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Esko Ryökäs

University of Eastern Finland, School of Theology, Faculty Member

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When studying deacons and diaconia of today, you have to understand the history of the modern movement since 1830 as well as the development starting with the earliest Church. You need knowledge of practical, dogmatical, ethical, exegetical, historical, ecumenical, and sociological character. And therefore I have been doing it, since 1985.
Nowadays, I am retired, but that means I have more time for research. Methodologically I prefer original sources, not what we believe has been written. And this seems to be very important
Phone: +358 50 5225 151

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Johannes Zachhuber

University of Oxford

University of St Andrews

King's College London

Jerzy Ostapczuk

Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw

Mark DelCogliano

University of St. Thomas, Minnesota

University of Tartu

Fotios Ioannidis

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

The University of Iowa

University of Divinity

Lyon III University - Jean Moulin

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Drafts by Esko Ryökäs

Research on Early Deacons a Call for Authors april 1st 2023

A Call for Authors, 2023

Over the past years, I have been attempting to understand the actual Over the past years, researc... more Over the past years, I have been attempting to understand the actual Over the past years, research into early church documents has revealed more about deacons' roles and responsibilities, moving away from traditional 16th-century views. Recent publications have begun to address this subject, with a focus on deaconesses and a broader range of source material. Findings suggest deacons and deaconesses served as servant-leaders, supporting bishops in worship, administration, communication, and providing assistance to those in need. However, further research is needed as numerous documents from the first three centuries still await analysis. Those interested in contributing to this research can learn relevant languages, study existing literature, choose a research subject, prepare an English analysis, and submit their work for potential publication in a special issue of the Diakonian Research Journal.

Research on Early Deacons a Call for Authors april 1st 2023

Call for Authors april 1st 2023

Diakonos - Call for Papers 2020.pdf

by Esko Ryökäs and Edwina Murphy

Deacons and diakonia in Early Christianity, 2018

This is a call for papers to a congress 12-14 May 2020. We collect material for a second volume a... more

Early Ancient Greek texts with a few " Deacon " s

This will be an analysis of the non-important source texts about the "deacon" during the two firs... more

Books by Esko Ryökäs

Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity: The First Two Centuries (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018)

by Edwina Murphy, Bart Koet, and Esko Ryökäs

In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteent... more In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteenth-century ideas of diakonia as service towards the poor. As important as the social initiatives stemming from this perspective have been, in order to correctly understand deacons and diakonia in the early church, we must go back to the sources. For this volume, focused on the first two centuries of Christianity, scholars from a range of backgrounds consider the use of diakonos and related words in the New Testament and extra-biblical sources, both Christian and otherwise. These texts reveal what deacons actually did, helping us to understand the past and giving guidance for the present, particularly in ecumenical discussions concerning the ministry.

Papers by Esko Ryökäs

Diakonit perheiden neuvojina kristinuskon syntyaikoina

Assessing the Role and Function of an Assistant: The Deacon in the First Two Centuries of Christianity

Assessing the Role and Function of an Assistant: The Deacon in the First Two Centuries of Christianity

Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity: The First Two Centuries [Edited Book]

In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteent... more In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteenth-century ideas of diakonia as service towards the poor. As important as the social initiatives stemming from this perspective have been, in order to correctly understand deacons and diakonia in the early church, we must go back to the sources. For this volume, focused on the first two centuries of Christianity, scholars from a range of backgrounds consider the use of diakonos and related words in the New Testament and extra-biblical sources, both Christian and otherwise. These texts reveal what deacons actually did, helping us to understand the past and giving guidance for the present, particularly in ecumenical discussions concerning the ministry.

Systematic Analysis of Creationist Claims Source Criticism, Context, Argumentation and Experiential Thinking

Creationist claims have been repeatedly analyzed for their scientific content but, despite of thi... more Creationist claims have been repeatedly analyzed for their scientific content but, despite of this, the same scientifically unsound re-interpretations of data from Natural sciences have persisted for decades. We have previously analyzed creationist claims for the presence of argumentative fallacies and experiential thinking and found these aspects to be potentially responsible for the persistence of the claims. In addition, fallacies and experiential thinking patterns, such as confirmation bias and attachment of moral labels to scientific issues, can be significant for the acceptance of creationist claims. Due to this, a systematic method of analyzing creationist claims including source criticism and assessment of experiential thinking, argumentation and the context of these aspects in creationist writings is presented. The examples reveal a high dependency of creationist writings on moral label attachment by demonization, ad hominem fallacies and confirmation bias. The proposed analytical method requires basic knowledge of philosophy of science and argumentation theory but is readily accessible to scientists, theologians and educators who participate in the debate between evolutionary theory proponents and creationists.

