The Acts of Paul and Thecla - water baptism in the ECW

Steven Avery

Steven Avery

Administrator
Where Do We Put Saint Thecla?: An Examination of Saint Thecla’s Place in Time, Theology, and Femininity (2024)
Erin Hess and Lauren Smoller
https://www.rochester.edu/college/u...heclas-place-in-time-theology-and-femininity/

Acts of Thecla, from The Apocryphal Acts of The Apostles, is a text about the life and martyrdom of Thecla, an early Christian figure and the first female martyr (second only to Stephen). The author, an anonymous presbyter from Asia Minor, wrote this text in the apostolic style in the second century alongside Acts of Paul. The two texts were often grouped together as the Acts of Paul and Thecla, though Thecla’s section was much more popular, while Acts of Paul gradually disappeared in Late Antiquity.

The Apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla (1997)
Jan N . Bremmer
https://www.academia.edu/87945733/The_Apocryphal_Acts_of_Paul_and_Thecla

The Acts of Paul
From "The Apocryphal New Testament"
M.R. James-Translation and Notes
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924
https://earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspaul.html

Paul and his Female Disciple (2018)
Bart Ehrman
https://ehrmanblog.org/paul-and-his-female-disciple-thecla/
 
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Steven Avery

Steven Avery

Administrator
Puritanboard
The Acts of Paul and Thecla
https://puritanboard.com/threads/the-acts-of-paul-and-thecla.4750/

This is an interesting note from Tertullian work "On Baptism." He was fighting against female clergy. There was evidently a forgery going around, the Acts of Paul and Thecla, which held forth an example of a saintly woman, Thecla. Thecla is actually revered by many Eastern christians today. Anyway, here we see an example of a forger who was actually caught and brought out into the open. Tertullian raised this event, as evidently some of his readers may have considered the document authentic.

Again, we see ecclesiastical action to reveal the forgery. It is amazing that there were even forgeries during the lives of the apostles. Paul warned against them, as they had already caused problems. See 2 Thes. 1:1-2: "1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come."

This is the excerpt from Tertullian:
But the woman of pertness,173 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 arise174 like the former; so that, just as the one abolished baptism,175 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,176 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 removed177 from his office. For how credible would it seem, that he who has not permitted a woman178 even to learn with over-boldness, should give a female179 the power of teaching and of baptizing! "Let them be silent," he says, "and at home consult their own husbands."
 
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Steven Avery

Steven Avery

Administrator
Good search
"So then she threw herself into the water in the name of Jesus Christ,"

Baptism in the Early Church: Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (2013)
Everett Ferguson
https://books.google.com/books?id=4xm3EQAAQBAJ&pg=PA33

1788184372988.png


Acts of Paul
The date and provenance of the Acts of Paul are late second century in Asia Minor.28 It is a composite work, not all of whose parts survive, worked up from earlier traditions. Some parts circulated independently, but which of those parts were earlier than the composition or which were later separated from it is not clear. The Acts of Paul followed the Acts of
Peter, for the former refers to the ship captain, “who had been baptized by Peter,” except his name is given as Artemon.29

One of the independent pieces in the work and perhaps one of its earlier parts is the Acts of Paul and Thecla (or Acts of Thecla). A sermon of Paul, summarized in a series of blessings, contains the exhortation: “Blessed are they who have kept their baptism [βάτττισμα] secure, for they shall rest with the Father and the Son” (6).30 This statement matches the concern in the early second century for maintaining the manner of life associated with baptism. And the identification of baptism with a seal occurs also in this section. ’Thecla said to Paul, “Only give me the seal (σφραγίδα] in Christ, and temptation shall not touch me.” And Paul said, “Have patience, Thecla, and you shall receive the water” (25).

Perhaps the best-known episode in the story of Thecla is her receiving the seal of the water by a self-baptism while wild beasts were turned loose on her in the stadium:

Then they sent in many beasts, while site stood and stretched out her hands and prayed. And when she had finished her prayer, she turned and saw a great pit full of water and said: ‘Now is the time for me to wash (λούσααθαι).' And she threw herself in. saying, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I baptize myself (βαπτιζομαι) on [for] the last day!’(34)​

The people wept out of concern for her, and the governor feared she would he eaten by the seals in the water.

So, then, she threw herself into the water in the name of Jesus Christ; but die seals, seeing the light of a lightning-flash, floated dead on the surface. And there was about her a cloud of fire, so that neither could the beasts touch her nor could she be seen naked. (34)​

Theda later reported the event to Paul: “1 have taken the bath [λουτρόν], Paul; for he who worked with you for the gospel has also worked with me for my baptism [λούσασθαι, ‘to be washed'31]” (40). The account is unusual in early Christian literature for the self-baptism, and its use by some to justify the right of women to administer baptism was part of Tertullian’s objections to the Acts of Paul.32 Otherwise, Tliecla imitated church practice: a nude immersion (at least implied), baptizing “in the name of Jesus Christ,” and describing the baptism with the words “wash” and “bath.” The lightning-flash and cloud of fire may suggest the motif of illumination or may allude to the phenomenon of light that
accompanied the baptism of Jesus (chap. 6).

