Essay/Blog 5

The passages contained in Chapter 2 of 1 Timothy lay out, under the guise of valid religious authority of God, a prescription of what a proper Christian woman she look like and how she should behave.  Thecla, in the Acts of Thecla and Paul, models seemingly exactly the opposite of what Timothy prescribes, achieving her own validated religious authority in the process.  Timothy’s prescriptions can be qualified into the 4 themes of modesty, submission, silence, and non-authority when it comes to women, and Thecla reacts to and contradicts each of these themes in turn, most importantly the forbiddance of authority.

1 Timothy seems almost infatuated with controlling how women dress describing that, “the women should dress themselves modestly… in suitable clothing, not with… gold, pearls, or expensive clothes…as is proper for women who profess reverence in God,” (1 Tim 2:9-10)  Thecla turns the issue of appearance and especially clothing around, using the clothing and social conventions to her favor.  She uses her gold jewelry and fine clothes to bribe her way into the jail that was holding Paul (Thec 30), and donates her extra finery to the poor as she leaves for her mission of discipleship (Thec 41).  Furthermore, she accepts the standard clothes given to her by the governor while still remarking, “He who clothed me when I was naked among the beasts shall clothe me with salvation in the day of judgment,” (Thec 38) and most remarkably, she dares to take on the dress of a man to show her complete authority and take the role of a disciple (Thec 40).

1Timothy also has strong words to say about a woman’s role in the church, namely that she should, “learn in silence with full submission,” and moreover that she shall certainly not, “teach or to have authority over a man, she is to keep silent,” (1Tim 2:11-12) Thecla embodies the rejection of these tenants even more brazenly than the appearance issues.  Even when she is silent (which Is only with certain characters and early in her story) she is still defiant of male authority, ignoring both her betrothed and the judge (Thec 10, 20), as well as denying Alexander in the street, only this time more forcefully and actively (Thec 26) She is regularly shown praying and witnessing aloud, like in front of her funeral pyre (Thec 22) and multiple times in the arena (Thec 34, 28) so she is anything but silent, particular moving toward the end of her story.  She finally culminates her story by becoming a disciple preaching the word of God, the opposite of the silence Timothy seems to require (Thec 41). 

Finally, not only does she refuse to submit, like Timothy seems to demand, but she turns this idea on its head as well as she acquires an astonishing amount of authority herself.  From the beginning there are signs of her coming authority, as when she, rolled herself upon the place where Paul taught as he sat in the prison,” (Thec 18) and she openly challenges nearly all male figures in the story.  She is also seen praying for and with, as well as teaching, Tryphaena and her handmaidens (Thec 28, 32, 39) showing the start of her ministering career.  Most impressively, she even baptizes herself, “In the name of Jesus Christ I baptize myself,” (Thec 34).  After this, her discipleship is fully realized and is even validated by both God (his constant protection of her, and response to her prayers) and Paul who says of her, after she tells him she has, “taken the bath,” to “Go, and teach the Word of God,” not as an order, but as a confirmation of her truth (Thec 40-41).  She ends her story in command of a group of followers (which includes men) certifying her as the total opposite of the idealized woman Timothy describes – and she seems to garner the better validation through both God and Paul.