1 occurrence in 1 dictionary

Reference: Nicolas

Hastings

Among the Seven chosen in Ac 6 to minister to the Hellenists or Greek-speaking Jews, was Nicolas, a 'proselyte of Antioch.' The remaining six, we infer, were of Jewish birth, for 'proselyte' is the emphatic word (Ac 6:5). At a later age the Jews divided converts to Judaism into two classes, 'proselytes of righteousness,' who were circumcised and who kept the whole Law, and 'proselytes of the gate,' who had only a somewhat undefined connexion with Israel. It is probable that this difference in its essence also holds in NT, where the latter class are called 'God-fearing' or 'devout,' a description which in Acts appears to be technical (so Lightfoot, Ramsay; this is disputed, however). If the view here stated be true, there were three stages in the advance towards the idea of a Catholic Church: (1) the admission of Nicolas, a full proselyte, to office in the Christian Church, followed by the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch, also probably a full proselyte (Ac 8:27); (2) the baptism of Cornelius, a 'God-fearing' proselyte, i.e. of the latter class; (3) the direct admission of heathen to the Church without their having had any connexion with Judaism.

Nicolas is not further mentioned in NT, but Iren

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