Dodd’s first thesis was that “the NT writers draw a distinction between preaching and teaching.… Teaching (didaskein) is in a large majority of cases ethical instruction.… Preaching, on the other hand, is the public proclamation of Christianity to the non-Christian world” (p. 7). Accordingly, Dodd distinguished preaching from teaching both by its content and by its audience, with the latter distinction (“preaching” being aimed at non-Christians) posing the sharpest possible contrast with modern day preaching — at least as perceived from the pew!
This thesis, too, has had its share of detractors. Numerous scholars have pointed out that Dodd’s rigid distinction between preaching and teaching is simply not honored in the NT (nor in the LXX). R. Mounce (pp. 40ff), e.g., cites various parallel passages in the Synoptic Gospels to demonstrate that what one Gospel terms “preaching” the others will at times term “teaching” (e.g., cf. Mt. 4:23 with
Mk. 1:39;
Lk. 4:44). Perhaps more compelling is the observation that even within a single Gospel the same activity can be referred to both as “teaching” (
Mk. 1:21) and as “preaching” (v 38).
This evidence can be accommodated, however, if Dodd’s thesis is modified to allow for the well-established broad semantic range of didáskō in the NT (see TEACH). Thus in the NT “teaching” can include “preaching” without these terms being considered merely synonymous.
In support of Dodd, it remains striking that in the vast majority of cases (though not every case, contra Dodd) “preaching” in the NT is, in fact, directed to unbelievers.
. Vol. 3: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised. 1979–1988 (G. W. Bromiley, Ed.) (941–942). Wm. B. Eerdmans.