B. Diane Lipsett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199754519
- eISBN:
- 9780199827213
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754519.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Self-restraint or self-mastery may appear to be the opposite of erotic desire. But in three ancient tales of conversion—The Shepherd of Hermas, the Acts of Paul and Thecla, and Joseph and Aseneth—the ...
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Self-restraint or self-mastery may appear to be the opposite of erotic desire. But in three ancient tales of conversion—The Shepherd of Hermas, the Acts of Paul and Thecla, and Joseph and Aseneth—the interplay of desire and self-restraint is complex and dynamic, as careful literary analysis shows. This study treats conversion—the marked change in a protagonist’s piety and identity—as in part an effect of story, a function of narrative textures, coherence, and closure. Readings of the three narratives gain nuance through appeals to varied theorists of desire, self-formation, and narrative, including Foucault, psychoanalytic theorists, and the ancient literary critic Longinus. Well grounded in scholarship on Hermas, Thecla, and Aseneth, the closely paced readings sharpen attention to each story, while also advancing discussions of ancient views of the self; of desire, masculinity, and virginity; of the cultural codes around marriage and continence; and of the textual energetics of conversion tales.Less
Self-restraint or self-mastery may appear to be the opposite of erotic desire. But in three ancient tales of conversion—The Shepherd of Hermas, the Acts of Paul and Thecla, and Joseph and Aseneth—the interplay of desire and self-restraint is complex and dynamic, as careful literary analysis shows. This study treats conversion—the marked change in a protagonist’s piety and identity—as in part an effect of story, a function of narrative textures, coherence, and closure. Readings of the three narratives gain nuance through appeals to varied theorists of desire, self-formation, and narrative, including Foucault, psychoanalytic theorists, and the ancient literary critic Longinus. Well grounded in scholarship on Hermas, Thecla, and Aseneth, the closely paced readings sharpen attention to each story, while also advancing discussions of ancient views of the self; of desire, masculinity, and virginity; of the cultural codes around marriage and continence; and of the textual energetics of conversion tales.
B. Diane Lipsett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199754519
- eISBN:
- 9780199827213
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754519.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The conclusion compares concisely how the different narrative textures and particularities of the tales of Hermas, Thecla, and Aseneth generate discrete representations of conversion. It also offers ...
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The conclusion compares concisely how the different narrative textures and particularities of the tales of Hermas, Thecla, and Aseneth generate discrete representations of conversion. It also offers a compressed summary of some of the gender-laden elements in these conversion stories: virginity, celibacy, masculinity, self-mastery and desire. Each story offers a distinctive development of the thematic of desire, restraint, and conversion.Less
The conclusion compares concisely how the different narrative textures and particularities of the tales of Hermas, Thecla, and Aseneth generate discrete representations of conversion. It also offers a compressed summary of some of the gender-laden elements in these conversion stories: virginity, celibacy, masculinity, self-mastery and desire. Each story offers a distinctive development of the thematic of desire, restraint, and conversion.
Vasiliki M. Limberis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730889
- eISBN:
- 9780199895229
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730889.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This book examines the cult of the martyrs in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Chapter 1 analyzes the complex rituals of the ...
