STUMBLING-BLOCK, STONE OF STUMBLING:
The translation in the English versions of the Hebrew mikshol, makshelah, ebhen negheph, and the Greek proskomma, lithos tou proskonimatos, skandolon, the fundamental idea of which is either an object in the way over which one may stumble or a weighted trap used for catching wild animals, which falls when the bait is touched. These terms may represent persons or things good in themselves, as when (I Cor. i. 23; I Pet. ii. 8) they are applied to Christ, the guilt resting upon those " which stumble at the word, being disobedient "; and moral guilt may be incurred by a Christian if, when he should uphold his faith, he weakly denies it or conceals it for fear of giving offense. On the other hand, he is always to take the ideas and feelings of others into consideration (cf. Matt. xvii. 27). An offense which involves blame to the giver does so because it leads to sin, if only by confusing the moral judgment, in the awakening of a doubt about the character of the agent or the action or about the correctness of another's habitual convictions. Sin is thus made easier, and the one who gives offense incurs the guilt of consciously or unconsciously leading another into temptation. It is from this standpoint that St. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to abstain from meat offered in sacrifice (I Cor. viii. 7-13, x. 28), laying down his principle of Christian liberty, " All things
Stundists Sturm
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient " (vi. 12, x. 23, 32). (Rudolf Hofmann.)
STUNDISTS. See Russia, II., § 7.
STUPA: A mound of masonry, usually domelike, employed by Buddhists to commemorate a notable event, mark a sacred spot, preserve a relic, or to serve a combination of these purposes. The terms dagoba and tope are employed to some extent as equivalents, the latter having reference to the form and the former to the purpose as protecting a relic. The shape has been explained as due to the tradition that Buddha, born among a race descended from the Scythians, directed that his remains be buried in Scythian fashion (cf. Herodotus, iv 71, 72, 217; and the notes and plans in Rawlinson's transl., iii. 57-63, New York, 1875) under a raised mound (S. Beal, Catena of the Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese, pp. 126-130, London, 1871). The period during which these structures were raised coincides roughly with the middle stage of the dominance of Buddhism in India, c. 250 b.c- 250 a.d., though some rebuilding was done as late as the eighth century. Those best worthy of mention are (1) that at Sanchi, Bhopal, Central India, having a horizontal diameter of 106 feet and placed upon a circular platform 120 feet in diameter, and having a perpendicular radius of forty-two feet. It is constructed of bricks laid in mud covered with a layer of chiseled stone, and has a tee or flattened surface on the apex (the place where usually the relic was kept) fourteen feet in diameter. The whole is surrounded by an elaborately carved stone railing. (2) A second important example is found at Manikyala, near Raval Pindi, in the Punjab (where these structures are especially numerous). (3) The finest of all, perhaps, was that at Amravati, in the Madras Presidency, the sculptures of which are now in the British Museum. (4) One of great historic interest is twelve miles from the Lumbini Garden (the traditional birthplace of the Buddha, about 110 m. n.e. of Benares), and covered that part of the ashes of the saint which fell to his own Sakhya clan. (5) A notable series of groups are in the vicinity of Bhilsa in Bhopal, and number between twenty-five and thirty. Most of these are in a most ruinous condition, the Mohammedans and others having used them as quarries of material for later structures. The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Hiouen Thsang (seventh century) reports that what are known to have been some of the earliest were already in ruins. Geo. W Gilmore.
Bibliography. J. Fergus9on, Hist, of Indian and Eastern Architecture, book I., chap, iii., London, 1891 (gives excellent cuts, one on title-page); idem, in Royal Asiatic Society's Journal, new series, iii (1868), 132-166; K. Ritter, Die Stupas, Berlin, 1838, H. H. Wilson, Ariana Antigua, pp. 55-118, London, 1841; A. Cunningham, The Bhilsa Topes, ib. 1854, idem, in Royal Asiatic Society's Journal, xiii (1852), 108-114, J. Burgess, Notes on the Amaravati Stupa, Madras, 1882; J. Burgess, The Buddhist Stupas of Amaravati and Jaggayyapeta, London, 1887; and the following articles in the Royal Asiatic Society's Journal, new series, v (1870), 164-181 (by S. Beal), xiv (1882), 332-334 (by W. Simpson), 1902, pp. 29-45 (by J. Burgess).
