The Didache, which as you already learned, was discovered/published in the mid 19th century. It purports to be an early Church Order book, and has many similarities to the various versions of "Apostolic" Constitutions, which make the claim explicitly, although no one today believes that the actual Apostles of Jesus wrote them. Those are believed to have become popular in the 3rd or 4th century CE, and I believe that the Didache is another case of a pious piece of fiction, perhaps a bit earlier than 3rd century CE but certainly not 1st century. Yet, there were strong advocates for its authenticity, especially among moderate to conservative evangelicals in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was, to them, an example of the pure and untainted literature of early Christian faith.
In the war years of the 20th century and into the 1960s, the issue could not be advanced any further, or so it seemed. Then, in the 70's when everyone was all radical and what not, some hippie type NT scholars decided to apply 19th century Marxism and Sociology to the study of early Christian history. They decided that the Romans were raping the poor folks wherever they went, just like them selfish ol' capitalists. Based partly on the Gospel account(s) and Josephus' rhetorical spin on the reign of Herod the Great, they convinced themselves that the Didache was an honestly true testimony to early Christian development, born in the crucible of the oppressive Romans and their client king(s).
(1977 German/1978 English). To flesh out his sociology, he followed up with
in 1983 German/1987 English, an analysis of (odd) behaviors of the Pauline communities (peaking with tongues, factionalism, etc.), which he explains as due to extreme socioeconomic pressures brought to bear by the evil Roman empire. Then, returning to his theory of early Christian development, he came out with
in 1991 German/1992 English.
Author |
Article |
Book or Journal |
Date |
Original |
Language |
Audet, Jean-Paul |
Literary and Doctrinal Relationships of the "Manual of Discipline" |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1952 |
French |
Alon, Gedaliah |
Halakah in the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (Didache) |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1958 |
Hebrew |
Bammel, Ernst |
Pattern and Prototype of Didache 16 |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1961 |
German |
Betz, Johannes |
The Eucharist in the Didache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1969 |
German |
Rordorf, Willy |
An Aspect of the Judeo-Christian Ethic: the Two Ways |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1972 |
French |
Rordorf, Willy |
Baptism according to the Didache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1972 |
French |
Theissen, Gerd |
Itinerant Radicalism: The Tradition of Jesus Sayings from the Perspective of the Sociology of Literature |
Radical Religion 2 |
1976 |
1973 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
Soteriological Symbolism in the Pauline Writings: A Structuralist Contribution |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1974 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
Legitimation and Subsistance: An Essay on the Sociology of Early Christian Missionaries |
_The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth_ |
1982 |
1974 |
German |
Niederwimmer, Kurt |
An Examination of the Development of Itinerant Radicalism in the Environment and Tradition of the Didache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1977 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
|
_The First Followers of Jesus: a Sociological Analysis of Earliest Christianity_ |
1978 |
1977 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
|
_The Sociology of Early Palestinian Christianity_ aka _The First Followers of Jesus_ |
1978 |
1977 |
German |
Mazza, Enrico |
Didache 9-10: Elements of an Eucharistic Interpretation |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1979 |
Italian |
Theissen, Gerd |
"We Have Left Everything..." (Mark 10:28): Discipleship and Social Uprooting in the Jewish-Palestinian Society of the First Century |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1979 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
Christology and Social Experience: Aspects of Pauline Christology in the Light of the Sociology of Knowledge |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1979 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
Jesus' Temple Prophesy: Prophesy in the Tension between Town and Country |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1979 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
Nonviolence and Love of Our Enemies (Matthew 5:38-48; Luke 6:27-38): The Social Background |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1979 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
Sociological Theories of Religion and the Analysis of Early Christianity: Some Reflections |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1979 |
German |
Theissen, Gerd |
The Wandering Radicals: Light Shed by the Sociology of Literature on the early Transmission of Jesus Sayings |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1979 |
German |
Halleux, Andre de |
Ministers in the Dicache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1980 |
French |
Theissen, Gerd |
|
_Psychological Aspects of Pauline Theology_ |
1987 |
1983 |
German |
Draper, Jonathan A. |
The Jesus Tradition in the Didache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1985 |
English |
Schoellgen, Georg |
The Didache as a Church Order: An Examination of the Purpose for Composition of the Didache and its Consequences for its Interpretation |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1986 |
German |
Flusser, David |
Paul's Jewish-Christian Opponents in the Didache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1987 |
English |
Seeliger, Hans Reinhard |
Considerations on the Background and Purpose of the Apocalyptic Final Chapter of the Didache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1989 |
German |
Tuckett, Christopher |
Synoptic Tradition in the Didache |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1989 |
English |
Draper, Jonathan A. |
Torah and Troublesome Apostles in the Didache Community |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1991 |
English |
Draper, Jonathan A. |
Christian Self-Definition against the "Hypocrites" in Didache 8 |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1992 |
English |
Theissen, Gerd |
Judaism and Christianity in Paul: The Beginning of a Schism and its Social History |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1992 |
English |
Theissen, Gerd |
Some Ideas about a Sociological Theory of Early Christianity |
_Social Reality and the Early Christians: Theology, Ethics, and the World of the New Testament_ |
1992 |
1992 |
English |
Cody, Aelred |
The Didache: An English Translation |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Davis, Cyprian, O.S.B. |
The Didache and Early Monasticism in the East and West |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Dehandschutter, Boudewjin |
The Text of the Didache: Some Comments on the Edition of Klaus Wengst |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Draper, Jonathan A. |
Social Ambiguity and the Production of Text: Prophets, Teachers, Bishops, and Deacons and the Development of the Jesus Tradition in the Community of the Didache |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Harder, Kenneth J., and Jefford, Clayton N. |
A Bibliography of Literature on the Didache |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Henderson, Ian H. |
Style-Switching in the Didache: Fingerprint or Argument? |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Jefford, Clayton N. |
Did Ignatius of Antioch Know the Didache? |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Jones, F. Stanley, and Mirecki, Paul A. |
Considerations on the Coptic Papyrus of the Didache (British Library Oriental Manuscript 9271) |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Kloppenborg, John S. |
The Transformation of Moral Exhortation in Didache 1-5 |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Milavec, Aaron |
The saving Efficacy of the Burning Process in Didache 16.5 |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Mitchell, Nathan |
Baptism in the Didache |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Pardee, Nancy |
The Curse that Saves (Didache 16.5) |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Patterson, Stephen J. |
Didache 11-13: The Legacy of Radical Itineracy in Early Christianity |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Reed, Jonathan |
The Hebrew Epic and the Didache |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Riggs, John W. |
The Sacred Food of Didache 9-10 and Second-Century Ecclesiologies |
_The Didache in Context_ |
1995 |
1995 |
English |
Draper, Jonathan A. |
The Didache in Modern Research: An Overview |
_The Didache in Modern Research_ |
1996 |
1996 |
English |
In my humble opinion, I think that a lot of wishful thinking is going on here.
For a more recent study of subsistence economies (in SE Asia) and the light that they can shed on the very wide variety of landowner/tenant relationships (some good for the tenant, some bad, but most probably near the middle somewhere), see the observations and suggestions offered by James C Scott in
, etc.