The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

52 Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven" (7: 55a). As Luke portrays Stephen (even apart from the content of his speech which will be discussed later) it is clear that he is a man full of the Spirit. However we are to understand his actions, Luke sees Stephen not as a renegade theologian who understands more about the universal nature of God's program because of his culture, but as a man whose wisdom and words are inspired by God who promised to empower his followers in times like these (Luke 12:11; 21:14-15). 20 What Luke would have us see is not Stephen the hellenist, but Stephen the man of the Spirit. The Role of Stephen's "Hellenism" Although Luke went to no effort to identify Stephen as a hellenist (and even if he had it is likely that the term'LU11vLaTa( does not indicate a lax attitude towards the Judaism), ,,. the tendency still exists to interpret Stephen' s speech in light of his alleged hellenism. That is, words and themes which might normally have one significance are given another because of Stephen's alleged universal tendencies. 21 Even if Stephen were a hellenist we hould not pre– judge his words or add meaning to them which we would not otherwise attribute to hi peech . Likewise, even though the theme of the geographical spread of the go pel i e plicitl 20 Stephen's speech "illustrates how a believer was in pired to peak in hi own defen e ; it is an example of the fulfillment of Jesus ' promi e reported in Lk 12 . 11 f. and in Lk 21. 12-15 . The close links between the two Go pel pa age and that in ct 6. . ff. confirm that Luke u ed thi dramatic unit to how how the e alt d L r k pt hi pr mi t the threatened hurch . . . . In thi unit Luke completed another of hi th m and d m n- tra ed to hi reader the certainty of the thing in whi h they had b en in tru -t d (Lk 1. 4) . " P. Doble, 'The n f Man aying in tephen ' Witne ing: t ew Te tament tudie 31 (1 85) : 72. f . al o the num r u parallel whi h Luk dra n J u nd t ph n in th ir ccu ation and th ir death . 21 Tou th mt rgu pel ut id the ir 1 f J ru I dg ommenta , d . J hn . W 1 7 1d r rd ,