Out of the Shadows, the Acts of Paul and Thecla: A New Translation and Commentary

by Bernard Brandon Scott; Perry V. Kea

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2024

Overview

Thecla is one of the strangest characters from Christianity’s past. She falls in love with the apostle Paul’s teaching on continence, twice faces martyrdom, fights with beasts in the arena, cuts her hair, cross-dresses, baptizes herself, and becomes a preacher. Tertullian tried to silence her story and the Pastoral Epistles warned about women like her. The Acts of Paul and Thecla was widespread and popular but then was hidden away in the Apocrypha. In recent years, Thecla has come out of the shadows. Her story reframes conventional views of second-century Jesus communities. Out of the Shadows offers a vibrant and accessible modern translation and commentary.

Praise for Out of the Shadows, the Acts of Paul and Thecla

B. Brandon Scott and Perry Kea have indeed drawn Thecla out of the shadows with this highly readable and engaging translation and commentary. Their balance between critical and explanatory tones helps modern readers make sense of a romance novel set in the context of antiquity. Thecla’s attraction to Paul in Part 1 and her fierce authority in Part 2 humanize her as she demonstrates a radical commitment to the divine powers of Christ.

——Shirley Paulson, founder and producer, Early Christian Texts: The Bible and Beyond

B. Brandon Scott and Perry Kea’s new translation and commentary offers a rigorous and balanced reading of the Acts of [Paul and] Thecla. Scott and Kea’s approach to this remarkable story rightfully emphasizes the centrality of the female body to contests for community identities in the Roman Empire, a feat yet to be accomplished in translation. For readers interested in glimpsing the popular imagination of the earliest generations of Jesus communities, this writing—made newly accessible through this translation—is as close as you can get.

——Erin K. Vearncombe, assistant professor, Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy, University of Toronto Mississauga

Product Details

• Title: Out of the Shadows, the Acts of Paul and Thecla: A New Translation and Commentary
• Authors: Bernard Brandon Scott, Perry V. Kea
• Series: Westar Tools and Translations
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 86
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9798385219261, 9798385219247, 9798385219254
• Resource ID: LLS:9798385219261
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-23T00:17:23Z

About the Authors

Bernard Brandon Scott is the Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament Emeritus at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is the author and editor of many books, including Hear Then the Parable (1989), The Trouble with Resurrection (2011), and The Real Paul (2015). He is coauthor with Margaret Lee of Sound Mapping the New Testament (2008, second edition: Cascade, 2022), and coauthor with Erin Vearncombe and Hal Taussig of After Jesus before Christianity (2021).





Perry V. Kea is associate professor emeritus of biblical studies at the University of Indianapolis, Indiana. He participated in several Westar Seminars, including the Jesus Seminar, the Acts Seminar, and the Christianity Seminar. He served as the chair of the board of directors of Westar from 2014 to 2019.