“Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,”
However, the Most High does not live in houses built by human hands. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah: - the repetition of 'the Most High does not live in houses built by human hands' (ouk en cheropolestois katoinei, does not dwell in hand-made sanctuaries) is emphatic and deliberate. This is the theological bomb-drop of Stephen's speech: the entire temple-centered system of Judaism is revealed to be based on a fundamental theological error. God transcends human-built structures. The appeal to Isaiah signals that the prophetic tradition itself, not the temple cult, contains the truth about God's nature.
Church Fathers on Acts 7:48
But Solomon, it says, built Him a house. Howbeit the Most High dwells not in (places) made with hands. Acts 7:47-50 This was shown indeed already by what had been before said: but it is shown also by the voice of a prophet; What house will you build for Me? Says the Lord God. As says the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will you build for me? Says the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Isaiah…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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