signs of truth” mentioned Ch. 16 of The Didache.