Makarios-Symposium über den Heiligen Geist : Vorträge der zweiten Finnisch-deutschen Theologentagung in Karis 1984

Åbo akademis förlag eBooks, 1989

Deacons as a helper of the priests A cri

a summary, Diakonian tutkimus 3/2015. www.journal.fi

Archidiaconus, en botrtglämd sida av de lutherska diakonerna i Sverige?

Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift, 2022

It is a common belief that Lutheran Churches did not have archdeacons after the Reformation. This... more It is a common belief that Lutheran Churches did not have archdeacons after the Reformation. This essay shows the situation in Sweden. Many pastors were called "archidiaconus" during the 16th-18th centuries. However, this paper presents only one side of the development: The area of Finland (diocese of Turku/Åbo and Wiborg/Borgå) will be analysed in another article.

Diakonit perheiden neuvojina kristinuskon syntyaikoina

by Pauliina Pylvänäinen and Esko Ryökäs

Karjalan teologinen seura, 2020

Examples of oft-repeated citations of evolutionary scientists as evidence against evolution

<p>Examples of oft-repeated citations of evolutionary scientists as evidence against evolut... more

Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity

Diaconia - A Make-Believe Which Continues?

Diaconia, 2015

Abstract The understanding of modern working methods in the social work of churches - "diaco... more Abstract The understanding of modern working methods in the social work of churches - "diaconia" - has its roots in the examples set by the Early Church. The present study examines how well Paul Philippi was able to argue for this thesis. The findings in this article show that Philippi's position about the character of "Diaconia" is not exactly the same as the traditional point of view. He does not point out the very basic tasks of the deacons in the field of social-caritative activity, but builds on a large scale cooperation between a bishop and his deacon. The way Philippi describes the parish life, the functions of members other than deacons and the common responsibility to each other among Christians were all quite well documented. The role of women had some issues, but not many. The erroneous references concentrate on the duties of a deacon. While according to Philippi, the main occupation of the deacons was social care, he is trying to make deacons caritative but cannot present adequate textual sour...

Assessing the Role and Function of an Assistant:The Deacon in the First Two Centuries of Christianity

Arbeiter oder Diener – über die Diakonie-Auffassungen des 20. Jahrhunderts

Die nicht nur im deutschen Sprachraum noch heute einflussreiche Definition von "Diakonie" kann ma... more Die nicht nur im deutschen Sprachraum noch heute einflussreiche Definition von "Diakonie" kann man mit zwei wissenschaftlichen Quellen verknüpfen. Im Jahr 1935 veröffentlichte Hermann Wolfgang Beyer im Theologischen Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament einen Artikel mit dem Titel "diakonéoo, diakonía, diákonos". Dieser Beitrag sieht als Grundbedeutung von Diakonie den Tischdienst. Außerdem können damit auch andere niedere Dienste bezeichnet werden (nicht nur in der Kirche). Das Besondere an dem Begriff ist laut Beyer, dass er "die ganz persönlich einem anderen erwiesene Dienstleistung" bezeichne. In der Diakonie solle der Diakon nach dem Vorbild Jesu aus Nächstenliebe und in völliger Hingabe karitativ dienen. 1 Gut möglich ist damit eine Annäherung an den Begriff des Liebesdienstes. Der Beitrag von Beyer basiert in vielen Punkten auf einer Abhandlung von Wilhelm Brandt, die dieser 1931 unter dem Titel "Dienst und Dienen im Neuen Testament" publizierte. Dieses Buch wird von Beyer mehrmals genannt, und in diesen beiden Arbeiten ist auch die Grundbedeutung der Diakonie-Wortgruppe ziemlich ähnlich. 2 Das für Brandt Besondere ist die Kombination der Dienstbegriff-Analyse mit der ethischen Gesinnung, und so kann seiner Meinung nach der Einzelne, der seine religiösen Tugenden nur zu seinen eigenen Zwecken nutzt, nicht mehr fähig sein, seinen Weg zum Bruder zu finden. 3 Zur Diakonie gehört also eine bestimmte Weise christlich zu leben. John N. Collins war es, der die These aufgestellt hat, dass das Verständnis von Diakonie im Sinne eines niedrigen nächstenliebenden und sich ganz für den anderen aufopfernden Dienstes erst durch Brandt und Beyer in die theologische Diskussion des 20. Jahrhunderts eingeführt wurde. Davor habe dieser Aspekt von Niedrigkeit nicht zum Diakoniebegriff gehört. 4 In seiner

