Stephen (martyr)

Stephan (Greek: Στέφανος [Stephanos] 'crown') was a deacon of the early Church of Jerusalem and protomartyr (of the first martyrs) of Christianity. He earned the enmity of several synagogues for his teachings. At his trial, Stephen gave a long speech criticizing the Jewish authorities who were trying him. He was sentenced to stoning. His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who later became one of Jesus' apostles.

The only source of information about Stephen is the book Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Bible. Hellenic Jews chose him to organize a fairer distribution of resources among widows of that community.

Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Nestorian churches all venerate Stephen as a saint. He is artistically represented with stones and the palm of martyrdom. The iconography of the Eastern churches shows him as a young, beardless man with a tonsure, wearing deacon's robes and often holding a small church or censer.

Martyrdom

Background

Stephen is first mentioned in the book Acts of the Apostles as one of the seven deacons chosen by the apostles to distribute food and charity among the poorest members of the early church community. According to orthodox belief, he was the most important of all, which is why he is called an archdeacon.

Like another deacon, Nicholas of Antioch, he is mentioned to have been a converted Jew, so it is believed that Stephen was born a Jew, although nothing else is known about his previous life. These deacons were chosen by the dissatisfaction among Hellenic Jews (of Greek origin and Greek-speaking) who considered that the widows of their group were treated worse than Hebrew Jews in the distribution of community funds. As the name "Stephanos" is Greek, it has been assumed that he was one of these Hellenic Jews. In the text it is said that Stephen was "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit". Those chosen by the Hellenic Jews were Stephen, Prospero, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas of Antioch. apostles who, after praying, laid their hands on them. Later, it is said that Stephen performed some miracles in front of the people.

Some Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia who were gathered in a synagogue of freedmen debated with Stephen. According to the Acts of the Apostles, they could not refute his arguments, so they they bribed witnesses to say that Stephen had blasphemed against Moses and against God. and they took Stephen and took him to the Sanhedrin, meeting in the Temple of Jerusalem. Then the false witnesses accused him of having said that he would change the customs of Moses and that Jesus would destroy the Temple of Jerusalem. The book of Acts says that at that time the Sanhedrites they looked at Stephen and saw "his face like the face of an angel".

Speech before the Sanhedrin

Stephen gave a lengthy speech before the Sanhedrin. Later he spoke of Abraham, his descendants and how Joseph ended up in Egypt. He then talked about how Joseph was Pharaoh's adviser, how the following pharaohs enslaved the Jewish people, the life of Moses and his conversation with God. In the story of Moses, he narrated when that prophet was lost on the mountain and the Israelites told his brother Aaron to make a God to guide them in the desert. With this he wanted to point out the disobedience of the people of Israel towards God. He then spoke of the construction of the sacred tabernacle that Moses made following God's instructions and of the temple that Solomon made. In the speech he said that God had indicated that he lived in heaven and on earth and not just in a building, in reference to the temple.

The Book of Acts says that Stephen appealed to the scriptures to show that Jesus did not disobey the rules God gave Moses, but duly followed them.

The speech ended with the following words:

Hardness of cervix and uncircumcised of heart and ears, you have always resisted the Holy Spirit. Like your parents, so do you. What prophet did your parents not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One, whom you have betrayed and crucified; you, who received the Law for the ministry of the angels, did not keep it.

Stoning of Stephen

At this statement, the Sanhedrins could not contain their anger. Nevertheless, Stephen looked up and shouted to the Sanhedrin who saw heaven open and the Son of Man (Jesus, recently executed) seated at the right hand of God. This was such a blasphemy to them that they took Stephen, led him to the outskirts of the city, to a certain place, and stoned him.

At that time, the Jews allowed the death penalty by stoning for blasphemy. The witnesses, who had the duty of throwing the first stones, left their cloaks on the ground in order to do so, at the feet of "a boy named Saul", who would later be known as the apostle Paul. Stephen prayed to God to receive his spirit and to forgive his murderers, he fell to his knees and fell dead, Saul approved of Stephen's death.

