The Diaconate, Part 2 (Deaconesses?)

Driving home: When reading secondary sources about what the church fathers said and what the commentators said and meant, you better be very, very careful.

Martin quotes Herbert Carson's article on deaconesses, which cites Fairbairn, to illustrate how secondary sources can misrepresent an author's actual position on the issue.

Now Herbert Carson is no mean scholar. He did the commentary on Colossians for the New International Commentary. He was still a pedobaptist then, so his treatment of chapter 2 is not what he would desire to have embalmed in printer's ink in terms of his present conviction. But be that as it may, in setting forth a case for deaconesses as a distinct office, as sharing the office of service in the same way that deacons do, he quotes Fairbairn.

4:15 - 4:51 Read in full sermon

The point: In assessing the witness of church fathers and respected commentators, beware of secondary sources and take the time to check the sources themselves.

Martin quotes Fairbairn directly to show that Fairbairn did not explicitly endorse a distinct office of deaconess, but rather 'women holding much the same relative position' or 'actively engaged in the kind of work which was proper to deacons,' contrasting with Carson's interpretation.

On page 149 of Fairbairn, he says this. There is a difference of opinion among commentators how this verse should be understood. Verse 11. Whether of women in the sense...

6:21 - 6:37 Read in full sermon

The point: In assessing the witness of church fathers and respected commentators, beware of secondary sources and take the time to check the sources themselves.

Martin uses Calvin's commentary on 1 Timothy 3 to demonstrate that Calvin interpreted the passage as referring to wives, not an office of deaconess, highlighting the danger of relying on secondary sources.

Likewise, Calvin is quoted in his comments on Romans 16.1, but when I turn to Calvin's commentary on 1 Timothy chapter 3, Calvin takes the position that this refers to wives, not a hint of suggestion that it refers to an office. And when I read all that Calvin said in the Institutes or that I could find under Battles Index in the Institutes, the issue is not that clear-cut at all. So, brethren, I urge you in assessing the so-called witness of the church fathers and respecters, respected commentators, beware of secondary sources and take the time to check the sources themselves.

9:07 - 9:43 Read in full sermon

The point: If God gives you women like Phoebe, use them for service, but without assigning them an office.

Martin recounts the story of Wienstra agitating for women elders in the CRC, which then shifted to women deacons, illustrating how opening the door to 'gray areas' can lead to further compromise and confusion of roles in the church.

and creating a climate that may come around and horse-kick you? You see, it's interesting to have followed what happened in the CRC. They had this woman agitating to become an elder, this Wienstra. She agitated, agitated, agitated.

18:02 - 18:29 Read in full sermon

The point: If God gives you women like Phoebe, use them for service, but without assigning them an office.

He uses the analogy of communists going for 100 things but being satisfied with 25 to explain how incremental changes, like introducing women deacons, can be a 'foot in the door' for further shifts in church governance.

Well, it's sort of like the communists, you know, you go for broke, you go for a hundred things and yet you're satisfied if you come away with 25. You got 25 more than before you began to agitate. Well, then the thing shifted to having women deacons. But you know, in the CRC situation, the consistory, when it sits down, is the court of all the office bearers.

18:29 - 18:54 Read in full sermon