STURM (STURMI) OF FULDA: Disciple of Boniface, first abbot of Fulda (q.v.), and apostle of
Hesse and Saxony; b. in Bavaria in 710; d. at Fulda Dec. 17, 779. He came of a distinguished Christian family, and was sent to Boniface for instruction while the latter was in Bavaria; he accompanied Boniface on at least one of his missionary journeys, and for further education was under the care of Abbot Wigbert at Fritzlar, being made priest in 740. He was then a missionary in Hesse for three years; but, feeling a strong inclination for the monastic life, he was encouraged by Boniface to build an abbey, and after some indecision settled at Fulda, receiving a gift of the land from Carloman through the intercession of Boniface, erecting the first structure and becoming its first abbot under the Benedictine rule. After the death of Boniface, when great efforts were made to carry the body to Mainz for entombment, Sturm carried out the wishes of his master for burial at Fulda. Lullus of Mainz attempted to disregard the exemptions secured by the abbey, and Sturm was the defender; but in consequence he was charged with disloyalty to Pippin and banished to Jumieges in Normandy, 758, but was permitted to return in 760 and received into Pippin's good graces, this result being in part due to the favor in which Sturm was held throughout the Frankish kingdom. Sturm was also regarded highly by Charlemagne, and was employed by him in diplomatic affairs, and it fell to his lot to carry the Gospel to the regions brought under the Frankish's king's dominion in Saxony. His accomplishment was not merely the planting of the abbey and its erection into a strong and influential institution, but the impulse to general education and culture which he imparted and the results of this in churches and schools in central Germany.
Bibliography: The fundamental source is the Vita by Egil, abbot of Fulda, 818-822, in ASB, iii. 2, pp. 269- 284, with discussion of the year of death and account of the canonization by Mabillon, pp. 284-286, also in MGH, Script., ii (1829), 365-377, and MPL, cv. 423^44; there is a Germ, transl. by W. Arndt, Berlin, 1863. Consult further: G. F. Maclear, Hist, of Christian Missions during the Middle Ages, pp. 211-217, Cambridge, 1863; idem, Apostles of Medieval Europe, pp. 132-138, London, 1888; F. J. Nick, Der heilige Sturmius, ersler Abt von Fulda, Fulda, 1865; J. Kayser, Der heilige Sturmi, der erste Glaubensbote des Paderborner Landes, Paderborn, 1866; A. Ebert, Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur des Mittelalters, ii. 104-106, 121, 144, Leipsic, 1880; B. Kuhlmann, Der heilige Sturmi, Grander Fuldas und Apostel Westfalens, Paderborn, 1890; Rettberg, KD, i. 371, 607 sqq., 616 sqq.; Hauck, KD, vol. ii. passim.
STURM, sturm, JAKOB: German reformer; b. at Strasburg Aug. 10, 1489; d. there Oct. 30, 1553. He was educated at Heidelberg (B.A., 1503); and at Freiburg (M.A., 1505), where he studied theology in connection with law after 1506. He maintained relations with the greatest humanists of his day, and was highly esteemed by Erasmus. He was first a clerical of the lower order; occupied the position of secretary to the cathedral provost at Strasburg, 1517-23; was an earnest member of the Strasburg society of learning; and in 1522 devised a plan for the reorganization of the University of Heidelberg. In 1524 he entered the municipal service, being elected to the great council, as a member of which he represented Strasburg and other imperial cities, in the government of the empire. From 1526 he was one of the " college of thirteen," was chosen