Acts of Paul and Thecla

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The Acts of Paulus and Thekla (also Thekla-Akten , Latin Acta Pauli et Theclae ) are a pseudepigraphic script from the 2nd century. They tell of events that St. Thecla experienced together with the apostle Paul .

content

The story begins with Paul's first missionary journey , in Iconium ( Acts 13:51  EFB ), where he preaches. Its exterior is described in detail. A "virgin" Thekla listens to his speeches spellbound and does not leave her room for days. Paul is then arrested at the instigation of his mother. Thekla manages to get to prison by bribery, where she sits at his feet. She is then sentenced to death at the stake. A storm prevents the execution.

Paul and Thecla can leave Iconium and go to Antioch in Pisidia . There a Syrian nobleman woos her hand. Thekla refuses. She is given to wild animals, but several times miraculously protected by a lioness. The "Queen" Tryphaina finally saves her.

Thekla goes to Myra to Paulus, then to her mother in Iconium. Finally she goes to Seleukia on the Kalykadnos , where she “enlightens” many people and dies a peaceful death (five different versions have survived from the last few years).

Tradition and history of effects

The text has survived in various manuscripts in Greek ( Schøyen MS 2634/1 , P. Antinoopolis 13 , Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 6 ), Syrian , Coptic , Armenian and Ethiopian languages . It was originally part of the more extensive Pauline Acts ( Acta Pauli ).

A font Acta Pauli et Theclae was first mentioned by Tertullian around 190 AD .

Text output

  • Wilhelm Schneemelcher : The Paul Acts . In the S. (Ed.): New Testament Apocrypha in German translation . Volume 2: Apostolic Matters, Apocrypha and Related . 6th edition, Mohr, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 3-161-47252-7 , pp. 193-243.
  • Eugen Sitarz (ed.): The deeds of the Thekla. Story of a disciple of the apostle Paul . Schwabenverlag, Ostfildern 1996, ISBN 3-796-60776-4 .

literature

  • Carl Holzhey: The Thekla files. Their dissemination and assessment in the church (= publications from the Church History Seminar Munich. II. Series, number 5). Verlag der JJ Lentner'schen Buchhandlung, Munich 1905 ( online , with German translation).
  • Veronika Niederhofer: Conversion in the Paulus and Theclaacts. A narrative form of Paul’s reception. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-16-155143-7 .