32. Tertullian, On Baptism 17.4-5. See chap. 21.

33. The passage and the comments to follow are in the Hamburg Papyrus, pp. 2-4.

34. Carl Schmidt, Πράξεις Παύλου, Acta Pauli nach dem Papyrus der Hamburger Staats- und Vniversitdts-bibliothek (1936),p. 34 (manuscript p. 7, lines 3Iff.).
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(continues)


Apostolic Friends Forum
http://apostolicfriendsforum.com/showthread.php?t=52048
 
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Steven Avery

Steven Avery

Administrator
  • The Acts of Paul and Thecla demonstrates an early, popular narrative acceptance of emergency "Jesus Name" baptism (and self-baptism).
  • The Anonymous text De Rebaptismate captures the institutional aftermath, arguing that the historical invocation of "Jesus' Name" makes a baptism legally valid, thereby forbidding the practice of rebaptism. [1, 2, 3, 4]

    =============================



  • 1. The Letters of Cyprian (and Pope Stephen I)
    During the intense rebaptism crisis of the 250s AD, Bishop Cyprian of Carthage compiled letters arguing against heretical baptisms. Through his surviving letters, we learn that Pope Stephen I issued authoritative commands stating that baptism in the name of Jesus Christ was valid, even if performed by those outside the orthodox church. [1]
    • The Record: In Epistle 72 (or 73 to Jubaianus), Cyprian complains bitterly about Stephen’s position, writing: "But say they, the name of Christ avails so much to whosoever and wheresoever baptized, that in His name any one may be baptized..." Cyprian's text proves that the Bishop of Rome officially endorsed the "Jesus' Name" formula as carrying inherent sacramental power. [1]

  • 2. Ambrose of Milan (De Spiritu Sancto)
    Writing in the late 4th century (c. 381 AD), Ambrose of Milanexplicitly stated that a baptism invoking only one person of the Trinity—specifically Jesus—was still entirely valid because the full Godhead is implied in Christ.
    • The Record: In On the Holy Spirit (Book 1, Chapter 3), Ambrose writes: "Now let us consider whether as we read that the sacrament of baptism is complete in the name of Christ, so also it is complete in the name of the Holy Spirit... If you name Christ, you have also signified God the Father by whom the Son was anointed, and the Son Himself who was anointed, and the Holy Spirit with whom He was anointed."

  • 3. The Didache (c. 50–100 AD)
    The Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) is the earliest known post-apostolic church manual. It is famously complex because it uses both formulas interchangeably, indicating a time when the two were not seen as contradictory. [1, 2]
    • The Record: Chapter 7 instructs leaders to "baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." However, when giving instructions on who is allowed to receive Holy Communion in Chapter 9, it explicitly states: "But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, unless they have been baptized into the name of the Lord." [1, 2]

  • 4. Origen of Alexandria (Commentary on Romans)
    Writing in the early 3rd century, the massive intellectual Origen noticed the apparent discrepancy between Jesus' command in Matthew 28:19 and the actual apostolic practice in the Book of Acts (where Peter baptizes in Jesus' name). [1, 2]
    • The Record: In his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Origen explains that baptizing in the "name of Christ" is completely effective because to be baptized into Christ's death (Romans 6:3) is the very definition of the sacrament. He argued that the "name of Jesus" acts as an all-encompassing shorthand for the power of the divine mystery. [1]

  • 5. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae)
    Though writing much later in the Medieval period (13th century), Thomas Aquinas preserved the historical memory of this early church practice in his masterwork, the Summa Theologiae.
    • The Record: In Summa Theologiae III, Question 66, Article 6


      , Aquinas addresses whether a baptism in the name of Christ alone is valid. He acknowledges that the Apostles baptized in the name of Jesus Christ alone (citing Acts) and explains that the early Church was granted a special dispensation by the Holy Spirit to continue baptizing strictly in Jesus' name so that the name of Christ, which was hated by Jews and Gentiles, might become highly honored.
  • If you are researching the theological development of this topic, let me know if you would like to explore how Oneness theologians view these texts or if you want to look at the Council of Constantinople's later rulings on heretical formulas. [1, 2]
 
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Steven Avery

Steven Avery

Administrator
Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ: The Truth of the Early Centuries (2025)
Nikolay Vinogradsky
books.google.com

Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ: The Truth of the Early Centuries

Baptism is more than tradition – it’s a path to Christ shown by the apostles. In Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ: Truth of the Early Centuries, Nikolay Vinogradskiy explores Scripture: Why did early Christians baptize in Jesus’ name? What lies behind familiar rites? With warmth and respect...
books.google.com
What do the early church fathers say? Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, and Hermas preached baptism “in the name of Jesus.” The Acts of Paul and Thecla from the 2nd century mentions baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ,” confirmed in chapter 8 as the dominant practice of the 2nd and early 3rd centuries.

Hermas in The Shepherd writes:
“Your life is already saved or will be saved through water... life established by the word of the almighty and glorious Name” (Visions, 3:3).
“They desire to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Visions, 3:7).
“The name of the Lord by which they are called” (Similitudes, 8:6).
“No one enters the Kingdom of God except by receiving His holy Name... through the name of His beloved Son” (Similitudes, 9:12).
“If you bear His name but lack His power, you bear it in vain” (Similitudes, 9:13).
“The name of the Son of God is great... the whole world is upheld by it” (Similitudes, 9:14).
“Until a person receives the name of the Son of God, he is dead; but when he receives the seal of His name, he puts off death and gains life. This seal is water” (Similitudes, 9:16).
“Those suffering for His name should glorify God” (Similitudes, 9:28).

These words echo - baptism is tied to Jesus’ name.
 
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