Stephen is considered the first martyr of the early Jesus movement. His story is recorded in the book of Acts 6-7. Like the book of Acts, Stephen’s story is one of motion and progress. He is caught up in a movement that is expanding, growing, and stretching. Stephen finds himself challenging the status quo by critiquing the temple which he says, “Cannot contain the Divine.” But this message was too much for many. As a result, he is martyred for his efforts in the great expansion. His persecution becomes the very story that moves the early Jesus people away from Jerusalem and out to the ends of the earth.
Our friend, author, speaker, and activist Brian McLaren joins us for a conversation.
Perpetua (182-203) is a twenty-one-year-old mother from the Roman city of Carthage. In The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas, we find a first-person diary from Perpetua herself that describes her arrest and life leading up to the day before her execution. In her diary, she transparently writes about her anxiety, grief, and joy that all sit side by side. At one point, in referencing her prison cell she writes, “The dungeon became to me as it were a palace, so that I preferred being there.” Her story is widespread has inspired and strengthened weary communities for centuries to continue to bear witness to the rule of God.
St. Polycarp (69-155) was a bishop of the city of Smyrna (modern day Turkey). Tradition tells us Polycarp refused to burn incense to Ceasar during a ceremony. After a series of bribes and threats by the empire, he simply replied, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” As a result, this eighty-six-year-old man was led into a stadium and martyred Saturday Feb 23, 155 AD. It is this story that strengthened and inspired weary communities to continue to bear witness to a new world.