Stephen's speech in the book of acts

Stephen abruptly, yet most appropriately, turns his audiences attention to the tabernacle of the testimony. Tf stephens speech mentions abraham, joseph, moses and david. Certainly, in the original speech, stephen cannot have failed to teach on the. It records the address of stephen before the sanhedrin and his execution outside jerusalem, and introduces saul who later became paul the apostle. Acts 7, new international version niv the bible app. Acts 7 niv stephens speech to the sanhedrin bible gateway. Acts 7 takes 8 to 9 minutes to read out loud and most of it is stephens speech. This essay has limited value, especially the unconvincing comparison of stephen s speech and wisdom. There seems to be contradiction between stephens speech and the genesis account. In its current form it is clearly the longest speech in the book of acts. We only have a chapter and a half about stephen in the whole bible, yet he emerges as one of the most impressive characters in the entire scripture.

From that perspective, he wasnt give much time at all. Stephen knows all about abraham as we should, abraham s father was born 222 years after the flood, he was age 205 when he died in haran, they had departed babylonchaldeans rev. Acts 7 new international version niv stephens speech to the sanhedrin. So that s a fairly long answer to the question are these things so.

But it was destined to pass away, and stephen seemed to have sensed that. Whose sermon recorded in acts 7 summed up the key elements of apostolic instruction in the early church. Acts 68 describe the activities of two nonapostles, stephen and philip. Various critics of the bible have ridiculed stephens. Dec 26, 2012 the epistle for todays mass is taken, in part, from saint stephens speech to the sanhedrin acts 7. To the objection that it seems unlikely that such a long speech could be reproduced in the text of acts exactly as it was delivered, some biblical scholars have replied that stephen s speech shows a distinctive personality behind it. Stephens speech to the sanhedrin then the high priest asked stephen, are. Stephen s enemies hired witnesses to testify falsely against him, accusing him of saying that jesus would destroy the temple and change the customs based on the law of moses. As with all of the speeches of acts, which the skeptics use against the inerrancy of the book, saint stephens speech is the subject of lively debate.

Aug 31, 2015 the very length of stephens speech in acts 7, the longest in a book full of speeches, probably indicates something of the importance luke assigned to this episode in the history of early. If these differences were said while under the influence of the holy. Leave your country and your people, god said, and go to the land i will show you. Baxter we see, then, that the outrage against stephen is, in a fourfold way, a pivotal event in the acts. Stoning of stephen introduction of luke jesus taken up into heaven matthias chosen to. The god of glory appeared to our father abraham when he was in mesopotamia, before he lived in haran, 3 and said to him, leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that i will show you. Both are hellenistic jews and neither is numbered among the 12. The line between apologetic and polemic is difficult to draw. If anything, stephens words are an indictment, not a defense.

Jul 21, 2012 i wrote out the following observations that i gathered from reading stephens speech in acts 7. As for this fellow moses who led us out of egyptwe dont know what has happened to him. God revealed himself to his people and called them to him. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets. In this sermon, stephen uses the scriptural history of the nation of.

Stephens speech indicates that the church should think about turning away from jerusalem and the temple. If the areopagus speech may be taken as a precursor of a later well developed form of christian apologeticthe defense of the gospel against pagan religion stephens speech in acts 7. Stephens sermon is twice as long as peters sermon delivered at pentecost acts 2. Stephens speech differs sharply from previous speeches in acts. Our glorious god appeared to our ancestor abraham in mesopotamia before he settled in haran. In this speech he also challenges the jews, not only as those who rejected their messiah, but as a people who have failed to respond to god throughout their history. In this sermon, stephen uses the scriptural history of. In an essay of 750 words, analyze the thematic development of this first movement of the book of acts. Stephen was not concerned about his earthly existence, determining instead to stand firmly on the side of jesus christ, no matter the consequences. Such a speech as this was by no means calculated to secure an acquittal before the sanhedrin. The longest recorded recorded speech in the book of acts was delivered by a deacon named stephen to the sanhedrin in jerusalem. The significance of the speeches for interpreting acts. Stephens speech is often called a defense, or apology, but it is obviously not a speech for the defense in the forensic sense of the term.

Observations from reading stephens speech in acts 7. The apologetic speeches include stephens defence before the sanhedrin in ch. While this is not an exclusive list, be sure to address the following elements. He is the first christian speaker to challenge jewish institutions, the law and the temple. Jan 02, 2020 acts 7 is the record of stephens testimony, which is perhaps the most detailed and concise history of israel and their relationship to god of any in scripture. Of the numerous speeches in acts of the apostles, stephen s speech to the sanhedrin is the longest. Summary of stephens speech in acts, and what he said about. I had to outline stephens speech to see if he answered the question directly. Verse 3 quotes the words of god to abraham given in genesis 12.

Acts 7 is the seventh chapter of the acts of the apostles in the new testament of the christian bible. Yet stephen is the first martyr and his speech summarizing some important theological points in the transition between peters ministry in jerusalem and pauls mission in acts. Jews for judaism which version of stephenss acts 7 speech is. Acts 7 stephens speech stephen is arrested for speaking out against the temple and the law of moses. Stephens speech to the sanhedrin then the high priest asked stephen, are these charges true. Stephen s speech, made while he was supposedly full of the holy spirit acts 7. The development of stephens theology in order to evaluate the function of these discrepancies in the theology of stephens speech, it is first necessary to place them in the where the speech actually conflicts with the ot h. Doble, the son of man saying in stephen s witnessing. Boice notes that stephen s speech is a transition speech that paves the way for presenting the gospel to the gentiles, which begins in the very next chapter of acts. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to egypt.

Most of the book of acts is concerned with gods efforts to overcome the inertia. The high priest asked stephen whether the charges were true. Btw, it is also the longest speech in the book of acts. Stephens speech to the sanhedrin english jesus film project. Strange details in stephens defense xenos christian fellowship.