A Key to the Knowledge of Church History (Ancient). John Henry Blunt
Greek language so entirely, that some even of their most learned men did not understand Hebrew but read the Scriptures of the Old Testament in the Septuagint Version. They were much despised by the stricter and more narrow-minded "Hebrews," the natives of Palestine, or Syro-Chaldaic Jews; and the rivalries of these two Jewish sects were carried even into the bosom of Christ's Church. Complaint of the "Grecians." The Grecians, or "Hellenists" complained that their widows were neglected in the daily distribution of alms; perhaps grounding their complaint on the fact that the Twelve were all Hebrews. Deacons ordained. And the Apostles commanded that "seven men of honest report" should be chosen from the body of believers, and presented to them, that they might be ordained by Imposition of Hands to minister to the bodily wants of the poor and aged. This was the first institution of the Order of Deacons[39], the lowest of the three holy offices which were to be continually handed down and perpetuated in the Church. Thus did the Apostles begin to impart to others such a portion of the ministerial grace, of which they themselves had been at first the sole recipients, as might enable those whom they ordained to aid them, in a subordinate degree, in the work of building up the mystical Body of Christ.
Increasing conversions.
This fresh proof of the vitality of the Church through the active, living Presence of her Divine Head, was followed by a new feature in the still increasing conversions to her fold. It was no longer the poor and the unlearned only, or chiefly, who listened to the teaching of the Apostles, "a great company of the Priests were obedient to the Faith[40]," while, on the other hand, a growing and more bitter spirit of persecution was soon to develope itself.
Section 8. The Martyrdom of St. Stephen.
A.D. 34. The Seven Deacons.
St. Stephen, the foremost and saintliest of the Seven Deacons, and St. Philip, the second in order, are the only two of whom we have any further mention in the Book of Acts; but it is believed that the last named, Nicolas of Antioch, was the author of the heresy of the Nicolaitanes, which our Blessed Lord twice over tells us that He hates[41]. Nicolas seems in this way to be a sad reflection of the awful example set by the traitor Judas, the last reckoned Apostle.
Their functions.
It is clear that the ministrations of the first Deacons were not of necessity confined to the "serving of tables," which was the primary occasion of their appointment. St. Philip both preached and baptized[42]; and St. Stephen brought down upon himself the hatred and malice of the Jews by the boldness and power of his preaching. Both preaching and baptizing do still, under certain restrictions, "appertain to the office of a Deacon[43]."
Probably all Hellenists.
Judging from the names of the Seven Deacons, there seems good reason for supposing that they were all or most of them Grecians or Hellenists. St. Stephen was undoubtedly a Hellenist, and his early training made him a ready instrument for the work to which the Holy Ghost had called him. Freed by education from many of the associations and feelings which bound his Hebrew brethren to the Holy City and the Temple, he could realize more plainly than they could do, the future of the Christian Church apart from both these, and boldly proclaimed his convictions. St. Stephen's preaching rouses Hebrew prejudices. By this conduct he aroused all the deeply-rooted prejudices and exclusive pride of the Jewish mind, even amongst those who, like himself, were Hellenists, and to whom he seems more particularly to have addressed himself. Up to this time, what opposition there was to the teaching of the Apostles, seems to have come chiefly from the unbelieving sect of the Sadducees[44]; for the people had espoused the cause of the Christian teachers[45], and the Pharisees had advocated lenient conduct towards those who confessed, as they themselves did, a belief in the Resurrection[46]. The Pharisees join with the Saducees in opposition to the Church. But now all was altered; priests and people, Sadducees and Pharisees, were alike vehement against those who ventured to assert that the "Holy Place and the Law" should ever give way to a Holier than they; and foremost amongst the persecutors was the fiery, earnest, intellectual man who was afterwards the holy Apostle Paul[47].
St. Stephen's speech a direct Inspiration.
The defence of the heavenly-minded Deacon before his malicious and bloodthirsty enemies must be looked upon as a direct Inspiration of the Holy Ghost, a fulfilment of our Blessed Lord's promise to His Church[48], and a Divine commentary on Old Testament History, showing that God's mercies were not restrained to any particular place or country, and upbraiding the Jews with their abuse of their many privileges and their rejection of the Saviour. But the words of this first Christian "Apology against Judaism" fell for the time on unheeding ears; and its only present apparent result was the violent and yet triumphant death of him who had been chosen to utter it. His blessed martyrdom. Beneath the stoning of the enraged multitude, the First Martyr "fell asleep," blessed in his last moments with a foretaste of the Beatific Vision[49].
Section 9. Results of St. Stephen's Martyrdom.
A.D. 34. Good brought out of evil for the Church.
We may here pause to recollect how God had all along been bringing forth good out of seeming evil, in what concerned His Church. The first dawnings of persecution drew down increased "boldness" in answer to thankful prayer; the first great necessity for exercising the judicial office of the Church was followed by "great fear" and multiplied conversions, as well as by the first miracles of healing wrought in the Church; the first schism was the occasion of the origin of the Order of Deacons, directly after which event we hear of "a great company of the priests being obedient to the Faith," the first martyrdom helped to bring about the conversion of the chief persecutor; and now the first general persecution which came upon the Church was to have for its result a far more widely-spread diffusion of the knowledge of the Kingdom of God than had before taken place.
Extension of the Church according to our Lord's promise.
This extension of the Church was in exact accordance with our Lord's words to His Apostles just before His Ascension, that they should be witnesses unto Him "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Jerusalem was already "filled with" their "doctrine," and now the disciples were "scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria," and "went every where preaching the Word[50]." Still confined to Jews, and Samaritans, or to proselytes. Still it would seem that they confined their preaching to such as were either Hebrews, or Grecians, i.e. foreigners more or less professing Judaism[51]; or, as in the case of the Samaritans, to such as were of mixed Jewish descent, and clung to the Law of Moses, though with manifold corruptions; or, again, to proselytes like the Ethiopian eunuch. The Apostles, we read, continued at Jerusalem, doubtless by God's command and under His special protection.
Conversion of Samaria.
The conversion of the despised city of Samaria was effected by the instrumentality of the Deacon St. Philip[52], whose preaching and miracles were followed by the baptism of large numbers of the people, and, amongst them, of one Simon of Gittum, better known as Simon Magus (i.e. the magician, or sorcerer), who had claimed supernatural powers, and given himself out to be an emanation from the Deity, or even God Himself. St. Peter and St. John sent to confirm. St. Philip, as a Deacon, could not complete the gift begun in Holy Baptism, and St. Peter and St. John were sent down by the Apostles from Jerusalem, that they might confirm the Samaritan converts by prayer and the Imposition of Hands. Confirmation in those early days of the Church was wont to be accompanied by a bestowal of miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost; and the wondrous signs following upon this, the first Confirmation mentioned in God's history of His Church, led the still unbelieving Simon to long for the ability to confer similar powers. The unbelief of Simon Magus. He dared to offer money to the Apostles with this view, and drew from St. Peter such a reproof as for a time pierced through even the heart which had hardened by an abuse of holy things. But this penitence was of short