Today we experience something of a time warp, traveling from the 19th century back to the days of the early church. We encounter John Keble -- priest, poet, academic, and major player in the revival of the Church of England and Thecla -- companion of the apostle Paul and passionate pursuer of holiness.
In yesterday's saintly action, Juan Diego advanced to the Saintly Sixteen with a 57% to 43% victory over Hadewijch. He'll face the winner of Dorcas vs. Frederick Douglass.
As an aside, we've been delighted to see the number of comments that come in throughout the 24 hours each matchup is open. They are a wonderful blend of thoughtful and gracious and educational and inspirational -- basically the opposite of nearly every other online forum!
And in case you missed yesterday's episode of Monday Madness, it included a verifiable miracle involving a corporeal Golden Halo. Not that Tim and Scott are angling to make it into the 2089 bracket or anything...
John Keble
Though devoted to his calling as a country priest, serving for thirty years as the vicar of Hursley, John Keble is best known as an influential founder of the Oxford Movement. This movement sought to renew the Church of England through a better understanding and adherence to the practices of the early church. In 1833 he preached the Assize Sermon, soon published with the provocative title “National Apostasy.” Keble was a key player in the Oxford Movement and wrote nine of the ninety Tracts for the Times. In addition to writing poetry, tracts, and sermons, Keble also translated the works of Iranaeus and prepared a three-volume edition of the works of Richard Hooker.
During his life, he was perhaps best known as a poet. First published anonymously, his collection The Christian Year went through ninety-five print editions by the time of his death in 1866. Embarrassed by its success, Keble dedicated the profits to restoring the church building at Hursley. Some of these poems are still familiar as hymns today. He was elected professor of poetry at Oxford in 1831 and held the (non-residential) post for ten years.
In 1845, Keble began exploring the possibility of creating a college at Oxford that would be of moderate cost and hold fast to the best practices of the Church of England. Established in his memory, Keble College quickly shifted focus from theological formation toward more traditional pedagogy but remained committed to making an Oxford education more widely available to all economic classes.
Keble would no doubt be shocked at how distant today’s Church of England is from the established church he sought to renew, but there are still parts of his Assize Sermon that ring true today.
“The surest way to uphold or restore our endangered Church will be for each of her anxious children, in his own place and station, to resign himself more thoroughly to his God and Savior in those duties, public and private, which are not immediately affected by the emergencies of the moment: the daily and hourly duties, I mean, of piety, purity, charity, justice.”
Collect for John Keble
Grant, O God, that in all time of our testing we may know your Presence and obey your will; that, following the example of your servant John Keble, we may accomplish with integrity and courage what you give us to do, and endure what you give us to bear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Thecla
Thecla was a follower of the Apostle Paul, whose life was recorded in the Acts of Paul and Thecla, a prominent piece of early Christian literature.
This book recounted a missionary journey of Paul to Iconium, where he was proclaiming “the word of God about abstinence and the resurrection.” Thecla, upon hearing Paul’s message, found herself enraptured. Her devotion to Paul and his teaching so deeply concerned her mother and fiancé (worried that she would follow Paul’s demands to live in chastity), they formed a mob and imprisoned Paul.
Thecla broke into the prison, and when discovered with Paul, they were both brought before the authorities. Paul, enjoying the privilege of both his Roman citizenship and his being born male, was whipped and expelled from the town, while Thecla was sentenced to burn at the stake — an example for those who might consider Paul’s preaching. When Thecla was to be executed, “God took compassion on her, and caused a great eruption from the earth beneath, and a cloud from above to pour down great quantities of rain and hail; Insomuch that by the rupture of the earth, very many were in great danger, and some were killed, the fire was extinguished, and Thecla was preserved.”
