Comments on: Who Was Thecla?

By: Joe Cantello

Joe Cantello — Tue, 02 May 2023 07:03:52 +0000

Perhaps the story of Thecla began to circulate at a time that chastity was considered the ideal of being a Christian, and it’s dating to the time of the 1st Century, would’ve been used to show it was practiced long before celibacy became the model to emulate.

By: Cyndy Burdge

Cyndy Burdge — Mon, 01 May 2023 19:48:44 +0000

Whether or not Thecla was a real person it is instructive that early Christians believed in her and admired her actions as preacher and baptizer. Ironically,
once Christianity became legal, male bureaucracy took over and women were
not allowed into the church hierarchy. The Council of Laodicea circa 364 was explicit, women were not even allowed to approach the altar. Even today some Baptists as well as Roman Catholics bar females from the priesthood. Ironically,
Thecla is the patron saint of Tarragona Spain, and they have a 3day festival in her honor. Her relic, her hand encased in silver, goes in procession thru the cathedral into the plaza, where she is celebrated with fireworks.

By: Wade Miller-Knight

Wade Miller-Knight — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 15:43:26 +0000

Regional tradition is that the Seleucia where Thekla spent most of her life is the place now called Silifke on the Turkish coast SE of Konya (Iconium), and opposite the north coast of Cyprus. There is now a modern main road from Konya to Silifke. There is a rock church dedicated to Thekla there. (The name Seleucia was common – there are about 16 of them – because of the Seleucid rulers.)

By: Ezra

Ezra — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 14:59:51 +0000

In reply to Ezra.

Last paragraph of the article is this, “The Cyrenians tried to balance the harvests. However, the plant eventually was harvested to extinction by the end of the first century AD. The last stalk of silphium was reportedly harvested and given to Roman Emperor Nero as an “oddity.” According to Pliny the Elder, Nero promptly ate the gift. Clearly, he had been poorly informed on the plant’s usages. Though the plant is extinct, there still exists a modern day tribute to it that you might find familiar — the modern heart shape. Silphium seed pods were reportedly the inspiration for the popular symbol of love. Fitting, when you consider why the plant was so popular. . . . SOURCE for the above, Katie Serena, “The Greatest Contraceptive Was Silphium – A Plant That The Romans Ate To Extinction,” 15 September 2017, 22 August 2018.
http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=Roman%20Empire,%20Silphium&d=4984087980345561&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=WSL2IRPmhSjagGiDoEuuP0tZ5DjetE_Z …

By: Ezra

Ezra — Mon, 24 Sep 2018 14:52:21 +0000

The irony is that Romans loved silphium, a flower that served as a contraceptive agent which was used as an abortifacient. It was the major industry of Cyrene, where conditions made it practically the only place where it flourished, which it did up to the end of the first century, when it was over-harvested and no longer available. During the height of its popularity, it was so appreciated that the image was stamped on coinage.