Andrew Jacobs, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School
The Life of Thecla is the first English translation, with introduction and notes, of a fifth-century writing of a popular second-century noncanonical text (the Acts of Thecla), which tells the story of a young woman who leaves behind her life and family, and risks martyrdom twice, to follow the ascetic message of the apostle Paul. The Life gives readers insight into how this popular story was reimagined centuries later, at the lively shrine to St. Thecla. Gospel Thrillers explores conspiratorial fantasies about the Bible in U.S. cultures through dozens of modern novels that invent fantastic new gospel discoveries that plunge protagonists (and readers) into a world of danger and intrigue.
Video
Discussion Questions
- The Life of Thecla is a retelling of a popular story for new audiences. Think of adaptations or retellings of "classic" stories you have read (Shakespeare, Austen, Tolkien, Marvel comics): what did the author change and what can we learn about cultural changes from those adaptations and retellings? Why do some audiences like or dislike those adaptations?
Gospel Thrillers imagines conspiracies around new biblical discoveries: what kind of biblical discovery can you imagine appearing in the twenty-first century and how do you think it would be received (by Christians or non-Christians)? Why would some people welcome new discoveries while others would reject them?
Cite
Jacobs, Andrew. "The Life of Thecla and Gospel Thrillers," Middle Ages for Educators, March 5, 2025. Accessed [date]. https://middleagesforeducators.princeton.edu/life-thecla-and-gospel-thr…