The Martyr Who Converted His Executioner

Saint Stephen, the very first Christian martyr, died by stoning after a heated trial. Ironically, the man who guarded the coats of his killers later became Christianity's greatest apostle.

During Stephen's execution, a young witness named Saul of Tarsus stood by and approved of his death. Saul, a staunch opponent of the early church, later experienced a life-changing vision that transformed him into Paul the Apostle. If Stephen had not been martyred, the man who wrote much of the New Testament might never have been reached. It remains a powerful historical irony that the death of one man helped launch the faith of another.