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This book examines the cult of the martyrs in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Chapter 1 analyzes the complex rituals of the panegyris, the martyr festival, as a transformative event by which the faithful experience the martyr’s holiness. How they employ the martyrs in preaching, in organizational protocols, in Scriptural exegesis, and in their call to Christian morality all show their own profound devotion to martyr piety and their evangelical zeal in promoting the cult of the martyrs. Chapter 2 examines the Cappadocians’ deployment of rhetorical description, ekphrasis, to advance the cult of the martyrs ritually, spiritually, and materially. Gregory of Nyssa’s ekphrasis for St. Theodore incited the faithful to participate in ritual transformation. Such materiality is brought to bear in Nyssen’s other ekphrasis describing difficulties in building a martyrium. The chapter compares Nyssen’s martyrium to the extant ruins of the martyrium of St. Philip in Hierapolis, giving an imaginative glimpse at the spectacular structures the Cappadocians funded. Chapter 3 introduces the Cappadocians and their families through a discussion of the ways kinship occurred in fourth-century Cappadocia: marriage and birth, monasticism, and martyr piety. Kinship obligations provided the means for the Cappadocians to successfully claim certain martyrs as their ancestral kin and to turn some of their family members into martyrs within a few years of their deaths. Chapter 4 deals with the Cappadocians’ utilization, manipulation, and preaching about both genders in their martyr panegyrics that contrasts sharply with their articulation of gender in their family panegyrics.Less
This book examines the cult of the martyrs in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Chapter 1 analyzes the complex rituals of the panegyris, the martyr festival, as a transformative event by which the faithful experience the martyr’s holiness. How they employ the martyrs in preaching, in organizational protocols, in Scriptural exegesis, and in their call to Christian morality all show their own profound devotion to martyr piety and their evangelical zeal in promoting the cult of the martyrs. Chapter 2 examines the Cappadocians’ deployment of rhetorical description, ekphrasis, to advance the cult of the martyrs ritually, spiritually, and materially. Gregory of Nyssa’s ekphrasis for St. Theodore incited the faithful to participate in ritual transformation. Such materiality is brought to bear in Nyssen’s other ekphrasis describing difficulties in building a martyrium. The chapter compares Nyssen’s martyrium to the extant ruins of the martyrium of St. Philip in Hierapolis, giving an imaginative glimpse at the spectacular structures the Cappadocians funded. Chapter 3 introduces the Cappadocians and their families through a discussion of the ways kinship occurred in fourth-century Cappadocia: marriage and birth, monasticism, and martyr piety. Kinship obligations provided the means for the Cappadocians to successfully claim certain martyrs as their ancestral kin and to turn some of their family members into martyrs within a few years of their deaths. Chapter 4 deals with the Cappadocians’ utilization, manipulation, and preaching about both genders in their martyr panegyrics that contrasts sharply with their articulation of gender in their family panegyrics.
Kim Haines-Eitzen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195171297
- eISBN:
- 9780199918140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171297.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The focus of this chapter is the figure of Thecla, a female character who has seen significant scholarly attention in recent years. How does the textual transmission of the second-century Acts of ...
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The focus of this chapter is the figure of Thecla, a female character who has seen significant scholarly attention in recent years. How does the textual transmission of the second-century Acts of Paul and Thecla come to rewrite and refashion the figure of Thecla? And how does Thecla come to be associated with books in literature and art? These questions are at the forefront of the chapter.Less
The focus of this chapter is the figure of Thecla, a female character who has seen significant scholarly attention in recent years. How does the textual transmission of the second-century Acts of Paul and Thecla come to rewrite and refashion the figure of Thecla? And how does Thecla come to be associated with books in literature and art? These questions are at the forefront of the chapter.
Ross Shepard Kraemer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199743186
- eISBN:
- 9780199894680
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199743186.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
This chapter revisits the fictional story of Thecla of Iconium, a virgin who accepts Paul’s teachings of celibacy and asceticism and is ultimately authorized by Paul to “go forth and teach the word ...