Thecla followed after Paul, desperate to be baptized. She traveled to Antioch, where a nobleman fell in love with Thecla and offered Paul money for her. When Paul denied knowing her, the nobleman tried to take her by force. Thecla resisted, and “tore his coat, and took his crown off his head, and made him appear ridiculous before all the people.” Again she was brought before authorities and sentenced to die by being eaten by wild beasts. Facing what she believed to be a near-certain death, Thecla saw a pit of water filled with ravenous seals. Believing this was her only opportunity to be baptized, she threw herself into the water, saying, “In thy name, O my Lord Jesus Christ, I am this last day baptized.” And in another miracle, the seals died before they could devour her.
In the Eastern Church, Thecla is regarded as an “apostle and protomartyr among women.” Observance of her holiness flourished around Seleucia, where a church was built over her alleged tomb. Thecla remains among the most celebrated female saints of the earliest ages of Christianity, demonstrating that regardless of the truth or fiction of her life and story, women have played an indispensable role in the mission and growth of the early Church. In recognizing the holiness of Thecla, the Church honors the witness of all women who have lived and died in sharing the good news of Jesus and his love.
Collect for Thecla
Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love in the heart of your servant Thecla: Grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in her triumph may profit by her example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Vote!
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315 comments on “John Keble vs. Thecla”
Shrieking eels, sorry Thecla. I've known John Keble through his hymns all my life, and they demonstrate a deep devotion to God. I'm not swayed by the miracles purported to be experienced by Thecla, nor that she was inordinately devoted to Paul. Keble all the way.
The toughest choice yet. I have no doubt that Thecla was completely committed to Christ, but so little is known about the life of the actual person. The earthquake and rain seem plausible, but "ravenous seals" seems rather a stretch. My vote today goes to John Keble, who seems to have been a priest with the perfect balance of devotion, scholarship, and artistry.
There's a pretty scary photo of a ravenous seal here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2268265/Swimming-jaws-death-Final-moments-penguin-inches-leopard-seals-gaping-mouth.html
Me too!
No, no. I meant to agree with Bill Scrivener. Of course, he and I are going by that extra-canonical work, so ....well ... now I'm not sure. But it would be Keble for me anyway.
I'm a bit surprised the Thecla is in the lead! All truth is not factual, so the remarks about her possibly not being "real" don't affect me.
As one who loves liturgy, and "high" church, I vote for Keble. A friend of mine came up with the phrase "The Majesty of Mystery." I think that's what the Oxford Movement gave back to the church. Anglo-Catholic worship can rival, and even surpass, Roman Catholic.
I think it's so interesting that we feel bound by facts when it comes to saints, preferring the verifiable to the legend...even though if we applied that standard to scripture we'd have a very slim volume indeed.
Thecla was an inspiration to women--a reminder that they too could follow Christ, even when rejected by the men of the movement while they were attempting to be free of the control of the men in their lives. Whether the miracles happened or not is as irrelevant as whether Jesus literally walked on water or whether Moses parted the Red/Reed Sea. She pointed people to a reality larger than herself, and made it possible for women to become leaders in a movement that changed the world. She definitely wins.
And to say she's annoying or a groupie...feels to me like the way passionate/loud women are usually discounted.
What the cla?
I never heard of Thecla, despite a year studying Paul.
So, I want to thank the Supreme Executive Committee for including her. But I find it disturbing that so many people are doubting her story and treating her like a lunatic stalker groupie.
I voted FOR Keble because he read and helped spread the work of Hooker. I did not, like a vocal bunch, vote AGAINST Thecla. I'd say either one earned a spot, but probably not the halo.
Gotta ask the group, all of whom know more about church history and theology than I...
If Thecla were Thec, and male, would we be calling him a "lunatic stalker groupie?" Or would we be more careful to acknowledge his (dubious) passion? Just wondering. And yes, I do have a bumper sticker on my car that says "Well-behaved women never make history," so I am biased. But still.
If Thecla were a man he would still be demented, stalker, obsessed, etc. Sex has nothing to do with it. But in Theclas's case, maybe it did.
Really? When was the last time we referred to a man following a man as a "stalker?" Jesus had twelve stalkers, did he?
Seriously, is our view of Thecla colored by the fact that her story *isn't* canonical? Or, if the "ballad of Paul and Thecla" were canon, would we be just the tiniest bit more respectful of her passion?
