Didache

A short, practical church manual, among the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament and possibly contemporary with some of its later books, opening with an ethical "Two Ways" section (a way of life and a way of death) that closely parallels Jewish ethical instruction and may derive from a shared, older Jewish catechetical source used to prepare converts. Its place of composition is disputed; Syria, Antioch conventionally, is the most proposed setting, though Egypt has serious scholarly support too. Its remaining sections give concrete liturgical and organizational instructions, on baptism, fasting days, the eucharist, and how a community should test and, if necessary, expel wandering prophets and apostles claiming authority. Rediscovered only in 1873 after being known solely by title from ancient citations, it offers a rare, concrete window into the daily organizational life of an early Christian community still working out its practices from scratch.