Kerygma, Eschatology, and Social Ethics

The eschatological and dualistic symbolism of the early Christians has misled us into thinking that the Gospel in its classic period has no concern with what we call social change, writes Wilder. Saint Paul's apparently conservative social views must be understood in light of his expectation of Christ's imminent return; his is an "emergency ethic." But going beyond Paul's explicit social teachings to his kerygmatic affirmations, we see that the "principalities and powers" over which Christ has triumphed also refer to the corrupted structures of society. The social-ethical significance of the kerygma becomes discernible as soon as we learn to interpret the mythological expressions of the New Testament in historical terms.