Life and Miracles of Saint Thecla

Last updated

The Life and Miracles of Saint Thecla (Latin : De vita et miraculis sanctae Theclae) is an anonymous Greek hagiography of Thecla, the reputed follower of Paul of Tarsus, written between 468 and 476. [1] It consists of two books, the first a biography and the second an account of 46 posthumous miracles wrought by Thecla. The Life is an expansion of the earlier Greek Acts of Thecla. The full Life and Miracles is about ten times longer than the Acts. [2]

Contents

The Life circulated independently of the Miracles, but the Miracles was always transmitted with the Life. There are a total of twelve manuscripts of the Life, but only four of those include the Miracles. [2] The manuscripts that include the Miracles are:

The Life and Miracles is an anonymous work written in Seleucia. In the Middle Ages, it was usually attributed to Bishop Basil of Seleucia, a contemporary of the actual author. This may have been based on the remark by Photios in the 9th century that Basil wrote an verse account of the deeds of Thecla. As the Life and Miracles is prose, it cannot be the work mentioned. In fact, the author remarks that Basil excommunicated him for a time. Nevertheless, he is still often known as Pseudo-Basil of Seleucia. [3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Honey 2011, p. 16–17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Honey 2011, p. 13–14.
  3. ↑ Honey 2011, p. 18–24.

Bibliography

Editions

  • Dagron, G., ed. (1978). Vie et miracles de Sainte Thècle: Texte grec, traduction et commentaire. Subsidia Hagiographica, 62. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes.
  • Honey, Linda (2011). Thekla: Text and Context with a First English Translation of the Miracles (PDF) (Doctoral dissertation). University of Calgary.
  • Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald (2006). The Life and Miracles of Thekla: A Literary Study. Center for Hellenic Studies.

Secondary literature

  • Honey, Linda (2017). "Religious Profiling in the Miracles of Saint Thecla". In Marianne Sághy; Edward M. Schoolman (eds.). Pagans and Christians in the Late Roman Empire: New Evidence, New Approaches (4th–8th centuries). Central European University Press. pp. 27–42.
  • Hylen, Susan (2015). A Modest Apostle: Thecla and the History of Women in the Early Church. Oxford University Press.
  • Johnson, Scott Fitzgerald (2006). "Late Antique Narrative Fiction: Apocryphal Acta and the Greek Novel in the Fifth-Century Life and Miracles of Thekla". In Scott Fitzgerald Johnson (ed.). Greek Literature in Late Antiquity: Dynamism, Didacticism, Classicism. Ashgate. pp. 189–207.
  • Pesthy, Monika (1996). "Thecla in the Fathers of the Church". In Jan N. Bremmer (ed.). The Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla. Kok Pharos. pp. 164–178.
  • Streete, Gail Corrington (2009). Redeemed Bodies: Women Martyrs in Early Christianity. Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Tzamalikos, Panayiotis (2012). A Newly Discovered Greek Father: Cassian the Sabaite Eclipsed by John Cassian of Marseilles. Brill.

Related Research Articles

Codex Vaticanus 4th-century Bible manuscript in Greek

The Codex Vaticanus, designated by siglum B or 03, δ 1, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament and the majority of the Greek New Testament. It is one of the four great uncial codices. Along with Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Sinaiticus, it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible. The codex has been dated palaeographically to the 4th century.

<i>Acts of Thomas</i> Apocryphic book of the New Testament

Acts of Thomas is an early 3rd-century text, one of the New Testament apocrypha. References to the work by Epiphanius of Salamis show that it was in circulation in the 4th century. The complete versions that survive are Syriac and Greek. There are many surviving fragments of the text. Scholars detect from the Greek that its original was written in Syriac, which places the Acts of Thomas in Edessa. The surviving Syriac manuscripts, however, have been edited to purge them of the most unorthodox overtly Encratite passages, so that the Greek versions reflect the earlier tradition.

<i>Infancy Gospel of Thomas</i>

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a biographical gospel about the childhood of Jesus, believed to date at the latest to the second century. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is generally considered to be Gnostic in origin because of references in letters to a "Gospel of Thomas", but it's unclear whether those letters are referencing the Infancy Gospel or the Gospel of Thomas, a sayings gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945.

Acts of Peter Early Christian apocryphal Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles in Christianity, dating to the late 2nd century AD. The majority of the text has survived only in the Latin translation of the Codex Vercellensis, under the title Actus Petri cum Simone. It is notable for a description of a miracle contest between Saint Peter and Simon Magus, the first record of the tradition that Saint Peter was crucified head-down, and as the origin of the saying "Quo vadis?".

Codex Alexandrinus 5th-century handwritten Bible copy in Greek

The Codex Alexandrinus, designated by the siglum A or 02, δ 4, is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), it has been dated to the fifth century. It contains the majority of the Greek Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. It is one of the four Great uncial codices. Along with Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, it is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible.

