The Life of Thecla: Apocryphal Expansion in Late Antiquity - Hardcover

by Andrew S. Jacobs (Author)

Thecla was one of the most venerated saints in late antiquity. One of her followers created the Life of Thecla as an act of devotion in the fifth century, rewriting the popular Acts of Thecla and transforming it into the heroic saga of a saint. Replete with long speeches, dramatic flourishes, and literary flamboyance, the Life of Thecla gives modern readers insight into the ways a gender-bending apostolic saint could be reframed and reimagined for later audiences. This first modern English translation of the Life explores its relationship with the earlier Acts as well as its place in fifth-century concerns about miracles, healing, sainthood, and sexuality.

Author Biography

Andrew S. Jacobs is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. He is the author or coeditor of a range of books on early Christianity, biblical interpretation, and culture in late antiquity, most recently Gospel Thrillers (2023).