Traditions of the Early Church

Lazarus Pachigalla | President of RWM | L.I.F.T.

            The structure and traditions of contemporary Christian services have been birthed out of very similar traditions of the Early Church. These traditions have been handed down from age to age and are synonymous with Christian soteriology. This paper will be a study of the traditions of the Early Church as outlined in the Didache and through the study better understand the nature of their traditions. The traditions that will be researched and analyzed are:

• Setting
• Baptism
• Of Fast-Days and Prayer
• The Eucharist
• Sunday Worship

            To accomplish these goals, the paper will rely heavily on primary accounts such as the Didache, the apologist Justin Martyr, and a few secondary sources such as books and peer reviewed journals on the Early Church and their traditions.

Setting

            When Christians used to meet in the Early Church did not take meet in a “Church,” they instead met in the homes of people; usually a home that belonged to a rich individual. The houses that members of the Early Church met at usually could hold around 25-50 people. There were some Christians who sometimes used synagogues and centers of Jewish communities.[1] It was not in fact until the third century that Christians began to build buildings for the specific purpose of being meeting places for worship and gatherings.

            There were many house churches that were used as gathering places for the believers. As a result, “There was more than one liturgy, or form of worship, in the early church.”[2] In fact, “The history of Catholic Christianity during the first centuries is the history of a progressive standardization of a diversity which had its origin in the apostolic age.”[3] It was constantly undergoing change and there soon appeared a need to create uniformity for the body, the Church. Out of the need, a solution appeared in the form of a Church manual, the Didache.

            The Didache is one of the earliest writings of Christian literature that outlines worship in the early stages of the church. It was discovered in the Library of Constantinople belonging to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Didache contains the different rituals in practice by Early Church. It has been dated as early as 80 CE and as late as 180 CE. The manual was written to create uniformity in their worship and practice. The uniformity they sought was to create was the oneness to represent the body of Christ. The early Church used this manual to create a uniform service and doctrinal structure for the Church.

            The Didache follows a very systematic approach when it speaks on the matters of the church. It is composed of two sections; The way of Life and A Church Manual. This paper will focus on the on the second section of the book, A Church Manual. The Didache first outlines Baptism, followed by Of Fast-Days and Prayer, Of the Eucharist, and then Of Sunday Worship.

Baptism

            The starting point for many who hear about Christ and wish to gain salvation is baptism. Baptism is one of the earliest Christian sacraments.” [4] The sacrament was a visual sign to signify a rebirth. However, before the baptismal rites were performed on a person, an inquiry was made as to the motive, character, and the occupation of the one to be baptized.[5] If he were found in adultery or any form of sin he would not be given baptism. If, however, he was found clean he was allowed to participate in this rite.

            The one to be baptized was first given instructions on the Christian way of life and also the doctrine of the trinity. Educating the one to be baptized was a priority in the Early Church. In order to be baptized, the Early Church saw that it was wise to educate the believer in their doctrine and their way of life, in this manner the candidate could decide whether or not he wanted to go through with the rite. After being ministered to the procedure for Baptism in the early church required that the baptized and him doing the baptizing should fast for a day or two before the appointed day.[6] The Didache also encourages others who know the person being baptized to fast as well for him, not as a supplement of his requirement to fast but as an added blessing upon him being baptized.[7]

            Justin Martyr, (1 Apology, 61), wrote that they pray and fast with those who believe what they preach and are willing to live accordingly, and are then instructed to fast and pray to God for their forgiveness of sins.[8]

            After the fast, the one being baptized is brought to a body of running water, for immersion. If running water is not available the Didache makes allowance for still water, and if there is no still water, then the baptizer may pour water on the person’s head three times, baptizing him ‘In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’[9] “The Didache, Justin Martyr, and Hippolytus make it clear that the common form of Baptism in the Early Church was by immersion.[10]

            The immersion in running water signified burying the old life and being resurrected into a new life and into the body of Christ.

Of Fast-Days and Prayer

            Concerning fasting, Jesus, while still in the body, had instructed his disciples on how to pray and fast. His instructions are recorded in Matthew 6 and have been observed as the rudimentary foundation blocks of fasting. The Early Church followed the same instructions for fasting and prayer. There were no specific days to fast neither were there any specific instructions as to what to abstain from. “For early mainline Christians, there was no blanket, inflexible commandment to abstain from food or drink at fixed times.”[11] Fasting was a completely voluntary act taken on the side of the believer. It was often the believers desire to sacrifice the flesh as a worthy offering to the Savior. If the believer had any food on the days he or she was fasting they would offer it to the poor.

            In writing about fasting, the Didache advises those who fast to fast on days different from those hypocrites who professed Christianity and acted differently. The Didache sought to create a realization that the day of fasting was to be Holy and therefore should not be held on days where the meaning could be interpreted in favor of another god, doctrine, or culture. There are some who believe that the Didache may have referred to the Jewish Christians who still held on to their Jewish traditions.

