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PREACHER, PREACHING. The common motif which runs
through all the biblical references to preaching is that of public
proclamation. The most characteristic word in the NT is keµrussoµ (more than 60 times),
which means "to proclaim as a herald." In the ancient world the herald was a
key figure in making known official information and all royal decrees. A
second word, euaggelizomai (more
than 50 occurrences), emphasizes the quality of the message as good (from
the primitive eus) or joyful news.
The nature of biblical preaching depends upon its specific
content and the audience to which it is addressed. In the epistles the
content of preaching is normally said to be "the gospel" (Rom 1:15; 15:20; I
Cor 1:17) or some variant, such as "Christ" (I Cor 15:12), "Christ
crucified" (I Cor 1:23), or "the word of faith" (Rom 10:8). This is the
message to the non-Christian world.
However, Paul and his companions also preached to the
assemblies of believers. This consisted of a blend of catechetical
instruction, ethical exhortation, and eschatological encouragement. In
current biblical studies this latter type of public address is called didacheµ (teaching) and is usually
distinguished rather sharply—although opinion is now changing—from keµrygma (preaching). While this
differentiation is valid, it should not be pressed too strenuously. The
Synoptics evidence an overlapping of terms (cf. Mt 4:23 with its
parallels), and in Acts 15:21 James refers to the weekly synagogue reading
of the Torah as preaching.
It is perhaps more helpful to subdivide preaching in terms
of the audience. When a preacher stands over against his listeners he
proclaims the death, resurrection, and exaltation of Christ. This answers to
C. H. Dodd’s definition of preaching as "the public proclamation of
Christianity to the non-Christian world" (The Apostolic Preaching and Its
Developments, New York: Harper, 1949, p. 7). It is what we mean today by
"evangelistic preaching." When the preacher stands with his listeners, the
message takes the form of didache,
corresponding to the usual Sunday morning sermon.
On this basis the first type has little background in the
OT. Prophetic oracles against Israel’s enemies (e.g., Obadiah) and
the ministry of Jonah in Nineveh are in a sense forerunners. Preaching as
instruction and exhortation may be traced to Ezra, who read the Scriptures
and then interpreted freely so that the people would understand (Neh 8:8).
By NT times this had developed into an important part of the synagogue
service. Philo indicates that the content of such sermons was "what is the
best and sure to be profitable," and the purpose, to "make the whole of life
grow to something better" (de specialibus
legibus, ii.62). Jesus’ Nazareth sermon (Lk 4:16 ff). took place
on such an occasion, as did many of Paul’s sermons (cf. Acts 13:14
ff.).
One of the more important advances in recent NT scholarship
has been the crystallization of the primitive apostolic proclamation—the keµrygma as it is now designated.
(The transliteration from Gr. should not lead us into the misunderstanding
that keµrygma was its technical name
at that time.) Professor Dodd of Cambridge led the way. Following his
approach (comparing the early speeches in Acts with the pre-Pauline
fragments embedded in the epistles), but altering the emphasis slightly, we
understand the apostolic keµrygma to
have been "a proclamation of the death, resurrection, and exaltation of
Jesus that led to an evaluation of His person as both Lord and Christ,
confronted man with the necessity of repentance, and promised the
forgiveness of sins" (R. H. Mounce. The Essential Nature of New Testament
Preaching, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960, p. 84).
This proclamation was delivered with a driving sense of
urgency (I Cor 9:16), appealed to every man’s conscience by the open
statement of truth (II Cor 4:2), and more often than not met with opposition
(cf. II Cor 11:23–28). Since it demanded faith from the hearer, it
was careful not to obscure its message with lofty words or eloquent wisdom
(I Cor 1:17; 2:1–4).
The keµrygma, or NT
gospel message, came into being in what might be called three stages. First,
John the Baptist appeared on the scene as a messianic herald proclaiming,
"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2). To him fell the
task of preparing the nation for the coming of the One who would baptize
with the Holy Spirit (Mk 1:8). Then came Jesus heralding the arrival of the
kingdom of God. That long awaited time, foretold by prophets of old, had now
broken in upon history. The "acceptable year of the Lord" (Lk 4:19) had
come. The kingdom was a present reality (Lk 11:20; 16:16). This basic truth
is the foundation of all the teaching of Jesus.
A change of terminology may be noted in moving from the
Gospels to the Acts and epistles. The message of the "kingdom of God" has
suddenly become "Christ crucified" (I Cor 1:23), "Christ. . . raised" (I Cor
15:12), or "Christ Jesus as Lord" (II Cor 4:5). However, the continuity of
the message remains undisturbed because Christ is the kingdom. It is
in and through the great redemptive act which centered in Jesus Christ that
God has established His sovereignty in history. Although the kingdom now
exists in mystery form, the day will come when it will be openly manifested
to all creation (Phil 2:9–11). For this we are told to pray (Mt 6:10).
This great event is still the burden of biblical preaching.
It is not a demythologized keµrygma
that brings redemption but the Spirit-compelled proclamation of the Christ
of the keµrygma. Fidelity to this
essential message marks the true herald of god in our contemporary scene.
In the OT "preacher" or "preach" is used in two special
senses: (1) In Eccl 1:2 it translates a word meaning "assembler," one who
addresses a public assembly. (2) In Neh 6:7 Sanballat accused Nehemiah of
"appointing prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem"; this involves
proclaiming or heralding Nehemiah as king.
Bibliography. H. H. Farmer, The Servant of the
Word, London: Nisbet, 1950. G. Friedrich, "Keµrux,
etc.," TDNT, III, 683–718. J. Knox, The Integrity of Preaching,
Nashville: Abingdon, 1957. B. Reicke, "A Synopsis of Early Christian
Preaching," The Root of the Vine, London: Dacre Press, 1953. J. M.
Robinson, "Preaching," H D B rev., pp. 789–791. L. J. Tizard, Preaching:
The Art of Communication, London: Oxford, 1959. G. Wingren, Living
Word, Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1960,
R. H. M. |
