Submissive or Active Women? Essay Blog #5 - Kari Velasquez

The treatment towards women in Paul in the Acts of Paul and Thecla stands in direct opposition to the extremely patriarchal and condescending words of advice given to Timothy in Tim 2:1-15. Some of TImothy’s advice is sensible, advising modest clothing and avoidance of expensive clothing and jewels, but his patriarchal views are quite evident when he preaches, “Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.” Who gave Timothy the authority to refuse any women permission to teach religion or even speak to a man unbidden? This is in direct concordance with the teachings of the prophets and kings in the Old Testament, but Jesus introduced more equality for women. For example, Mary Magdalene was an apostle, and his conversation with the Samaritan woman was that of a conversation with a potential apostle and an equal, despite her gender and different nationality in a culturally and gender biased society. In the Acts of Paul and Thecla, the narrative begins with a long prayer Paul is saying out in the open, and Thecla is one of the virgins who hears it. It sounds like he has great respect for women, saying things like, “Blessed are the bodies of the virgins, for they shall be well pleasing to God, and shall not lose the reward of their purity.” (Paul Apocrypha 3:17). When Thecla hears this, she becomes empowered and wishes to remain a virgin rather than enter into an undesired marriage. She decides not to marry her suitor, Thamyris, which angers and frightens her mother Theocleia to the point that she cries out, “Burn the lawless one! Burn her that is no bride in the midst of the theatre, that all women who have been taught by this man be afraid!” (Paul Apocrypha 3:30). Her reaction may not have been due to an evil nature; the reaction of her whole town to Paul’s speech which several virgins had become awestruck by is one of fear. This is due to the fact that women had been in a submissive position in society for a very long time, and expected to marry and have children. If too many of the young women decided to become nuns, the people felt their population would be threatened,. More than that, though patriarchy and misogyny go hand in hand, and mainly the people were frightened of any women altering the status quo. An upset in the status quo can lead to a collapse of the entire system, especially since women hold up a very good half, if not more, of the entire human race. The rest of the narrative follows Thecla through a series of miracles. Not only do the flames not consume her, God brings down a hailstorm which quenches the flames and even kills a few onlookers. Women become excited and empowered witnessing this miracle. This excitement escalates during the next miracle, when Thecla is thrown into a pit of beasts, and a lioness sacrifices her own life to protect Thecla from the other beasts, and God sent down a fire-cloud to hide her nakedness and also to show the crowd that she was indeed a prophet. In contrast to the advice given to women by Timothy, Thecla finds her voice rather than silences it. She also baptizes herself, performs miracles, prays in public, and influences her entire community. Even if this story is mythological, it is a lovely one, and certainly as inspiring as the stories of miracles performed by prophets like Moses. Especially since the social situation for women in Thecla’s time was so extremely oppressive.