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This chapter revisits the fictional story of Thecla of Iconium, a virgin who accepts Paul’s teachings of celibacy and asceticism and is ultimately authorized by Paul to “go forth and teach the word of God.” After summarizing and analyzing contemporary debates about the Acts of Thecla, Kraemer concludes that as in Justin Martyr’s Apology (with which Thecla may have some indeterminate connection), Christians are shown to be the true bearers of morality and piety, as demonstrated in their women, who index the presence or absence of these qualities in ancient social groups. Gender reversal is central to the text’s critique. Christian women exemplify masculine morality and piety: Christian men are deficient and elite polytheist men are the least virtuous, in all senses. Analyzing Tertullian’s opposition to women in positions of authority over men, and his defamation of the story of Thecla in particular as support for such views, Kraemer argues that positioning Thecla as a teacher authorized by Paul himself is part of real ancient Christian debates over the ability of women to assume offices and authority ordinarily constructed as masculine.Less
This chapter revisits the fictional story of Thecla of Iconium, a virgin who accepts Paul’s teachings of celibacy and asceticism and is ultimately authorized by Paul to “go forth and teach the word of God.” After summarizing and analyzing contemporary debates about the Acts of Thecla, Kraemer concludes that as in Justin Martyr’s Apology (with which Thecla may have some indeterminate connection), Christians are shown to be the true bearers of morality and piety, as demonstrated in their women, who index the presence or absence of these qualities in ancient social groups. Gender reversal is central to the text’s critique. Christian women exemplify masculine morality and piety: Christian men are deficient and elite polytheist men are the least virtuous, in all senses. Analyzing Tertullian’s opposition to women in positions of authority over men, and his defamation of the story of Thecla in particular as support for such views, Kraemer argues that positioning Thecla as a teacher authorized by Paul himself is part of real ancient Christian debates over the ability of women to assume offices and authority ordinarily constructed as masculine.
B. Diane Lipsett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199754519
- eISBN:
- 9780199827213
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199754519.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The chapter offers a close analysis of The Acts of Paul and Thecla, tracing how desire, restraint, and narrative transformation intersect with depictions of virginity, maternity, and masculinity. ...
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The chapter offers a close analysis of The Acts of Paul and Thecla, tracing how desire, restraint, and narrative transformation intersect with depictions of virginity, maternity, and masculinity. Select comparisons are made to the Greek romances Daphnis and Chloe and Leucippe and Clitophon as well as to The Acts of Peter and The Acts of Andrew. In Thecla’s fast-paced tale with minimal interiority, desire destabilizes the protagonist and propels conversion: social reidentification, ritual act, changes in language, changes in the self. Self-restraint and resurrection (companion values in this narrative) are not the antidotes to Thecla’s desire, but its objects. The reading is also informed by selections from several literary interpreters, including Judith Butler and Julia Kristeva, as they draw from psychoanalytic views of desire’s displacements, movements and returns.Less
The chapter offers a close analysis of The Acts of Paul and Thecla, tracing how desire, restraint, and narrative transformation intersect with depictions of virginity, maternity, and masculinity. Select comparisons are made to the Greek romances Daphnis and Chloe and Leucippe and Clitophon as well as to The Acts of Peter and The Acts of Andrew. In Thecla’s fast-paced tale with minimal interiority, desire destabilizes the protagonist and propels conversion: social reidentification, ritual act, changes in language, changes in the self. Self-restraint and resurrection (companion values in this narrative) are not the antidotes to Thecla’s desire, but its objects. The reading is also informed by selections from several literary interpreters, including Judith Butler and Julia Kristeva, as they draw from psychoanalytic views of desire’s displacements, movements and returns.
Jeffrey A. Trumbower
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140996
- eISBN:
- 9780199834747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140990.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Chapter three is an intensive study of one of the Apocryphal Acts of the apostles, namely, the second‐century Acts of Paul, which includes a long section about Thecla, a female companion of Paul from ...
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Chapter three is an intensive study of one of the Apocryphal Acts of the apostles, namely, the second‐century Acts of Paul, which includes a long section about Thecla, a female companion of Paul from Iconium in Asia Minor. Thecla is probably a fictional character, but her story can tell us much about Christian attitudes toward rescue for the dead. On the night before she is to become a martyr for her Christian faith, Thecla utters a prayer for the dead pagan Falconilla, the daughter of Thecla's newly acquired pagan friend Tryphaena. Falconilla had appeared to her mother in a dream to request a transfer to the “place of the righteous,” and Thecla accomplishes this with her prayer.Less
Chapter three is an intensive study of one of the Apocryphal Acts of the apostles, namely, the second‐century Acts of Paul, which includes a long section about Thecla, a female companion of Paul from Iconium in Asia Minor. Thecla is probably a fictional character, but her story can tell us much about Christian attitudes toward rescue for the dead. On the night before she is to become a martyr for her Christian faith, Thecla utters a prayer for the dead pagan Falconilla, the daughter of Thecla's newly acquired pagan friend Tryphaena. Falconilla had appeared to her mother in a dream to request a transfer to the “place of the righteous,” and Thecla accomplishes this with her prayer.