            The Didache specifically instructs the church to pray the Lord’s Prayer and not the prayers from any other culture, creed, or doctrine save the one handed from the Church. The Didache writes that the type of prayer was to be separate from the prayer that they considered hypocrites pray.[12] Again this was to allow no part of their Holy sacrament and sacrifice to be polluted by other heretical movements. The Didache also encouraged the believers to pray the Lord’s Prayer at least three times a day.

Of the Eucharist

            The believers of the Early Church participated in the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day as was also specified in the Didache.[13] The term Eucharist is attributed to the meal that Christ partook with his disciples before his Crucifixion.

            It was a custom of the Early Church to celebrate the Eucharist as a memorial dedicated to God the Son for giving His body and blood to them.[14] For this reason, the Didache was firm in restricting the Eucharist to only the believers, only to them who had been baptized in the name of the Lord; the believers were only then allowed to participate in this particular sacrament.[15]

            “The Eucharistic prayers in Didache 9:2-4 and 10:2-5 encircle a real meal – and the food consumed is not understood as ordinary food but as something sacred.”[16] The belief of the Early Church and even today is that the Eucharistic is not a common food but a blessed food. They believe that the bread and the wine by the power of the Holy Spirit are transformed into the living body of Christ the Son of God.

            The Early Church performed the Eucharist as an event in which the followers of Christ broke bread and drank wine in remembrance of Jesus as was written in the scripture in Luke 22:17-19. This communal fellowship in the Eucharist symbolized they were all of the body and the same blood of Christ. This was their form of worship. “This rite celebrates Jesus’ Lordship until he comes and strengthens the community in his body and blood.”[17]

            The Eucharist ceremony begins with the wine and followed by the bread. As Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann argued, the eucharistie liturgy “is entirely, from beginning to end, an epiklesis, an invocation of the Holy Spirit who transfigures everything done in it, each solemn rite, into that which manifests and reveals to us.”[18]

            The church participates in the Eucharist while performing the liturgy over each element before partaking of the elements and after partaking of them as well. This was performed in a song like manner, the priest would sing out to the church the liturgy and the church would reply back in the same manner. The prayer that was recited is in the Didache sought to explain the elements and the thanks and praise of each sacrament as it was received and mediated through the priest.

Of Sunday Worship

            The first day of the week, Sunday, is the most common day of worship and gathering for Christians. This is a tradition that has been handed down as well from the earliest of gatherings. The reason that Christians gather on Sunday is to celebrate the risen Christ who rose on this day.

            Justin Martyr in his 1 Apology 67 writes, “On the day called Sunday meetings are held where the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. After the reading is finished, the leader in a discourse invites us to imitate these things. Then we stand for prayer.” It was after the time of the disciples that the Early Church began to use the Gospels and many of the Pauline letters and other Inspired texts during their gatherings to invoke the believers to follow a life of moral purity and Christ like obedience.

            The Didache instructed the followers in the Early Church to meet on the Lord’s Day and also to take part of the Eucharist.[19] Further proof of Sunday being the Christian day of gathering and celebrating the Eucharist is recorded in a letter from Pliny to the emperor Trajan. Pliny was the governor appointed by the Emperor Trajan to keep order in Bithynia, 110 CE. He confirmed in his letter that Sunday was the normal day for common worship among Christians.[20] He wrote in his Letter X, that they come together somewhat later and partake of food.[21] He was referring to the Eucharist. Justin Martyr also refers to this in his letter to the Emperor TITUS ÆLIUS HADRIANUS ANTONINUS PIUS. Justin Martyr in his letter also mentions that the wealthy are reminded to help the needs of the poor, the sick, the orphaned and the widows. Justin Martyr also writes that it is the day that the Lord brought a change in the darkness and matter and that Christ the savior was arose from the dead on the same day.

            For those who wished to participate in the Eucharist the Didache demands the believers to ensure that they have made their confessions and resolved all conflicts so that their sacrifice may be pure and without profanation.[22] The Didache instructed believers to be clean inwardly when partaking of the Eucharist so as to offer themselves unblemished.

Conclusion

            Baptizing, fasting, praying, the Eucharist and even Sunday worship, is a practice that has been handed down through the ages. Though the liturgy and various frills have been added, the main structure and characteristics of the Early Church as outlined in the Didache are being observed in the Church today. Therefore this paper has accomplished its purpose of studying the structure of the Early Church and their traditions and also realizing the roots of contemporary Christian services and the elements, which are now synonymous with Christian soteriology. This paper has studied these traditions of the Early Church as outlined in the Didache and through the study provided a better understanding of the nature of the Early Church’s traditions. The following points that were researched and analyzed:

• Setting of the Early Church
• Baptism
• Of Fast-Days and Prayer
• The Eucharist
• Sunday Worship

            The paper has accomplish the goals to research the above topics through the use of primary accounts such as the Didache, the apologist Justin Martyr, and a few secondary sources such as books and peer reviewed journals on the Early Church and their traditions. Further research can be conducted on the difference between the Orthodox and Roman liturgy, structure and traditions.

— Lazarus Pachigalla / President of RWM / L.I.F.T.