302
DIDACHE
DISCIPLE
cause its author belonged to that order. May it not equally be that the Didache says little about the teachers for a similar reason? Tlie very name of his work would indicate that its author was numbered among the teachers.
In addition to this ministry to the whole Church, there is a local ministry of bishops and deacons. They are appointed and set apart by the local church. Their authority is, thus, not directly derived from the Holy Spirit. They are in danger of being despised, but are to be honoured along with the prophets and teachers. Such is the char- acter of the ministry as known to the author of the Didache. It shows us the local ministry strengthening its position in a small community and in need of having its position strengthened, while the general ministry is fading into the back- ground through the prevalence of plausible coun- terfeits from mercenary motives. (For fuller dis- cussion of the significance of all this see Harnack, TU n. 1, 2, pp. 93-157; C. H. Turner, Sftidies in Early Church History, 1912, pp. 1-32 ; T. M. Lind- say, The Church and the Ministry, 1902, esp. p. 170 ff.)
With such a full-length picture of contemporary Church conditions, it is not remarkable that the Didache was hailed as a most important find. At times its importance may have been over-estimated, but it certainly fills a blank in our knowledge. It sets clearly before us facts which might have been, and indeed were, reached by gathering together the scattered and less definite indications of other works. It sketches the nature of the work, the worship, and the ministry in one community which, though small, was not isolated ; though doubtless individual, was not peculiar. It gave the initial impulse to works of a similar character without which our knowledge of the early centuries in these matters would be much more meagre than it is.
LirERATTJRB. — In addition to the works cited and named in the text of the article, the following may be referred to :
I. Editions.— H. de Romestin, Oxford, 1884 ; A. Hilg-enfeld, NT extra Canoneni receptum, fasc. iv.2, Leipzig, 1884 ; R. D. Hitchcock and F. Brown 2, New York, 1885 ; P. Sabatier, Paris, 1885 ; H. D. M. Spence, London, 18S5 ; F. X. Funk, Doctrina duodecirn Aj)ost.olorum, Tiibingen, 1887 ; E. Jacquier, Lyons, 1891 ; L. E. Iselin and A. Heusler, Eine bisher unbe- kannte Version des ersten Teiles der Apostellehre, in TU xiii. 1, Leipzig, 1895 ; C. Bigg, London, 1898 ; H. Lietzmann, Bonn, 1903.
IL Discussions. — (1) General. — G. Bonet-Maury, La Doc- trine des dome Apdtres, Paris, 1SS4 ; Th. Zahn, Forschunrfen zur Geschichte des NT Kanons und der altkirchl. Lifteraiur, pt. iii., Erlangen, 1884 ; G. V, Lechler, Das apostolische und nachapostolische ZeitalterS, Karlsruhe, 1885 (Eng-. tr., Edin- burgh, 1886) ; E. Backhouse and C. Tylor, Earlj/ Church nistory^, London, 1885 ; G. Wohlenberg, Die Lehre der zwiilf Apostel in ihrem VerhiiUnis: zum NT Sehrifltum, Leipzig, 1888 ; J. Heron, The Church of the Sub-Apostolic Age . . . in the Light of the ' Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,' London, 1888 ; A. Harnack, art. 'Apostellehre' in PRE3 i., Leipzig, 1896; F. X. Funk, Kirchengcschichtliche Abhandlungen, ii., Paderborn, 1899; A. Ehrhard, Die altehristl. Litteratur und ihre Erfor- ifchung von lSS.'t-l900, Freiburg i. B., 1900; K. Kohler, art. ' Didache' in JE iv., London, 1903 ; P. Drews in E. Hennecke's Ilandbuch zu den NT Apocryphen, Tiibingen, 1904 ; O. Barden- hewer, Patrolog;/, Freiburg i. B. and St. Louis, Mo., 1903 ; H. M. Gwatkin, Early Church History, London, 1909, vol. i.
(2) Special.— (a) Ministry. — E. Loaning, Die Gemeindever- fassung des Urchristenthnms, Halle, 1888 ; J. R^ville, Origi.nes lie I'ipiscnpat, Paris, 1895 ; J. W. Falconer, From Apostle to Priest, Edinburgh, 1900 ; A. Harnack, The Mission and Expan- sion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries-, London, 1908, vol. i. — (6) Worship. — O. Moe, Die Apostellehre und der Dekalog im Unterricht der alten Kirche, Qiitersloh, 1896 ; J. F. Keating, The Agape and the Eucharist in the Early Church, London, 1901 ; P. Ladeuze, ' L'Eucharistie et les repas communs des fiddles dans le Didach6' in Revue de I'Orient Chretien, 1902, no. 3 ; J. C. Lambert, 7'he Sacraments in the NT, Edinburgh, 1903; A. Andersen, Das Abcndinahl in dm zwei ersten Jahrkunderten, Oiessen, 1904 ; E. von der Goltz, Tischgebete rind Abendmahlsgebete in der altehristl. und in der griech. Kirche (TUxw. 2b), Leipzig, 1905 ; F. M. Rendtorff, Die Taufe im Urchristentum, do. 1905 ; M. Gogiiel, L'Eucharistie. Des origines A Justin, martiir, Paris, 1909 ; J. H. Srawley, art. ' Eucharist (to end of Middle Ages) ' in ERE v., Edinburgh. 1912.
Hugh Watt,
DIGAMY.— See Marriage. DIONYSIUS.— See Areopagite.
DIOSCURI (Ac 28", RVra ; AV « Castor and Pollux,' RV 'the Twin Brothers').— The Dioscuri were the sons of Leda and Zeus, Castor being mortal and Pollux immortal. They were famed for many exploits, and at length, in a battle against the sons of Aphareus, Castor was slain by Idas. Pollux besought Zeus that he too might die. According to one fable the Father of the Gods granted Castor life on condition that the brothers should alternately spend a day in Hades, but another states that their love was rewarded by Zeus, who placed them together among the stars as the Gemini. They were regarded as the patrons of athletic contests, Castor presiding over the equestrian events, Pollux being the god of boxing (Kdaropd d'lTnrddafxov Kai irv^ dyaObv IloXvdeijKea [Hom. 11. iii. 237]). Their worship was veiy strictly ob- served among the Dorian peoples, and they were also held in special reverence at Rome, as they were popularly supposed to have fought on the side of the Commonwealth at the battle of Lake Regillus and to have carried the news of victory to the city (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. vi. 13). It is worthy of note that they were specially held in honour in the district of Cyrenaica near Alexandria (schol. Pindar, Pyth. V. 6).