Template:Acts6-5
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5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen[1], a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip[2], and Prochorus[3], and Nicanor[4], and Timon[5], and Parmenas[6], and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch[7]:
- ↑ Stephen was accused of blasphemy at his trial but denounced the Jews who sat in judgment of him and was then stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus, we call Paul, participated in Stephen's martyrdom. Acts 7, Acts, 8, and Acts speak of these events.
- ↑ Philip of Acts 6:5 was born in Caesarea, Judea but died in Hierapolis, Turkey. He worked in Samaria after the martyrdom of Stephen but met and baptized an Ethiopian eunuch, on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza led there by the Spirit. Philip also lived in Caesarea Maritima with his four daughters who prophesied, where he was visited by Paul the Apostle in Acts 21:8-9. He was also in Tralles in Anatolia, where he became a bishop of that church there.
- ↑ Prochorus by tradition seems to be a part of the 72 sent by Jesus to be His Sanhedrin and appears to have been companion of John the Apostle and ordained by Peter to be the bishop in the city of Nicomedia. Some believe he was the author or source of the apocryphal Acts of John. His name is also associated with the bishop of Antioch who was martyred in Antioch in the 1st century.
- ↑ Nicanor was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and also seems to be a part of the 72 sent by Jesus to be His Sanhedrin. He also was a missionary in Cyprus.
- ↑ Timon is a Greek name and he may have been at Jerusalem but little is known about him but he was also a part of the 70 appointed as the Sanhedrin of Christ. Was also the bishop of the city of Bostra in Arabia and suffered persecution by the Jews and pagans for preaching the Gospel of welfare by charity alone. It was said he was thrown into a furnace but was unharmed by the flames but was later crucified.
- ↑ Parmenas is believed to have preached in Asia Minor. Parmenas suffered martyrdom Philippi, Macedonia in 98, under the persecution of Trajan. He is believed to be the Bishop of Soli in Cyprus or Cilicia.
- ↑ Nicolas of Antioch was one of the seven deacons, who were chosen by the people but appointed to be entrusted by peter with attending tables so that the daily ministration was not neglected for those who lived at great distances from the rest of the body like the Greeks from Jerusalem. Nicolas as a proselyte from Antioch was a converted Jew. Many think he began to think he accepted funds from men who called themselves benefactors but exercised authority one over the other and were called Nicolaitans by the early Church but Clement says that was another Nicolas. If it was the same Nicolas Peter could have removed the appointment and called for another election by the people because such covetous practices were forbidden by Christ. If he had been merely elected by the people there could have been a delay in replacing him.