Jeffrey A. Trumbower
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140996
- eISBN:
- 9780199834747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140990.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The eighth and final chapter briefly surveys the history of posthumous salvation after Augustine. Central is a story told about Pope Gregory the Great (sixth century), who supposedly uttered a prayer ...
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The eighth and final chapter briefly surveys the history of posthumous salvation after Augustine. Central is a story told about Pope Gregory the Great (sixth century), who supposedly uttered a prayer for the salvation of the pagan Roman emperor Trajan, who had lived in the second century. In Eastern Orthodoxy, this prayer is often combined with that of Thecla for Falconilla as two examples of God's mercy even upon dead pagans. In the west, because of Augustine's influence, the story is retold to include the resurrection of the body of Trajan, since without physical baptism, no one who lived after Christ can be saved.Less
The eighth and final chapter briefly surveys the history of posthumous salvation after Augustine. Central is a story told about Pope Gregory the Great (sixth century), who supposedly uttered a prayer for the salvation of the pagan Roman emperor Trajan, who had lived in the second century. In Eastern Orthodoxy, this prayer is often combined with that of Thecla for Falconilla as two examples of God's mercy even upon dead pagans. In the west, because of Augustine's influence, the story is retold to include the resurrection of the body of Trajan, since without physical baptism, no one who lived after Christ can be saved.
Kim Haines-Eitzen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195171297
- eISBN:
- 9780199918140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195171297.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Scholars have long questioned whether the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, which feature prominent female characters, could have been written by or for women. This chapter argues against such a claim ...
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Scholars have long questioned whether the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, which feature prominent female characters, could have been written by or for women. This chapter argues against such a claim on the basis of the physical features of the textual remains—on papyri and parchment—of these books: the features of handwriting, quality of papyrus and parchment, and so forth show that the readers for these texts were not qualitatively different from reader of other texts in early Christianity.Less
Scholars have long questioned whether the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, which feature prominent female characters, could have been written by or for women. This chapter argues against such a claim on the basis of the physical features of the textual remains—on papyri and parchment—of these books: the features of handwriting, quality of papyrus and parchment, and so forth show that the readers for these texts were not qualitatively different from reader of other texts in early Christianity.
Susan E. Hylen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190243821
- eISBN:
- 9780190243845
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190243821.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
The New Testament and other early Christian writings point to leadership roles for women at the same time that they affirm cultural norms of women’s modesty and silence. A Modest Apostle offers a new ...
