Why was the stoning of Stephen important for the early Christians?

Question

Why was the stoning of Stephen important for the early Christians?

Answer 1

It was the official turning point for the early church.  This is the case where the Jewish council rejected the message of the Messiah and did so by killing the messenger. Everything up until then had been purely Jewish.

Notice the first Gentile that Gets saved is in chapter 8.  The Apostle to the Gentiles is saved in chapter 9.  Peter gets the vision to evangelize gentiles in chapter 10.  In 11:18, all the disciples learn that God granted repentance to the gentiles (without them being required to be Jewish proselytes first).  In 15:9-11, the Apostles all conclude for the first time that "by the hearing of faith" the spirit and salvation come, and that the law and circumcision are unnecessary both for Jews and Gentiles.

The promise of Deuteronomy 32:21 was kicked off with the official national Jewish rejection of their messiah which happened at the death of Stephen.  From there, things started changing to how we understand them today.  Paul got the revelation about the body of Christ from Jesus Christ (Eph. 3; Gal. 1), and his epistles reveal to us the conclusion of the matter (Compare Rom. 10:5-13 with Deut. 30:11-14 to get the differences of the two covenants in a nutshell).  The differences are plain to us, but they were revealed, and the transition occurred rather gradually.

Answer 2

It taught them and gave them a model of unshakable faith.  

Answer 3

he was the first marter  but I think its the fact  he stood  firm  and saw a vision of Jesus  

Answer 4

It got em' ready for baseball season !   Go  Rangers !!!!  Wooohooo !

Answer 5

For many reasons.

For one thing it proved that faith in Jesus could carry one through death itself without any fear or regrets.

When he was being stoned, the heavens were opened to him and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

The persecution that followed actually served to further the cause of the Gospel, because those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Gospel wherever they went.

Answer 6

"God" loves martyrs; "Christians" love the things "God" loves

Answer 7

It was a clever marketing campaign by Paul to convince potential Christians to convert. They used stories like this to legitimize the message. There is no proof the stories are even true.  

Answer 8

How can you trust someone who claims to see a vision of Jesus when he's being pelted with stones?

Answer 9

Practice?

Answer 10

If you read the account, Paul (Saul) was there, and Stephen was the first Christian Martyr. (Acts 7:51-60.)

Answer 11

Because it gave the Christians the idea to use barbaric means to enforce their religion.