The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2345 page)

(d.
c.
35).
The first Christian martyr. He was one of ‘the seven’ appointed ‘to serve tables’ (traditionally the first
deacons
) in the Jerusalem church. On account of his preaching and miracles he was brought before the
Sanhedrin
, and after making a defence denouncing Israel's perennial hardness of heart, was put to death by stoning (Acts 6. 1–8. 2). As with Jesus, the basic offence appears to have been a refusal to accept the final authority of the
high priest
and Temple (cf.
Deuteronomy
17, and see
REBELLIOUS ELDER
). Feast day, in the W. 26 Dec., in the E. 27 Dec.

 
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see
A
GA (2)
.

 
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Sthavirav
da
.

One of two early Buddhist schools into which the community split at the Buddhist Council of
P
taliputra
, the other being
Mah
s
ghika
. The cause of the split is uncertain, but probably concerned proposals to extend the
vinaya
rules, so that traditional practices could be formalized as obligatory. The conservative majority, Mah
s
ghikas, resisted innovation. Traditionally, the split was over the exact status of
arhat
. According to the Mah
s
ghika, he is still subject to temptation, can still make progress, has not overcome all ignorance; according to Sthavirav
da, he is no longer ‘human’ in those ways. But this account seems to reflect later debates.