2004/06/01 by Valerie A. Karras · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Ancient history #Archaeology #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Byzantine Studies and History #Byzantine architecture #Byzantine studies #Christianity #Church history #Classics #History #Philosophy #Religion, Society, and Development #Theology
paper · doi:10.1017/s000964070010928x
openalex publication_date 2004/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Despite the energy devoted by American and Western European church historians and theologians to the question of the ordination of women in early Christianity and in the (western) medieval Christian Church, these scholars have shown comparatively little interest toward the female diaconate in the Byzantine Church, even when comparative analysis could potentially help elucidate questions regarding the theology and practice of women's ordinations in the West. Most of the research on the female diaconate in the Byzantine Church has occurred in Mediterranean academic circles, usually within the field of Byzantine studies, or in the Eastern Orthodox theological community; sometimes the examination of the female diaconate in the Byzantine Church has been part of a broader examination of women's liturgical ministries.