First, then, in the place of the traitor Judas, Matthias was chosen by lot to the apostolate; he too, as has been shown, had been one of the Lord's disciples. And there were also appointed, by prayer and the laying on of the apostles' hands, to the ministry, for the service of the common need, seven approved men, those around Stephen; who, first after the Lord, at the very moment of his ordination, as though promoted for this very end, was stoned to death by the murderers of the Lord, and so was the first to carry off the crown — bearing his own name — of the victory-worthy martyrs of Christ.
At that very time also James, who was called the brother of the Lord — inasmuch as he too was named a son of Joseph; and Joseph was father of Christ, to whom the Virgin had been betrothed, who, before they came together, was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit, as the sacred writing of the Gospels teaches — this James, then, whom the men of old surnamed «the Just» on account of the excellence of his virtue, is recorded to have been the first to be entrusted with the throne of the bishopric of the church in Jerusalem.
And Clement, writing in the sixth book of the Hypotyposes, presents it thus: for he says that Peter and James and John, after the ascension of the Saviour, although they had been honoured by the Lord above the rest, did not contend for glory, but chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem.
And the same writer, in the seventh book of the same work, says yet this also concerning him: «To James the Just and to John and Peter the Lord delivered the knowledge after the resurrection; these delivered it to the rest of the apostles, and the rest of the apostles to the seventy, of whom Barnabas also was one.»
Now there were two men named James: one the Just, who was thrown down from the pinnacle of the temple and beaten to death with a fuller's club; and the other he who was beheaded. Of this James the Just, Paul also makes mention, writing: «But other of the apostles I saw none, save James the brother of the Lord.»
Among these events the promise of our Saviour to the king of the Osrhoenes also reached its fulfilment. For Thomas, by a more divine impulse, sent Thaddaeus to Edessa as a herald and evangelist of the teaching concerning Christ, as we have shown a little before from the writing found there.
And he, when he had arrived at those places, healed Abgar by the word of Christ, and astonished all the people there with the marvels of his wonders; and having sufficiently disposed them by his deeds, and led them to reverence the power of Christ, he made them disciples of the saving teaching. And from that time until now the whole city of the Edessenes is devoted to the name of Christ, displaying no ordinary proof of the beneficence of our Saviour toward them also.
Let this much be said as from ancient history; but let us now pass back again to the divine Scripture. When, upon the martyrdom of Stephen, there arose the first and greatest persecution against the church in Jerusalem by the Jews themselves, and all the disciples except the Twelve alone were scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria, some, as the divine Scripture says, passed as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch; yet they were not yet able to venture to impart the word of faith to the Gentiles, but proclaimed it to Jews only.
At that time Paul also was still ravaging the church, entering into the houses of the faithful, dragging off both men and women, and delivering them up to prison.
But Philip also, one of those who together with Stephen had been appointed to the diaconate, being among those who were scattered abroad, went down to Samaria; and being filled with divine power, he was the first to preach the word to the people there. And so great was the divine grace working with him that even Simon the magician, together with very many others, was won over by his words.
For Simon was at that time so famous, and by his sorcery had so prevailed over those he had deceived, that he was held to be the Great Power of God. But then he too, struck with amazement at the marvels wrought by Philip through divine power, crept in among them, and feigned faith in Christ even to the point of baptism.
This is indeed worthy of wonder, that it is still done even to this day by those who to the present time follow that most abominable heresy derived from him; who, after the method of their forefather, attach themselves to the church like a pestilential and scurfy disease, and do the greatest harm to all upon whom they are able to smear the deadly and grievous venom hidden within them. Yet by now many of these have been driven out — such as they were, caught in their wickedness — just as Simon himself, being detected by Peter, paid the fitting penalty.
Moreover, as the saving message was daily advancing toward increase, a certain dispensation brought also from the land of the Ethiopians an officer of the queen there — for, according to an ancestral custom, that nation is even now ruled by a woman. Tradition holds that he was the first of the Gentiles to share, through Philip and by a manifestation, in the mysteries of the divine word, and that having become the firstfruits of the faithful throughout the world, he was the first to return to his native land and there to proclaim as good news the knowledge of the God of all and the life-giving sojourn of our Saviour among men; so that through him was actually fulfilled the prophecy which says, «Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand to God.»
After these things Paul, the chosen vessel — not from men, neither through men, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ himself and of God the Father, who raised him from the dead — was appointed an apostle, having been counted worthy of this calling by a vision and by the heavenly voice that came with the revelation.