Women Assisting the Deacons (2): A Historical Survey: The Early Christian Church and the Middle Ages

That God in His Word both forbids women to hold the office of deacon, and at the same time permits the deacons to use women as assistants in their work of mercy, we have seen in our last article. In this article we begin to survey the history of the church permitting women to assist the deacons. Noting the teachings of the church fathers, the statements of church councils, and the opinions of scholars, we will draw some general conclusions about this history. The particular point we desire to...