St. Stephen, Deacon (read "Pastor") and Marty
I note this a day late, but Bunny Diehl has a good entry and a decent discussion on the commemoration of St. Stephen, Deacon (read: pastor- a holder of the one and only divinely-ordained office of Word and Sacrament who happened to function in the realm of social welfare rather than the leadership of a parish) and Martyr.
A review of the origin of the diaconate in Acts 6 will demonstrate that it arose as a human arrangement to relieve the Apostles of that aspect of the church's leadership, not as a seperate office instituted by divine mandate. It should be noted, by the way, that the terms presbuteroi (presbyters, elders, or pastors) and episkopoi (bishops, overseers) are used interchangably in the New Testament. Sometimes the same people are called by each title in different parts of the same chapter! Human arrangements and the peculiarities of the polity of certain Christian denominations should not confuse us on this point: there is only one order of clergy by divine right, even though its members may well exercise different functions in the Church.
A review of the origin of the diaconate in Acts 6 will demonstrate that it arose as a human arrangement to relieve the Apostles of that aspect of the church's leadership, not as a seperate office instituted by divine mandate. It should be noted, by the way, that the terms presbuteroi (presbyters, elders, or pastors) and episkopoi (bishops, overseers) are used interchangably in the New Testament. Sometimes the same people are called by each title in different parts of the same chapter! Human arrangements and the peculiarities of the polity of certain Christian denominations should not confuse us on this point: there is only one order of clergy by divine right, even though its members may well exercise different functions in the Church.
Comments