#GodFearer
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reveverett.com
Praying today August 27 on the Commemoration of Simeon Bachos, the Ethiopian Eunuch. Let us pray 🙏: Lord, we praise you for the witness of Simeon Bachos to the inclusion of all peoples in Your love, grace, and mercy. Help us ask ‘what is to keep us from being baptized?’ And jump to include all too.
(Back = Morning Prayer as he traveled from Jerusalem, where he had worshipped at the temple. Some suggest that he was a Jewish convert, while others contend that he was a "Godfearer." Regardless of his previous religious affiliation, scripture records him as the first African person to be baptized. Simeon Bachos was a person of great prestige, serving the Candace, or Queen, as both chamberlain and treasurer. His status as a eunuch indicates that he was a member of a sexual minority, either a castrated male, a deliberately celibate male, or a gender nonconformist. Irenaeus describes Simeon Bachos' life after baptism, saying, "This man was also sent into the regions of Ethiopia, to preach what he had himself believed." In the fourth century, the historian Eusebius wrote that "the Eunuch became an apostle for his people." The tenth- century Synaxarion of Constantinople designates August 27 as the commemoration of Simeon Bachos. As a person of a different race, ethnicity, and gender identification, Simeon Bachos stands at the intersection of multiple marginalized groups. His identity shows that the early church was able to transcend social categories in its evangelizing work and that the gospel's message would spread to the ends of the earth and to every person. Simeon Bachos calls Christians to be fully inclusive and welcoming of all people, empowering them for ministry and leadership.
August 27, 2026 at 12:49 PM
malthusiantrap.bsky.social
They succeeded in not fading away because Paul started converting the "godfearer" Gentiles and Hellenized Jews. The Jewish Christians left in Judea were sidelined and lost the struggle for dominance with the Pharisees after the second temple was destroyed.
March 17, 2025 at 10:08 PM
cosmithb.bsky.social
Capernaum open.substack.com/pub/revrober... #Capernaum #SeaOfGalilee #JesusMinistry #MiraclesOfJesus #PeterHouse #MatthewTheApostle #RomanRoads #SynagogueRuins #CenturionFaith #GodFearer #SermonOnTheMount #BiblicalArchaeology #GospelBegins #GalileanPhase
Capernaum
Sixtieth in a series of posts on Bible Stories
open.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 11:20 AM