Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him [ 3 ] and was then stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus , a Pharisee and Roman citizen who would later become an apostle , participated in Stephen's execution. Stephen is often shown as a young, beardless man with a tonsure , wearing a deacon's vestments. Stephen is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of the Seven Deacons , who were appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to poorer members of the community in the early church.
According to Orthodox belief, he was the eldest and is therefore called "archdeacon". Since the name Stephanos is Koine Greek , it has been assumed that he was one of these Hellenistic Jews. Stephen is stated to have been full of faith and the Holy Spirit and to have performed miracles among the people.
It seems to have been among synagogues of Hellenistic Jews that he performed his teachings and "signs and wonders" since it is said that he aroused the opposition of the Synagogue of the Libertines , and "of the Cyrenians , and of the Alexandrians , and of them that were of Cilicia and Asia".
Furious at this humiliation, they suborned false testimony that Stephen had preached blasphemy against Moses and God. They dragged him to appear before the Sanhedrin , the supreme legal court of Jewish elders, accusing him of preaching against the Second Temple and the Torah.
In a long speech to the Sanhedrin comprising almost the whole of Acts 7 , Stephen presents his view of the history of the Israelites. The God of glory, he says, appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia , thus establishing at the beginning of the speech one of its major themes, that God does not dwell only in one particular building meaning the Temple.