And please, people...We're Christians. We believe in the Ultimate Ghost Story...yet we balk at (wo)man-eating seals??
According to te bio, Thecla was doing a bit more than "following" as in "the disciples". Breaking into the jail to be with Paul? Self baptism by death. There are many accounts of men being stalkers. Ask some of the women who've had them therorize them.
Sorry folks, that wasn't supposed to be "theorize". Terrorize was what my mind wanted — just washed my fingers and can't do a thing with them!
I am struck by an earlier comment by Bill S about the miraculous saving of Thecia's life, that it seemed unbelievable. I think that's pretty much the definition of a miracle, right? What colossal faith it must have taken for a women back in that day to strike out on her own because she believed she had heard the word of God. Go Thecia!
Thecla's story is so fantastical as to be compelling. And I have great respect for someone who wants to be baptized so desperately that she would subject herself to danger. However, Keble appeals to me in his steadfast perseverance, his reluctance to stand in the spotlight, and his example that more of us might be likely to follow - "for the saints of God are just folk like me." So, dear Thecla, while you spark the imagination, Keble speaks to my heart.
And I note that, once again, I'm backing the losing saint!
A Paul-stalking woman ,who, when she is about to thrown to some ravenous human-eating seals, decides it's time for her baptism?! Hollywood can't make up a better story than this! She the "Christina the Astonishing" of the 2015 bracket. As tempting as it was, I went with John.
For what it's worth, the esthetics of the Keble College chapel are insane. In the best possible way.
Um ... would we be calling Thecla a groupie if she were male? I mean, I don't see anyone calling Luke a groupie. Or Mark or Barnabas.
I would have loved to have known Thecla's story before the hagiographers got to it. There has to be a reason she had a following in Seleucia ...
Thecla means a great deal to Syriac-speaking Christians today, especially those forced to flee the conflict in Syria. I have visited the town in Syria, north of Damascus, where St Thecla is honored (you can visit the small canyon where she is said to have made her escape). Until recently this town also had a womens monastery -- the nuns were taken hostage last year by Islamic militants, but eventually released unharmed. To my mind, Thecla is not just an ancient saint but a relevant one today.
Thank you for that bit of information. I knew about the nuns being kidnapped but never read any names connected to the convent/monastery. The Eastern Church has kept more saints 'alive' than we and many of them did lead miraculous lives. However,
I still voted for Keble because his work in our part of Christ's kingdom has been so important and lasting. Surely someone could 'conjour' up some Keble Kitsch!
Thecla's story is thrilling, but it sounds like just a story. John Keble studied and wrote and thought deeply about his faith, and had an enormous influence on many. He was a gifted poet. He was a true pastor to his people. He didn't seek glory in the world but served his Savior with all his considerable gifts. He gets my vote. Still, the carnivorous seals are a fine image!
I voted FOR Keble. I was raised on Oxford Movement theology. As far as Thecla and her passion, methinks a couple of generations hence people are going to wonder how we could believe the things we do.
mother named for theckla ... can't help it, plus it's a really cool life she lived!
I really don't like these pairings! It seems as though we are comparing two completely different dimensions of the holy, both valuable in their different ways.
pehaps that's the point of the pairings...
We all know that St Paul was pretty sexist! Poor Thecla, why couldn't he just baptize her or even defend her when she was attacked, instead of denying he knew her? She was forced to go to such lengths just to get baptized! My vote went to her because of that. That is, despite my respect for John Keble and his noble reasons for founding a college, etc. Thecla was an independent woman when the times were against her. Thank goodness for the miracles, at least God understood!
I agree with Lesley Hildrey. I am also interested to find that so many are loathe to believe in miracles - we believers of resurrection and the many miracles performed by Jesus in his public life.
Paul was sexist ,why didn't he stand up for her? So mean, he got off and she was set to burn.
