PROCLAMATION
An official announcement set forth publicly. It is ordinarily used of the authoritative announcements of a king or other high government official. In the Bible it is used of the supreme proclamation of the will of God. There are a number of words used in Heb., most of them with the idea of lifting up the voice, causing the word to be heard. The ancient proclamations were made by an official herald calling aloud in some public place (e.g., Exo 34:5; Lev 25:10; Jdg 7:3; Isa 61:1-2; Ezr 1:1).
The NT word is the ordinary word for a "herald" (Gr. kerux, from kerusso). It is used almost exclusively to speak of the glorious proclamation of the gospel. Although the English translations are not consistent, the word is found in numerous passages, e.g., Mat 3:1; 26:13; Mar 6:12; Luk 24:47; Acts 8:5; 10:42; 1Co 1:21,23; 2Co 11:4; Rev 5:2. See Herald.
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 kerusso (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 prititive 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; 1Co 1:17) or some variant, such as "Christ" (1Co 15:12), "Christ crucified" (1Co 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 didache (teaching) and is usually distinguished rather sharply--although opinion is now changing--from kerygma (preaching). While this differentiation is valid, it should not be pressed too strenuously. The Synoptics evidence an overlapping of terms (cf. Mat 4:23 with its parallels), and in Acts 15:21 James refers to the weekly snyagogue 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 listerers, 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 (Luk 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 kerygma as it is now designated. (The transliteration from Gr. should not lead us into the misunderstanding that kerygma 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 kerygma 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 (1Co 9:16), appealed to every man's conscience by the open statement of truth (2Co 4:2), and more often than not met with opposition (cf. 2Co 11:23-28). Since it demanded faith from the hearer, it was careful not to obscure its message with lofty words or eloquent wisdom (1Co 1:17; 2:1-4).
The kerygma, 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" (Mat 3:2). To him fell the task of preparing the nation for the coming of the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Mar 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" (Luk 4:19) had come. The kingdom was a present reality (Luk 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" (1Co 1:23), "Christ. . . raised" (1Co 15:12), or "Christ Jesus as Lord" (2Co 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 (Phi 2:9-11). For this we are told to pray (Mat 6:10).
This great event is still the burden of biblical preaching. It is not a demythologized kerygma that brings redemption but the Spirit-compelled proclamation of the Christ of the kerygma. 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 Ecc 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, "Kerux, 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.
GOSPEL
A word used only in the NT to denote the message of Christ. The Gr. euangelion, meaning "good tidings," became a technical term for the essential message of salvation. It is modified by various descriptive phrases, such as, "the gospel of God" (Mar 1:14, ASV; Rom 15:16), "the gospel of Jesus Christ, (Mar 1:1; 1Co 9:12), "the gospel of his Son" (Rom 1:9), "the gospel of the kingdom " (Mat 4:23; 9:35; 24:14), "the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24), "the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2Co 4:4, ASV), "the gospel of peace" (Eph 6:15), "an eternal gospel" (Rev 14:6, RSV). Although distinctive aspects of the message are indicated by the various modifiers, the gospel is essentially one. Paul speaks of "another gospel" which is not an equivalent, for the gospel of God is His revelation, not the result of discovery (Gal 1:6-11).
The content of the gospel is clearly defined in the NT. It is the accepted message of the Christian church, for it was received by all believers, defended by their reason, and was a vital part of their experience. It was historical in its content, biblical in its meaning, and transforming in its effect. "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures...he was buried...he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures...he appeared to Cephas..." are Paul's descriptive words (1Co 15:1-6, ASV).
The gospel was not a loose accretion of early legends about Jesus, but was a well-organized set of teachings about His life and its significance, preached by the leaders of the early church in the first generation after His death. Although it was not reduced to a catechetical formulation, it was sufficiently uniform to be reflected in the writings of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, now called the Synoptic Gospels. A different form of the same preaching appeared in the Gospel of John. Because of the unique quality and content of the message, the writings embodying it were called the "Gospels." It is probable, however, that this technical use of the term does not appear in the narrative passages of the NT. Invariably when it is used it refers to the content rather than to the vehicle; the application of "Gospel" to the written work is later than the 1st cen.
The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for men through the gift of His son to the world. He suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement (Joh 3:16; Rom 5:8-11; 2Co 5:14-19; Tit 2:11-14). The gospel presents Christ as the mediator between God and men, who has been ordained by God to bring an erring humanity back to Himself.
See Evangelist; Glad Tidings; Law of Moses.
Bibliography. Gerhard Friedrich, "Euaggelizomai, etc., TDNT, II, 707-737. M. C. T.
The above is taken from the Wycliffe Encyclopedia, a component of Bible Research Systems' Verse Search program.
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