The 23rd Pope of Rome was born sometime in the third century, AD – no one knows exactly when. Little is known of the details of his life prior to his papacy other than he was born in the city of Rome to ethnically Greek parents. From a young age, he was drawn by God to work in His church, and he quickly caught the attention of Pope Lucius I.
Pope Lucius took a liking to the lad, and eventually named him as his successor. Once Lucius passed on to his heavenly reward, Stephen did indeed succeed him on May 12, 254. Pope Stephen’s papacy was marked with controversies that threatened to split the church, but Steven stood firm in the Gospel handed down to him, and would not bend to popular opinion.
The first of the controversies came when he welcomed back into the church two penitent Spanish bishops who had fallen into apostasy during a period of severe persecution. The other Spanish bishops were not enthused by Pope Stephen’s decision to restore the penitents, and held them to be still in apostasy. They found support in certain African bishops, including Cyprian of Carthage, a great early theologian. Pope Stephen held firm, however.
This reverberated through the early church. The church in Gaul denounced Marcian, bishop of Arles, who was an adherent of the heretical doctrine of Novatian. Novatian taught that those who had lapsed from the faith could never be restored to fellowship. Pope Stephen disagreed. He believed that God’s grace was infinite, and it didn’t matter if one fell away a thousand times, so long as they truly repent, they could be restored. On this account, Cyprian took Stephen’s side, calling for him to depose Marcian. The Pope, however, refused to do so, despite Marcian’s rebellion. So strong was his faith in God and His unending grace that Stephen would even have mercy on his opponents.
However, Pope Stephen’s clemency did not prevent him from using his authority rightly. The third, and final controversy of Pope Stephen’s life came when discovered certain churches in the East were re-baptizing believers who had been baptized by another Christian sect. The Pope ruled all those who received a trinitarian baptism – whether from churches in schism or not – did not have to be baptized yet again. This decision raised the ire of Churches throughout the East and Africa. Cyprian of Carthage opposed him yet again, but Pope Stephen threatened to excommunicate those who were re-baptizing believers. Stephen held to the belief that the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were valid when correctly administered, whether the man administering them was sincere in his beliefs or not.
Tradition holds that Pope Stephen I was martyred by Roman Emperor Valerian on August 2, 257, however some historians doubt this claim. Regardless, Stephen I lived a life worthy of emulation and his teachings still guide Christians all over the world.
May we all hold to the abundant grace and mercy of God as Pope Stephen did.
LogoSophia Magazine 
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