Analysis of Esteban's speech

Of the numerous speeches in the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin is the longest. It seems unlikely that such a long speech could have been accurately reproduced in the text of Facts as stated. Faced with this objection, some biblical scholars have said that the speech is intended to show Stephen's characteristic personality.

It has also been noted that there are several differences between the telling of the story of the Israelites and the scriptures where these stories are found; for example, Stephen says that Jacob's tomb was in Shechem, but the book of Genesis says that Jacob's tomb was in Machpelah in Hebron. There are at least five such discrepancies noted by scholars, while others are under discussion and may be the subject of theological debate.

There are theologians who suggest that these discrepancies could stem from the fact that these ancient Jewish traditions were not included in the scriptures or that they might not have been widely reported among non-scribes. There are many parallels between the story of Stephen of the Acts and that of Jesus in the gospels. Both performed miracles, both were tried by the Sanhedrin, and both prayed for their murderers to be forgiven. This has aroused suspicions that the author of Acts emphasized this to make him holy and for people to follow Christ's example or that he made up some (or all) of these events. traditional Jewish belief and practice in Stephen's speech is very strong. For example, when he says that God does not live in a place "made by human hands"; to refer to the temple, he is using the biblical description that defines idols. Many scholars agree that by doing this, Stephen was seeking to convince all members of the assembly that Jesus Christ is Lord and, therefore, all that They did it against him or against his teachings, they did it against their own faith.

Some have said the speech is anti-Jewish. The priest and scholar of comparative religion S.G.F. Brandon wrote: "The anti-Jewish polemic in this text reflects the attitude of the author of Acts".

Tomb and relics of Saint Stephen

Place where is the stone of St Stephen. Greek Orthodox Church of St. Stephen, Cedron Valley, Jerusalem.

The book of Acts says that "some pious men took him in and mourned over him," although it does not say where they buried him.

In the year 415 AD. C. a priest named Luciano supposedly had a dream in which it was revealed to him that the remains of Esteban were in Beit Jimal. After that, the martyr's relics were carried in procession to the Hagia Maria Abbey on December 26, 415. This day became the feast of Saint Stephen. In 439, the relics were moved to a new church north of the Damascus Gate in the Jerusalem wall. That church was built by Empress Aelia Eudocia in honor of Saint Stephen. That church was destroyed in the 12th century. In the 20th century, French Catholics built St. Stephen's Basilica there. At the same time, the Greek Orthodox Church built the Church of Saint Stephen in a place close to where the martyrdom occurred.

The crusaders initially called the main northern gate of Jerusalem "St Stephens Gate" (in Latin Porta Sancti Stephani) given its proximity to the place of the martyrdom of Saint Stephen marked by the Church and by the monastery built by Empress Eudocia.

At the end of the Crusader period another tradition is documented, after the disappearance of the Byzantine church: As Christian pilgrims were forbidden to approach the north gate of the walls, which had military, the name of "Puerta de San Esteban" it was moved to the eastern gate, then still accessible, which bears that name to this day.

The relics of the protomartyr were later transferred to Rome by Pope Pelagius II during the construction of the Basilica of San Lorenzo Outside the Walls. The relics were buried next to the tomb of Saint Lawrence the martyr, which is located inside the basilica. According to The Golden Legend, Lorenzo's remains miraculously moved to one side of the room to leave that place for Esteban's.

In his work The City of God, Saint Augustine described several miracles that occurred when part of the relics of Saint Stephen were taken to North Africa.

Part of Saint Stephen's right arm is in a reliquary in the Laura de la Trinidad y San Sergio monastery, Russia.

The supposed relics of Saint Stephen brought to Menorca in 418 gave rise to a religious fanaticism headed by Bishop Severo, which expressed itself in the persecution of the island's Jews and their total conversion to Christianity.