Kristen

Mark, look at the passage again.
Paul starts talking about deacons in 1 Tim 3:8. First he says deacons must be “reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money.” Then he says in verse 11 that “women” must “likewise” be “reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.” So if “women” here means “women deacons,” then Paul has addressed first men deacons, and then women deacons. And now what does he do? According to your reading, he goes right back to talking about men deacons, and the words about women deacons are sandwiched into the middle of two passages about men deacons. It isn’t until verse 12 that he says, “let deacons be the husbands of one wife,” and so on.
But it would actually make much more sense for Paul to speak of men deacons in verses 8-10, and then speak of women deacons in verse 11– and then in verse 12, speak of a all deacons as a whole group.
Why should Paul talk about men, then women, then men again? Why not just say everything he has to say about men, and then go on to talk about women? Doesn’t it make more sense that he would talk about men, then women, and then conclude with remarks about both?
(BTW, I agree with Craig’s statement that “likewise” means that general statements applied to men deacons do also apply to women– such as that they must “first be tested” before serving as deacons. But verses 8-10 and verse 11 are roughly parallel, with verse 11 basically saying in abbreviated fashion that women deacons must be like men deacons in the areas of reverence, control of their tongues, temperance with use of wine and money, and faithfulness. It is verse 12 that departs from this parallel structure with a statement about deacons’ relationships to their families. Therefore it makes much more sense to think verse 12 was intended for all deacons as a group.)