In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

It is clear that the office of female deacon or deaconess was much more present in the East than in the West. We can probably assume that Phoebe and other unnamed women deacons like her in the first and perhaps second century belonged to an office or function that was not distinguished by sex (see discussion in chapter 2). Phoebe’s first-century office, whatever it was, was nothing like that of later deaconesses. In the East, the new office only for women first appears with the Didascalia in the early third century. However, none of the literary or epigraphical evidence of actual women deacons surely belonging to this office can be dated before the fourth century, with the obvious exceptions of Phoebe and 1 Timothy 3:11, as discussed in chapter 2, and the two references in the Shepherd of Hermas and Pliny’s letter to Trajan. Graptē (Hermas Vis. 2.4.3) is included here because of her role that corresponds to later deaconesses’ tasks, though she is not given the title. Pliny’s slave ministrae are also uncertain as to their role, and there is question whether the name, perhaps translated by Pliny himself, is really equivalent to diakonoi. However, these two second-century texts may describe women doing what in the next century evolved into the office of deaconess. When we look at the references to real historical female deacons, whether in literary allusions or inscriptions, a picture emerges that can then be supplemented by prescriptive texts and comments. But it is wise to look first to the reality before examining legislation and official clerical views. The evidence ranges from the third to at least the seventh century, from Armenia to Gaul. LITERARY TEXTS The texts on Graptē and the ministrae of Pliny are discussed first, since they are clearly earlier than the rest. Graptē, the woman to whom Hermas in Rome entrusts his revelation for communication to the widows and orphans (Hermas Vis. 2.4.3) should technically be considered Western, not Eastern. But since both Chapter Three WOMEN DEACONS IN THE EAST Literary Texts, Literary Allusions, Inscriptions  clearly Western deacon references are so much later (sixth century), because Graptē does not actually carry a title, because the underclass Greek-speaking community of Rome can be assumed to have Eastern origins, and because she seems to have a ministry to women and children that foreshadows that of later deaconesses, she is included here. The allusion to ancillae ministrae in Pliny’s Latin letter is commonly assumed to refer to female deacons who were also slaves. As we shall see, that identification is quite possible but not certain. After that, the texts are given in alphabetical order, since some are more dif- ficult to date than others. A few are the stuff of legend (e.g., Eusebia [Xenē] and Justina), but most are stories about historical deacons. These references and the legal texts given in chapters 4 and 5 are keys to what female deacons did and how they functioned. Graptē Hermas Vis. 2.4.31 The Shepherd of Hermas is a long apocalyptic and paraenetic document probably written in or near Rome in several editions during the first half of the second century CE. This passage comes from the beginning of the first of three sections and refers to the first piece of revelatory teaching dictated to the recipient Hermas by an elderly woman later identified as the church. Therefore, you will write two small scrolls, and you will send one to Clement and one to Graptē. Clement will send [it] to the cities abroad, since that has been entrusted to him. But Graptē will admonish the widows and orphans. Hermas is instructed to make two written copies of the revelation he has received and meanwhile to deliver the message orally to the church with its presbyters. One copy goes to Clement, probably to be identified, whether historically or as a literary allusion, with the author of the First Letter of Clement, a prominent leader in the Roman church of the late first century. The other copy goes to an otherwise unknown female teacher who is responsible for the instruction and spiritual development of an identifiable group of widows and their children. Though Graptē receives no title in the text, she exercises an important function as pastoral leader and teacher of a group of women and their children, the role that deaconesses will later play. Pliny the Younger, Epistle to Trajan...

Share