Lutheran Deacons and Abracadabra
by Pastor Walter Snyder

Q: Is the office of deacon recognized within the Lutheran church? Is the lay minister
equated with such an office?

Deacons are recognized and hold office within parts of the Lutheran Church. However, Lutherans
don't have a formal training program or set of qualifications that are the same everywhere.

Some equate lay ministers with deacons but I think the term "lay minister" is self-contradictory. If
you are a "layman," you hold no formal ministerial office. If you receive a divine call as minister
of the Gospel, receive the laying on of hands, and enter the pastoral office, you are no longer part
of the laity. Lay ministers cannot be both; many would argue that the office is neither. Some in the
Lutheran Church are encouraging a new study on what the deacons are according to Scripture.
They want a Bible-based, apostolically-rooted office that doesn't work parallel to or instead of the
Office of the Holy Ministry. Rather, they want deacons to assist pastors hand-in-hand.

If we wish to follow the apostolic, early Church model from Acts, we might have a different type
of congregational governance. Deacons would be chosen from among the learned and godly men
of the congregation and placed in permanent helping offices. They would take care of the physical
and fiscal needs of the congregation and its members. They would aid the pastor(s) in tending to
the flock's spiritual well-being. They might also receive training in other areas, such as the public
reading of Scripture, teaching, or assisting in leading worship. This seems to me to be in line with
what the apostles established in the Jerusalem Church and how events played out. The main duties
of the deacons revolved around working in the church, freeing the apostles and subsequent
pastors so that their preaching, teaching, praying, and administering the Sacraments would
continue. Acts 7:2-4 says, "The twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, 'It is
not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers,
pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we
will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.'"
I think that the best continuation of the office of deacon would follow this pattern.

Q: I was watching the crime drama CSI and the term "abracadabra" came up. They
explained that abracadabra has as its root the three Hebrew names of Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. Would you care to comment on that?

A: There are any number of explanations of the origin of abracadabra. It is found inscribed on
ancient amulets, appearing to have been an incantation to cure fevers, inflammations, and the like.
Some of these amulets have a series of diminishing characters in the form of an inverted cone:
     A B R A C A D A B R A
      A B R A C A D A B R
       A B R A C A D A B
        A B R A C A D A
         A B R A C A D
          A B R A C A
           A B R A C
            A B R A
             A B R
              A B
               A
As the word diminished, it was supposed to diminish the disease. Some think that Abracadabra
was the name of a specific demon thought responsible for certain illnesses and that the charm
reduced his power as the number of letters declined.

In looking for answers, I also examined the teaching of certain wiccans (what many modern
witches call themselves). They use the word as a conjuring name meaning "I bless the dead" and
claim that it comes from the Hebrew ~ha brachah dabarah~ (speak the blessing).

Another possible source for the word suggests its roots in ~ha-brachah~, meaning "the blessing"
(used in this sense as a euphemism for "the curse") and ~dabra~, an Aramaic (a later type of
Hebrew) form of the older Hebrew word ~dever~, which means "pestilence."

I also discovered a possible Trinitarian connection. The Hebrew, ~ab~ (Father), ~ben~ (Son), and
~ruach akadsch~ (Holy Ghost) combined would produce a similar form to abracadabra. Even
closer, Aramaic used ~ab~ for Father, ~bar~ or ~bara~ for Son, and ~ruch kaddish~ (Holy
Ghost). Combined, we see that ~abbararuchkaddish~ might be distorted into abracadabra.

However, all of this is speculation and no one has yet established definite proof for any of the
above theories.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version~<TM>, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Ask the Pastor, © 2002 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this
disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and
redistribution. Translations into other languages should similarly note the United States
and any appropriate international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions
concerning the property of others.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of
the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."