Dodd - The early church - Acts

Kerygmata - C.H Dodd - plural

Acts: - Apologist

  • Written by Luke

  • Presented as a historical account

  • Describes the beginning and development of the early church

  • Journey of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome

  • Contains first public messages of a tiny group of Jewish Christians.

Kerygma - preaching:

C.H Dodd differentiates:

  • Teaching (Didaskein) - Ethics and doctrine to Christians.

  • Preaching (Kerygma) - Announcing the Christian message to non-Christian’s.

  • Used throughout the N.T

  • Apostles proclaimed / made a declaration

  • Requires a decision

  • Not just moral improvement

Reasons to accept the Kerygma as genuine:

  • We passages in acts suggest the author was an eyewitness

  • Paul’s speeches in acts may not be verbatim but are based on recollection.

Other passages may rely on other sources:

  • No clear sign of ideas/style from gentile churches on Pauline theology (despite the writer being a follower of Paul)

  • Lots of Hebrew influence not from the Septuagint (despite being visible in other Lucan works)

  • Lots of sayings and themes that track to Aramaic influence akin to reports of Jesus.

  • Suggest that peter’s speeches (the Jerusalem Kerygma) may have come from Aramaic Christian sources at Jerusalem and predate acts significantly.

Criticism:

  • Hermann Reimarus 1694-1768

  • Accused disciples of changing Jesus’s teaching

  • Jesus’ Jewish apocalypticism has been removed

  • More consistent with disciples experience.

  • Did not want to return to earlier lives.

  • Faked Jesus’s resurrection

  • Founded a new religion

Kerygma:

  • public proclamation

  • Herald

  • Announcement

  • Evangelise

  • Good tidings

  • Preaching

Acts 2:14-39:

  • Day of Pentecost

  • Apostles filled with the Holy Spirit

  • Spoke in tongues

  • Peter gave a sermon.

Six features of the Kerygma:

  • The messianic age of fulfilment that was prophesied in scripture has dawned.

  • This has taken place through the life, work, death and resurrection of Jesus who was David’s descendant.

  • Jesus is exalted as being God’s right hand,

  • The bolt spirit is given by God to the church

  • The messianic age will be completed soon of Christ’s return

  • Listeners should repent and be baptised.

Context:

  • Jesus and his followers thought they lived in the end times

  • New Testament writers present Jesus as an escharological figure

  • Jesus’ goal was to bring his own generation to God before judgement.

  • Peter and Paul awaited the imminent parousia

  • They were wrong

  • 2000 years later, we are still waiting

Historical value - challenges:

  • Acts were written 40 or 59 years after the events it reports.

  • Luke was not presented in person at all these events (gentile)

  • The speeches were likely composed by Luke/sources

  • Clear literary structure consistent with author’s goal

  • Different style and themes than St. Paul’s letters

  • They follow miraculous events which probably did not happen.

Historical value:

  • Authenticity has never been in doubt

  • Confirmed as authentic in all versions of the canon

  • Evidence and tradition that Luke was present at some events

  • E.g. ‘we’ passages in Acts / mentioned by Paul in letters

  • Paul’s letters do contain all six elements of the Kerygma.

C.H. Dodd:

  • The Kerygma has nothing to do with the parousia.

  • It’s message involves a relationship with the Holy Spirit

  • It was focused on uniting the community of believers and forgiveness

  • Realised eschatology - God has already come to the world through Christ

  • God is here now not at some future event.

Eschatological passages:

  • Mark 13/ Matthew 24/ revelation.

  • These are not about the end times

  • No need to eschatological fanaticism.

  • They refer to the challenges of the Kerygma in this life.

  • “…The time is fulfilled,can’t the kingdom of God has come name repent and believed in the good news.” - Mark 1:14