The Gelasian Decree is a Latin text traditionally thought to be a Decretal of the prolific Pope Gelasius I, bishop of Rome from 492–496. The work reached its final form in a five-chapter text written by an anonymous scholar between 519 and 553, the second chapter of which is a list of books of Scripture presented as having been made part of the biblical canon by a Council of Rome under Pope Damasus I, the bishop of Rome from 366–383. This list, known as the Damasine List, represents the same canon as shown in the Council of Carthage Canon 24, 419 AD. The fifth segment of the work includes a list of distrusted and rejected works not encouraged for church use.

Thecla Early Christian saint

Thecla was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla.

Acts of Paul and Thecla Apocryphal story of Paul the apostles influence on a young virgin named Thecla

The Acts of Paul and Thecla is an apocryphal story–Edgar J. Goodspeed called it a "religious romance"–of Paul the Apostle's influence on a young virgin named Thecla. It is one of the writings of the New Testament apocrypha.

Acts of Paul New Testament apocrypha

The Acts of Paul is one of the major works and earliest pseudepigraphal series from the New Testament apocrypha also known as Apocryphal Acts. This work is part of a body of literature either about or purporting to be written by Paul the Apostle, including letters, narratives, prayers, and apocalypses. An approximate date given to the Acts of Paul is 100-160 CE. The Acts of Paul were first mentioned by Tertullian, who deemed the work to be heretical because it encouraged women to preach and baptize. The Acts of Paul were considered orthodox by Hippolytus of Rome but were eventually regarded as heretical when the Manichaeans started using the texts. The author of the Acts of Paul is unknown and wrote out of respect for Paul in Asia Minor. The work does not use the canonical Acts of the Apostles as a source; instead it relies on oral traditions of Paul's missionary work. The text is primarily known from Greek manuscripts. The discovery of a Coptic language version of the text demonstrated that the text was composed of:

Acts of Philip

The Greek Acts of Philip is an episodic gnostic apocryphal book of acts from the mid-to-late fourth century, originally in fifteen separate acta, that gives an accounting of the miraculous acts performed by the Apostle Philip, with overtones of the heroic romance.

Evagrius Ponticus Christian monk

Evagrius Ponticus, also called Evagrius the Solitary, was a Christian monk and ascetic from Heraclea, a city on the coast of Bithynia in Asia Minor. One of the most influential theologians in the late fourth-century church, he was well known as a thinker, polished speaker, and gifted writer. He left a promising ecclesiastical career in Constantinople and traveled to Jerusalem, where in 383 AD he became a monk at the monastery of Rufinus and Melania the Elder. He then went to Egypt and spent the remaining years of his life in Nitria and Kellia, marked by years of asceticism and writing. He was a disciple of several influential contemporary church leaders, including Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Macarius of Egypt. He was a teacher of others, including John Cassian and Palladius of Galatia.

Silifke Place in Mersin, Turkey

Silifke is a town and district in south-central Mersin Province, Turkey, 80 km (50 mi) west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of Çukurova.

Basil of Seleucia was a Bishop and ecclesiastical writer. He was archbishop of Seleucia ad Calycadnum by 448. He condemned Eutyches in the year 448, he "acquiesced" while "rehabilitating" at the Latrocinium in 449, "but recanted and signed" the Tome of Leo in 450.

Acts of the Apostles (genre) Genre of early Christian texts

The Acts of the Apostles is a genre of Early Christian literature, recounting the lives and works of the apostles of Jesus. The Acts are important for many reasons, one of them being the concept of apostolic succession. They also provide insight into the valuation of "missionary activities among the exotic races," since some of them feature missionary work done among, for instance, the Cynocephaly.

The Codex Vaticanus is one of the oldest and most valuable extant manuscripts of the Greek Bible. In addition to that most common reference, however, the term may refer to any other of the manuscripts preserved in the Vatican Library, a partial list of which follows:

Codex Ottobonianus, refers to codices that are housed at the Vatican Library in the Ottobonianus collection. The manuscripts formerly belonged to the private collection of Cardinal Ottoboni. Codex Ottobonianus may specifically refer to a variety of documents in Latin and Greek:

Aya Tekla Church Rock church in Silifke, Mersin Province, Turkey

Aya Tekla Church, also known as Aya Thecla or Aya Thekla, is a ruined historic church of the Byzantine period. It was a popular pilgrimage site, and still attracts visitors today.

Liturgy of Saint Cyril

The Liturgy of Saint Cyril is one of the three Anaphoras used at present by the Coptic Orthodox Church and it retains the liturgical peculiarities which have originated in the early Christian Egypt, thus forming the core of the historical Alexandrian Rite. When reference is made to its Greek version, this text is usually known as Liturgy of Saint Mark.

Acts 13 Chapter of the New Testament

Acts 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas to Cyprus and Pisidia. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.

Miles (bishop of Susa)

Miles, sometimes Mar Miles, was the bishop of Susa in Sasanian Persia from before 315 until his martyrdom in 340 or 341. He engaged in efforts to evangelize Susa, traveled widely in the Eastern Roman Empire and led the opposition to Papa bar ʿAggai and the supremacy of the bishops of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in the Persian church. He was executed by the Sasanian authorities at the start of the Forty-Year Persecution.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.