Christian Apocrypha: The Story of Paul and Thecla

The Old Testament has its Apocrypha, books that were important and popular, but did not make it into the canonical Bible, such as the “Books of the Maccabees” and “Judith”. The New Testament has its Apocrypha as well, books which were so popular and so often copied in the early days of Christianity that they survive to this day, even though they did not make it into the Bible. Although they could not compare with inspired scripture like the Gospels, these books were written to teach Christian ideas and to entertain readers at the same time. One such book is the “Acts of Paul”, a collection of stories about the Apostle Paul. The Acts of Paul, like the “Acts of Peter” and other apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, were meant to satisfy the need for more stories about the Apostles. The “Acts of Paul” contains the famous story of the greatest of virgin martyrs, a young woman named Thecla. She was a model for female ascetics through the centuries, and she was made into a Saint. Her story can inspire women today as they take on leadership roles in a once male-dominated church.

“Paul and Thecla” was written in the second century by a presbyter (church elder) in Asia Minor, the region where Paul started several churches during his missionary journeys. Paul had been dead for a century when the story was written, but his collected letters continued to guide the church. The story begins as Paul travels from Antioch to Iconium (both in modern Turkey), on his first missionary journey. In the Bible, Acts 13 explains that Paul preached to the Gentiles and the Jews in Antioch, making many converts, but others were angered by his preaching and forced him to flee to Iconium.

In “Paul and Thecla”, we get a rare physical description of Paul, which has influenced artists for centuries. We read, “And he saw Paul coming, a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness, for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel.”

Paul goes to stay at the house of Onesiphorus, where he begins to preach the word of God concerning the resurrection of Jesus and the importance of abstinence from sex. Paul wrote about abstinence in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, saying, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.” So the author of “Paul and Thecla” is possibly being authentic when he has Paul say, “Blessed are they who have kept the flesh pure, for they shall become a temple of God,” and “Blessed are the bodies of virgins, for they shall be well pleasing to God, and shall not lose the reward of their purity.” Originally, when Paul was writing 1 Corinthians, he expected that the end of the world was soon to come. It was therefore less important to get married because one should instead be preparing for the heavenly bridegroom, Christ. But among some Christians who interpreted Paul’s legacy, the ascetic movement continued even after that sense of eschatological expectation faded, hence the teaching about abstinence in “Paul and Thecla”.

Enter the virgin Thecla, a young Greek woman who sits below a window and listens to Paul preach day and night. Although she is engaged to a young man named Thamyris, she becomes fascinated by the virgin life Paul is preaching, and she does not get up, even to eat or drink. Her mother and Thamyris are unable to move her, and she no longer wants to be married. Paul’s preaching that people should stay sexually pure in order to have eternal life is very upsetting to Thamyris and the local young men. But why did it appeal to Thecla? In early Christianity, the virgin life could, in a way, empower women. In a married household, the man was in charge and the role of a woman was strictly defined and centered on child bearing. Perhaps Thecla saw a way to be free of all that.

The angry Thamyris has Paul dragged before the governor and accused of teaching women not to marry. Paul is then jailed, but Thecla will not be parted from him. She bribes her way into the prison where she sits at Paul’s feet and continues to hear about God’s plan for salvation. When Paul is returned to the governor to face trial, Thecla continues to hold fast to him, until her enraged mother calls for Thecla to be burned alive as a lesson to any other women who may have approved of Paul’s message. Paul is scourged and driven from the city while a pyre is lit for Thecla, who bravely faces her death. Due to a miraculous intervention by God, a huge rainstorm quenches the flames and saves her.

The outcast Thecla goes in search of Paul, who has taken refuge in a roadside tomb. She finds Paul praying for her survival, and they are reunited. Thecla cuts her hair short and agrees to follow Paul, but he does not baptize her as she asks, telling her to be patient. Paul and Thecla travel to Antioch, but when they arrive, an influential young nobleman named Alexander falls in love with her. He publically tries to force himself on her, and she fights free, tearing his robe and knocking off his crown. In his humiliation at being laughed at by onlookers, he has her brought before the governor and accused of assaulting a nobleman, and she is unjustly sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in an arena. The local women are horrified at this evil judgment. Paul is nowhere to be found, so Queen Tryphaena, who is related to Caesar, agrees to keep custody of Thecla until her sentence is carried out. Tryphaena comes to love Thecla like her deceased daughter. The day of the arena games comes, and the Queen watches anxiously as Thecla faces the lions and bears. Another miracle occurs - a lioness sacrifices herself for Thecla, defending her by killing the other animals, while the local women gasp and cry out.

Thecla spots a pool of water, and decides to baptize herself in it before she dies, in the name of Jesus Christ. The angry Alexander has even more beasts thrown at her. Women in the crowd throw perfumed flowers that effectively put the animals to sleep. Then, Alexander has Thecla tied between two raging bulls, hoping to see her torn apart, but a heavenly fire burns the ropes. Finally, the watching Queen is overcome and collapses, while her handmaidens call out that they think she is dead. She has really only fainted, but suddenly Alexander and the governor become afraid of what her relative, Caesar, might do. Tryphaena’s death at the games could make Caesar attack Antioch. The games are abruptly halted. (If this was the Queen’s ploy, it was a clever one.) The governor demands to know who Thecla is, and what she has about her to protect her from the beasts. “She answered, ‘I am a handmaid of the living God. As to what I have about me, I have believed in him in whom God is well pleased, his Son. For his sake not one of the beasts touched me. For he alone is the goal of salvation and the foundation of immortal life.’”

Thecla is released to the crowd of women, and proceeds to teach the gospel to the newly believing Queen and her household. But Thecla yearns for Paul again, and goes to seek him where he is preaching in Myra. There she reveals to Paul that she has stayed a virgin, and that she has baptized herself. Paul is astonished to see her, and commands her to go and teach the word of God, using the gold given to her by the Queen to help the poor. So Thecla returns to Iconium, where she finds her former fiancé dead. After offering her mother the gospel, Thecla travels to Seleucia, a city in Mesopotamia, where she founds and lives in a cave convent and baptizes, heals, and teaches the word of God to many people for the next seventy-two years.

Apocryphal works like “Paul and Thecla” are not on the level of Holy Scripture, but they do reflect teachings and concerns of the time in which they were written, and so they can teach us what was important to early Christians. Certainly the sufferings Thecla faced were historical. Depending on which Roman Emperor was in power during a given decade, and what policies he had towards Christians, there were many periods during the centuries before Constantine when Christians were thrown to wild beasts, burned, crucified, or tortured to death in public arenas. They were executed for refusing to worship pagan gods. Of course, they did not experience the miraculous interventions that saved Thecla. But perhaps “Paul and Thecla” was written during a period of persecution, and was meant to give courage to people who were going to face martyrdom.

Was there a real Thecla? Various Church fathers mention “Thekla” and list her as one who faced martyrdom by fire and beasts, and Seleucia was later known as the city of the holy virgin Thecla. There really was a Tryphaena, first cousin once removed to the Emperor Claudius (41-54CE). It is probable that the real story of Thecla (whatever it was) was romanticized and embellished by the second century presbyter who wrote “Paul and Thecla”. That presbyter wrote a very popular story which was widely copied and translated, but unfortunately, the church objected strongly to some elements in it. The author was punished by being expelled from the church. What the patriarchal church leaders of the second century could not tolerate even in fiction was a woman evangelist baptizing and preaching. Only men were allowed to baptize and preach. Fortunately the story of “Paul and Thecla” has survived to modern times, and now many churches ordain women. This very old feminist story was evidently written before its time.