In this microhistorical study of the Swedish Mission to the Jews (Svenska Israelsmissionen) in Vienna, I explore the everyday life and work of the deaconess Greta Andrén (1909–71) during the time of the Nazi occupation of Austria. Andrén’s actions are presented and related to the parts of her faith that are revealed in the sources. From this I distil a triad of meaningful categories, namely her work, the children she worked with, and God. These resulted in her sustaining an on­­going (...) state of over-exertion during her wartime refugee work. (shrink)

The current care deficit—which is evident in the nursing crisis, for example—calls for new valuation and recognition of care services. Therefore, the macrosocial value of care is being discussed intensively in many subject areas. This study introduces a fundamental theological and ethical contribution into the current discourse. It challenges Protestant ethics and deaconry to place greater importance on dependency relations, to reconsider guiding principles such as autonomy and reciprocity, and to comprehend care as an ethical paradigm.

This article shows clearly the experiences of the author concerning the social restart of Germany after 1945. The ZEE was and is a place for reflection and reorientation. Personal encounters with personalities of the »first hour« constitute the opening. This is followed by five central situations which were witnessed and devised by the author. They had a direct effect on the ZEE. 1. The participation in the senior staff of Willy Brandt had an effect on the contemplation of an »ethos (...) of inner reforms«. 2. The reform process in South Africa with its »peaceful revolution« brought the author there, having intense working relations to the leaders of the »black majority«. These experiences found their way into the ZEE. 3. As chairman of the chamber for social order of the EKD the author worked nearly 20 years intensively on memoranda concerning the reorientation of the welfare state in many dimensions. The ZEE was a central place of scientific debate. 4. and 5. As head of the Diakoniewissenschaftliches Institut of the University of Heidelberg basic questions of deaconry theologically and at the same time world wide aspects were at the centre of interest also at the ZEE. (shrink)

Il faut attendre la fin du deuxième siècle pour voir Irénée faire le lien entre la fonction de « diacre » et le récit d’Actes 6 rapportant la création du groupe de Sept hellénistes. Pour le comprendre, on étudie la liaison entre le nombre Sept, la notion de diakonia, la fonction de glorification et surtout l’idée d’imitation par l’univers visible de l’univers invisible. Ces questions étaient au centre du débat entre Marc le Mage et Irénée. Elles se retrouvent dans les (...) spéculations de Clément d’Alexandrie autour du chandelier à 7 branches et des 7 « protoctistes » qui assurent la diaconie au ciel. Les structures ecclésiales sont ainsi conçues comme l’image des réalités célestes préexistantes. Le récit du martyre d’Étienne en Ac 6 contenait déjà quelques jalons qui ont permis à Irénée d’établir ce lien : si Étienne peut être dit « premier diacre » par Irénée, c’est parce que sa confession parfaite lui donne de voir s’ouvrir les cieux en contemplant la Gloire de Dieu. (shrink)