Hiroaki ADACHI: “I Baptize Myself in the Name of Jesus Christ”：Female Apostle Thecla and her Self-Discovery

In the arena, she realized the time of her baptism has come.
However, it should not be done by the Apostle Paul but by herself before God.
She said “in the name of Jesus Christ, I baptize myself on the last day”.Her name was Thecla, the heroine of the Acts of Paul and Thecla(ATh). Her self-baptism scene is its climax
and it would be encouraging women in Late Antiquity. In the scene, I will seek a
possibility of a woman’s self-decision and self-discovery before God.Since 1980’s, Thecla has always been a focus of controversies. Feminist
scholars considered ATh is a testimony of struggle for women’s independence.
However, it might be created by male authors to emphasize the moral
superiority. Recently, S. Hylen (2015) thought Thecla was a successor of the ancient
female leaders and J.D. McLarty (2018) sought Christian identity in ATh.Every study has its own merit but the most important factor in the
story has been forgotten. It is Jesus Christ. Although many scholars thought
Thecla obeyed to Paul, he himself didn’t think so, for he knows “she is thine”.
She found herself facing Jesus, so she can be free from the patriarchy, so her
story can be used for the claim of Christian supremacy, and so the reader can
find Christian identity. Late Antiquity was an age of spirituality. Augustine
and the desert Fathers struggled to find themselves before God. However, what
about women? ATh may provide one possible answer.

Lynn Cohick: Thecla's Baptism and Falconilla's Resurrection: Daughters and Their Mothers in the Acts of Paul and Thecla

I argue that the stories of women narrated in the Acts of Paul and Thecla convey the social and theological complexities of second century Christianity. First, I suggest that Thecla does not baptize herself but is baptized by God; however, her actions and prayer serve to confirm Falconilla’s resurrection, thereby highlighting Thecla’s mediating power.  Second, it is not Thecla’s death, but Tryphaena’s “death” that brings events in the arena to an end. Tryphaena’s “death” is followed by her conviction in Falconilla’s resurrection, all based on Thecla’s survival in the arena. The female chorus in Antioch amplifies both Thecla’s voice and Tryphaena’s position. Third, Thecla’s mother and Tryphaena serve as examples of competing social ideals for the ancient city. The female characters, with the exception of Theocleia, demonstrate the proper response for the reader of the Acts of Paul and Thecla.