Acts of Paul and Thecla

the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. Although Saint Paul goes on to say that it is better for one to be married to avoid sexual immorality, historians widely believe that his sexual ethics, especially in relation to virginity, played a significant role in the lives of Christians, especially young women, throughout the early Church. The Acts of Paul, an apocryphal text according to Saint Jerome, written between 185-195 C.E. relates an expanded treatise of Paul’s understanding of the necessity, or lack thereof, for identifiable sexuality within human life and marriage. Expounded upon further…

When we think of the Bible, the first thing that comes to most people’s mind is Adam and Eve, the miracles performed by Jesus, the conversion of Paul or the poetic word of the Psalms. Most are prone to forget about the women in the Bible, for in the Bible the characterization of most women is either that of being a seductress, an unholy prostitute or a supporting character there to either lend aid to men in terms of pleasure or as someone’s wife. Ruth, a book about a lonely widowed young woman,…

(Thecla): “Now is the time for me to wash myself.” And she cast herself into the water, saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ I baptize myself for the last day.” And looking on, the women and all the crowd cried out saying, “Do not cast yourself into the water,” so that even the governor was weeping… Just as the seals in the pool and the wild beasts came upon Thecla, a cloud of fire enclosed Thecla and prevented her from being harmed while also shielding her nakedness. At this moment, Thecla is…