Act 8:14-17 | Abbott

Acts 8:14-17

For them; for the Samaritan converts. This account of the visit of Peter and John to the new converts, supported by other cases somewhat similar, which are hereafter recorded, is made, by the Episcopal church, the basis of their rite of confirmation.—Receive the Holy Ghost. There is some difficulty in determining how much is implied in "receiving the Holy Ghost," in the various connections in which the expression occurs. It would seem that, in this case, it must have been attended by some visible and extraordinary manifestation, in order to attract so strongly the attention of Simon.