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The Didache and Early Monasticism in the East and West

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The Didache and Early Monasticism in the East and West THE DIDACHE AND EARLY MONASTICISM IN THE EAST AND WEST CYPRIAN DAVIS, O.S.B. Saint Meinrad School of Theology, Saint Meinrad, Indiana, U.S.A. As one of the earliest Christian documents, the Didache "has been analyzed down to its last detail," observed Jean-Paul Audet in his study of this intriguing early Christian text. 1 But a study of its overall influence is only just beginning. It is within this perspective that this essay is written. Did this early Christian text with its moral exhorta­ tions and liturgical observances come into contact with the early Christian movement of monasticism? Was there any influence of the Didache upon ancient Christian monasticism? The earliest Christian monastic text is the Life qf Antony, which was written by Athanasius (d. 373) in Egypt sometime in the second half of the fourth century. With this work the Christian world was alerted to the remarkable blossom of the ascetical life in Egypt during the fourth-fifth centuries. The connection of the Didache to Christian Egypt is discussed by Willy Rordorf in his introduction to the critical edi­ tion of the text that he published with Andre Tuilier in 1978.2 Most scholars at the present time prefer Syria to Egypt as the horne of the Didache. Nevertheless, Egypt was the horne of two important papyrus fragments of this ancient work, namely, the Oxyrhynchus fragment in Greek and a se co nd fragment in Coptic, specifically, in the Fayyumic dialect. 3 Hence, it is not surprising that the question should be raised as to whether the Didache did not at some point influence Egyptian monastic literature. At least in one notable instance the answer is in the affirmative. This was a major interpolation of part of the Didache into a later monastic text. The passage is so striking that it deserves some notice. Other influences, on the other hand, are not as clear. But it seems evident that in one instance each the Rufe qf Benedict and the Rule qf the Master cite a passage from the Didache. My purpose in this essay is to identify and contextualize these I J.-P. Audet, La Didache (Paris, 1958), p. 104. 2 W. Rordorf and A. Tuilier, La Doctrine des douze apotres (Didache) (Paris, 1978), pp. 97-99. 3 See Audet (1958), pp. 26-34; Rordorf and Tuilier (1978), pp. 111-14. THE DIDACHE AND EARLY MONASTICISM IN THE EAST AND WEST 353 elements from the Didache within the monastic literature of the early church. 1. 7he Abba Shenoute and the Didache One of the first scholars to call attention to the relationship of the Didache to the Egyptian monastic literature was L.E. Iselin, who in 1895 published an article on a hitherto unknown version of the Two Ways which appeared in the Lift of the Abba Shenoute by Besa. Two years later another scholar, Humbert Benigni, analyzed this fragment of the Didache and showed how it had an origin which was seemingly independent of the presently known texts.4 Shenoute is probably one of the least known of the monastic lead­ ers in fourth-fifth century Egypt. He was also perhaps one of the most bizarre. Born about 348, he reportedly died sometime around 466 about the age of 118. He became a monk at the monastery of Atripe, which generally is known as the White Monastery, near the modern town of Akhmim in upper Egypt.5 Atripe, as far as it can be ascertained, belonged to that cenobitic, monastic tradition which was organized and inspired around 320 by the monk Pachomius (ca. 290- 346) in the region of upper Egypt with Tabennisi as the first foun­ dation. The Pachomian monastic formula of community life and mutual service envisaged the monastic community as an image of the church, with the superior of the community as a charismatic father who served his brethren and received their obedience. This concept was somewhat different from that of the eremitical tradition 4 L.E. Iselin, Einer bisher unbekannte Version des ersten Teiles der "Apostellehre" (Leipzig, 1895); H. Benigni, "Didache Coptica. 'Duarum Viarum' Recensio Coptica Monastica, Shenudii Homiliis Attributa, per Arabicam versionem superstes," Bess 3 (1898), pp. 311-29. 5 For details on the Lift qf Shenoute from recent historical research, see the article by Tito Orlandi in Dictionnaire de Spiritualite, s.v. "Shenoute d'Atripe." The most recent English translation of the Bohairic Lift qf Shenoute by Besa is that by D. Bell, Besa: 7he Lift qf Shenoute (Kalamazoo, 1983). In his lengthy introduction, Bell gives an account of the life and inftuence of Shenoute. For the best edition of the Lift qf Shenoute by Besa, see J. Leipoldt, Sinuthii Vita Bohairice (Louvain, 1951). For the En­ glish translation, see H. Wiesmann, Sinuthii Vita Bohairice (Louvain, 1951). For other editions of the life and works of Shenoute, see J. Leipoldt and W.E. Crum, Sinuthii Archimandritae. Vita et Opera Omnia, vols. 3-4 (Louvain, 1954-60). For a Latin trans­ lation, see H. Wiesmann, Sinuthii Archimandritae. Vita et Opera Omnia, vols. 3-4 (Louvain, 1953-64). For arecent publication in English of the works of Shenoute which cur­ rently reside in Moscow, see A.I. Elanskaya, 7he Literary Coptic Manuscripts in the A.S. Pushkin State Fine Arts Museum in Moscow (Leiden, 1994), pp. 212-332. .
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