LUX VERITAS

LUX VERITAS

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Apocrypha

Acts of Paul and Thecla

Apocryphal Acts

1 chapter · read and listen

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1

Reading note

Thecla hears Paul, breaks off her engagement, survives the fire and the beasts and goes out preaching. It was required reading among Christian women of the 2nd century. English text: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8 (Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886), Alexander Walker, 1886 (public domain). Portuguese and Spanish: Lux Veritas translations from this edition.

Source: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8 (Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886), Alexander Walker (1886) · public domain

About this book: context, authorship and themes ↓

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Authorship, date, and setting

The story places Thecla, a young woman of Iconium, between Paul's preaching and her family's expectation that she marry Thamyris. The older Catholic Encyclopedia dates the appearance of the Acts of Paul and Thecla to about 180 CE; this identifies neither an author nor a verified biography of Paul. The account belongs to apocryphal Christian literature and uses an apostolic journey to explore chastity, persecution, and a woman's teaching.

Structure of the single chapter

This site presents the work as one continuous chapter with 182 numbered units. It begins with Paul's arrival in Iconium and Thecla's listening. Paul's imprisonment, Thecla's sentence to the fire, and her rescue follow. At Antioch she faces another sentence, this time involving wild animals. The ending traces her search for Paul, her return to Iconium, and the tradition of her stay in Seleucia. These units are not separate chapters.

Themes and key passages

Thecla listening at a window and Thamyris's objection expose the conflict between religious choice and an arranged marriage. Rain extinguishing the fire and animals failing to kill her establish a pattern of rescues. In the arena Thecla baptizes herself amid danger; later Paul sends her to teach. The story grants a woman the initiative to listen, resist, act, and proclaim, while apostolic authority still has a place in her account.

Summary by parts

Opening: Paul is welcomed by Onesiphorus in Iconium. Thecla hears him, rejects the expected marriage, and visits him in prison. The accusation brings punishment on Paul and the stake for Thecla, who escapes.

Middle: In Antioch her rejection of an assault leads to another trial. Tryphaena shelters her; in the arena she survives animals and water and is released.

Ending: Thecla finds Paul, tells him what happened, and receives a commission to teach. She returns to Iconium; the local conclusion adds her life at Seleucia and a memorial of her death.

Reception and versions

Thecla became a figure of Christian devotion, but traditions about her life depend on these Acts rather than independent evidence for each scene. The translation at New Advent also takes her to Seleucia and adds concluding episodes; this site's file preserves an extended ending in its numbered units. Details of the ending therefore belong to the version being read and should not all become historical claims about the first century.

Sources

Dossier

The story of a young woman in Iconium who hears Paul preaching through a window, leaves her fiancé, is condemned to the fire and to the beasts, survives both, and goes off preaching on her own.

Where this text comes from

Greek, 2nd century AD, part of the Acts of Paul. Tertullian records that a presbyter in Asia confessed to writing the work out of admiration for Paul — and was deposed for it, which makes this one of the rare apocrypha with a documented author and motive.

Why it is not in the Bible

Rejected, and for an explicit reason: Tertullian cites it in order to argue against women who invoked Thecla as a precedent for teaching and baptising.

What you will find

  • Thecla baptises herself in a tank of seals when she believes she is about to die.
  • A lioness defends her in the arena against the other animals and dies fighting for her.
  • The physical description of Paul — short, bald, bow-legged, with meeting eyebrows — is the oldest that exists.
  • The cult of Thecla was enormous in antiquity, with its own shrine at Seleucia.

Frequently asked questions

Is Thecla a recognised saint?
She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, with an ancient and documented cult, even though the book telling her story is apocryphal.

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Acts of JohnActs of ThomasThe Story of Perpetua
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