and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST, and his APOSTLES, &c. 411 TIMOTHY, a HE was born according to fome at Lyfira; or, according to others, at Derbe. His father was a Gentile, but his mother a Jewefs, whole name was Eunice, and that ofhis grandmother Lais. He was a convert and difciple of St. Paul. We take notice of thefe particulars, be- caufe St. Paul commends their piety, and the good education which they had given Timothy. When St. Paul came to Derbe and Lyftra about the year of CHRIST fifty- one or fifty-two, the brethren gave a very advantageous teftimony of the merit and good difpofitions of Timothy ; and the apoftle would have him along with him ; but he circumcifed him at Lyftra, before he received him into his company. Timothy applied himfelf to labour with St. Paul in the bufinefs of the gofpel ; and did him very important fervices, through the. whole courfe of his preaching. Timothy accompanied St. Paul to Ma- cedonia, to Philippi, to Theffalonica, to Berea; and when the apoftle went from Berea, heleft Timothy and Silas there to confirm the converts. When he came to Athens, he fent to Timothy to come thither to him ; and when he was come, and had GENTILE CONVERT. given him an account of the churches of Macedonia, St. Paul fent him back to Theffalonica, from whence he afterwards returned with Silas, and came to St. Paul at Corinth. There he continuedwith him, and the apoflle mentions him with Silas at the beginning of the two epiflles, which he then wrote to the church at Theffalonica. In the year fixty-three, when St. Paul wrote to the Hebrews, he tells them that Timo- thy was come out of prifon; but he gives us no circumftances either of the imprifon- ment of this difciple, or of his releafe. In fixty-four, when St. Paul returned from Rome, he left Timothy at Ephefus to take care of that church, of which he was the firft bifhop, as he is recognized. by the council of Chalcedon. St. Paul wrote to Timothy from Macedonia, the firft of the two letters which are addreffed to him. We may fafely affirm, that if he did not die before the year ninety-feven, he muff be the angel of the church of Ephefus, to whom St. Johnwrites, Rev. ii. 2 -5: though the reproaches which the Holy Ghoft make to him, &c. ofhaving left his firft love, do not feem to agree to fo holy a man as Ti- mothy was. St. STEPHEN, the PROTO-MARTYR. IN theyear fifty.three, the feven deacons were chofen, and we find St. Stephen always placed at their head, as the chief and molt worthy ; and it is generally be- lieved, that he had been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. However, he was remarkably zealous for the caufe of reli- gion, and full ofthe Holy Ghoft; working many wonderful miraclesbefore the people, and prefiiing them with the greateft earneft- nefs to embrace the dofrines of the gofpel of JESUS CHRIST. The Jews were highly provoked at the zeal of Stephen, and force of the fynagogue of the freed men of Cyrenia, Alexandria, and other places, entered into difpute with him ;' but being unable to refill the wifdom and fpirit by which he fpake, they fuborned falfe witneffes againft him, to teflify that they heard him blafpheme againft Mofes and againft God. Nor did they flop here : they furred up the people by their calum. nies ; fo that they dragged him before the council of the nation, or great Sanhedrin, where
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