Apostles Thecla and Paul

It is usually attested that there are very few records of women teaching both men and women in the church prior to the twentieth century and that the absence of such proves that women have never been allowed to teach in the orthodox part of the church. If we for a moment ignore the fact that much of what was written has been lost, we do have a remarkable account of a woman who was both a virgin and an apostle, Thecla.  Apocrypha cannot replace Scripture, but as a secondary witness it testifies to the general beliefs of the era of its creation; the same is true of all theological literature, whether ancient or modern. In Acts  of Paul and Thecla we find Paul urging Thecla to teach.

"And Thecla kept seeking Paul; and it was told her that he was in Myra of Lycia. And taking young men and maidens, she girded herself; and having sewed the tunic so as to make a man’s cloak, she came to Myra, and found Paul speaking the word of God. And Paul was astonished at seeing her, and the crowd with her, thinking that some new trial was coming upon her. And when she saw him, she said: I have received the baptism, Paul; for He that wrought along with thee for the Gospel has wrought in me also for baptism. And Paul, taking her, led her to the house of Hermaeus, and hears everything from her, so that those that heard greatly wondered, and were comforted, and prayed over Tryphaena. And she rose up, and said: I am going to Iconium. And Paul said: Go, and teach the word of God. And Tryphaena sent her much clothing and gold, so that she left to Paul many things for the service of the poor. And she went to Iconium. And she goes into the house of Onesiphorus, and fell upon the pavement where Paul used to sit and teach her, and wept, saying: God of myself and of this house, where Thou didst make the light to shine upon me, O Christ Jesus, the Son of the living God, my help in the fire, my help among the wild beasts, Thou art glorified for ever. Amen. And she found Thamyris dead, but her mother alive. And having sent for her mother, she said: Theocleia, my mother, canst thou believe that the Lord liveth in the heavens? For whether thou desirest wealth, God gives it to thee through me; or thy child, I am standing beside thee. And having thus testified, she departed to Seleucia, and dwelt in a cave seventy-two years, living upon herbs and water. And she enlightened many by the word of God. And certain men of the city, being Greeks by religion, and physicians by profession, sent to her insolent young men to destroy [corrupt] her. For they said: She is a virgin, and serves Artemis, and from this she has virtue in healing. And by the providence of God she entered into the rock alive, and went under ground. And she departed to Rome to see Paul, and found that he had fallen asleep. And after staying there no long time, she rested in a glorious sleep; and she is buried about two or three stadia from the tomb of her master Paul."

One fascinating aspect of the story are the young men who are sent to corrupt Thecla from her virignal purity which is a clear testimony that women and men mingled with more freedom than is usually attested. Even Jerome would lament later on that some men sought the diaconate for the sole purpose of visiting married women in private.  The young men had a less than honorable motive for visiting Thecla, but the fact that they knew they could visit her reveals that both men and women came to Thecla in order to hear her teach. 

The story could be easily dismissed as fiction if it wasn't for Tertullian, who felt compelled to explain why Thecla was not a legitimate example of a female teacher. 

"For concluding our brief subject, it remains to put you in mind also of the due observance of giving and receiving baptism. Of giving it, the chief priest (who is the bishop) has the right: in the next place, the presbyters and deacons, yet not without the bishop’s authority, on account of the honour of the Church, which being preserved, peace is preserved. Beside these, even laymen have the right; for what is equally received can be equally given. Unless bishops, or priests, or deacons, be on the spot, other disciples are called i.e. to the work. The word of the Lord ought not to be hidden by any: in like manner, too, baptism, which is equally God’s property, can be administered by all. But how much more is the rule of reverence and modesty incumbent on laymen—seeing that these powers  belong to their superiors—lest they assume to themselves the specific  function of the bishop! Emulation of the episcopal office is the mother of schisms. The most holy apostle has said, that “all things are lawful, but not all expedient.” Let it suffice assuredly, in cases of necessity, to avail yourself (of that rule , if at any time circumstance either of place, or of time, or of person compels you (so to do); for then the stedfast courage of the succourer, when the situation of the endangered one is urgent, is exceptionally admissible; inasmuch as he will be guilty of a human creature’s loss if he shall refrain from bestowing what he had free liberty to bestow. But the woman of pertness, who has usurped the power to teach, will of course not give birth for herself likewise to a right of baptizing, unless some new beast shall arise like the former; so that, just as the one abolished baptism, so some other should in her own right confer it! But if the writings which wrongly go under Paul’s name, claim Thecla’s example as a licence for women’s teaching and baptizing, let them know that, in Asia, the presbyter who composed that writing,  as if he were augmenting Paul’s fame from his own store, after being convicted, and confessing that he had done it from love of Paul, was removed from his office. For how credible would it seem, that he who has not permitted a woman even to learn with over-boldness, should give a female the power of teaching and of baptizing! “Let them be silent,” he says, “and at home consult their own husbands.”  (On Baptism, Ch XVII)

  

Not only did Tertullian remove women from the laity with his insitence that women could not perform what "all" could, his reasoning why Thecla was an illigetimate example is very revealing in itself. He wrote that the presbyter who had created the apocrypha had done so out of love for Paul. What kind of love is it which makes the object of the affection - the apostle -act in a manner which clearly contradicted everything he ever wrote? If the presbyter had wished to make a joke out of Paul and his teaching, Tertullian's argument would make sense. But if the presbyter truly loved Paul and had wished to perpetuate the memory of the great apostle, the argument becomes a strange one. Why would he write Paul encouraged women to teach if he never did so and if everyone knew it to be the case? The most readily available explanation is that tradition - and the Bible - clearly portrayed Paul as the great champion of egalitarianism, and that Tertullian wished to change the apostolic tradition by excluding women from teaching in the church, which he accomplished when he introduced ius, the Roman legal code into his theology. Thecla and Paul's encouragement of her teaching abilities did not fit into the new world of legal ecclesiastical offices which were only available for the freeborn males. Rome had infiltrated the church and would continue to do so until Rome would cease from being divine and the church humane.