الدليل الـ11 :
Deaconess.
Where did women fit into the ministry of the early church? Paul’s inclusion of references to women in ministry is striking when compared with the role of women in general in the first century. He commended Phoebe for her service in the church at Cenchreae, using the word “deacon” to describe her (Rom 16:1). He praised her as a “helper” (Rom 16:2), a word that denotes leadership qualities (cf. Rom 12:8; 1 Tm 3:4, 5). Some scholars have used that reference as an example of early development of the office of deaconess. Others have interpreted it in a nontechnical sense, meaning that Phoebe functioned in a generally serving role and thus was worthy of recognition at Rome. Whether “deacon” was used technically or descri ptively , ministry for both women and men in the NT was patterned after the example of Jesus, who “came not to be served but to serve” (Mk 10:45). Because of the large number of female converts (Acts 5:14; 17:4), women functioned in such areas of ministry as visitation, instruction in discipleship, and assistance in baptism. Deaconesses are mentioned in third-century doc uments as administering baptism to female converts.
Considering the rigid separation of the sexes in the Near East at that time, female participation in church ministry stands out in bold relief. A governor of Bithynia, Pliny the Younger (d. 113?), in his Correspondence with Trajan verified women officeholders in the church. Pliny also mentioned two deaconesses who were martyred for the cause of Christ.
cf. compare
NT New Testament
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Baker encyclopedia of the Bible. Map on lining papers. (591). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.
الدليل الـ12 :
DEACONESS — a female believer serving in the office of Deacon in a church.
The only New Testament reference to deaconess as a church office is Paul’s descr iption of Phoebe as a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1, NRSV). The Greek word translated as deaconess in this passage is rendered as deacon and servant by other versions of the Bible. The office of deaconess was similar to the office of deacon. Their spiritual responsibility was essentially the same, except that deaconesses probably rendered a ministry exclusively to women, particularly in the early years of the church.
The office of deaconess became a regular feature of church organization as early as the first part of the second century. In a.d. 112, Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, wrote a letter to the emperor Trajan of Rome, indicating that in his investigation of Christians he had tortured two Christian maidens who were called deaconesses. The office of deaconess in the Eastern Church continued down to the 12th century. The widows of clergymen, who were not permitted to remarry, often served as deaconesses. Some scholars believe that Paul’s standards for Widows in 1 Timothy 5:9–12 were applied to these deaconesses.
No qualifications for the office of deaconess are specifically given in the New Testament. But tradition indicates that piety, discretion, and experience were required of deaconesses.
While controversy has centered around the ordination of women through the centuries, deaconesses apparently were installed in their office by the Laying on of Hands, just like deacons. However, there is no account of a deaconess ordination in the Bible. Church groups with both deacons and deaconesses customarily ordain women in the same manner as men. In the United States the office of deaconess is most prominent today among Lutherans, Episcopalians, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and in certain Reform bodies.
In the early centuries, deaconesses were especially called on to serve women in situations where custom forbade the ministry of the deacon. Deaconesses instructed female candidates for church membership, ministered to women who were sick and in prison, and assisted at their baptism, especially in the act of anointing. Through the years deaconesses have been assigned various types of educational, charitable, and social service work in their churches and communities. Deaconesses have traditionally served as doorkeepers in some churches. They may be seen frequently today as ushers and lay readers.
Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Rev. ed. of: Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary.; Includes index. Nashville: T. Nelson.
الدليل الـ13 :
DEACONESS. There are a number of indications in the NT that women as well as men were appointed as deacons. *Phoebe was diakonos of the church at Cencreae (Rom. 16:1) and Paul recommends her as his messenger. Although sometimes translated ‘servant’ (av), this is the word used for a deacon in 1 Tim. 3:8. It had no feminine form at this time. The Greek Fathers regularly read 1 Tim. 3:11, ‘The women likewise must be serious’ (rsv), as a reference to the qualities required for women deacons rather than deacons’ wives (av).
About ad 111 Pliny, governor of Bithynia, reported that he had questioned under torture two maidservants, who were called deaconesses (ministrae), concerning Christian rites (Epistolae, 10:96). After that there seems no clear literary notice of deaconesses before the 3rd century Didascalia. It portrays a culture where women were significantly enclosed. Women deacons had freedom to move within households, reaching women and children. They played an important role at the baptism of women and in continuing to teach the converts. Around this time the feminine term diakonissa was coined.
Some have doubted the existence of such an office in NT times, but the consensus today seems to be that women such as Phoebe held a recognized office as deacon in Paul’s day. The emphasis in Luke 8:2f. on the involvement of women in Jesus’ ministry may have been intended to be an encouragement to them. Deaconesses gradually disappeared in later centuries, with the tendency for women’s ministry to be concentrated in celibate religious orders.
NT New Testament
av Authorized Version ( King James’), 1611
rsv Revised Standard Version : NT, 1946; OT, 1952; Common Bible, 1973
ad anno Domini
Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed.) (262). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.
الدليل الـ14 :
DEACONESSES. Female helpers who had the care of the poor and the sick among the women of the church. This office was needed because of the rigid separation of the sexes in that day. Paul mentions Phoebe as a deaconess of the church of Cenchrea, and it seems probable that Tryphaena, Tryphosa, and Persis, whom he commends for labor in the Lord, were deaconesses (Rom. 16:1, 12).
In the Early Church. In the early church the apostolic constitution distinguished “deaconesses” from “widows” and “virgins” and prescribed their duties. The office of deaconess in the Eastern church continued down to the twelfth century. It was frequently occupied by the widows of clergymen or the wives of bishops, who were obliged to forgo the married state to enter upon their sacred office.
Qualifications. Piety, discretion, and experience were in any case the indispensable prerequisites in candidates. During the first two centuries the church more carefully heeded the advice of Paul that the deaconess should have been the wife of one husband and that the church should admit to the office only those who had been thoroughly tested by previous trusts, having provided hospitality to strangers, washed the saints’ feet, relieved the afflicted, diligently followed every good work, etc. (1 Tim. 5:10). But at a later period there was more laxity, and younger and more inexperienced women were admitted.
Ordination. The question of their ordination has been much debated. They were inducted into office by the imposition of hands; of that there is abundant proof. Such a practice, however, would not necessarily imply their right to fulfill the sacred functions of the ministry.
Duties. The need of such helpers arose from the customs and usages of the ancient world, which forbade the intimate association of the sexes in public assemblies. They were to instruct the female catechumens, to assist in the baptism of women, to anoint with holy oil, to minister to believers who were languishing in prison, to care for the women who were in sickness or distress, and sometimes to act as doorkeepers in the churches. It is plain that the deaconesses had other duties than those of keepers of the entrances of the church appointed for women, or even as assistants in baptism or instructors of candidates; they were employed in those works of charity and relief where heathen public opinion would not permit the presence of the deacons.
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.