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Acts of the Apostles says that Stephen was brought before the Sanhedrin to be tried on a charge of blasphemy. To have drawn the attention of the religious authorities to this extent, he must have been successful in his short-lived role as a deacon of the church.

During the trial, Acts tells us that Stephen made no attempt to defend himself, merely antagonising the members of the Sanhedrin by reciting a monologue in which he said "Your fathers" persecuted the prophets (Acts 7:51,52), as if unaware that he was also a Jew, and by lecturing them on Jewish history. That he was then taken out to be stoned to death demonstrates that his long monologue was unsuccessful in changing the views of his accusers or judges.

As to the historicity of these amazing events, Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) says that we can never verify the martyrdom or even existence of Stephen. However, the story of Stephen has been successful down through the centuries in bringing people to the faith.

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11y ago

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