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This paper is to be delivered on 25th August, 2026 as part of the Ancient Judaism and Christianity Seminar of the British New Testament Society conference.  Abstract:
The Didache has long been recognised as a multi-author text that evolved over a considerable period. This paper observes three stages in that evolution and correlates them to distinct steps in the Parting of the Ways. The first, identified as the Apostolic Decree composed in 48CE (cf. Acts 15), marks a point when the main concern of the Jesus group was to integrate Gentile believers without compromising the Torah-observance of its Jewish members. The second, the Missing Epistle of John (cf. 3 John 9), possibly created in the 50s CE, includes a form of initiation that may provide the first sign of a distinct departure from the parent religion. The third, later in the first century and following the amalgamation of the two earlier texts (the so-called ‘Didache Discoveries’), introduced practices designed to cement and emphasise Christianity’s institutional separation from Judaism.
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 Reddit/AcademicBiblical This 40 minute interview served a prelude to an Online AMA hosted by Reddit/AcademicBiblical. The interview includes the story of how I came to be interested in the Didache (via Revelation), discussion of Q, how the Didache has influenced my own faith and the ministry as a Vicar in the Church of England.  Mythvision Podcast with Derek Lambert This 60 minute interview includes some detail on about the reasons why I identify the Original Didache as the Apostolic Decree and the Revised Didache as the Missing Epistle of John.  CJ Cornthwaite (also available as Footnote Famous podcast) In this 63 minute conversation Chris and I focus mostly on the implications of the discoveries for our understanidng of Paul and his letters - including the relationship between Acts 15 and Galatians 2.  Honestly, Though with Rebecca Carrell and Liz Rodriguez This 52 minute conversation includes discusssion of the idea that the New Testament authors regarded the Original Didache/Apostolic Decree as 'Scripture'. We also spend time observing the different ways in which New Testament authors handled their Scripture and speculate about what we would see if we walked into a church service as described in the Didache.  History Valley with Jacob Berman
A wide-ranging 65 minute conversation that includes discussion of the broad thesis that the Didache contains the Apostolic Decree of 48 CE, which is referenced in Acts 15, and the Missing Epistle of John referred to in 3 John 9.
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AuthorAlan Garrow is Vicar of St Peter's Harrogate and a member of SCIBS at the University of Sheffield. Archives
August 2026
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