Deacon, Deaconess
Deacon, Deaconess
Deacon or deaconess (, masc. or fem.) means one who serves or ministers. In classical Greek the word commonly implies menial service. In the NT it implies the noble service of doing work for God (2Co 6:4; 2Co 11:23, Eph 6:21, 1Th 3:2), or ministering to the needs of others (Rom 16:1; cf. 1Co 16:15, 2Co 8:4; 2Co 9:1); and the meaning of the term, with its cognates service or ministry and to serve or to minister ( and ) is nearly everywhere quite general and does not indicate a special office. The only passage in which special officials are certainly mentioned is 1Ti 3:8-12, where 1Ti 3:11 refers to women deacons (Revised Version ) rather than to wives of deacons (Authorized Version ). But it is highly probable that with [the] bishops and deacons (Php 1:1) also refers to special officials; although it is just possible that St. Paul is merely mentioning the two functions which must exist in every organized community, viz. government and service. A church consists of rulers and ruled. The case of Phbe, of the church which is in Cenchreae (Rom 16:1), is doubtful. She may be a female deacon; but this is very unlikely, for there is no trace of deacons or other officials in the church of Corinth at this time. Phbe was probably a lady, living at the port of Corinth, who rendered much service to St. Paul and other Christians. Milligan (on 1Th 3:2) quotes inscriptions which show that (masc. and fem.) was a religious title in pre-Christian times. The Seven (Acts 6) are probably not to be identified with the later deacons. The special function of deacons, whether men or women, was to distribute the alms of the congregation and to minister to the needs of the poor; they were the churchs relieving officers. They also probably helped to order the men and the women in public worship. The qualities required in them (1Ti 3:8-12) agree with this: not greedy of sordid gain, and faithful in all things, point to the care of money. See articles Church Government and Minister, Ministry.
Literature-F. J. A. Hort, The Christian Ecclesia, London, 1897, pp. 196-217; M. R. Vincent, Philippians (International Critical Commentary , Edinburgh, 1897), pp. 36-51; article Deacon in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) .
Alfred Plummer.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Deacon, Deaconess
dek’n, dek’n-es: The term diakonos, and its cognates occur many times in the New Testament, as do its synonyms , huperetes, and , doulos, with their respective cognates. It may be said in general that the terms denote the service or ministration of the bondservant (doulos), underling (huperetes) or helper (diakonos), in all shades and gradations of meaning both literal and metaphorical. It would serve no useful purpose to list and discuss all the passages in detail. Christianity has from the beginning stood for filial service to God and His kingdom and for brotherly helpfulness to man, and hence, terms expressive of these functions abound in the New Testament. It behooves us to inquire whether and where they occur in a technical sense sufficiently defined to denote the institution of a special ecclesiastical office, from which the historical diaconate may confidently be said to be derived.
Many have sought the origin of the diaconate in the institution of the Seven at Jerusalem (Act 6:1-15), and this view was countenanced by many of the church Fathers. The Seven were appointed to serve tables (diakonen trapezais), in order to permit the Twelve to continue stedfastly in prayer, and in the ministry (diakonia) of the word. They are not called deacons (diakonoi), and the qualifications required are not the same as those prescribed by Paul in 1Ti 3:8-12; furthermore, Stephen appears in Acts preminently as a preacher, and Philip as an evangelist. Paul clearly recognizes women as deaconesses, but will not permit a woman to teach (1Ti 2:12). The obvious conclusion is that the Seven may be called the first deacons only in the sense that they were the earliest recorded helpers of the Twelve as directors of the church, and that they served in the capacity, among others, of specially appointed ministrants to the poor.
Paul says, I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant (the Revised Version, margin or, deaconess) of the church that is at Cenchrea (Rom 16:1). This is by many taken as referring to an officially appointed deaconess; but the fact that there is in the earlier group of Paul’s epistles no clear evidence of the institution of the diaconate, makes against this interpretation. Phoebe was clearly an honored helper in the church closely associated with that at Corinth, where likewise evidence of special ecclesiastical organization is wanting.
In Phi 1:1 Paul and Timothy send greetings to all the saints … at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. Here then we find mention of deacons in a way to suggest a formal diaconate; but the want of definition as to their qualifications and duties renders it impossible to affirm with certainty the existence of the office.
In 1Ti 3:8-12, after prescribing the qualifications and the method of appointment of a bishop or overseer, Paul continues: Deacons in like manner must be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them serve as deacons, if they be blameless. Women in like manner must be grave, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. Deacons and deaconesses are here provided for, and the character of their qualifications makes it clear that they were to be appointed as dispensers of alms, who should come into close personal relations with the poor.
We conclude, therefore, that the Seven and Phoebe did not exercise the diaconate in a technical sense, which appears first certainly in 1 Tim 3, although it is not improbably recognized in Phi 1:1, and was foreshadowed in the various agencies for the dispensing of alms and the care of the poor of the church instituted in various churches at an earlier date. See also BISHOP; CHURCH; CHURCH GOVERNMENT.