In the Library.—Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 21-46. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": articles on "Weeks, Feast of" and "Temple." "The Cambridge Bible for Schools": Lumby, "The Acts of the Apostles," 1880, pp. 1-61. "The Bible Commentary," vol. ii: Cook, "The Acts of the Apostles," pp. 351-386. Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. ii: Plumptre, "The Acts of the Apostles," pp. 1-28. Rackham, "The Acts of the Apostles," pp. 1-69. These commentaries will be designated hereafter by the names of the authors only.
LESSON X
THE FIRST PERSECUTION
The persecution which arose in connection with Stephen marks a turning point in the history of the Church. Up to that time, the disciples had been content, for the most part, with laboring in Jerusalem. Now they were forced out into a broader field. One result of the persecution was the geographical extension of the Church.
Another result was perhaps even more important. The extension caused by persecution was not merely geographical; it was also, perhaps, intellectual and spiritual. The Church was really from the beginning in possession of a new religious principle, but at first that principle was not fully understood. Persecution probably helped to reveal the hidden riches. The Pharisees were keener than the disciples themselves. Hostility sharpened the vision. The disciples themselves were still content to share in the established forms of Jewish worship; but the Pharisees saw that they were really advocates of a new principle. Christianity, unless it were checked, would supersede Judaism. The Pharisees were right. Jealous fear detected what ancestral piety had concealed.
The hostility of the Jews perhaps helped to open the eyes of the Church. No doubt, a development was already at work. Persecution was the result as well as the cause of the new freedom. Stephen was persecuted possibly just because his preaching went beyond that of Peter. With or without persecution, the Church would have transcended the bounds of the older Judaism. It contained a germ of new life which was certain to bear fruit. But persecution hastened the process. It scattered the Church abroad, and it revealed the revolutionary character of the Church's life.
With the coming of Jesus a new era had begun. Judaism had before been separate from the Gentile world. That separation had been due not to racial prejudice, but to a divine ordinance. It had served a useful purpose. Jewish particularism should never be despised; it should be treated with piety and gratitude. It had preserved the precious deposit of truth in the midst of heathenism. But its function, though useful, was temporary. It was a preparation for Christ. Before Christ it was a help; after Christ it became a hindrance.