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.

Blog 5

In, 1 Timothy 2:9 it states that a woman should dress modestly and without fancy clothing or jewelry.  The woman should be humble in her appearance and attitude. I believe Thecla did follow this message. It never mentions whether Thecla dressed in lavish clothing before she heard Paul speak, however, we do know she had planned to marry. In the story of Paul and Thecla it mentions that marriage was about riches and lifestyle, therefore, we can imply that she was not fully living the lifestyle 1 Timothy 2:9 describes for a woman. Although, when she set out to find Paul she dressed in simple clothing as to not attract attention. She did not want to dress in lavish clothing, her only concern was to find Paul and begin spreading the word of God.

 In 1 Timothy 2:11 a woman is encouraged to learn in full submission, which Thecla did when she listened to Paul. Her fiancé and mother were very displeased, because Thecla would not speak to them or move away from the window. She was immersed with what Paul was teaching and wanted to learn. Then, 1 Timothy 2:12 describes how no woman is suppose to teach or have authority over men. Paul actually tells Thecla to go and teach the word of God. He does so without mentioning whether she should teach to just women, just men, or both. I have interpreted that Paul wanted her to teach to both men and women even though that is contradicting with what 1 Timothy 2:12 says. The story of Paul and Thecla does describe Thecla teaching to women, but the story was never clear as to whether or not Thecla taught men too. I believe Thecla did conform to what 1 Timothy 2:1-15 says is right. 

Blog 5

The author of 1 Timothy addresses his audience with a set of rules that the men and women should live by. First, he uses authority to entice the audience. He lets the people know that since he is an apostle, his rules are valid (1 Tim 2:7). The author continues with his message and tells the men to pray. However, he does not mention that he wants the women to pray. This may be early evidence of his idea to have women be subjected. He further states that the women should dress modestly in inexpensive clothes and without jewelry, and they should never teach or have dominance over a man (1 Tim 2:12-13).

            The Acts of Paul and Thecla provides another understanding of women. Paul came and taught that virgins were pleasing to God, and this intrigued Thecla. She seemed to not even hesitate to want to follow the teachings of Paul and to live her life for God. However, the society that Thecla lived in was strongly focused on marriage, perhaps even to the extent of social status. Women were expected to be married to men, and when Thecla decided to no longer get married and follow Paul, Thamyris inquired about Paul. The two men told Thamyris that Paul is “depriving” men of wives and young maidens (Acts of Paul and Thecla 11-12). This statement makes it seem that women were exposed and seen as subjective and lesser than men. They were possibly even seen as sexual objects, and purity does not seem to be valued in their society. It is possible that Thecla conformed to what her society wanted in the beginning because in the end she did not hesitate to leave and follow Paul; she did not really want to live the life that her family wanted for her.

Blog 5

1 Timothy 2:1-15 highlights a set of standards for the way in which people are to show devotion to the Lord, Jesus Christ. This chapter is especially particular with regard to the way women should live. A woman, as prescribed in Timothy’s text, state that woman should give up worldly possession, like jewelry and fancy clothing, and live so that she may “learn in silence with full submission,” (1Tim 2:11). Women were seen as inferior to men for her responsibility in deceiving Adam as 1 Timothy 2:14 states. Modesty on part of the woman was most revered.

Thecla, in the Acts of Paul, is interesting because she seems to maintain her holiness through her modest lifestyle while at the same time denouncing the standards of full submission and silence as compared to Timothy’s teachings. Theca is a betrothed young girl who falls in love with the preaching’s of Paul. The way in which she denies the authority of her mother and husband to be represent an autonomy and disobedience that would be detestable to the teachings of Timothy (Acts of Thecla 13). However, we also see Thecla characterized by devotion to a life of celibacy and her captivation for the virgin life Paul preaches about (Acts of Thecla 7). It seems that Thecla embodies the modest life style set forth in Timothy while at the same time expressively challenging the women’s role as submissive and silent to a man’s authority. 

Even with this disparity, I would say Thecla does not conform to Timothy’s understanding of women because although she is submissive in relation to Paul, she goes on to spread the teachings of Paul as he exclaims “go and teach the word of God,” and she does as such (Acts of Thecla 41). In the teachings of timothy no woman would be awarded such opportunities of teaching the oracles of God for a woman is to have no authority over man and “to keep silent.” Not only should a woman not be teaching but she should be the one learning “with full submission.” (1 Timothy 2:11-12) The power she has in leaving her husband and her ability to spread the word of God is evidence, in my opinion, that Thecla challenges Timothy’s understanding of women.

Blog 5

In 1 Timothy 2:1-15 the author gives strict guidelines to how they believe women should behave. These guidelines are rather strict and really put a bind to women’s hairstyle as the author hates braided hair for some reason.  Yet despite these strict guidelines, not all women of the bible behave in the desired manner(s). In the Acts of Paul and Thecla, the former character is quite virtuous.  In fact, when she first comes across the words of Paul Thecla, “sat at a near-by window and listened night and day to the word of the virgin life as it was spoken by Paul; and she did not turn away from the window but pressed on in the faith rejoicing exceedingly. Moreover, when she saw many women and virgins going in to Paul she desired to be counted worthy herself to stand in Paul’s presence and hear the word of Christ.” One would think that this clear desire to remain pure and hear the word of Christ would count Thecla among the more Christ-like.

