The Function of Stephen's Speech: Dissertation by John J. Kilgallen

Historical Background

Stephen’s speech occurs during early Jerusalem church history, shortly after the appointment of seven men to serve the community’s needs (Acts 6). He addresses Jewish leaders accusing him of blasphemy by recounting Israel’s history from Abraham to Solomon. His speech highlights a repeated pattern: God raises leaders and sends messengers, but Israel often rejects them. This history culminates in his accusation that his audience likewise rejects Jesus and the Holy Spirit, signifying a critical moment leading to intensified persecution and the church’s spread beyond Jerusalem.

Literary and Theological Frameworks

The speech uses a typological approach, portraying key historical persons, events, and doctrines as foreshadows of Christ and Messianic fulfillment. Stephen reviews patriarchal narratives, Moses’ leadership, and Israel’s covenantal promises, emphasizing God’s revelation beyond the temple or land ownership. He stresses God’s presence is not confined to the temple, critiquing Israel’s misplaced trust in sacred institutions while highlighting Israel's recurrent rebellion and apostasy. The speech culminates in a condemnation of the current leaders mirroring their ancestors’ disobedience by rejecting Jesus. Stephen’s sermon functions both as defense and prophetic indictment, revealing theological themes of grace, judgment, and faithfulness amid rejection.

Social and Religious Context

Stephen’s audience comprises Jewish leaders familiar with temple worship, Mosaic law, and Israel’s sacred history. His speech challenges their religious assumptions by rejecting the temple as the exclusive locus of God’s presence and indicts their resistance to God’s new work in Jesus. His critiques echo prophetic traditions that condemned temple idolatry and legalism. The speech’s setting in the Sanhedrin highlights tensions between emerging Christian beliefs and established Jewish authority, foreshadowing escalating conflict marked by Stephen’s martyrdom and Saul’s rise. This social-religious context underpins the speech’s urgency and confrontational tone.

Key themes

• The relationship between Stephen's speech and the accusations against him is central to understanding its purpose.
• Stephen’s speech reinterprets Israel’s history with a polemical tone against his Jewish audience.
• The speech highlights Israel’s pattern of rejecting God’s chosen deliverers.
• Selective use of Old Testament narratives serves theological and polemical aims.
• Stephen’s portrayal of God emphasizes divine transcendence beyond the land of Israel.
• The speech functions as both defense and indictment, proclaiming Christ through Hebrew Scripture.

Motifs & problems

Stephen’s speech uses recurring motifs such as the rejected deliverer (exemplified by Joseph and Moses), representing Christ’s own rejection. This motif underscores Israel’s persistent failure to recognize God’s messengers. Another key image is the “God outside the land” motif, which challenges geographic and religious exclusivism. These motifs create interpretive complexities, especially regarding the speech’s polemical relationship with Jewish tradition and the apparent tensions between Stephen’s words and Old Testament narratives, raising questions about Luke’s hermeneutical and theological intentions.

Study questions

What is the role of Old Testament quotations in framing Stephen’s argument?
How does Stephen’s speech function both as a defense and an accusation?
In what ways does the motif of rejected deliverers shape the overall message?
How does the speech reflect Luke’s theological perspective on God’s relationship to Israel?
What interpretive challenges arise from the speech’s selective retelling of Israel’s history?
How does Stephen’s portrayal of God challenge contemporary Jewish views on worship and land?
Why might Luke have altered or emphasized certain Old Testament passages in this speech?
What is the significance of the speech’s ending in terms of Stephen’s fate and theological themes?.

Critical approaches & debates

John J. Kilgallen’s dissertation on Stephen’s speech (Acts 7:2-53) has attracted various critical approaches. Formalist readings emphasize its literary unity and redactional style, highlighting Stephen’s skilful integration of Abrahamic and Mosaic traditions. Historical-critical scholars discuss the speech’s polemical nature against the Temple and Jewish law, debating whether it serves as a defense or an indictment. Theological interpretations explore Stephen’s selective use of scripture to develop a new understanding of God’s presence beyond the Temple. There is disagreement about the speech’s historical accuracy versus theological agenda, and how Luke’s editorial hand shapes the message.

Key passages

Stephen opens his speech invoking God’s call to Abraham in Ur (Acts 7:2-8), using this as a theological foundation showing God’s presence transcending the Temple. The speech proceeds through Joseph and Moses narratives using anaphora and repetition to underscore Israel’s disobedience. The closing denunciation (7:51-53) functions as a rhetorical climax, accusing the Sanhedrin of resisting the Holy Spirit, which seals Stephen’s fate and highlights the speech’s polemical force.

Bibliography

Kilgallen, John J., The Stephen Speech: A Literary and Redactional Study of Acts 7, 2-53, Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1976. Related primary materials include the Book of Acts, particularly chapter 7, and Old Testament texts referenced (Genesis, Exodus). Foundational studies by Bruce (1988), Marshall (1980), and recent scholarship engaging Luke’s theology and Stephen’s speech polemics enrich understanding.