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Stephen (1st century CE) was a leader of the nascent Christian movement, recorded as the first martyr of the Church.

Overview

Stephen is mentioned solely in Christian sources, namely, in the Acts of Apostles. He is introduced as the leader of the Seven Deacons chosen by the Twelve Apostles to serve the Christian "Hellenists" who felt "their widows had been neglected in the daily distribution of food." Nothing is said about the biography of Stephen, except that he was "a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit".

Stephen was then accused by some Hellenistic Jews of "speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God" (6:11). They brought him before the Sanhedrin. Before the high priest, Stephen replied to his accusers with a long speech. He enraged them by reproaching them for the death of Jesus. When Stephen claimed to see "the glory of God and Jesus," and called Jesus "the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God... they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. [58] Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him." Stephen was buried by "devout people" (8:2). Acts claims that a violent persecution followed against the Christian Hellenists (while the Twelve were not affected) (8:1-3).

Acts claims that Paul of Tarsus was present at the stoning of Stephen and approved it, and was involved in the persecution of the Christian Hellenists that followed the death of Stephen.

Undoubtedly Stephen played an important role in the development of the nascent Christian movement, although the paucity of evidence makes an historical reconstruction of this figure extremely difficult.

Stephen in later Christian tradition

Epiphanius (Haer. xx, 4) numbers Stephen among the seventy disciples.

In 415 CE a certain priest named Lucian claimed to have learned by revelation that the remains of Stephen were in Caphar Gamala, some distance to the north of Jerusalem. The relics were then exhumed and carried first to the church of Mount Sion, then, in 460, to the basilica erected by Eudocia outside the Damascus Gate, on the spot where, according to tradition, the stoning had taken place. In recent years a new edifice has been erected by the Dominican Fathers on the old foundations on the Eudocian basilica.

In Depth

• Stephen (sources)

• Stephen (arts)

• Stephen (research)

Stephen in Fiction

The Stoning of St. Stephen is a popular scene in Christian iconography, depicted by artists such us Vittore Carpaccio, Lorenzo Lotto, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, and many others. At the end of the 19th century, Stephen: A Soldier of the Cross (1896 Kingsley), novel offers the first example of fictional biography of Stephen and signals a shift of interest from the martyrdom to his life.

Related categories

• Paul of Tarsus

External links

• Wikipedia