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Diakonia Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources

Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources

by John N Collins (professor, Professor, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Melbourne)

  • Paperback
  • 388 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • 15.6 x 23.4 x 2.1 cm

£35.94

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This is the first comprehensive study of the Greek word "diakonia," from which the word "deacon" is derived. Diakonia and its cognates appear frequently throughout the New Testament, but its precise meaning has long been disputed. Today, it is usually translated "service" or "ministry." As Collins shows, this understanding of diakonia has been important to the development of a modern consensus about the nature of Christian ministry. Based on the understanding that diakonia is "service" and that the diakonos (deacon) is a "servant," nearly all Christian bodies today agree that the central idea of ministry is that of helping the needy, and that the "servant" church should be humbly devoted to helping the world, after the model of Jesus. Collins conducts an exhaustive study of diakonia in Christian and non-Christian sources from about 200 BCE to 200 CE. He finds that in all such sources the word is used to mean "messenger" or "emissary," and has no implications of humility or of helping the needy. This discovery undermines much of the theological discussion of ministry that has taken place over the past fifty years.
Diakonia Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources and The Essential History of Christianity
The Essential History of ChristianityDiakonia Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources

  • Author

    John N Collins (professor, Professor, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Melbourne)

  • Book Format

    Paperback

  • Publisher

    Oxford University Press

  • Published

    May 2009

  • Weight

    541g

  • Page Count

    388

  • Dimensions

    15.6 x 23.4 x 2.1 cm

  • ISBN

    9780195396027

  • ISBN-10

    0195396022

  • Eden Code

    1955900

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