Didache

The Didache, or "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," is an anonymous early Christian manual of ethics and church practice, probably composed in Syria in the late first or early second century AD. It is not attributed to a single author — the title claims apostolic authority collectively, and the actual writer (or writers) is unknown.

The text falls into four sections: a "Two Ways" ethical instruction (the Way of Life and the Way of Death), instructions on baptism, fasting, and prayer (including the earliest known version of the Lord's Prayer outside the Gospels), regulations for the Eucharist, and guidelines for dealing with itinerant prophets and apostles. It is astonishingly practical — a handbook for running a small Christian community — and its early date makes it one of the most important documents for understanding how the first Christians actually lived.