"a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit." Stephen, it appears, by no means limited his attention to the material interests of the members of the Church, but being "full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs [------] amongst the people." "But there arose certain of those of the synagogue which is called (the synagogue) of the Libertines(1) and Cyrenians and Alexandrians and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen; and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men who said: We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and came upon him, and seized him, and brought him to the Council, and set up false witnesses who said: This man ceaseth not to speak words against the holy place and the law; for we have heard him say, that Jesus, this Naza-rene, shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered to us." The high-priest asks him: Are these things so? And Stephen delivers an address, which has since been the subject of much discussion amongst critics and divines. The contents of the speech taken by themselves do not present any difficulty, so far as the sense is concerned, but regarded as a reply to the accusations brought against him by the false witnesses, the defence of Stephen has perhaps been interpreted in a greater variety of ways than any other part of the New Testament. Its shadowy outlines have been used as a setting for the pious thoughts of subsequent {148}