RT Article
T1 Deacons, Deaconesses and the Minor Orders in the Patristic Period
JF The journal of ecclesiastical history
VO 14
IS 1
SP 1
OP 15
A1 Davies, J. G. 1919-1990
LA English
YR 1963
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1784735779
AB Writers in the early centuries of the Christian era were accustomed to employ the term διάκονος with either the masculine or the feminine definite article. In the former case it is to be translated ‘deacon’ and in the latter ‘female deacon’ or ‘deaconess’. This usage suggests a close relationship, if not an identity, between the diaconate and the order of deaconesses and it is the purpose of this Note to explore this subject, beginning with the vexed question of the obscure origin of this order for women.
DO 10.1017/S0022046900064344