Christian Women in the Patristic World

Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries

Lynn H. Cohick, Amy Brown Hughes

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780801039553
• eBook ISBN: 9781493410217
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

A Top Ten Book for Parish Ministry in 2017, Academy of Parish Clergy

A Jesus Creed 2017 Book of the Year (Honorable Mention)

From facing wild beasts in the arena to governing the Roman Empire, Christian women--as preachers and philosophers, martyrs and empresses, virgins and mothers--influenced the shape of the church in its formative centuries. This book provides in a single volume a nearly complete compendium of extant evidence about Christian women in the second through fifth centuries. It highlights the social and theological contributions they made to shaping early Christian beliefs and practices, integrating their influence into the history of the patristic church and showing how their achievements can be edifying for contemporary Christians.

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Thecla: Christian Female Protomartyr and Virgin of the Church

A young woman smitten by a man’s presence—this is the stuff of romance. A woman striving to chart her own path, undaunted by obstacles—this is inspiring. A woman rejecting a life of respectable stability and marital love and choosing an existence of want and possible danger—this is puzzling. A story that combines all this and more is bound to captivate, and indeed the story of Thecla has challenged and inspired Christians, especially in the second through fifth centuries. Yet Thecla is a shadowy figure, which may explain the resilience of her memory and influence, for subsequent generations viewed her as an exemplar for their own times, whether for martyrdom, asceticism, or virginity. Her story is told on the pages of the Acts of Paul and Thecla (APTh), or simply Acts of Thecla, although her narrative probably circulated separately in some cases.1 It seems likely that some form of this text was written in the mid-second century (if not earlier) and was incorporated into the Acts of Paul as various traditions of Paul were collected. We set the stage for her story below in a brief overview of the church in the second century.

Introduction to Christian Women in the Second Century

Christian women in the second century traveled with their male counterparts in uncharted waters as the fledging church of the New Testament stretched beyond its Jewish boundaries and reached into the gentile pagan world. This century sees the separation, by and large, of Jewish and gentile followers of Jesus, as well as the rise of rabbinic Judaism. Second-century Christians were also testing the waters on orthodoxy, or right belief, asking questions about the nature of Jesus Christ and of God the Father. But much of the second century is taken up with questions of practice—when and how to baptize, take communion, and fast. As gentiles turned from paganism to Christianity, questions arose on proper “Christian” behavior over against pagan lifestyles. Perhaps nowhere is this clearer than in the area of sexual ethics. Second-century Christians debated the role of sex in marriage and the worthiness of a continent life. Celibacy and virginity were promoted, as well as marriage to a fellow believer, while second marriages—that is, remarrying after one’s spouse died—were criticized. In line with the wider philosophical teachings of the day, Christians valued self-control and self-restraint, but in ways that expressed their Christian beliefs. Asceticism, which included extensive fasting and refraining from sex within marriage, or from marriage entirely, will frame conversations about proper Christian lifestyle for centuries to come.

Alongside conversations about asceticism, we find a growing interest in institutional issues and leadership as a developing “orthodox,” or mainstream, Christianity began to take shape. Churches discussed issues at the boundaries, such as prophecy, visions, and who speaks as a genuine prophet. And the churches focused on organization at the center, promoting offices such as deacon, presbyter, and bishop. Questions surrounding the proper expression of Christian faith in daily life and in liturgy animated the second century. And all this happened on the world stage, where the wider culture was hostile toward and suspicious of the emerging Christian groups. Moreover, plagues and earthquakes unnerved the population of the Roman Empire, and political unrest, including civil war, disquieted the city and countryside. These were unsettling times, and the portrait of Christian women highlights the uneasy, apprehensive mood. After a brief sketch of her story, we will discuss how best to interpret Thecla’s narrative.

Introduction to Thecla

“Written by the hand of Thecla.” So penned the patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril Lucaris, in his note to Charles I, king of England, when in 1627, the patriarch handed the king the ancient biblical manuscript known as Alexandrinus. Cyril’s note explains that Thecla, an honorable Egyptian woman who lived about the time of the Council of Nicaea (325), wrote this copy of the Bible. She was a daughter of the founder of a monastery in Egypt, was persecuted for her faith, and died just after the Council of Nicaea. Originally, her name was attached to the end of the manuscript, but the document was later damaged. About one thousand years later, an Arabic hand noted in the margin of the manuscript’s second page, “They say that this book was written by the hand of Thecla, the martyr.”2 It is historically unlikely that this manuscript was penned by the Thecla of APTh, because she lived at least a century before it was copied. Nevertheless, it is appropriate that her name be immortalized in this way, and it echoes down through the centuries, as witnessed by its presence for over thirteen hundred years in the Alexandrinus manuscript’s history.