Research on Early Deacons a Call for Authors april 1st 2023

A Call for Authors, 2023

Over the past years, I have been attempting to understand the actual Over the past years, researc... more Over the past years, I have been attempting to understand the actual Over the past years, research into early church documents has revealed more about deacons' roles and responsibilities, moving away from traditional 16th-century views. Recent publications have begun to address this subject, with a focus on deaconesses and a broader range of source material. Findings suggest deacons and deaconesses served as servant-leaders, supporting bishops in worship, administration, communication, and providing assistance to those in need. However, further research is needed as numerous documents from the first three centuries still await analysis. Those interested in contributing to this research can learn relevant languages, study existing literature, choose a research subject, prepare an English analysis, and submit their work for potential publication in a special issue of the Diakonian Research Journal.

Research on Early Deacons a Call for Authors april 1st 2023

Call for Authors april 1st 2023

Diakonos - Call for Papers 2020.pdf

by Esko Ryökäs and Edwina Murphy

Deacons and diakonia in Early Christianity, 2018

This is a call for papers to a congress 12-14 May 2020. We collect material for a second volume a... more

Early Ancient Greek texts with a few " Deacon " s

This will be an analysis of the non-important source texts about the "deacon" during the two firs... more

Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity: The First Two Centuries (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018)

by Edwina Murphy, Bart Koet, and Esko Ryökäs

In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteent... more In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteenth-century ideas of diakonia as service towards the poor. As important as the social initiatives stemming from this perspective have been, in order to correctly understand deacons and diakonia in the early church, we must go back to the sources. For this volume, focused on the first two centuries of Christianity, scholars from a range of backgrounds consider the use of diakonos and related words in the New Testament and extra-biblical sources, both Christian and otherwise. These texts reveal what deacons actually did, helping us to understand the past and giving guidance for the present, particularly in ecumenical discussions concerning the ministry.

Diakonit perheiden neuvojina kristinuskon syntyaikoina

Assessing the Role and Function of an Assistant: The Deacon in the First Two Centuries of Christianity

Assessing the Role and Function of an Assistant: The Deacon in the First Two Centuries of Christianity

Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity: The First Two Centuries [Edited Book]

In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteent... more In German-speaking countries, the role of the diaconate has been strongly influenced by nineteenth-century ideas of diakonia as service towards the poor. As important as the social initiatives stemming from this perspective have been, in order to correctly understand deacons and diakonia in the early church, we must go back to the sources. For this volume, focused on the first two centuries of Christianity, scholars from a range of backgrounds consider the use of diakonos and related words in the New Testament and extra-biblical sources, both Christian and otherwise. These texts reveal what deacons actually did, helping us to understand the past and giving guidance for the present, particularly in ecumenical discussions concerning the ministry.

Systematic Analysis of Creationist Claims Source Criticism, Context, Argumentation and Experiential Thinking

Creationist claims have been repeatedly analyzed for their scientific content but, despite of thi... more Creationist claims have been repeatedly analyzed for their scientific content but, despite of this, the same scientifically unsound re-interpretations of data from Natural sciences have persisted for decades. We have previously analyzed creationist claims for the presence of argumentative fallacies and experiential thinking and found these aspects to be potentially responsible for the persistence of the claims. In addition, fallacies and experiential thinking patterns, such as confirmation bias and attachment of moral labels to scientific issues, can be significant for the acceptance of creationist claims. Due to this, a systematic method of analyzing creationist claims including source criticism and assessment of experiential thinking, argumentation and the context of these aspects in creationist writings is presented. The examples reveal a high dependency of creationist writings on moral label attachment by demonization, ad hominem fallacies and confirmation bias. The proposed analytical method requires basic knowledge of philosophy of science and argumentation theory but is readily accessible to scientists, theologians and educators who participate in the debate between evolutionary theory proponents and creationists.

