3. He is the foreruinier of Paul. So he was already rcganled in ancient times. WuvXov 6 cicdfrKaXot; is the expression used for him by Itasil of Seleucia. But it is an asjM'ct that has lieeii nuich more forcibly drawn out in modern times. Not only was his martyrdom (in all prolmbiliiy I the first means of converting I'aul — his prayer for his nnirderers not only w,as fulfilled in the conversion of I'aul — the blood of the first mar- tyr, the Heed of the greatest apostle— the pangs of rc- moDM; for his death, among the stings of conscience agniuKt which the apostle vainly writhed (Acts ix, 5); not only thus, liut in his doctrine also, he was the an- licipiiior. as, had he lived, he would have been the propagator, of the new phase of Christianity of which I'aul became the main support. His denunciations of liK;al worship, the stress which he lays on the spiritual •ide of the Jewish history, his freedom in treating that history, the very turns of expression that he uses, are all I'aidine.
IH. /.ilTnlure. — EuBch. Ilitl. Krrkfi. ii, 1; Tille- mont. .1/. /„-,;,•,*. ii, 1-24 ; Xeander, I'laiiUiif/ and Train-
ing: Conybeare and Howson. St. Pavl, c\\.\i\ August!, Archiiol. l)enkirur<li</k. i, 145; l{ees, De Lapidatiime Stephani (Jen. 1729); Ziegelbaur, Acta Stephani (Vien. 173()); Walch, />e Funere Steph. (Jen. 17.56); Schwarz, Martijritini Stephani (Viteb. 175(3); Baur, Z^e Oraiione Steph. (Tub. 1829); Schmid, iJiscours de St.-Eiienne (Strasb. 1839); Bohn, Life of St. Stephen (Lond. 1844); and other monographs cited by Volbeding, Index Pro- ijninnnatiim. p. 74; and by Danz, Worierb. s. v. "Apos- telgesch." Xos. 5(), 57.
Stephen I, pope from A.D. 2.58 to 257, was a na- tive Roman, and is noteworthy because of his connec- tion with the controversy respecting the administration of baptism by heretics. In Africa and the East such baptism was generally rejected, while at Home re- claimed heretics who had been baptized were received simply with laying-on of hands. The Eastern Church, and especially Cyprian of Carthage (q. v.), decided em- phatically against the practice of Kome, and asserted that baptism, as a valid rite, cannot exist bej'ond the pale of the Church; to which Stejihen replied that ev- ery baptism performed in the name of Jesus carries with it regenerating and saiictityiiig influence. The synods of Carthage, in 255 antl 250, sanctioned the Eastern opinion, and forwarded notice of their decision to Rome. A dispute between Stephen and Cyprian was thereby inaugurated, which ended with Stephen's renouncing all connection with the African Church. Stephen found earnest opponents, also, in bishops Dionysius of Alex- andria and Firmilian of Cissarea, the latter of whom emphatically resisted the claim of the Romish see to supremacy, which vStephen steadily advanced during the quarreL The division between the churches con- tinued down to Stephen's death, in 257. Tradition re- lates that he died a martyr under Valerian, condemned because he refused to sacrifice to idols. He is commem- orated Aug. 2. — Herzog, Reul-Encyklop. s. v.
Stephen II, said to have been elected pope March 27, 752, and to have died three or four days afterwards, is not usually included in lists of the popes.
Stephen III (II), whose pontificate lasted from 752 to 757, is generally recorded as Stephen II. This pope was threatened by Astolph, king of the Lombards, who took the exarchate of Ravenna. Stephen there- upon appealed to Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, for help, and offered in return an eternal reward and all the joys of Paradise, but threatened him with forfeiture of his salvation if he should delay to undertake the re- quired deliverance. Pepin besieged Astolph in Pavia (7.54), and compelled him to promise the renunciation of all his conquests. The latter, however, inv.tded the Roman territories once more, instead of fulfilling his agreement, and Pepin was obliged to return to Italy (755). He defeated the Lombard, and wrested from him the territories he had conquered, and then raised the pope to the patriarchate, and made him possessor of the exarchate. This act first made the pope the sec- ular head of a country and a i)Co]ile. Stephen, in re- turn, anointed Pe|)in king. He died in 757, leaving a nundier of letters and canonical constitutions. — Herzog, lieal-F.iici/Uiip. s. v.
Stephen I'V (HI), pope from 7G8 to 772. was a Ben- edictine monk, and ha<i l)een made cardinal-priest by pope Zachary. He condemned his rival, pope Con- stantine, who had been a layman, as a usurper of the episcopal chair, and in 7()9 held a synod in the Lateran, which decreed that oidy a deacon or a priest coidd at- tain to the papal dignity. The same synod sanctioned afresh the worsliip of images, relics, and saints, which had been r(ject»'d by a synod at Conslnnliuople and by the emperor Conslantine ('opronymus. This pope, also, was troid)led by the Lombards, and sought relief at the hands of Charles and Carloman, the Frankish kings. The persistent enmity of the Lombards .suggested the advisability of preventing any alliance between them and the Franks, and Steidieu was accordingly concerned
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to prevent the consummation of a proposed marriage of Charles with Desideria, daughter of tlie Lonibaril king-. He did not, however, ace()mi)lish liis jmrpose; but Charles separated from his wife when tliey had been married one year. Stephen died in 772. — Herzog, Rval- Eiicyklop. s. V.