El ayuno, signo de identidad grupal en la Didajé (Did 8,1)

Abstract

The ritual instructions of the Didache (8,1-3) concerning the biweekly communal fast (Wednesdays and Fridays) and the use of a distinctive prayer served to demarcate and highlight the borders of this Christian group in front of other competing Jewish groups. By disqualifying the rival group with the pejorative term “hypocrites”, the author intends to maintain the unity and cohesion of his group in the face of the attraction exercised by these rival Jewish groups and to enhance intergroup identity.