DIAKONON in Romans 16:1
Maurice A. O'Sullivan
mauros at iol.ie
Thu Mar 28 05:53:11 EST 2002
At 08:25 28/03/02, B. Ward Powers wrote:
>There is no more a distinction to be drawn between men and women by using
>the terms "deacon" and "deaconess" than there is justification for
>referring to male and female believers as "Christian" and "Christianess".
A good point -- but only if one assumes that there were male and female
deacons, exercising the same office; assume that the offices were separate
and distinct and then the term "deaconess" can be justified.
It is the latter assumption which underlies the title of:
Martimot, Aime Georges. Deaconesses: An Historical Study. San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 1986.
Nevertheless, a good deal of useful information on the patristic and
Byzantine background to be found in this book.
Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie
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