Our household felt that the ravenous seals sounded very "Monty Pythonish". It seems that the Eastern Church was more embracing of her story. As a model for the emancipation of women a strong voice. But having been a member of the Hooker Forum in the Diocese of Colorado manyyears ago. ,,,I am conflicted.
So far I've voted for the saint I can find more to admire in their bio and can verify from other sources and witnesses. Thecla raises a lot of questions--what was her part in furthering Christianity, were her actions as recounted here done to inspire others or were they motivated for selfish reasons, who was she reaching out to in order to lead them to live a more godly life? Keble's actions and bio have no fantastical elements, he was pushing to instill in others his love of God, and he was actively reaching out to others. As a woman, I'd love to vote for Thecla but I have to go with Keble in this round.
Sorry, no contest. I've read extensively about early Christianity and Thecla is hardly spoken of in Christian circles. Certainly I never heard a peep about her until I began reading the apocryphal gospels and I didn't need any miracles (ravenous seals?!) to know that this lady was a special person. I apologize, Mr. Kebler, but Thecla has won my heart and my vote.
I was disappointed at Teresa of Avila's loss to David Oakerhater, but I could understand it. But John Keble losing to Thecla? Possibly, many voters have little comprehension of the influence this humble man has had on the Anglican/Episcopal church and the devotions many of us take for granted today. To vote for someone else whose existence is questionable..... The story of Thecla may have had great influence on real people but so has George Bailey from the movie It's a Wonderful Life. I love the story but would not vote for him to win the Golden Halo.
Indeed, I fear that Keble's failure to advance (as it now appears will be the case) is sort of emblematic of the esteem the Catholic heritage of the Episcopal Church is (not) held in. I can understand the "equity-seeking" voting - and have used that strategy myself - but I'm surprised a story as thin as Thecla's can win so decisively. And I am a little surprised that more of those objecting to the "groupie" characterization on feminist grounds are not put off by yet another generic story of a virgin preserving her purity in the face of a rapacious pagan. Sometimes it seems like that was the only way for a woman to attain to sainthood in the Early Church: NB that there is no corresponding category of "virgin" for male saints.
While there are species of seals that might be dangerous to humans (Leopard seals, Elephant seals, possibly Gray seals), I am guessing that the seals that Paul and Thecla would most likely have encountered would have been Mediterranean Monk seals, described as shy and not particularly social creatures. However, it does appear that Monk seals were associated with all sorts of myths and legends, including their transformation into nymphs or mermaids. William M. Johnson writes that this seal was "branded as a pest that threatens fish stocks and damages fishing nets. . . Such hostility was probably responsible for transmuting the mermaid seal into the sea devil in the folklore in the Dark Ages, and also inspired the myth that the seal would hunt down fishermen in vicious, tooth-gnashing, packs." - See more at: http://www.iridescent-publishing.com/ms_ant/ms_ant_auth.htm#sthash.Kg26HV37.dpuf
So this may be the origin of the "ravenous seals" that Thecla faced.
I had a difficult time deciding so I read the comments, which I rarely do before voting. I love learning from the comments and those more knowledgeable. Im still undecided, think Ill take the day on it, maybe read and learn more this evening. Please keep commenting about whether I should vote for a miracle story or a factual poet, don't care if Im on the winning side or not, don't care if I vote for facts or dubious stories. I love it all!
Whew! This pairing was the most interesting introduction to the Oxford Movement imaginable. On the one hand Keble, instigator of reform, whose influence on virtually all aspects of Anglicanism today is subtle and far-reaching. On the other the kind of saint whose cultus the Oxford Movement encouraged, one belonging to an age when when the value of romance as an invitation to embark on a life of holiness was joyously affirmed, especially in the Orthodox churches. Secular romance novels were wildly popular in the first four centuries AD, as archaeological evidence shows; only pornography was more popular. The Acts of Paul and Thecla spoke to people as they lived, where they lived, and how they lived, and by giving Paul and Thecla equal billing, the romance redressed the patriarchal imbalance in the official version of the "faith once given to the saints."
