The Minor Orders of the Early Church

Abstract

This thesis explores the Minor Orders as part of the Diaconate between 200 and 451CE, as the Diaconate (especially the concept of diakonia) covered more orders than the Deacon. Through examining these little-researched orders, more could be understood about the role of the Deacon, Diakonia and the diaconate. This is achieved by collating and examining the evidence for the presence of the assisting orders (such as Subdeacons, Readers, Widows, and Virgins) across the Late Antique Roman Empire. This evidence is subsequently examined within the context of gender, beliefs, literacy and law to highlight areas of convergence and divergence with existing historical and ecclesiastical scholarship. In this way, the research contributes to understanding Ecclesiology in Late Antiquity, especially concerning the concept of diakonia, as it extends from the Minor Orders to the Deacon. The investigation also reveals much about how the early church worked with a cultural contextualization of gender relationships and activities. This research opens new avenues of contextualisation within the study of Ecclesiology and provides new insights for historical research in Late Antiquity.

Date of Award	23 Dec 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Andreas Andreopoulos (Supervisor), James Steven (Supervisor) & Richard Flower (Supervisor)