Why not thecla

Learn more about Thecla in Alicia D. Not a subscriber yet? Join today. David R. Women in the Bible. Lydia and Tabitha in the Bible Women leaders in the early Christian church. Tabitha in the Bible by Robin Gallaher Branch. Anna in the Bible by Robin Gallaher Branch. Regional tradition is that the Seleucia where Thekla spent most of her life is the place now called Silifke on the Turkish coast SE of Konya Iconium , and opposite the north coast of Cyprus.

There is now a modern main road from Konya to Silifke. There is a rock church dedicated to Thekla there. The name Seleucia was common — there are about 16 of them — because of the Seleucid rulers.

The irony is that Romans loved silphium, a flower that served as a contraceptive agent which was used as an abortifacient. It was the major industry of Cyrene, where conditions made it practically the only place where it flourished, which it did up to the end of the first century, when it was over-harvested and no longer available.

During the height of its popularity, it was so appreciated that the image was stamped on coinage. However, the plant eventually was harvested to extinction by the end of the first century AD.

Though the plant is extinct, there still exists a modern day tribute to it that you might find familiar — the modern heart shape. Silphium seed pods were reportedly the inspiration for the popular symbol of love.

Fitting, when you consider why the plant was so popular. Your email address will not be published. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. Combine a one-year tablet and print subscription to BAR with membership in the BAS Library to start your journey into the ancient past today! She helped him preach, and together they did good work for the Lord.

But once again a powerful person, this time the city governor, tried to turn Thecla toward marriage. When she hurt his pride by refusing he denounced her to the authorities. She was arrested and sentenced to die in the arena. Through her prayer, she converted many and gathered other women monastics around her. She counseled people and healed the sick, never asking for money. Even there, though, she was pursued. Jealous pagan doctors sent young men to harm the saint, now an old woman. But God heard her prayers and opened up a fissure in the rock of the cave.

Thecla rushed into the space, which immediately closed up again. Thecla was one of the earliest popular figures of the Church who did not personally know Jesus of Nazareth.

In antiquity some people held that women should never travel. Jerome in Letter The APTT is also significant for it preserves an early surviving case of cross dressing.

In the apocryphal Acts of Andrew we find various women dressed as men in order to secure safe travel 19, 28 and Male attire may have offered protection from rape. At the same time, in antiquity, it was held that males are closer to wisdom than females. Male attire enabled females to overcome the setbacks society posed to them and to establish their authority more easily.

Howe claimed that male attire allowed Thecla to obey 1 Cor Likewise, the thirteenth canon of the Synod of Gangra in the middle of the fourth century anathematized women who followed the advice of ascetic Eustathius and chose to wear male clothes. Augustine, in Letter 78, also taught against the practice of cross-dressing. So did Jerome, in Letter to Eustochium The fact that Synods and Christian fathers repeatedly felt the need to condemn the practice is testimony that in fact it was much more widespread than the conservative leaders wished.

In several early Christian biographies of female figures the aim was to shame men who were not as pious as they could be. The APTT do not show that most early Christian women were free from male dominion but rather that certain early Christian communities offered a choice.

Scholars are torn if the text is to be read in a feminist light or not, and to what extent. Davies did not believe that the author was a female, but does not argue convincingly for his case Davies Dunn argued against reading the male characters of the story in a bad light pointing to the fact that the Roman governor only reluctantly agreed to the killing of Thecla and that Onesephorus took her home Dunn However, these episodes are not central to the narrative.

Dunn also believed that Thecla appears weak in her endeavor to appear male and that she was far too attached to Paul Dunn In reality, Thecla was simply in love with Paul, something that did not make her weak. On the other hand, Hilhorst proposed that the original text was even more dramatic and showed Thecla baptizing not just herself but also others and that is something which infuriated Tertullian, one of the most prominent theologians of the time, and in due course these passages were removed Hilhorst in Bremmer Burrus suggested that the text was based on oral tales which circulated among women Burrus MacDonald mentioned in his work cases of early Christian men who collected and preserved for posterity female tales MacDonald As far as I am concerned, the AAPT must have been written as a manual for female empowerment, by a female author or by someone sensitive to women.

