kerygma

American  

[ki-rig-muh] / kɪˈrɪg mə /

Also kerugma

noun

kerygmata plural

1. the preaching of the gospel of Christ, especially in the manner of the early church.

2. the content or message of such preaching.

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kerygma British  

/ ˌkeˈriːɡmə /

noun

1. Christianity the essential news of Jesus, as preached by the early Christians to elicit faith rather than to educate or instruct

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• kerygmatic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• kerygmata
  plural

Etymology

Origin of kerygma

1885–90; < Greek kḗrygma proclamation, preaching, equivalent to kēryk-, stem of kērýssein to proclaim + -ma resultative noun suffix

Example Sentences

Those going must develop a new kerygma, one based on a thorough understanding of what mainland China is all about.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1953, at the annual seminar of Bultmann's "Marburg Disciples," Dr. Ernst Kasemann argued that it was time for theology to relate the Jesus of history to the proclaimed Christ of the kerygma.

From Time Magazine Archive

The problem is to free the kerygma from its encrustation of myth so that modern man can grasp it.

From Time Magazine Archive

But demythologizing, Robinson points out, threatened to end up with "the conclusion that the Jesus of the kerygma could well be only a myth."

From Time Magazine Archive

That a free kerygma of Christ and some other matter were added to Hermas, Mand.

From History of Dogma, Volume 2 (of 7) by Buchanan, Neil