Diakonat der Frau in der Einen Kirche [Broschiert]

A separate treatment (90pp) follows on the varied and changing experiences within the Church of England. These continue to retain a high significance beyond that communion. After a report of developments in the Old Catholic Chuches (50pp), Reininger provides a rich treatment of diaconate within the various churches of the Orthodox tradition. These 110 pages are perhaps the most valuable - in terms at least of resources - in the whole book. The report here of the debate about CHEIROTONIA will clear the air for many. The review concludes with 30pp on ecumenical endeavours.

In the last section of her study Reininger addresses her leading issue of the possibility of women deacons in the Roman Catholic Church. As befits a professional Roman Catholic theologian, she moves carefully through major theoretical considerations of ecclesiology, of the relationship between presbyterate and diaconate, and, finally, of the nature of the diaconate itself.

At this point, the not-so-well informed student of the diaconate could well be surprised to discover how deep and wide remain theological disagreements and uncertainties about who the deacon might really be. The question is of particular interest to the reviewer, whose own research into the ancient values attaching to DIAKONIA appeared in the book of that name in 1990 (not 1995, as advised by Reininger), and he is surprised to find so little note being taken of the outcomes of that research in the huge research project undertaken by Reininger.

She herself notes on p. 631 the startling contrast between Collins' understanding of DIAKONIA and the now traditional understanding of that Greek word as helpful service which underlies her own and all other modern theologising about the diaconate. When, however, Collins' understanding has been entering more and more into mainstream exegetical studies of the New Testament, one could have expected Reininger to present some critical appraisal of its relevance to her considerations of the disputed identity of the deacon. Instead she merely reports the new research and leaves it one side. This is especially strange when the 1996 Hanover Report of the Anglican/Lutheran International Commission, to which she pays particular attention (pp 591-594), identified Collins' linguistic research as one of its three resources for the reformulation of its thinking about the diaconate.

If this oversight is a failing in this massive study (in the eyes at least of a reviewer who does have a vested interest in the new research), the reviewer himself and all those growing numbers of theologians, churh synods, and ecumenical bodies pressing on in a search for a diaconate which works will long be indebted to Dorothea Reininger for a brilliant expose of a complex story and for her powerful and entirely reasonable advocacy for a fair go for those women in the Roman Catholic Church who might want to be ordained as deacons.

After 160 pp overviewing the question of women deacons in the Roman Catholic Church, including reflections on the early centuries, the focus shifts to the major 19th century initiatives in Lutheran circles of Germany which underpin the whole modern movement both of female and of male diaconates (130 pp). A separate treatment (90 pp) follows on the varied and changing - but continuing to remain highly significant today - experiences within the Church of England. After a report of developments in the Old Catholic Churches (50pp), Reiniger provides a rich treatment of developments within the various branches of the Orthodox tradition. These 110 pages are perhaps the most valuable - in terms at least of resources - in the whole book. The review concludes with 30pp on ecumenical endeavours. Disappointingly these do not include the Hanover Report 1996 of the Anglican/Lutheran International Commission.

In the last section of her study Reininger addresses her leading issue of the possibility of Roman Catholic women deacons. As behoves a professional Roman Catholic theologian, she moves carefully through major theoretical considerations of ecclesiology, of the relationship between presbyterate and diaconate, and, finally, of the nature of the diaconate itself.

At this point, the not-so-well informed student of the diaconate could well be surprised to discover how deep and wide are the uncertainties in theology today about who the deacon might really be. The question is of particular interest to the reviewer, whose own research into the ancient values attaching to DIAKONIA appeared in the book of that name in 1990 [not 1995, as advised by Reininger], and he is surprised to find so little note being taken of the outcomes of that research in the huge research project undertaken by Reininger. She herself notes on p. 631 the startling contrast between those outcomes and the understandings of DIAKONIA which have long been entrenched in her own and in all other theologising about the diaconate. When, however, the 1990 outcomes have been entering more and more into mainstream exegetical studies of the New Testament, one could have expected some critical appraisal of those outcomes here to justify why, at the very point where the identity of the deacon is under discussion, they are merely reported and left to one side. This is especially strange when in the Hanover Report of 1996 alluded to above - but not reported in this book - those outcomes formed the major resource for its rethinking of the diaconate.

If that is a failing in this massive study (in the eyes of a reviewer who indeed has a vested interest in the new research), the reviewer himself and all those increasing numbers of theologians, church synods, and ecumenical bodies pressing on in a search for a diaconate which works will long be indebted to Dorothea Reininger for a brilliant expose of a complex story and for her powerful and entirely reasonable plea for a fair go for those women in the Roman Catholic Church who might want to be ordained deacons.