Questions for Reflection:
1. Stephen’s speech offers a strong criticism of a focus on a particular sacred space. Is that criticism just a part of the tension between early Christians and their Jewish neighbors or does it have something to say to a twenty-first century audience? Are there “sacred spaces” that we revere more than we should?
2. Stephen’s speech also offers a model of how one can appropriate the history of God’s people to make a point about what faithful people should do in the present. Can his way of reading the past be adapted for our own use? If so, how would you tell the tale of the community of the faithful to shed light on the present situation of the Church?
3. What do you make of the curious episode of Ananias and Sapphira? If you had to teach a Bible study on the text, what would you hope students might derive from the story?