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Schaff, Philip. "Various Estimates." The Oldest Church Manual Called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1886, 12-14.
Schaff considers it "obvious" that the publication of the Didache would have drawn such attention. It speaks to a period of Church history about which very little is known, "from the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70) to the middle of the second century" (Schaff 1886, 12). The text appealed to Germanic scholars as an opportunity to explore authorship and relationship to other documents and historical events. It appealed to an English and American audiencelargely due to its discussion of practical applicaton of doctrine (Schaff 1886, 13). People who wished to discuss baptism found it a fruitful ground for discussion, based on the mode of baptism, allowing pouring but expecting a threefold immersion. The discussions of bishops and deacons and the presence of apostles and prophets could lead to lively discussion of the different offices present in early Christianity. There are examples of both ex tempore and prescribed prayers. Schaff finds it a fertile ground indeed. He identifies it as containing elements of all sorts of denominational practices, and considers this natural. "This is just what we must expect, if history is a living process of growth. The Didache furnishes another proof of the infinite superiority of the New Testament over ecclesiastical literature" (Schaff 1886, 14). The New Testament has the roots of all these ideas, which are carried out in different churchly traditions in different degrees by different branches of Christianity.