Research Paper On Christian Martyrs

I have enjoyed reading all the passages and commentaries about the first Christian martyr, Stephen. It has really been eye opening and God has showed me some amazing things through this study. Before I get into anything I just want to summarize what I read. In the book of Acts, early church members in the church in Jerusalem were giving their money freely to help the poor. But this caused a bit of a problem because the church was growing so fast that some of the widows in the community were being overlooked. The complaints of this got to the apostles and they chose seven men to give out the gifts to the poor. Among these seven men was Stephen who the Bible specifically points out as being “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” But Stephen began preaching the Gospel in addition to his other duties and performed great wonders and signs among people.
This brought up great opposition against him from Jews who did not accept the Gospel and they began to spread lies about him by saying he spoke blasphemous words about Moses and God. They then seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false …show more content…
He was so filled with the Holy Spirit and so on fire for God that he couldn’t help but preach and perform signs and wonders for the sake of the Gospel of Christ, no matter the cost. He was faithful till the end and his faithfulness is really something to admire. John Foxe said that “his death was occasioned by the faithful manner in which he preached the Gospel to the betrayers and murderers of Christ.” He was faithful until he took his last breath. Stephen also carried an overwhelming peace during everything that happened to him. Like Jesus, Stephen died at peace with God, himself, and the world, even those who were persecuting him. That is an unbelievable peace that Stephen displays that we have access to now! It’s so amazing the life that we have through