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The New Testament and other early Christian writings point to leadership roles for women at the same time that they affirm cultural norms of women’s modesty and silence. A Modest Apostle offers a new way of understanding this contradictory evidence for women’s lives. Challenging the view that women leaders were exceptions to the rule or evidence of heretical communities that encouraged women’s participation, the book argues that modesty and leadership were ideals that Roman culture held together. Women were expected to take active roles in the pursuit of familial and community interests, even as they embodied traditional gendered virtues like modesty. Thecla is the book’s central example of how the evidence for Christian women’s leadership may be read against this cultural background. Instead of contrasting Thecla’s story in the Acts of Paul and Thecla with 1 Timothy, the book reads both texts as reflections of complex cultural norms that both restricted and enabled the participation of married and unmarried women in civic and religious life. In its devotion to Thecla, the later church continued to embrace her leadership alongside the modest elements of her character. The book’s approach points to a new way of understanding women in the early church that insists upon the historical reality of women’s leadership without neglecting the effects of the culture’s gender biases.Less
The New Testament and other early Christian writings point to leadership roles for women at the same time that they affirm cultural norms of women’s modesty and silence. A Modest Apostle offers a new way of understanding this contradictory evidence for women’s lives. Challenging the view that women leaders were exceptions to the rule or evidence of heretical communities that encouraged women’s participation, the book argues that modesty and leadership were ideals that Roman culture held together. Women were expected to take active roles in the pursuit of familial and community interests, even as they embodied traditional gendered virtues like modesty. Thecla is the book’s central example of how the evidence for Christian women’s leadership may be read against this cultural background. Instead of contrasting Thecla’s story in the Acts of Paul and Thecla with 1 Timothy, the book reads both texts as reflections of complex cultural norms that both restricted and enabled the participation of married and unmarried women in civic and religious life. In its devotion to Thecla, the later church continued to embrace her leadership alongside the modest elements of her character. The book’s approach points to a new way of understanding women in the early church that insists upon the historical reality of women’s leadership without neglecting the effects of the culture’s gender biases.
Patricia Cox Miller
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230815
- eISBN:
- 9780823235087
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230815.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This book suggests that the phrase “apophatic bodies” disrupts the conventional binary of transcendence and materiality. In this chapter, this disruption is examined by ...
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This book suggests that the phrase “apophatic bodies” disrupts the conventional binary of transcendence and materiality. In this chapter, this disruption is examined by focusing on ancient Christian representations of the bodies of the saints. In so doing, it addresses a particular problematic in late ancient Christianity that developed in the course of the burgeoning of the cult of the saints in the fourth and fifth centuries. In the light of such images, the chapter argues that late ancient hagiography accomplished the transformation of the literal body into a deeper truth. Holy bodies like Saint Thecla's are epiphanies of transfiguration that occupy a signifying space between transcendence and immanence; and just as they avoid idolizing the material, so they also deconstruct naive or insipid notions of spiritual presence in the world. Theophanic and human at the same time, the subtle embodiments of late ancient hagiography were supremely indirect, and in that indirectness lies their unsaying, their sidestepping; in short, these subtle embodiments are the hagiographical version of apophasis.Less
This book suggests that the phrase “apophatic bodies” disrupts the conventional binary of transcendence and materiality. In this chapter, this disruption is examined by focusing on ancient Christian representations of the bodies of the saints. In so doing, it addresses a particular problematic in late ancient Christianity that developed in the course of the burgeoning of the cult of the saints in the fourth and fifth centuries. In the light of such images, the chapter argues that late ancient hagiography accomplished the transformation of the literal body into a deeper truth. Holy bodies like Saint Thecla's are epiphanies of transfiguration that occupy a signifying space between transcendence and immanence; and just as they avoid idolizing the material, so they also deconstruct naive or insipid notions of spiritual presence in the world. Theophanic and human at the same time, the subtle embodiments of late ancient hagiography were supremely indirect, and in that indirectness lies their unsaying, their sidestepping; in short, these subtle embodiments are the hagiographical version of apophasis.
Susan E. Hylen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190243821
- eISBN:
- 9780190243845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190243821.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter argues that Thecla’s modesty and her leadership reflect the cultural conventions of the time. Thecla exhibits conventional gendered virtues like modesty, chastity, and piety. The ...
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This chapter argues that Thecla’s modesty and her leadership reflect the cultural conventions of the time. Thecla exhibits conventional gendered virtues like modesty, chastity, and piety. The establishment of her virtue early in the story provides a basis for her later leadership. Her later actions do not depart from standards of women’s virtue, but reflect conventions of women’s leadership. These practices are also reflected in the characters of Theolceia and Tryphaena, who play important roles in the plot of the story. Although Thecla remains unmarried, the story does not necessarily forbid marriage. Many early readers were likely to see Thecla as an exemplar of virtues that were cultivated by married and unmarried believers alike.Less
This chapter argues that Thecla’s modesty and her leadership reflect the cultural conventions of the time. Thecla exhibits conventional gendered virtues like modesty, chastity, and piety. The establishment of her virtue early in the story provides a basis for her later leadership. Her later actions do not depart from standards of women’s virtue, but reflect conventions of women’s leadership. These practices are also reflected in the characters of Theolceia and Tryphaena, who play important roles in the plot of the story. Although Thecla remains unmarried, the story does not necessarily forbid marriage. Many early readers were likely to see Thecla as an exemplar of virtues that were cultivated by married and unmarried believers alike.