An unusual lot of attention is paid on women and on their positive portrayal. Women are all around Thecla, to support and encourage her: Thryphaena and her slaves, the female citizens of Antioch, even the good animals inside the arena are female.

The women of the city resemble an ancient Greek tragic chorus, acting in unison and showing solidarity. Women are throughout the text very prominent, something we certainly do not normally encounter in ancient literary works. Even apostle Paul seems gradually, as the plot progresses, all the more disappointingly weak, having a hard time keeping up with Thecla.

We can certainly see the text appealing to a female audience. Another early Christian feminist read is undoubtedly the Life of Fevronia. Allegedly, Eugenia was the daughter of the governor of Egypt who suffered martyrdom under emperor Valerian r. AD While she was an abbot she cured a woman of an illness, and when the woman made sexual advances, which she rebuffed, the woman accused her publicly of adultery.

Eugenia was taken to court, where, still disguised, she faced her father as the judge. At the trial, her real female identity was revealed and she was exonerated.

Her father converted to Christianity, became bishop of Alexandria and then the emperor had him executed. Euphrosene of Alexandria was convinced by a monk to withdraw from society. She obliged. She wore male clothing, cut her hair and presented herself as a eunuch in a male monastery so as not to be discovered by her father.

After thirty-eight years Euphrosene got sick and died and only then they realized she had been a woman posing all along as a man. Her father was present at her funeral and testified publicly that Euphrosene was his daughter.

Pelagia was a rich and famous actress and courtesan living in Antioch early in the fifth century when she met bishop Nonnos, converted to Christianity, wore male attire and lived as an eunuch hermit in Jerusalem. Her gender was only discovered at the preparation of her funeral. Stories of females posing as males and attaining perfection were extremely popular in late antique Christian circles for all genders.

Early in the third century AD, at Thuburbo Minus, west of Carthage in North Africa, Perpetua, a young, upper class, well-educated Roman citizen, converted to Christianity and chose a heroic public death instead of conforming to pagan social expectations and sacrificing to the traditional gods of the Roman Empire.

Her decision was interpreted by her pagan contemporaries as a grave insult to the gods and to the emperor, and a direct challenge to the established order, and resulted in her being sentenced to death by the beasts of the arena. It is an authentic, bold, vivid and honest account of an early Christian female hero while in prison, with a special emphasis on her dreams.

Fourth- and fifth-century bishops felt uncomfortable with the portrayal of Perpetua in her diary and surrounded it with homiletic commentaries. Instead of letting the diary speak directly to the community of the faithful, they guided the understanding of words, subtly changing its messages, and carefully controlled its dissemination.

It is fascinating to try to follow the desperate efforts by male Christian leaders, such as Augustine a century after her martyrdom and Quodvultdeus another century after that, to make Perpetua less appealing as a role model and thus less threatening to the social order Iosif Melania was an incredibly wealthy woman who in around lost her husband, became an ascetic, traveled the Mediterranean, and used her immense wealth for establishing monasteries, for acts of charity and for promoting Christianity.

Priscilla and Maximilla were her exact contemporaries who around left their husbands in order to live as virgin prophetesses. They were followers of Montanism, a movement which flourished in Asia Minor, in nearby Phrygia, next to Iconium, who preached that the end of the times was near and strongly believed in the power of prophetic speech. The fact that Montanism recognized the power of female prophets and had many significant female leaders was very disturbing for many mainstream Christian fathers Trevett As the eschatological fervor began to wane, women took a back seat.

Articles Podcast Interviews Videos Photos. Divergent early Christian communities During late Roman times various Christian communities existed, often with divergent and sometimes even strikingly divergent understandings of the teachings of Jesus and the meaning of His messages. The Acts of Paul and Thecla in context It is crucial to try to read the text in context. And 1 Cor Jesus and women Jesus associated with women, which makes sense since He was interested in the suffering of those unprivileged.

Women and travel In antiquity some people held that women should never travel.