Seven deacons

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The seven deacons Nikanor , Stephanus , Philippus , Prochorus , Timon , Parmenas and Nikolaus were a body appointed by the apostles that took on certain leadership tasks in the Jerusalem early community . They are reported in the Acts of the Apostles ( Acts 6 : 1-7  EU ), but also in later traditions. You are seen as part of the Seventy disciples .

All seven deacons - they are not yet named in the Acts of the Apostles, but only in the letters of the Apostle Paul  - have Greek names and are Hellenists , which distinguishes them from the Aramaic- speaking Hebrews of the early church. Their task was to serve the community at mealtimes and to provide for the widows, while the spiritual direction of the community remained the responsibility of the twelve apostles under the leadership of Peter . The seven deacons officiated until the flight of the early community from Jerusalem at the beginning of the Jewish War in 66.

The book of Acts mainly focuses on Stephen and Philip. Stephen became the first martyr of the Christian community after the high council sentenced him to stoning. Saul of Tarsus , who later became the Apostle Paul, oversaw the stoning - presumably on behalf of the council. Philip did missionary work in the Samaria area , where he converted Simon Magus . According to tradition, Prochorus was a nephew of Stephen and a companion of the Evangelist John , who made him Bishop of Nicomedia in Bithynia . Timon is considered a Hellenized Jew who became a bishop in Greece or in the Syrian Bosra . Nikolaos did not have a good reputation with many early church historians; Irenaeus of Lyons sees him as the progenitor of the Gnostic sect of the Nicolaitans , whose name is supposed to be derived from him.

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