Abstract:
It is a well-known fact that in his letters Paul for different purposes made
use of traditional materials, among others confessional formulae and
hymns. In this study the question is asked as to how these materials
were evaluated by Paul, that is, whether he regarded them as fixed dogmas
to be handed down in their original form, and in the event of proclaiming
the gospel, to be strictly adhered to as kerygmatic guidelines.
The conclusion arrived at is that, although Paul definitely regarded these
materials as existential expressions of faith of some importance and as
forms of proclamation in their own right, he never saw them as unchangeable
dogmas to be strictly adhered to as prescriptive for his understanding
and proclamation of the gospel. He, on the contrary, made
free use of them in such a manner that he modified them in different ways
in order to bring them in line with his theology and to serve the purpose
of his theological argument. In so doing, he clearly demonstrated that,
in his view, the confessional formulae should be of service to the
kerygma, and not the other way around.
