James Patrick.
STEPHANAS (Sre^oi'as, Step/uina.<: ; the name occurs CIO ii. 3378).— A Christian of Corinth, 1 Co J 16 igi5. 17. St. Paul mentions the household of Stephanas as one of the few exceptions to the practice which he had followed of not personally baptizing his converts. At the end of the Epistle the same household are spoken of as the first-fruits of Acliaia. They are said to have given them- selves to the ministry of the saints, and the Cor- inthians are exhorted to obey such persons and all who work and labour witli them. From the next verse we gather that Stephanas himself was with St. Paul at Epiiesus at the time when the Epistle was written. In Clement of Rome's Epistle, ch. xlii., we are told that the apostles, ]iieacliing from city to city .and country to country, appointed their Jirst-Jruits, having tested them by the spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those that should believe (KaBlcTavov rds avapxia avTujv . . . ei'y iiTLffK^Trovi Kcd SiaKbvov^ twv fxiWuvTwi' TTiffTfcfii', Clem. Rom. i. 42). It would be bcsi<le our purpose to discuss the exact meaning of this passage, but it may reasonably be held that Stephanas, and perhaps some members of his household, had been appointed to a position in the nascent church at Corinth, which implied on the one side ministry (SiaKovla), on the other side some recognition of their authority. If this was not a local ministry, in the later sense of the term, there were here the germs out of which it grew.
A. C. Headlam.
STEPHEN (2r^0a>'os), Ac 6-8-.— Some dissatis- faction having been expressed by the Grecian Jews or Hellenists in the infant Church at Jeru- salem regarding the distribution of alms aiiioii^' their widows, seven brethren were chosen, and solemnlj' set apart by the apostles, to undertake the administration of the poor-table. Of the seven (.see Deacon), Stephen is the first named (Ac G"*), and the most distinguished, though in a sphere, strictly speaking, beyond his ollice, viz., as a preacher and a worker of miracles — characteristi- cally apostolic functions. Nothing is known of his conversion to Christianity, though Epiphanius {Ilwr. XX. 4) records that he was one of the Seventy. It is not certain that he was a Hellenist, though his Greek name, the fact that a committee
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larjjc'ly Helk'nistic would probably be cbosen to deal witli the ^aiuvances of the jiarty, and to some extent his oi>inious, make the supi)Osition very probable. His cliaracter and abilities as given in Ac li are of the hijjhest : ' a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit' (v.^ of. 7"), ' full of grace (AV faith) and power' (v.*), 'the wisdom and the Spirit by which lie spake' (v.'"); tf. also the qualilica- tions necessary for the othie (v.'), and St. Paul's words, 'Stephen thy witness' (22-''). Stephen seems to have aroused the hostile notice of the Hellenistic synagogues (see below) by the wonders and signs which he wrought among the people {6"), but probably also by the substance and manner of his [ireaching ; in any case they challenged him to dis|iutation. But bis skill in maintaining his opinions was so irresistible, that his adversaries, discomtited in argument, rai.sed the charge of blasphemy, procured witnesses to testify to it, and thus succeecfed in having him arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Here he was formally accused of speaking blasphemous words against the Temple and the Law, having said, as the false witnesses maintained, that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy ' this place,' and change the customs delivered by Moses. Stejihen was unperturbed by these accusations ; his face appeared to those present ' as the face of an angel ' (6'-*"'°). Being asked by the high priest to answer to the charges, Stephen made a long speech, traversing the greater pa., ~{ the history of the chosen people, from the call of Abraham, tlirough Joseph and Moses, to David, and the building of the Temple by Solomon. Towards the close he fearlessly turned to his judges, rebuked them as 'stitlhecked and uu- circumcised in heart and ears,' and as those who, carrying on the unholy work of the persecutors of the prophets, had become the betrayers and murderers of Him whom the prophets had foretold (-1-53) These words were the occasion of a furious outburst of wrath on the part of the assembly ; and when Stephen, undismayed, looked upwards, and declared that he saw the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God, the exasperated hearers violently rushed upon him, dragged him forth by one of the gates ol the city, and stoned him to death. The witnesses (who according to Dt IT' had to take the lead in casting the stones) placed their garments in the keeping of a youn" man named Saul (cf. 22-") — the first historical mention of a great name. Among the last words of Stephen were, ' Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' and 'Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,' which are very similar to two of our Lord's sayings on the cross, Lk 23"'- '^. In fact, the bearing of Stephen throughout — his courage, his calm, his patience, his gentleness — accords remarkably with the demeanour of his Master in like circumstances. The mutilated body was reverently interred by 'devout men' (7'^-8-).