Who was Stephen, what group executed him, and for what offense?
In the early Christian community, the disciples were the natural leaders, and the new believers turned to them for everything. As a result, they became very overburdened with the everyday survival things. This worried them, as evangelism was their primary calling. So they did what Moses did in the Old Testament- they chose helpers to ease the loads. These were called “diakonai” or “Table waiters”. Their job, primarily was to help out with the Greek speaking Christians, and, because of that, came from that community. One of these was Stephen, who is first mentioned in Acts 6:5 “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.” But Stephen soon began to show that he had promise far beyond helping distribute food. He was a miracle worker and an orator, and not afraid to speak out in public about Jesus. “8Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and mir
