The Kerygma in the Book of Acts
«they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus»
Acts 5:42
First essay of five that studies Sarah Mullally’s devotional: Thy Kingdom Come: Novena
When the Church was born at Pentecost, it was not born merely as a new religious community, nor as an ethical movement, nor as a spirituality of human accompaniment. It was born as a proclaiming Church. From its earliest days, Christianity appeared as a public, urgent and universal announcement concerning Jesus Christ.
That announcement is what Christian theology has historically called the kerygma. The word “kerygma” comes from the Greek κήρυγμα and means proclamation, announcement or publicly proclaimed message. It derives from the verb κηρύσσω (kērýssō), meaning to proclaim as a herald. It does not describe a private conversation nor a mere spiritual reflection. The kerygma is a solemn, authoritative and public proclamation.
And the Book of Acts probably constitutes the clearest exposition of the earliest Christian kerygma. There we do not simply find abstract doctrine, but living preaching. The Book of Acts allows us to see what the apostles preached, what they considered essential, what they demanded of their hearers and what they understood to be the irreducible centre of the Gospel.
The kerygma has an absolute centre: Jesus Christ
The apostolic kerygma is radically Christ-centred. It does not revolve around the Church, spiritual experience, community or the psychological transformation of the human person. Its centre is Jesus Christ: his person, his death, his resurrection and his exaltation.
Peter proclaims: «Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.» Acts 2:36
And again: «The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus» Acts 3:13
Paul summarises his preaching by saying: «And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers» Acts 13:32
The kerygma is not primarily an invitation to live a better life. It is the announcement that God has acted decisively in Jesus Christ.
The kerygma proclaims the death of Christ
The cross occupies a central and constant place. It is not presented merely as an example of love or humility, but as the decisive event in the history of salvation.
Peter declares: «this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men»
Acts 2:23
And then: «you killed the Author of life» Acts 3:15
The language is direct, confrontational and profoundly moral. The kerygma does not minimise human sin nor avoid human guilt before God.
The kerygma proclaims the resurrection
The resurrection is not a secondary element. It is indispensable. «God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death» Acts 2:24
«This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses» Acts 2:32
«But God raised him from the dead» Acts 13:30
The early Church did not merely preach the teachings of Jesus. It proclaimed that Jesus lives, reigns and has conquered death. Apostolic Christianity is not a religious philosophy. It is the proclamation of a historical and redemptive event.
The kerygma proclaims the lordship of Christ
Jesus does not appear merely as a teacher or moral example.
He is proclaimed as the exalted Lord. «God has made him both Lord and Christ» Acts 2:36
«there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved» Acts 4:12
«he is Lord of all» Acts 10:36
The kerygma demands a response because Christ possesses universal authority.
The kerygma confronts humanity with sin
This aspect is decisive. According to the Book of Acts, humanity’s central problem is not merely suffering, existential emptiness or emotional disconnection. It is sin and rebellion against God.
Peter accuses: «you denied the Holy and Righteous One» Acts 3:14
Stephen proclaims: «You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit» Acts 7:51
Paul declares in Athens: «but now he commands all people everywhere to repent» Acts 17:30
The kerygma does not seek merely to comfort. It first confronts.
The kerygma calls for repentance
The verb “to repent” occupies a central place in Acts. «Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit» Acts 2:38
«Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out» Acts 3:19
«he commands all people everywhere to repent» Acts 17:30
The kerygma is not mere religious information. It is divine summons, demand and proclamation. Repentance does not appear as an optional suggestion, but as the necessary response to the Gospel.
The kerygma offers forgiveness of sins
The apostolic Gospel does not end in condemnation. Precisely because humanity is guilty, the announcement of forgiveness becomes glorious.
Peter proclaims: «and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit» Acts 2:38
Paul announces: «through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you» Acts 13:38
Here lies the heart of Christian grace: God offers real reconciliation through Jesus Christ.
The kerygma is addressed to all
One of the most extraordinary elements in the Book of Acts is the universalisation of the Gospel.
The kerygma breaks ethnic, cultural and social barriers.
Peter declares: «For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off» Acts 2:39
Paul proclaims: «he commands all people everywhere to repent» Acts 17:30
Jews, Samaritans, Romans, Greeks, Ethiopians, rich and poor, religious and pagan alike are summoned. The kerygma possesses universal scope because Christ is universal Lord.
The kerygma announces judgement
This element often disappears from much contemporary preaching, yet in Acts it remains clearly present.
Paul declares in Athens: «he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness» Acts 17:31
The Gospel possesses urgency because true judgement exists. The kerygma is not merely an invitation to a more emotionally fulfilling life. It is an urgent summons before the living God.
The kerygma produces a new community
Only after proclamation come fellowship, shared life and accompaniment. «And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers» Acts 2:42
The order matters profoundly. The community is born from the Gospel. It does not replace the Gospel.
Kerygmatic language in Acts
The Book of Acts repeatedly uses the vocabulary of public proclamation: “preach”, “announce”, “bear witness”, “proclaim”, “teach”, “evangelise”.
Luke constantly presents the Church as a proclaiming community.
For example: «Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice» (Acts 2:14)
«They did not cease teaching and preaching» (Acts 5:42)
«Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus» (Acts 8:35)
«He reasoned in the synagogue» (Acts 17:17)
Apostolic Christianity appears essentially as the public proclamation of Christ.
Conclusion
The Christian kerygma in the Book of Acts possesses an extraordinarily clear and consistent content.
It proclaims: Jesus Christ crucified and risen; human sin; the universal lordship of Christ; repentance; forgiveness of sins; the gift of the Holy Spirit; salvation; the coming judgement; the universal call of God.
The kerygma is not merely spiritual accompaniment. It is not simply an invitation to inner transformation. It is not merely compassionate presence amid human suffering. It is the powerful proclamation that God has acted decisively in Jesus Christ to save sinners and reconcile a fallen world to himself.
That is why the Book of Acts can summarise the apostolic mission so simply and so forcefully:
«they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus»
Acts 5:42