Makarios-Symposium über den Heiligen Geist : Vorträge der zweiten Finnisch-deutschen Theologentagung in Karis 1984

Åbo akademis förlag eBooks, 1989

Deacons as a helper of the priests A cri

a summary, Diakonian tutkimus 3/2015. www.journal.fi

Archidiaconus, en botrtglämd sida av de lutherska diakonerna i Sverige?

Kyrkohistorisk årsskrift, 2022

It is a common belief that Lutheran Churches did not have archdeacons after the Reformation. This... more It is a common belief that Lutheran Churches did not have archdeacons after the Reformation. This essay shows the situation in Sweden. Many pastors were called "archidiaconus" during the 16th-18th centuries. However, this paper presents only one side of the development: The area of Finland (diocese of Turku/Åbo and Wiborg/Borgå) will be analysed in another article.

Diakonit perheiden neuvojina kristinuskon syntyaikoina

by Pauliina Pylvänäinen and Esko Ryökäs

Karjalan teologinen seura, 2020

Examples of oft-repeated citations of evolutionary scientists as evidence against evolution

<p>Examples of oft-repeated citations of evolutionary scientists as evidence against evolut... more

Deacons and Diakonia in Early Christianity

Diaconia - A Make-Believe Which Continues?

Diaconia, 2015

Abstract The understanding of modern working methods in the social work of churches - "diaco... more Abstract The understanding of modern working methods in the social work of churches - "diaconia" - has its roots in the examples set by the Early Church. The present study examines how well Paul Philippi was able to argue for this thesis. The findings in this article show that Philippi's position about the character of "Diaconia" is not exactly the same as the traditional point of view. He does not point out the very basic tasks of the deacons in the field of social-caritative activity, but builds on a large scale cooperation between a bishop and his deacon. The way Philippi describes the parish life, the functions of members other than deacons and the common responsibility to each other among Christians were all quite well documented. The role of women had some issues, but not many. The erroneous references concentrate on the duties of a deacon. While according to Philippi, the main occupation of the deacons was social care, he is trying to make deacons caritative but cannot present adequate textual sour...

Assessing the Role and Function of an Assistant:The Deacon in the First Two Centuries of Christianity

Arbeiter oder Diener – über die Diakonie-Auffassungen des 20. Jahrhunderts

Die nicht nur im deutschen Sprachraum noch heute einflussreiche Definition von "Diakonie" kann ma... more Die nicht nur im deutschen Sprachraum noch heute einflussreiche Definition von "Diakonie" kann man mit zwei wissenschaftlichen Quellen verknüpfen. Im Jahr 1935 veröffentlichte Hermann Wolfgang Beyer im Theologischen Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament einen Artikel mit dem Titel "diakonéoo, diakonía, diákonos". Dieser Beitrag sieht als Grundbedeutung von Diakonie den Tischdienst. Außerdem können damit auch andere niedere Dienste bezeichnet werden (nicht nur in der Kirche). Das Besondere an dem Begriff ist laut Beyer, dass er "die ganz persönlich einem anderen erwiesene Dienstleistung" bezeichne. In der Diakonie solle der Diakon nach dem Vorbild Jesu aus Nächstenliebe und in völliger Hingabe karitativ dienen. 1 Gut möglich ist damit eine Annäherung an den Begriff des Liebesdienstes. Der Beitrag von Beyer basiert in vielen Punkten auf einer Abhandlung von Wilhelm Brandt, die dieser 1931 unter dem Titel "Dienst und Dienen im Neuen Testament" publizierte. Dieses Buch wird von Beyer mehrmals genannt, und in diesen beiden Arbeiten ist auch die Grundbedeutung der Diakonie-Wortgruppe ziemlich ähnlich. 2 Das für Brandt Besondere ist die Kombination der Dienstbegriff-Analyse mit der ethischen Gesinnung, und so kann seiner Meinung nach der Einzelne, der seine religiösen Tugenden nur zu seinen eigenen Zwecken nutzt, nicht mehr fähig sein, seinen Weg zum Bruder zu finden. 3 Zur Diakonie gehört also eine bestimmte Weise christlich zu leben. John N. Collins war es, der die These aufgestellt hat, dass das Verständnis von Diakonie im Sinne eines niedrigen nächstenliebenden und sich ganz für den anderen aufopfernden Dienstes erst durch Brandt und Beyer in die theologische Diskussion des 20. Jahrhunderts eingeführt wurde. Davor habe dieser Aspekt von Niedrigkeit nicht zum Diakoniebegriff gehört. 4 In seiner

