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Stephen or Stephan (Greek: Στέφανος, Stephanos), traditionally regarded as the Protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity,[1] was, according to the Acts of the Apostles, a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy, at his trial he made a long speech fiercely denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgement on him and was then stoned to death. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later himself become a follower of Jesus and an apostle under the name Paul.
The only primary source for information about Stephen is the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles.[2] Stephen was one of the Greek-speaking Hellenistic Jews selected for a fairer distribution of welfare to the Greek-speaking widows in Acts 6.[3]
The Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches venerate Stephen as a saint. Stephen's name is derived from the Greek language Stephanos, meaning "crown". Traditionally, Stephen is invested with a crown of martyrdom; artistic representations often depict him with three stones and the martyr's palm frond. Eastern Christian iconography shows him as a young, beardless man with a tonsure, wearing a deacon's vestments, and often holding a miniature church building or a censer.
Stephen is first mentioned in Acts of the Apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community in the early church. As another deacon, Nicholas of Antioch, is specifically stated to have been a convert to Judaism, it may be assumed that Stephen was born Jewish, but nothing more is known about his previous life.[2] The reason for the appointment of the deacons is stated to have been dissatisfaction among Hellenistic (that is, Greek-influenced and Greek-speaking) Jews that their widows were being slighted in preference to Hebraic ones in distribution of alms from the community funds. Since the name "Stephanos" is Greek, it has been assumed that he was one of these Hellenistic Jews. Stephen is stated to have been full of faith and the Holy Spirit and to have performed miracles among the people. It seems to have been among synagogues of Hellenistic Jews that he performed his teachings and "signs and wonders" since it is said that he aroused the opposition of the "Synagogue of the Freedmen", and "of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia" Members of these synagogues had challenged Stephen's teachings, but Stephen had bested them in debate. Furious at this humiliation, they suborned false witnesses to testify that Stephen had preached blasphemy against Moses and God, and dragged him to appear before the Sanhedrin, the supreme legal court of Jewish elders, accusing him of preaching against the Temple and the Mosaic Law. Stephen is said to have been unperturbed, his face looking like "that of an angel".[2]
In a long speech to the Sanhedrin comprising almost the whole of Acts Chapter 7, Stephen presents his view of the history of Israel. The God of glory, he says, appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia, thus establishing at the beginning of the speech one of its major themes, that God does not dwell only in one particular building (meaning the Temple).[4] God was with Joseph, too, in Egypt. Stephen recounts the stories of the patriarchs in some depth, and goes into even more detail in the case of Moses. God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and inspired Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. Nevertheless, the Israelites turned to other gods. This establishes the second main theme of Stephen's speech, Israel's disobedience to God.[4] Stephen was accused of declaring that Jesus would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem and of changing the customs of Moses, but appeals to the Jewish scriptures to prove how the laws of Moses were not subverted by Jesus but, instead, were being fulfilled.[5] He denounces his listeners[4] as "stiff-necked" people who, just as their ancestors had done, resist the Holy Spirit. "Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him.".
Thus castigated, the account is that the crowd could contain their anger no longer.[6] However Stephen, seemingly now oblivious to them, looked up and cried "Look! I see heaven open and the
The legality of Stephen's stoning has been the subject of debate. While the Sanhedrin had jurisdiction in some matters, cases involving capital punishment were referred to the Roman authorities.[9]
Of the numerous speeches in Acts of the Apostles, Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin is the longest.[10] To the objection that it seems unlikely that such a long speech could be reproduced in the text of Acts exactly as it was delivered, some Biblical scholars have replied that Stephen's speech shows a distinctive personality behind it.[4] It has often been observed that there are numerous divergences in Stephen's re-telling of the stories of Israelite history and the scriptures where these stories originated; for instance, Stephen says that Jacob's tomb was in
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Many churches and other places commemorate Saint Stephen. Among the most notable are:
In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, Saint Stephen's feast day is celebrated on December 27. This day is also called the "Third Day of the Nativity". In the Oriental Orthodox Churches (e.g. Coptic, Syrian, Indian) the St. Stephen's Day is observed on January 8.
In the current norms for the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, the feast is celebrated at the Eucharist, but, for the Liturgy of the Hours, is restricted to the Hours during the day, with Evening Prayer being reserved to the celebration of the Octave of Christmas. Historically, the invention of the relics of St. Stephen (i.e. their reputed discovery) was commemorated on 3 August.[13] The feasts of both 26 December and 3 August have been used in dating clauses in historical documents produced in England [14]
In Western Christianity, 26 December is called "St. Stephen's Day", the "Feast of Stephen" mentioned in the English Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas". It is a public holiday in many nations that were historically Catholic, Anglican or Lutheran including Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Poland, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Finland. In Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom, the day is celebrated as "Boxing Day".
says "Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him", but the location where he was buried is not specified. In 415 AD a priest named Lucian purportedly had a dream that revealed the location of Stephen's remains. The reputed relics of the martyr are said to be preserved in the Church of St Stephen, Jerusalem.[12]
[11], who states "The anti-Jewish polemic of this speech reflects the attitude of the author of Acts."S. G. F. Brandon The charge of anti-Judaism has been laid against the speech, for instance by the priest and scholar of comparative religion [4] The criticism of traditional Jewish belief and practice in Stephen's speech is very strong – when he says God does not live in a dwelling "made by human hands", referring to the Temple, he is using an expression often employed by Biblical texts to describe idols.[7]
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