Peter Wright (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781846310577
- eISBN:
- 9781846314056
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781846310577.003.0016
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Reprinted from Plan[e]t Engineering (1984), this essay takes the conception of the seemingly paradoxical library of Nessus in The Shadow of the Torturer as the start of a discussion that ranges ...
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Reprinted from Plan[e]t Engineering (1984), this essay takes the conception of the seemingly paradoxical library of Nessus in The Shadow of the Torturer as the start of a discussion that ranges across the work of Kafka and Borges, the etymology of bibliotheca, and the oppressive knowledge that there are more books published than it is possible to read. Examining the four books carried by Severian, the protagonist of The Book of the New Sun, to the imprisoned Thecla, Wolfe considers each text's content and its associations with both its fictional and contemporary political and cultural contexts.Less
Reprinted from Plan[e]t Engineering (1984), this essay takes the conception of the seemingly paradoxical library of Nessus in The Shadow of the Torturer as the start of a discussion that ranges across the work of Kafka and Borges, the etymology of bibliotheca, and the oppressive knowledge that there are more books published than it is possible to read. Examining the four books carried by Severian, the protagonist of The Book of the New Sun, to the imprisoned Thecla, Wolfe considers each text's content and its associations with both its fictional and contemporary political and cultural contexts.
Alicia D. Myers
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- November 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190677084
- eISBN:
- 9780190677114
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190677084.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Augustus’s prioritization of family life to promote his own masculinity resulted in a simultaneous emphasis on motherhood in the Roman world. Not only did motherhood advertise a man’s masculine ...
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Augustus’s prioritization of family life to promote his own masculinity resulted in a simultaneous emphasis on motherhood in the Roman world. Not only did motherhood advertise a man’s masculine purposing of his woman/wife, but it was also a legitimate path to increased agency for free(d) women. Situated in this context, New Testament and other early Christian traditions offer varying constructions of “feminine virtue,” some of which prioritize or assume motherhood and others of which downplay or even reject it. This chapter examines these themes in the Pastoral Epistles, New Testament household codes (Col 3:18–4:3; Eph 5:21–6:9; 1 Pet 2:9–3:12), the Acts of Thecla, Acts of Andrew, and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. In their sustained wrestling with and formations of Christian gender(s), these writings present salvation as masculinization for all followers of Christ, but they disagree on whether motherhood should be a part of this process.Less
Augustus’s prioritization of family life to promote his own masculinity resulted in a simultaneous emphasis on motherhood in the Roman world. Not only did motherhood advertise a man’s masculine purposing of his woman/wife, but it was also a legitimate path to increased agency for free(d) women. Situated in this context, New Testament and other early Christian traditions offer varying constructions of “feminine virtue,” some of which prioritize or assume motherhood and others of which downplay or even reject it. This chapter examines these themes in the Pastoral Epistles, New Testament household codes (Col 3:18–4:3; Eph 5:21–6:9; 1 Pet 2:9–3:12), the Acts of Thecla, Acts of Andrew, and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. In their sustained wrestling with and formations of Christian gender(s), these writings present salvation as masculinization for all followers of Christ, but they disagree on whether motherhood should be a part of this process.
Scott Fitzgerald Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190221232
- eISBN:
- 9780190221256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190221232.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter offers a close reading of a fifth-century work of hagiography, called The Life and Miracles of Thekla. The chapter analyzes the work from the point of view of the geographical ...
