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

62 Although many years later, and in a much different context, Paul would view Spirit and Law as antithetical, Jervell notes that: Luke does not separate nvcuµa and voµoc;, charismatic life and observance of the law . . . . Stephen is characterized as an adherent of the law and as a charismatic-ecstatic prophet (6:8-15; 7:51-53, 54-60). Suggestive are verses 7:51-53: The nonbelieving Jews resist the Spirit, which means that they do not keep the law! 37 These words , of course, lead to Stephen's death. Those who bury Stephen are described as "devout men" (av8pcc; EuAa~E1c;), that is, men who are scrupulously observant about the Law . 38 Thus , Luke shows that, to the very end of Stephen ' s life, those who honored the Law also honored him. 39 Stephen's words about the temple. Because the priesthood and sacrificial cultus were given through Moses and rightly belong to the "customs of Moses " the subjects of Moses a d the Temple cannot be completely divorced from each other . In many ways Stephen's ~ndorsement of Moses is also an endorsement of the Temple cultus. However , Stephen does speak directly to the charge that he "spoke incessantly against thi holy place' and that it would be destroyed 40 (6:13-14) . Early in his narrative Stephen emend the te t of 37 J. Jervell , Luke and the People of God (Minneapoli : Aug burg, 1972), 72 . 38 Bultmann describes the ignificance of Eu.Aa~E1c;: At Ac. 2:5 th J w of th di per ion dwell ing at Jeru alem are called avcpcc; Eu.Aa~E1c;, and tho e who bur t ph n at 8:2 are again Jew . Anania i called an dv~p EuAa~~c; KaTa Tov oµo : 1 . £UAa~~<; alway mean 'piou " r d t" a in th LXX, and it i n piety thu characteri ed i that which con i t in crupulou b m b e n in Ac . 22 :12. " R. Bultmann, " u11a~ 1c; ," TDNT, 2:753 . 0 f n te nu r 11 t r th p 1ft h r ch t J u uld d u cht plac .