In his insightful work, According to the Scriptures: The Sub-structure of New Testament Theology, C. H. Dodd builds a careful case for how the Apostles used the Hebrew Bible to lay the foundation for both the kerygma (the proclamation of the gospel—the story of Jesus) and the teaching (the didache—the Greek word for “the teaching”)—Jesus’ teaching delivered to the Apostles as promised by Jesus in the Upper Room Discourse (John 1317). The kerygma and the didache provided the core teaching and laid the foundation for the formation of the New Testament canon, which would not be complete for over 100 years after this teaching was delivered to the churchesin 362 A.D. by Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria. This teaching, mostly in the form of letters circulated amongst the churches, together with the Hebrew Bible became “the Bible” for the early churches and eventually made up the heart of the New Testament.
What did they base this teaching on? Dodd makes a powerful case. By using passages that contain the phrase “according to the scriptures” in its various forms and by making a careful comparison of the use of Hebrew Bible verses, allusions, and stories, Dodd shows how all that happened with Jesus, including His death, burial and resurrection, was carefully predicted beforehand in the Hebrew Bible. Remember, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus opened the disciples minds to understand the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (the first book of the Writings). He was referring to the entire Hebrew Bible.
Letter by letter, they essentially wrote the New Testament, which was eventually completed by writing the Gospels (Mark was written by Peter’s key disciple, Mark). In Luke’s account of Acts we can see how first Peter, in his five sermons, built an understanding of the kerygma by quoting the Hebrew Bible, showing how it all pointed toward Christ as the promised Messiah, as the one who would inaugurate the kingdom. Paul built his case in the same way. Paul’s letters were the heart of the unfolding of the teaching of Christ—the didache—in which the church was revealed as the core community of faith that would be at the heart of the birth and unfolding of His kingdom.
How did the Apostles view the unfolding of this teaching—the kerygma and the didache—that would make up the New Testament? Peter gives us insight in his second epistle, when he refers to Paul’s letters as Scripture, designed to establish the new believers and churches in the faith. These teachings were called “the faith,” “the deposit,” and the “sound doctrine,” and all churches were to follow them. They were to grow in them, and as they did, they would mature in Christ. Paul makes a general statement to Timothy, who was trained in the Scriptures by his mother and grandmother from childhood: all Scripture “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” He told Timothy to carefully hold to this teaching—exactly, to take care to preach it “in season and out,” and to take care to hold to its exact standard. This teaching, which eventually was formed into the New Testament, was considered “the rule of faith” for all the churches. These new, emerging scriptures, carefully rooted in the Hebrew Bible, were the reason why these small, authentic communities—called churches—continued to multiply for the next almost 300 years and turned the Roman Empire upside down.
Jeff is the founder of BILD International, which is committed to promoting comprehensive church-based theological education worldwide. He has taught church-based theological education seminars throughout the United States and in over thirty countries and helped establish leadership training programs in over sixteen of those countries.
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