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A #1 Best Seller in "Jewish History of Religion" and "Religious Studies - History" (United States)
"Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task... and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them." (Acts 6:3, 5-6)
This book is an exploration of seven men whose impact upon the Early Church was profound. Though the exploits of "the Seven" (as they are so-called in Acts 21:8) warrant recognition, these men are easily overlooked. This is partially due to their stories being nestled within the Book of Acts between those of the Twelve Apostles and Paul, though this made them something of a bridge between the two. It also gave them the opportunity to have an influence on both - but especially on Paul. In fact, the ministries of the Seven and Paul do not just overlap, they are interwoven.
The first named of the Seven is Stephen. His story arc concludes with him becoming the first known Christian martyr. Present at his stoning, and arguably an accomplice to it, was a "young man named Saul," the name by which Paul is first known in Acts. This is Paul's first appearance in Acts, showing his spiritual saga beginning in the very moments that Stephen's was being violently brought to an end.
What impression the murder of Stephen left on Paul's psyche can only be surmised, but Stephen's words, "Look... I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (7:56), may have been the very first Christian proclamation Paul had ever heard. What can be known is that remnants of Steven's final speech later appear in a speech given by Paul in Athens:
Stephen: "Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands... " (Acts 7:48)
Paul: "... he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands... " (Acts 17:24)
It could be argued that Paul's later missionary work to the Gentile world was a continuation of the work begun by the Seven, especially that of Philip, the second named. Perhaps Luke intended to communicate this connection to his readers. In Acts' current construct, Philip completes his missionary journeys and then settles in Caesarea Maritima in the final verse of Acts, Chapter 8. Paul's religious experience then occurs in the opening verses of Acts, Chapter 9. A torch is seemingly passed.
Interestingly, at the end of his ministry and on his final Journey to Jerusalem, Paul sought out Philip, and lodged with him for "several days" at his home in Caesarea (21:10). Once in Jerusalem, Paul was arrested and transported back to Caesarea where he would remain imprisoned for approximately two years, a situation that very likely gave Philip and Paul many opportunities for further dialogue.
Because of the influence the lives of the Seven had upon Paul, it seemed appropriate to feature their exploits within Book 4 of the Contending with Paul series. The Seven are found both at the outset of Paul's ministry and at its end, and the two parties remained tethered by events in the intervening years. Illuminating the Seven, therefore, simultaneously illuminates Paul.
The final section examines the techniques the Book of Acts uses to tell its stories, since it is within its pages that the tales of the Seven are found. This will not only broaden the reader's understanding of what Acts intends to convey about the Seven, but also Peter and Paul.
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