Thecla’s story reflects the topic of Christian asceticism and highlights the links between that and women’s writing, reading, and teaching. The ancient world connected the disciplines of study—writing and reading—with eating and drinking. Thus the one might be seen as a substitute for the other in the ascetic lifestyle. In Thecla’s story, she neither eats nor drinks for three days and three nights but only listens to Paul’s words.3 Thecla, the learned ascetic, inspired countless Christians, and her story influenced generations.

Who Is Thecla?

The narrative begins not with Thecla but with the apostle Paul. Indeed, one of the complicating factors in interpreting Thecla’s story is that it stands within the wider Acts of Paul literature, and this collection of stories has its own convoluted textual history. Paul arrives in Thecla’s hometown of Iconium (modern Konya, Turkey) and begins to preach his gospel from a neighbor’s house. Thecla is mesmerized by his teachings, and embraces them with great fervor. She remains at her window, listening for three days, and determines to follow Paul’s ascetic message. This creates a family crisis that propels the rest of Thecla’s life, for she refuses to marry her fiancé. Her mother, Theocleia, is furious, and her fiancé, Thamyrus, is devastated. Thecla is undeterred.

Figure 1.1. A cave outside Ephesus with a fifth- or sixth-century fresco depicting St. Thecla sitting at her window listening to Paul’s gospel. [www.HolyLandPhotos.org]

Due to the treachery of Paul’s two companions, Demas and Hermogenes, who conspire with Thamyrus, Paul is arrested. The crowd shouts that he is a magician, for he turns wives against their husbands. The governor asks Paul to speak to these charges, and Paul gives a brief account, after which the governor has him committed to prison until a later time when he can talk with Paul more directly. Thecla leaves her house at night to visit Paul in his prison cell and reaffirms her commitment to follow Paul and his teaching. She sits at his feet and kisses his chains. When Paul is taken back to see the governor, she remains in the cell, rolling about in the spot where he sat.

Shortly thereafter, Thecla is called to stand before the governor, which she does with much joy. However, when he asks her why she has refused to marry her fiancé, she remains silent but gazes at Paul. Her obstinacy enrages her mother, who calls for her death. In the first of two appearances in the arena, Thecla faces being burned alive, while Paul is beaten and driven out of the city. As she enters the theater, she looks about for Paul, and sees “the Lord sitting as Paul,” who then disappears into the heavens (APTh 3.21). She walks naked to the pyre, and the governor is amazed at her “power.” The fire burns, but Thecla is preserved by a violent storm with hail that kills others in the theater.

Then the narrative jumps to Paul, who with his host family has fled the city and is staying in a nearby cave. They are praying and fasting, and then one of the children goes to the market to buy some bread. There he meets Thecla, who has been searching for Paul. They are reunited, and she begs to go with Paul as he continues his ministry, stating that she will cut her hair to follow him. He refuses, saying that she is young and beautiful and thus might yet succumb to temptations. Even so, she asks to be baptized, and he indicates that it is not yet time for that, but if she is patient, she will receive the water.

In the very next scene, the host family returns to Iconium, and she and Paul arrive in Antioch, where her beauty arouses the desire of Alexander, a leading figure in the city. When Alexander tries to embrace her, Thecla tears his cloak and knocks his crown from his head. At such provocation, he has her taken to the governor, who condemns her to the wild beasts. As she waits her fate, she is given to the care of a leading woman of the city, Tryphaena. This wealthy mother has a vision of her deceased daughter, who declares that Thecla will take her place, and that she, the daughter, will be moved to a righteous place because of Thecla’s prayers.

Before the spectacle, Alexander goes to Tryphaena’s house and asks for Thecla. The woman adamantly refuses, even though she knows that such a refusal means that Thecla will face a horrific death in the arena. Tryphaena understands Thecla to be a divine mediator whose prayers can save her daughter. As Thecla enters the arena, some in the crowd are appalled at what they see as a miscarriage of justice, but their voice does not carry the day. The beasts attack, but a lioness protects her from a charging bear, and then dies while killing a lion. More beasts are sent into the arena. Thecla raises her hands in prayer, and then she plunges into a pool populated by ferocious seals, thereby experiencing baptism. A lightning strike kills all t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Endorsements
• Dedication
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Time Line of Major Persons and Events
• Introduction
• 1. Thecla: Christian Female Protomartyr and Virgin of the Church
• 2. Perpetua and Felicitas: Mothers and Martyrs
• 3. Christian Women in Catacomb Art
• 4. From Pagan to Christian, Martyr to Ascetic
• 5. Helena Augusta, “Mother of the Empire”
• 6. Egeria’s Itinerary and Christian Pilgrimage
• 7. Macrina the Ascetic Entrepreneur and the “Unlearned” Wisdom of Monica
• 8. Paula, Marcella, and the Melanias: Ascetics, Scholars, and Compatriots in Controversy
• 9. Aelia Pulcheria, “Protectress of the Empire,” and Empress Eudocia, a Theological Poet
• Conclusion: Responsibly Remembering
• Bibliography
• Index of Ancient Sources
• Index of Subjects
• Back Cover