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This chapter offers a close reading of a fifth-century work of hagiography, called The Life and Miracles of Thekla. The chapter analyzes the work from the point of view of the geographical orientation of specific miracles Thekla is said to have worked. The geographical imagination of the author arranges the miracles in concentric circles based upon his local knowledge of the region. This close reading is a practical example of using “cartographical thinking” to understand late antique literature. The chapter then proposes some more general conclusions about how the Miracles of Thekla intersects with broader trends in literary geography in Late Antiquity.Less
This chapter offers a close reading of a fifth-century work of hagiography, called The Life and Miracles of Thekla. The chapter analyzes the work from the point of view of the geographical orientation of specific miracles Thekla is said to have worked. The geographical imagination of the author arranges the miracles in concentric circles based upon his local knowledge of the region. This close reading is a practical example of using “cartographical thinking” to understand late antique literature. The chapter then proposes some more general conclusions about how the Miracles of Thekla intersects with broader trends in literary geography in Late Antiquity.
Susan E. Hylen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190243821
- eISBN:
- 9780190243845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190243821.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
Scholars have argued that the later church “domesticated” Thecla, muting her power as it shut down leadership options for women. Instead, this chapter argues that Thecla remains powerful in the later ...
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Scholars have argued that the later church “domesticated” Thecla, muting her power as it shut down leadership options for women. Instead, this chapter argues that Thecla remains powerful in the later traditions, although some writers also convey her modesty. The chapter surveys portraits of Thecla in literature and art, with special attention to four, those of Tertullian, Methodius, Ambrose, and Pseudo-Basil. Thecla serves a variety of purposes, but she remains a powerful figure and an exemplar of active discipleship. These ancient interpreters see no contradiction between Thecla’s story and 1 Timothy, but instead present Thecla as a disciple of Paul. Thecla’s popularity is not limited to unmarried believers. Her devotees include men and women, and married and unmarried people.Less
Scholars have argued that the later church “domesticated” Thecla, muting her power as it shut down leadership options for women. Instead, this chapter argues that Thecla remains powerful in the later traditions, although some writers also convey her modesty. The chapter surveys portraits of Thecla in literature and art, with special attention to four, those of Tertullian, Methodius, Ambrose, and Pseudo-Basil. Thecla serves a variety of purposes, but she remains a powerful figure and an exemplar of active discipleship. These ancient interpreters see no contradiction between Thecla’s story and 1 Timothy, but instead present Thecla as a disciple of Paul. Thecla’s popularity is not limited to unmarried believers. Her devotees include men and women, and married and unmarried people.
Susan E. Hylen
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190243821
- eISBN:
- 9780190243845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190243821.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
The conclusion summarizes the argument of the book with an eye to how the same approach may be applied to other early Christian texts. The interpretation of Thecla suggests a different way of ...
More
The conclusion summarizes the argument of the book with an eye to how the same approach may be applied to other early Christian texts. The interpretation of Thecla suggests a different way of understanding women’s leadership in the early church. Although women were broadly constrained by the inequities of their culture, both married and unmarried women took on leadership roles and exerted social influence. Like women in the culture at large, Christian women were not free to do whatever they pleased. However, social norms encouraged women to exercise leadership, even as they were exhorted to modesty. Virtuous women’s leadership and influence exist within and across various Christian subgroups rather than demarcating boundaries between them.Less
The conclusion summarizes the argument of the book with an eye to how the same approach may be applied to other early Christian texts. The interpretation of Thecla suggests a different way of understanding women’s leadership in the early church. Although women were broadly constrained by the inequities of their culture, both married and unmarried women took on leadership roles and exerted social influence. Like women in the culture at large, Christian women were not free to do whatever they pleased. However, social norms encouraged women to exercise leadership, even as they were exhorted to modesty. Virtuous women’s leadership and influence exist within and across various Christian subgroups rather than demarcating boundaries between them.
