Turning to the use of the word 'star' in the Book of llevelation, we (ind in the vision of the Son of Man that ' he had in his right hand seven .stars' (Rev 1'") and that 'the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches ' (v.-"). According to one view, the angels of the churches are their pastors or rulers ; according to another, they are superhuman beings standing in some intimate relation to the churches. The latter is the ordinary use of iiyye\oi in the Apocalypse (see Angels ; see also Rev 2' 3').
In the message to ihe church of Thyatira the promise to those who overcome is : ' I will give him the morning star' (Rev 2^), i.e. the conqueror is to possess Christ. ' Christus est Stella matutina qui nocte sfeculi transacta lucem vitse Sanctis promittit et pandet aiternam' (Bede). In Rev 22'" Christ says of Himself: 'I am . . . the bright, the morning star.' 'If the churches are \vxoiai and their angels aaripcs, the Head of the Church may fitly be the acTi)p 6 irpwivds' (H. B. Swete, Apocalypse-, London, 1907, p. 47). See art. Morning Star.
At the sounding of the third trumpet ' there fell from heaven a great star . . . and the name of the star is called Wormwood' (Rev 8""'). This is a symbol of Divine visitation. Hence the name ' Wormwood,' which is associated with Divine chastisement. The waters are changed into worm- wood, and many who drink of them die. This may represent the bitterness of the water with which men seek to quench their thirst, instead of partaking of the water of life. In Rev 9' the Seer sees a star already fallen (TreTrraiKira) and lying on the ground, representing the fall of some person, perhaps Satan.
Lastly, the Woman in the vision (Rev 12') ' has a crown of twelve stars' (see art. SuN).
MoRLEY Stevenson.
STEALING. — The Apostolic Church could scarcely have increased in numbers without find- ing /fX^TTTai within her borders from time to time. The thieving slave had not gained his place in comedy without reason, and now when the slave turned Christian the temptation to cling to an easy and profitable habit must often have been specially strong. If his master also happened to be a (.'hris- tian, then a perverted notion of the meaning of brotherhood could easily provide an excuse for pilfering. There was no compelling body of public sentiment on the matter in the Gneeo-Roman world, so that it was necessary to speak with some emphasis. Thus the exhortation to slaves in the letter to Titus insists that they should not be un- worthy of any trust committed to them : ' Exhort servants to be subject to their masters . . . not purloining' (ni) vocrini'oMii'Ovi, Tit 2^). It is worthy of note that this word is used also in Ac 5- con- cerning the Ananias and Sapphira incident, where the pair ' set apai't ' some of the price obtained, and hoped to gain credit for the gift of the whole. The most natural explanation of St. Paul's words to Philemon (vv."- '") — 'if he hath wronged thee at all, or owetli thee aught, put that to mine ac- count ... I will rep.ay it' — seems to be that Onesimus had been guilty of some theft, and had fled to escape punishment.
That theft was not confined to the .slave class is clear from the language of both St. Peter and St. Paul. St. Peter warns the Christian that he is not to sutler as a thief (1 P 4'*). St. Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, mentions among those
STEPHANAS
STEPHEN
who cannot inherit the Kingdom of God fonii- catois and thieves, adding 'and such were some of you' (1 Co 6'°). The most ini])ortiint passii;ue in this connexion, however, is Epli 4'', 6 k\^wtui/ ixr)Kin KXeTTT^Tu. This must obviously refer to stealinj; as a fact not of the |iast hut of the present. The thief still existed, and that within the Church. Writing not in the spirit of a legislator, and still less in the manner of one formulating an ' intLMim ' ethic, he insists that the habit is to be broken oil'. They are to cease from actual thefts, and are to learn the high principle which would make thieving inipo-ssible — so to work that they nuiy be alile to give. Obviouslj' it was more lasting work to state this principle than to have merely advised restitu- tion. On this high ground the .'ilmosiihere is such that the tliieving desire cannot live. 'Stealing is the typical form of using the labour of another to supply our wishes, while it is our duty to make our own labour minister to the needs of others' (Westcott, Ephesians, p. 73).
Literature. — B. F. Westcott, Ep. to Ephesians, London, mno; S. D. F. Salmond, KGT, • Ephesians,' do., 1903 ; E. von Dobschiitz, Christian Life ill the J'riinitive Church, Eng. tr.,
do., v.m. K. Strong.
STEPHANAS.— In 1 Co 1" St. Paul writes: 'I baptized abso the household of Stephanas.' From 1 Co IG" we learn that Stephanas was with St. Paul at the time. Perhaps he reminded the Apostle that his was one of the few cases of personal baptism at St. Paul's own hands. Usually he left the baptizing to his helpers. Two reasons for the I e.ss usual coarse are suggested in 1 Co 16": 'Ye know the bouse of Stephanas, that it is the first- fruits of Achaia.' It was natural for the A])ostle to M'ish toba])tizehis first converts in Corinth ; perhajis there was nobody else to baptize them. Moreover, the baptism of a ho\isebola marked a real footing gained by Christianity in the city. These ' first- fruits' proved them.selves valuable helpers: 'Ye know . . . that they have set themselves to minister unto the saints.' Stephanas him.self was one of the deputation sent by the Corinthian Church to St. Pan], and was, therefore, a trusted leader. The Corinthian Christians are urged to ' be in subjection unto such,' and to 'acknowledge them that are such.' Here St. Paul holds up ' such ' as Steplianas and his household as worthy of imitation and of deference. They seem to have been among the first assistants of the Apostle, outside the inner circle of his chosen companions, and they were specially valuable to the work in Corinth. No doubt their work was a voluntary consecration : there is nothing to indicate an ecclesiastical oflice. 'Iraiav iavroiis . . . implies a systematic laying out of themselves for service, such as is possible only to those free to dispose, as they choose, of their persons and their time' (£(?!', '1 Corinthians,' London, 1900, in loc). So the family must have been of independent means, and St. Paul is only asking the spontaneous submission and the respect- ful deference due to character and hard work. At the same time, there may have been in such volun- tary service the germs out of which grew the Church's local ministry, as A. C. Headlam suggests (HDB iv. 613). J. E. Roberts.