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Article: Baptist women deacons and deaconesses: key developments and trends, 1609-2005: "Baptist women deacons and deaconesses: key developments and trends, 1609-2005" is a big topic. It covers four centuries. It spans international boundaries. It exhibits considerable conflict.
- Article from:
- Baptist History and Heritage
- Article date:
- June 22, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Baptist History and Heritage Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It relates to the Bible, theology, church history, and ethics. Therefore, I have chosen a special way to present this paper: I will ask and answer key questions that I believe will help get to the heart of the story.
First, does this topic have enough importance to justify an article? That sounds like an odd way to begin, but answers vary. Baptists have disagreed over whether Phoebe in Romans 16:1 was a deacon or simply a servant and whether the women in 1 Timothy 3:11 were deacons or the wives of deacons. Baptist history is filled with arguments for and against women deacons and deaconesses and their ordination. Further, noted Baptists have interpreted in ...