Dr. Bernard, there is an ancient Christian document known as the Didiki that purports to date back to, in my understanding, just after the time of the Apostles.

And it includes some instruction on a variety of subjects, of Christian subjects, including baptism,

which is the main reason I'm asking about it today.

So regarding baptism, the Didiki states, and concerning baptism, baptized this way,

having first said all these things, baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in living water.

So I want to ask you, is the Didiki an authoritative text and does it support a Trinitarian

baptismal formula?

Absolutely not.

So let me give you the background.

And if you're interested in a full discussion, I have it in

my book, Oneness and Trinity, AD 100 to 300. The Didiki, or the English title, is the teaching of the

12 Apostles. At one time, it was thought to be very early, as its title might indicate, but a more recent

scholarship has said it's definitely a product of the second century, so maybe the earliest

AD 120, perhaps even later.

So it certainly wasn't even known to the apostles, it wasn't written by them, it did not

come with their authority.

The authoritative writings are the Bible, and particularly the New Testament for our purposes.

That's our authority. The Didiki is not scripture. It doesn't have scriptural authority.

Now, when you study history, there are a lot of considerations. One thing is history is written by the victors.

So, in other words, the people who won various debates preserve their writings and destroyed other writings.

And since ancient writings were copied by hand, there's every likelihood that over the centuries,

some marginal writings or writings that had an improper

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