This article deals with the theological justification of diaconia as a Christian social practice. It critically discusses the attempt by the Swiss authors Heinz Rüegger and Christoph Sigrist to justify diaconia by means of the theology of creation. For them, the human ability to help represents a universal phenomenon, an anthropological constant, which they theologically reflect in the context of the teaching on creation. The article compares this model with another contemporary attempt at a theological justification of diaconia, viz. the diaconal Christology of Fritz Lienhard. The author reflects on the weaknesses of the ‘Swiss concept’ and emphasizes the need for a Christological justification of diaconia, which also includes a protological and an anthropological dimension.
Karel Šimr (Sun,) studied this question.