RESEARCH ARTICLE Experiential Thinking in Creationism—A Textual Analysis

Creationism is a religiously motivated worldview in denial of biological evolution that has been ... more Creationism is a religiously motivated worldview in denial of biological evolution that has been very resistant to change. We performed a textual analysis by examining creationist and pro-evolutionary texts for aspects of “experiential thinking”, a cognitive process different from scientific thought. We observed characteristics of experiential thinking as follows: testi-monials (present in 100 % of sampled creationist texts), such as quotations, were a major form of proof. Confirmation bias (100 % of sampled texts) was represented by ignoring or dismissing information that would contradict the creationist hypothesis. Scientifically irrele-vant or flawed information was re-interpreted as relevant for the falsification of evolution (75–90 % of sampled texts). Evolutionary theory was associated to moral issues by demon-izing scientists and linking evolutionary theory to atrocities (63–93 % of sampled texts). Pro-evolutionary rebuttals of creationist claims also contained testimonials (...

Assessing the Role and Function of an Assistant: The Deacon in the First Two Centuries of Christianity

Makarios-Symposium über den Heiligen Geist : Vorträge der zweiten Finnisch-deutschen Theologentagung in Karis 1984

”Perinteinen” käsitys diakoniasta – saksalaisen esimerkin analyysi

Diakonian tutkimus, 2021

In the discussion about the ministry of a deacon, a “traditional” view of diaconia has been menti... more In the discussion about the ministry of a deacon, a “traditional” view of diaconia has been mentioned but not described. This makes it different from knowing, what is the topic of the discussion. This article presents a German book from 1960, presenting a clear view of diaconia. It could be count as the “traditional” view of diaconia. This view seems to base on New testament and texts from the early Church. An analysis showed that there is a particular view which leads the presentation. To understand the “traditional” view of diaconia based on a special view – not on the New Testament directly – would help the discussion about the ministry in the Church.

Systematic Analysis of Creationist Claims Source Criticism, Context, Argumentation and Experiential Thinking

Creationist claims have been repeatedly analyzed for their scientific content but, despite of thi... more Creationist claims have been repeatedly analyzed for their scientific content but, despite of this, the same scientifically unsound re-interpretations of data from Natural sciences have persisted for decades. We have previously analyzed creationist claims for the presence of argumentative fallacies and experiential thinking and found these aspects to be potentially responsible for the persistence of the claims. In addition, fallacies and experiential thinking patterns, such as confirmation bias and attachment of moral labels to scientific issues, can be significant for the acceptance of creationist claims. Due to this, a systematic method of analyzing creationist claims including source criticism and assessment of experiential thinking, argumentation and the context of these aspects in creationist writings is presented. The examples reveal a high dependency of creationist writings on moral label attachment by demonization, ad hominem fallacies and confirmation bias. The proposed ana...

Nature of Evidence in Religion and Natural Science

Theology and Science

Regardless of the model for identifying the relationship between science and religion-conflict, i... more Regardless of the model for identifying the relationship between science and religion-conflict, independence, dialogue, integrationinsufficient attention has been given to the way evidence is processed in each field. Whereas religious claims are based on experiential evidence, scientific claims are based on experimental evidence. Recognizing this difference, the independence or twolanguage model along with the ethical alliance model would be the most fitting basis for future religion-science interaction.