ROMANS 16:1-2

Q: Since this provides clear proof that the office of deaconess existed in the early church,

 why don't many Bible-believing churches recognize it today?

Not all translations use the term deaconess. For example, NIV prefers the term “servant.” In verse 2 she

 is also called a helper (i.e. patron or protector, probably wealthy). The actual import of her title is 

disputed:

1. Since this is a letter of introduction, it is assumed that Phoebe was the one who actually carried the

 Letter to the Romans to them from Paul – without a woman we wouldn’t have this letter to study. 

Warren Wiersbe: “Never did a messenger carry a more important letter.”

2. The phrase “of the church” denotes a more or less official position.

3. In 111 AD a Roman governor reported that he had tortured two deaconesses of the church to see if 

they would reveal any secrets about the Christian’s religious rites (he suspected cannibalism).

4. Luke 8:1-3 may provide early evidence for such a role for women in the congregation.

5. I Timothy 3 outlines qualifications for elders and deacons. Look particularly at verse 11. The only 

other reasonable possibility seems to be that deacons’ wives are being described, but if so then “wives"

rather than “women” would have been used, such as in the very next verse. Early Church Fathers 

took 1 Timothy 3:11 as giving the qualifications for deaconesses. But the fact that little detail there 

leads some to feel that the office may not be as important as that of a deacon, but more like a deacon’s 

aide.

The internal structure of this portion of I Timothy indicates that a more restricted group of woman than

 just the general feminine population of the church is being referred to.

 

The Structure of I Timothy 2:1-3:13

A. Men–all (2:1-8)

B. Women–all (2:9-15)

A'. Men–bishops and deacons (3:1-10)

B'. Women–deaconesses? (3:11)

A''.Men–deacons (3:12-13)