Peter, Paul & Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend by Ehrman Bart D

Author:Ehrman, Bart D. [Ehrman, Bart D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9780195343502
Amazon: B0085SG2CY
Publisher: OUP USA
Published: 2006-01-02T07:00:00+00:00

146

THE APOSTLE PAUL

Portrayal of Paul preaching his gospel, seated by a tower, from which his soon-to-be disciple Thecla listens with rapt attention, from an ivory panel of the fifth century.

Once more she tracks down Paul and informs him that she has now been baptized. She receives his blessing, as he tells her to go forth to “teach the word of God.” She does so and lives a long and happy life as a single and

celibate proclaimer of the gospel.5

Remaining single and celibate is one of the keys to this fascinating narrative.

The theology represented here is not one you might expect if all you knew were the seven letters that undisputedly came from Paul’s own hand. The reason that Thecla spurns her marriage to Thamyris and rejects the advances of the aristocrat Alexander is not simply that she is now a Christian and wants nothing to do with a husband or lover who is pagan. It is that she has accepted the message of Paul as found in this book: that it is only through sexual renunciation that one will inherit the kingdom of heaven. It is this, rather than the proclamation of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, that lies at the heart of his message.

This message is best seen at the outset of the narrative, where Paul preaches to those gathered in Onesiphorus’s house, while Thecla listens from the up-stairs window next door:

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God; Blessed are those who have kept the flesh chaste, for they will become a temple of God;

PAUL’S PROCLAMATIOþ ACCORDIþG TO LATER SOURCES

147

Blessed are those who are self-controlled, for God will speak to them; Blessed are those who have renounced this world, for they will be pleasing to God;

Blessed are those who have wives as if they did not have them, for they will be the heirs of God . . .

Blessed are those who have departed from the shell of this world because of the love of God, for they will judge angels and be blessed at the right hand of the Father . . .

Blessed are the bodies of the virgins, for these will be pleasing to God and will not lose the reward for their chastity; for the word of the Father will be an accomplished act of salvation for them on the day of his Son, and they will receive an eternal rest.

From these extracts Paul’s message is clear. It is important to renounce this world and all the pleasures it holds. What matters before God is a chaste life of self-control. People are not to engage in acts of sex, even if they are already married. Eternal life is the reward for chastity. This is the gospel that Thecla embraces. No wonder her fiancé is so disturbed.

One might ask where such a message actually came from, since it seems so far removed from the actual proclamation of the historical Paul about the death and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, there is precedent for this stress on sexual chastity in the writings of Paul himself.

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