Isaac was born to Abraham he circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac did so in turn to Jacob, and Jacob to the twelve patriarchs. This speech is commonly called Stephen’s defense, or apology, but it is obviously not a speech for the defense in the forensic sense of the term.5 Such a speech as this was by no means calculated to secure an acquittal before the Sanhedrin. It is rather a defense of pure Christianity as God’s appointed way of worship; Stephen here shows himself to be the precursor