But later on Thecla is taken prisoner. In order to free herself, Thecla gives her captives her bracelets and a silver mirror (Acts of Paul and Thecla). These fashion accessories go against the guidelines in 1 Timothy 2:1-15, “women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes.” Yet it was these bangles that removed her from wrongful imprisonment so she could continue to be one of the faithful flock.

Finally, when Thecla is to be taken to burn at the stake she “looked upon the crowd, she saw the Lord sitting in the form of Paul and said: ‘As if I were not able to endure, Paul has come to look after me.” In that moment she believes Paul is the Lord and is preaching to the on looking crowd. As one might imagine this once again goes against the desires of the author of 1 Timothy 2:1-15, “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.” Now, I can’t say what style Thecla wore her hair, but since she does not behave in the ways of Timothy I can only imagine each individual strand is braided as it could possibly be.

Thecla the Troublemaker (Truong)

Thecla the Troublemaker

   1 Timothy 2, particularly lines 8-15, speak of proper conduct within the church. While that is all well and good, it goes strangely in depth about the ways that women must conduct themselves. While men receive simple instructions of “pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument” (1Tim 2:8”), women had a veritable laundry list of tasks to perform. 1 Timothy 9 outlined proper women's fashion, but it is 1 Timothy 12 that would have a modern-day feminist prepare a lawsuit, “I permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.” But why does the Bible require such insistent instructions for women? Were they not already properly behaved women who respected and honored their husbands; knowing that through childbirth, her sins would be forgiven? Joanna Dewey suggests in the Women's Bible Commentary that these verse were actually written to counteract the changing social structure of women in post-Pauline Christianity. While it is a known work of fiction, the Acts of Paul and Thecla demonstrates the heightened role granted to women in Paul's era, which drove the need for 2^nd century Christians to alter.

   Thecla was a virgin. She was betrothed to a man named Thamyris, which was encouraged heavily by her mother Theocleia. Thecla, however, was not content with the lifestyle that laid before her and instead was enamored by the teachings of Paul who had come to the city to teach the word of Christ. Even when Paul was imprisoned for his teachings, Thecla snuck into the prison to continue learning how she could be saved. Even when she was set upon a pyre to be burned, she remained steadfast in her new belief and was rewarded for it. When she meets again with Paul, she offers to discard a symbol of her womanhood, “I will cut my hair short (Acts of Paul, 25)”. They come to the city of Antioch, where a man named Alexander falls in love with her. He embraces her openly but she invokes the name of God and rips off the man's cloak, publicly shaming him. (Acts of Paul, 26). 1 Timothy 2 would most certainly not approve of such a spectacle, violating the laws of remaining silent as well as expressing authority over a man (1 Tim 2:12).

   In retaliation for her defiance against him, Alexander has her pitted against beasts, but again she comes out unscathed. The crowd that witnessed her miracles gathered to her and sought to learn from her. Rather than rebuking them from seeking teaching from a woman, she leads them, using them to help her locate Paul. When the two reunite, Paul does not chastise her for spreading the teachings like 1 Tim 2:12 disapproves of, but in fact, tells her, “Go and teach the word of God! (Acts of Paul, 41)” Clearly, Paul did not know what he was doing. He was teaching Christianity poorly and leading down people down the wrong path. That's why when the churches had to make some corrections to the letters of Paul in the second century to ensure the woman would not follow Thecla's example.

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.

Make Up Your Mind Paul! Part 2

This week’s prompt is a perfect sequel to my previous blog over women’s role in Ephesians.  The theme of women being placed in secondary and submissive roles is evident in both 1 Timothy and Ephesians; and it could be argued that it’s most blatant in the former.  The author of 1 Timothy writes that, “women should learn quietly and submissively.  I do not let women teach men or have authority over them.  Let them listen quietly.  For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve.  And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan.  The woman was deceived, and sin was the result” (1 Timothy 2:11-14).  Not only does the author believe women should be submissive, he also blames them for the introduction of sin.  Clearly, the author of 1 Timothy does not have the most favorable view on women. 

            Now this is where things get interesting; after reading the Acts of Thecla and 1 Timothy 2 it’s hard to miss the clear contradiction between them.  The Acts of Thecla in no way conforms to the role that 1 Timothy assigns to women.  After Thecla overcame her trials and made it back to Paul, he tells her to, “go and teach the word of God” (Acts of Paul :41)!  Now remember, this is the same (alleged) Paul that in 1 Timothy said he didn’t allow women to teach men or have authority over them.  Someone is lying here; the words of the author who claims to be Paul in 1 Timothy, do not reconcile with the words that the author of Thecla’s story claims Paul spoke.  McGinn gives more evidence for Thecla’s ministerial authority, writing,  ”Paul leads her into the house of a man named Hermias to hear Thecla’s account, thus inviting her to preach there.  This shows that Paul validates her ministry as teacher of the gospel to men-even himself-as well as to women” (McGinn :819).