3. Au alleged martyr, the associate of ^lariana. Mar- tha, Alary, and Knneis. She is reported to have lived near Asa, in Persia. A priest named Paul endeavored to persuade these virgins to renounce the Christian faith, and when they refused he caused them to be terribly scourged and then beheaded. Soon afterwards he be- came himself the victim of a violent death, as they had ])redicted. The memory of these martyrs is honored on ,lune 9. See A ii.tflihrl. //eil.-Lexikon (Cologne and Frankf. 1719), p. 2132 sq. — Herzog, Real-EncykloiJ. s. v.
THF.CLA AND Paul, Acts of. The name Thecla, which nowhere occurs in Scripture, occupies an impor- tant position in the Apocryphal writings of the New Test., because it is closely connected with that of the apostle Paul. Under the title A eta J'aiili ef T/iechr. (first edited by (irabe, in his Spicileffium SS. PP. [Oxon. 1(598; 2d ed. 1700] ; then by .Jones, A A'ew and Full Method of Settliiifj the Canonical A nthority of the. Neio Testament [Lond. 172G]; and tinally by Tischendorf, in his Acta Apostt.Apocn/pha [ Lips. 1851 ], and Wright, Apocn/phal Acts of the Apostles [Syriac and English, Lond. 1871, 2 vols.]), we have an Apocryphal work e.xtant which has furnished rich material for the so-called " Tliecla Legend."
I. The Contents of it are as folhjws :
'■ When Paul had tied from Antioch and went np to Ico- niuiii.lic wasaccoinpanied l).y Demnsand Heinioge'nes.two men full of hypocrisy, who ))reteuded unto Paul as though they loved hhn, but they loved hiiu not. On the way Paul made the oracles of the Lord sweet unto them, teachhii; them tlie great things of Christ. Onesiphorus, havhig he:ud that Paul w.is comhit: to Icouium, weiit out to uietU him, that lie initrhi hriuir hiui into liis lionse. Now he had not seen Paul iu the flesh, but Titus had told of him. He tlierefore went along the road to Lvstra. lookiiiir for Paul among them that passed bv. And when he saw Paul, he beheld a ui.ni small iu stature, bald-headed, of a <,'"od comiilexiou, with eyebrows meeduir, and n couutenauce full of grace. For sometimes he appeared like a man, and sometimes he had, .as it were, the face of an ausrel. And when Paul saw Onesiphorus, he smiled upon him. But Onesiphorus said, ' Hail, servant of the blessed God.' And Paul answered, 'Grace be with thee, and with thy house." Put Uemas and llermogenes were full of wrath and hypocrisy.
"\\ hen Paul had come into the house of Onesiphorus, there was great joy, and they bowed their knees and brake bread. And Paul preached unto them the word, saying,
" ' Blessed are the pine in heart, for they shall see" God.
" 'Blesx'd are they that bear rule over themselves, for God sltall speak with them.
" ' Blessed are they that have kept chaste their flesh, for they shall become the temple of God.
" ' Blessed are they that have ke))! themselves apart from this world, for ihey shall be called righteous.
" 'Blessed are they that have wives as though they had none, for they shall have God as their portion.
" ' Blessed are they which retain the fear of God, for they shall become as the angels of God.
" 'Blessed are they that have kept the baptism, for they shall have rest with the Father and the Son.
" ' Blessed are the niercifid, for they sliall obtain mercy, and shall not behold the bitter day of judKuieut.
" ' Blessed are the bodies of the viririus, for they shall be well pleasing unto God, and they shall not lose the reward of their chastity.
" ' Blessed are they that tremble at the words of God, for they shall receive consolation.
" 'Blessed are they that are partakers of the wisdom of Jesus Christ, for ihev shall be called the sous of the Most High God.
" ' Blessed are they who, for the love of Christ, are de- parted from conformiiy to this world, for they shall judge the angels, and shall be blessed at tlie right hand of the Father, and they shall have rest for ever and ever.'
" While Paul was thus speaking, there was a certain vir- gin, called Thecla, the daughter of Theacleia, beiroihed to a man whose name was Thamyris; and s^he sat at a win- dow which was close by, listening attentively to Paul's discourse concernin<; virginity and prayer; and she gave earnest heed to the things which were spoken, rejoicing with all her heart. And wheu she saw many women going in to hear Paul, she, also, had an eager desire thai she miirhl be deemed worthy to stand in his presence and hear the word of Christ.
" For three days and three nights Thecla listened to the apostle, till her mother sent for Thamyris to see whether he could induce her to come home. His endeavors were in vain, for Thecla only listened to the things which were spoken by Paul. Then Thamyris started up, and went fortu into the street of the city," watching those that went in and came out of the house of Onesiphorus. And he saw two men striving bitterly one with the other, and he said, 'Tell me, I pray you, who is this that leadetli astray the souls of young men, and decciveih virii;ins, so that they do not marry, but remain as they are? I promise to give you money, for I am one of the chief men of this city.' The men, who were Demas aud Hermogenes, said nuto him, 'Who indeed he is we know not, but this we know, that be deprives young men of wives, and maidens of hus- bands, saying unto them that in no other way can they have a resurrection than by not polluting the flesh, and by keeping it chaste.' At the supper which Thamyris gave them iu his house, they advised him to brinij the apostle before the governor, charging him with persuading the multitudes to embrace this new doctrine of the Christians. The governor, they said, will destroy him, and thou wilt have Thecla to thy wife; aud we will teach thee that the resurrection which this man speaks of has taken j)hice already, for we rose again in our children, and we rose again wheu we came to the knowledge of the true God.