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2.3.7 - A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age
Primitive Jewish Christianity
The Life of the Primitive Disciples - The Seven Administrators
If we cannot, the, regard these seven men as deacons, are we to suppose that hey constituted only a temporary committee [the opinion held by Chrysostom, and among modern scholars by Vitringa, Dean Stanley, and others], or are we to identify them with permanent officials in the church of Jerusalem bearing some other name?
In the Book of Acts, apostles and elders are frequently mentioned as the leading personages in the mother church, ["Elders" are mentioned alone in 11:30, 21:18, "Apostles and Elders" in 15:2,4,6,22, 16:4; "Apostles and elder brethren" in 15:23] and it is said in chapter 11 verse 30 that the Antiochian Christians sent their gifts, intended for the brethren of Jerusalem, to the "elders." The latter evidently had in charge at that time the work originally entrusted to the Seven. Luke nowhere records the appointment of these elders, and it is natural therefore to identify them with the Seven and to suppose that the latter were the first presbyters of the church of Jerusalem. [It is clear that there cannot have been official elders in the Church of Jerusalem at the time the Seven were appointed, for otherwise the appointment of the latter would have been unnecessary.] But in the absence of any specific information upon the subject, and in view of the fact that Luke does not call the Seven "elders," and nowhere hints that they were the same, it is probably safer to conclude that the men whose appointment he records in Acts 6 served only a temporary purpose, and that the duties originally entrusted to them were ultimately assumed by the elders or elder brethren, who seem gradually to have become the leaders of the church in its various activities.
But the identity of the Seven with the so-called elders is to be questioned, not simply because of Luke’s silence in the matter, but also because it is exceedingly unlikely that the elders mentioned in the Book of Acts were officers of the church in any sense; or in other words, it is exceedingly unlikely that they had been appointed to take charge of the alms of the church, or to perform any other duties, religious or ecclesiastical.
That the older and more experienced disciples should gradually assume the leadership of the church was entirely natural, especially after the subsidence or the storm that broke at the time of Stephen’s execution; for the occupation of the Seven was very likely interrupted by that persecution, and after it ceased there were probably few either of the apostles or of the Seven left on the ground.
And so it is not surprising that in later chapters of the Book of Acts the elders commonly appear, either alone or in company with the apostles or with James, as the leading figures in the church, even though they were not the incumbents of any ecclesiastical office.
From which party in the church the seven men were chosen we are not told, but it is altogether probable that both parties were represented. At least on of the Seven, Nicolas of Antioch, was a proselyte; and it is very likely that Stephen was a Hellenist, for the attack upon him was made by foreign Jews, who had apparently become acquainted with his views through association with him in one of their synagogues.
That all were of the same party, as assumed by some scholars on the ground of their Greek names, [Palestinian Jews frequently bore Greek names, and two of the Twelve Apostles, Philip and Andrew, are known to us only thus] is unlikely, for they were entrusted with the dispensation of charity for the entire church, not for one section of it only, and the effort would naturally be made to avoid all cause of complaint in the future by giving both classes a fair representation on the committee. [Gieseler (Church History, Eng. Trans., Vol. I. p. 74) suggests that three Hebrews, three Hellenists, and one proselyte were appointed. That such care was taken is possible, but hardly probable. A committee made up in such a way would have a decidedly modern look.]
Used by permission of the publisher.
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