1 / 5

Thecla and the Virgin Martyrs

Thecla and the Virgin Martyrs. Thecla. From apocryphal (outside the scriptures) books Extremely popular 2 nd century Syrian saint story (hagiography) Tells us about what “ordinary” people valued Later women call themselves “Thecla” Still today there are churches dedicated to Thecla

Rita
Download Presentation

Thecla and the Virgin Martyrs

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Thecla and the Virgin Martyrs

  2. Thecla • From apocryphal (outside the scriptures) books • Extremely popular 2nd century Syrian saint story (hagiography) • Tells us about what “ordinary” people valued • Later women call themselves “Thecla” • Still today there are churches dedicated to Thecla • Images of Thecla • Virgin “martyr” • Friend of Paul • Bad family relations • Apostle • Full text

  3. Images of Thecla • Virgin • The way to be a disciple • “Beatitudes” of Jesus (Luke 6) transformed here • Put on trial for refusing marriage • Martyr • Mom calls for her to be burned at stake, but it rains • Later thrown to lions and bears, ravenous seals (!), bulls • Friend of Paul • Very positive male-female partnership • Reciprocal (she frees him, he’s the shepherd to her lamb) • Apostle • Thecla takes initiative: baptizes herself when Paul won’t do it • Preaches to crowds • Dresses like a man • She declares her intent, then Paul commissions her to go out and preach

  4. Norris’s argument • What is virginity, for her? • What is wrong with the typical definitions? • Can her definition work? • Do you agree, that stories of virgin martyrs can be important today? How? • What do you make of the last story (girl in El Mozote massacre)? Is she a virgin martyr? If so, what might her story mean for us?

  5. For next time • Why is women’s adornment (dress, cosmetics, jewelry) a matter of concern? • How/why are women connected with Eve?

More Related