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About this book

Didache

About this book

Fasting and Prayer

Chapter 8

1 Don't fast like the hypocrites, who fast on Mondays and Thursdays.⁠ Instead, you should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.⁠ 2 Also, don't pray like the hypocrites. Instead, pray as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, saying: 'Our Father in Heaven, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the power and the glory forever.'⁠ 3 Pray in this way three times a day.

Texts in conversation

Compare Luke 11:1 and Didache 8:1 and Gospel of Thomas 6

New Testament · Early Christian · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

The Didache gives rules for fasting and prayer, and Jesus teaches a prayer in Luke. Asked for similar guidance in the Gospel of Thomas, he tells the disciples not to lie or do what they hate, answering a ritual question with rules for behavior.

Passages

Luke 11:1

New Testament
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 So he said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come.
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

Didache 8:1

Early Christian
1 Don't fast like the hypocrites, who fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Instead, you should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. 2 Also, don't pray like the hypocrites. Instead, pray as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, saying: 'Our Father in Heaven, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the power and the glory forever.' 3 Pray in this way three times a day.
90–120 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Didache

Gospel of Thomas 6

Nag Hammadi
5 Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.” 6 His disciples questioned him and said to him, “Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give alms? What diet should we observe?” Jesus said, “Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are disclosed before heaven. Nothing hidden will fail to be revealed, and nothing covered will remain undisclosed.” 7 Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion that the man will eat, so that the lion becomes a man. And cursed is the man whom a lion will eat, and the lion will become a man.”
135–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Thomas

References

“... 6.1 How shall we (Co: Do you want us to) fast? Here the disciples’ question reflects diversity of opinion about fasting (cf. Did. 8.1; see further discussion in GTh 27). In Hermas, the procedure for fasting is quite complex (Herm. 54 [Sim. 5.1].5–8; 56 [Sim. 5.3]). As noted above, the Coptic has probably made the disciples’ question more radical. 6.1 And how shall we pray? The disciples’ question here might reflect the question that triggers the Lord’s prayer in Luke 11.1 (‘Lord, teach us to pray …’), as well as questions about frequency and contents of prayer e.g. in Didache 8.2–3; Hermas 9 [Vis. 3.1].6–7. The shocking response given to this question later in GTh 14 is that prayer leads to condemnation. ...”
Simon Gathercole, The Gospel of Thomas: Introduction and Commentary (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 225–226.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Luke 11:1 and Didache 8:1 and Gospel of Thomas 6

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