Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)
1968-06-01 / 2. szám
HC? Vol XX Special Number 1968 No 2 46 -(07686) tude in us to God, keeping especially in mind that we ourselves, too, are benefited by these earthly values. Hence the .conclusion of the Christian interpretation of work is that God is the master of man's vrork; that all human accomplishments reflect His work, and it is in this way that we give thanks to Him for his grace of having called us to be His co-workers. 4) The Experiences of the Diakonia Pattern in Our Society a) Biblical Foundation While trying to expound the meaning of the "diakonia pattern", the first thing to keep in mind is that we use the word "diakonia” in the New Testament sense. This will prevent us from reducing the conception of the diakonia to the work of Christian charity as tiie only form of this basic fmotion of the Church. The New Testamait group of words (diakonia, diakonein, diakonos) ten naturally lived cm in the subsequent church usage. In the first centuries we note that the word "diakonos" - in continuation of a development the beginnings of which are already notioeable in the apostolic epistles - is used to delete a specific ohuroh function or office. The bearer of this office is the direct ccHworker of the bishop, equal with him in rank, both belonging tq the ordines maiores. with no essertial differences between their functions.-» After the fifth century, generally speaking, the charitable work of the congregations is taken over by the monastic orders and the words "diakonos" and "diakonia:" become emptied of their meaning, as terms simply used to denote a rank in the priestly or monastio order. The church of the Reformation period retains the term without perceiving its essential and specific content. There are cases in which the preachers of the Word are called deacons, although the Lutherans sometimes apply the term to those members cf the congregations to whom the administration of charities is entrusted, while the Calvinistic Reformation classifies the deacons who administer alms to the poor with the pas toes, doctors and presbiteri as those who are to discharge one of the basic functions of the congregation. It was due to the inspiration of the "Inner Mission" concept cf J.H. Wiehern that, "diakonia" in the practical theology cf modem Protestantism became a technical term. If, however, we take the larger sense of the word as comprising all the activities of Christian love in the church, then "diakonia" as a technical term, denotes only a sector of what is called diakonia in the New Testament, that is, the participation of the church in the diakonia cf Christ. It is necessary to preface our followLqg expositions by this clarification because the history of theology and church history bear out the fact