Back to the Oxford Movement: one of its publishing ventures was a series on the lives of early British saints. The historian James Anthony Froude was pressed by his brother to write one of these legends up for the series. Froude dutifully produced a Life of St. Neot, but on the last page his conscience impelled him to add, "This is all, and indeed rather more than all, that is known to men of the life of Blessed Neot, but certainly not more than is known to the angels in Heaven. So it is with Thecla, whose influence down through the centuries is by us mortals not calculable. Besides, that icon bears a strong, I might say an uncanny resemblance to one of the strongest and saintliest woman I know, without whom my own faith, hope, and love would not have been renewed several years ago. This vote'S for Thecla and Phyllis!
AMEN, John Lewis!
Thanks right back at you, Tracey! This one really hit me where I live. If I ever overcome my fear of technology, I'll say more about the role of IMAGINATION in religious life.
Thanks for that, John Lewis; wonderful story about Froude and Neot. I've never heard it before, but it fits perfectly here!
I found the Neot story in a Penguin book on the Oxford Movement a long time back, and it stayed with me!
People - Henry's divorce might have been approved because of the schism with Rome, but was not the reason for the schism. Please read the history of the Church of England and of the Oxford Movement. My vote is with Keble, even though Thecla's passion is persuasive. We could use his wisdom in the modern church.
Apparently my vote is the kiss of death to one of the saints every day! At least this year. Fond of the mystics as I am, believing as I do, that no woman should have someone's sexual desires forced on her, a veteran of serving two parishes as their first female pastor, I still have other reasons for voting for John Keble: I am also a lifelong singer, devoted to hymnody (and many hymns born in the Church of England turned up in Methodist hymnals) and to education. As a happily married clergywoman, I am not in sympathy with the church's history of devotion to perpetual virginity. Some are called to celibacy, some are called to marriage. I vote for John.
Had to go with Thecla, had a nun in grammar school named Thecla and she helped me to learn to trust in God.
I vote for Thecla. Early Church history/oral tradition was written and controlled mostly by men. Thecla comes across as a crazed groupie who annoyed Paul, but the same sorts of authors made Mary Magdalene into a prostitute. Influential women don't come off well. At least we still know Thecla's name, the tradition that she inspired many women in the early church to follow her example, that she risked execution multiple times- the killer seals were no doubt added later. As a linguist, my inclination is to deconstruct the texts and try to find the hidden history of women in the early Church.
Christine Parkhurst, I first read your name as "PANKhurst," and I thought, it's a miracle! And she's still a feminist!
Thecla may be a holy nut, but what was Theresa of Avila? I suspect she may have annoyed Paul as well.
If we assume Thecia was a real person sans the strange miracles, she should have been wary of Paul because of his celibacy teachings, his sexism, and the way he reportedly treated her. John Keble wrote "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah," a lasting gift to the church. I vote for John.
Interesting that many criticize the Acts if Paul and Thecla as being non-canonical and then are wound up about the seals. Maybe the writer didn't have their taxonomy down and they were walruses? Would sea-monsters make it better. Have you heard of metaphor? Or do you also hold to a firm 6 days for creation? I have a PhD in biology and didn't get stuck on the seals. It was Thecla's persistence in her faith and seeking to be baptized in spite of Paul that turned my vote.
On Ash Wednesday our service was small enough that we stood around the altar for communion preparations. It made me think aobut the early church, when people gathered in small groups to profess faith in somehting new to the world. Those people were brave and independent thinkers, going against the cultural norms. They carried the message forward to us. Not that John Keble is without significant influence, but he too needed those early followers, who were all groupies, or at least probably viewed that way by their unbelieiving friends and family. So Thecla gets my vote today.
It's so tempting to vote for a female leader of the early church (females in church history being so often overlooked), BUT I cannot vote against one who influenced my favorite poet ever, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Keble it is ...
Intrigued both by mysticism and the Oxford Movement., I enjoyed several summers of study at Wycliffe Hall and delightful final celebrations at Keble Hall.. Despite my allegiance to reviving the real and creative women of faith, we need poets willing to write as well as swim.