Esko Ryökäs: Deacon as a wine pourer – caritative or not?

When the Christian Church is speaking about the tasks of the deacons, ecclesiastical documents often see one text as an ideal: Justin 1 Apol 65 & 67 seems to write about, how a deacon was taking care of the sick and bringing wine and bread to the absent. However, this text and many others speak about, that no other than a deacon could take care of wine. Examples of this role of a deacon exist in the texts from classical and later period. A deacon was a wine pourer before the Common Era, in the texts of the Bible, as well as in the early Church. The role of the deacon as a wine pourer is known in the non-Christian texts, too. In my presentation, I will collect and discuss these texts and ask, what was the role of the deacon and which was his/her tasks in the Early Church. At least did he/she not have primary caritative tasks. And these results may have an effect on the theology in the Churches.