The Higher Liberty
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The Higher Liberty
by Gregory HHC, d
Minister of His Holy Church
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The Office of
Diakonos
Were there offices and titles in
the early Church? There was work, duties, and men and women who
performed them, but they had no titles of nobility. They did have
offices of service.
The word diakonos appears
some 31 times in the New Testament. It is translated minister 20 times, servant 8, and deacon 3 times. It is more
interesting where it does not appear and how it is used.
It does not appear in Luke or in
Acts. Jesus uses it three times in Matthew, twice describing the
servants of His kingdom who do not exercise authority [which
is the only place Mark uses it], and once to describe a
servant who binds some one and casts them out. In John it describes
servants at the marriage feast who fill the water jars for Jesus. And
in John 12:26 ,Jesus describes those who serve Him.
Paul is fond of the term. It
clearly means servant of another. It is translated deacon in Philippians 1:1 when it is coupled with episkopos i.e.
bishop. In 1 Timothy 3:8 and 3:12 it references the qualifications
not for the office of deacons, but all the servants of the Church.
Some scholars suggest that the
Greek word “diakonos” means “one who raises the
dust” others do not. “Konos” can mean dust or earth. The Old Testament tells of altars of earth, “red
clay”.
Those altars were made of living earth which we explain
in the book The Sacrifice and The Sophistry. The Greek root dia can mean to join as we see in diagonal or diagram, first used by
Heron of Alexandria (10 – 70 AD) in a
geometric sense meaning the joining of lines.
The
word deacon comes from
the Latin word deaconus which meant
“chief of ten”. By the time the scripture
was composed the two words “deaconus” and “diakonos”
had begun to fuse into a common usage of the Church.
The
Latin deaconus and the Greek diakonos both
mean servant or minister.Minister is the Latin
word for doer
of little deeds.
.
The word minister is also a
generic term that includes all who serve others, whether they be
deacon, bishop, or archbishop. No
matter if you use the meaning or etymology of “deaconus”
or “diakonos” there is no doubt that they were servants.
How they served is one of the best kept secrets of our time.
Footnote:
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Related Articles and Audio:
Romans 13 part 1
http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/audio/rm/Romans131.ram
ROMANS 13 verse 1 the higher liberty
Does God want us to be subject or to be free?
http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/romans13.php
Romans 13 and I Peter 2,13-14
Is the Bible consistent about setting men free or does it contradict itself?
http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/romanspeter.php
Romans 13, NN Video Series:7-10 4:32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SEMYx6affo
Footnotes:
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