Sexual Asceticism and Eternal Life in the Acts of Paul and Thecla: A Collective and Cultural Memory Perspective
2022
Abstract
The study introduces the author's view on social memory and, in the following sections, works with the image of the Apostle Paul and his theology concerning the resurrection. It first presents Paul's typological picture vis-a-vis Cicero in the Acts of the Apostles.
Then it addresses the Acts of Paul and Thecla, precisely the ascetical tendencies of this apocryphal narrative and the conditioning of the resurrection on sexual abstinence. It then compares the portrayal of Paul in the canonical Acts of the Apostles and the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, showing the influence of genre in the presentation of characters.
He then evaluates all this regarding social and cultural memory and rhetoric.