Reaction Paper About The Kerygma

Pope John Paul II defines the word kerygma as “the initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith” (Catechesi Tradendae, 25). In his encyclical Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis says that the kerygma plays a “fundamental role” in catechesis. What is the kerygma, a term that is most likely unfamiliar to many modern Catholics? The ancient definition of the word is a Greek noun meaning “message” or “proclamation”. It is the proclamation of the “Good News”: Jesus Christ is the Messiah and Son of God, who was born of a virgin, proven by His works, who will come again in judgment at the second coming, and that all who hear this good news should repent and
In the beginning of the Christian faith subsequent to Christ’s death, when the Church was persecuted and dispersed across many nations, there was little to no unity her teaching beyond what the early Church leaders could relay to the faithful by their writings. Although the time periods, writers, and audience varied widely, one thing that remained constant in these writings is the use of the kerygma as both an educational and a unitive aspect. The Apostles and the early Church fathers, including Saint Clement, Saint Ignatius, Saint Ireneus, and Saint Athanasius, all used the kerygma in their letters to the respective Churches to whom they were directed their writings. The kerygma later develops into the rule of faith, and the essential components of the kerygma are the foundation of the Nicene Creed, which is still professed in Catholic Masses across the world today. The Church’s teaching on the kerygma- along with it’s influence over the regula fidei, “rule of faith”, and it’s culmination in the Nicene Creed- and it’s formation across the western world reflects the growth and development of the early Catholic Church as a united
One result of this is the appearance of the regula fidei. The regula fidei is an expansion of the kerygma, encompassing it along with Sacred Scripture and Tradition of the early Church. Saint Irenaeus expounds on the regula fidei, or the “rule of faith”, in his writing’s Against Heresies. During his life, Saint Irenaeus lived from 135 AD to 203 AD, was the bishop of Gaul, and was the last person to know someone who knew the Apostles. Saint Irenaeus, after describing the regula fidei, gives a suitable reason for why the regula fidei is so necessary: “For the languages of the world are different, but the meaning of the [Christian] tradition is one and the same” (Against Heresies, I.10.2). An important aspect of Saint Irenaeus’ teachings on the regula fidei is the teaching on the primacy of the Church of Rome. This is significant because the Holy See is the ultimate symbol of unity within the Church, and it shows that the early Church Fathers were appealing to a higher authority- namely, the successor of Peter, the Pope- to demonstrate the importance of unity of beliefs throughout the Church across the