Story Time with Uncle Jimmy: The Acts of Paul and Thecla

RV Travel Update and Upcoming Debate Schedule

My name is James White and Rich is operating remotely. We went and picked up the RV today and I pulled it over to a RV park so we can have it you know the refrigerator is cooling down and the air conditioners are running and making sure stuff works.

I forget how long ago it was now a and it just all poured out the underside. You know and it was the providence of God it really was. I mean I really missed having it on that trip but wow the weather would have been really bad.

So you know the Lord has ways to do this because you think about it the the guy that was working on the RV is really good really sharp guy he does good work and to just leave it was obviously it was a you know a clamp on a hose just hadn't been tightened down and it's unusual for someone to do something like that.

God has ways of doing things it really does and so anyways the the water's on and it's working it's not pouring out the bottom and so yeah this will be the first big trip with the shock absorbers and stuff like that and I'll be you know keeping a close eye on it see how things go.

We head out on Saturday morning I head out Saturday morning and some people ask why doesn't your wife go with you. She's taking care of her mom. Her mom for example is in the hospital most of last week and so she just has to be here to look after things take her doctor's appointments.

It's that time of our life and those of you you know boomers that's a I don't know where that term came from but anyway well I do historically but it's a rather negative application over the past number of years you know what it's like I honor her for taking care of her her parents and you know my mom passed away in 2010 it's been a long time now and my dad passed away just over three years ago now but he had moved away so I wasn't nearby for that and but her mom lives nearby and their dad lives up in California unfortunately and but she goes up there and helps him with stuff.

So she's doing what she needs to do and that's sort of her job right now. I mean she does my wife does continue to work a little bit. She worked for the airlines for years and years and then got fired during COVID like 40 ,000 other people did just for one airline.

But anyways I won't mention her age but she teaches five six aerobics classes a week and yesterday morning set a new PR in deadlifting. She's in great shape. She's she's something else she's identical twin and her identical twins in town right now.

And so anyways how to get on all that. Well yeah so that when I say I'm traveling alone that's that's why. And the other reason is and all the guys all the guys are going to get this. I know where absolutely everything is in the RV and so you know you have to be able to find things.

You know you got to fix something something goes wrong you know and you got to and I know where everything in the RV is and I just know that if my wife traveled with me I would not know where everything is.

When I when I die the kids are going to find three or four versions of the same thing in my possessions and the reason will be that while I was on a trip my wife put one of those things in a good place never crossed my mind to look there and there's a bunch of guys going yep yep yep yep I know exactly what you mean.

So anyway so uh the next dividing line uh will probably be Monday or Tuesday uh you know unless weird stuff happens um and there's a real need to do a program. I mean literally if there was a need the units already set up uh I think Rich is going to get most of the technical stuff because we pull the electronic stuff out this time primarily because Rich wanted to be doing some sound stuff um but especially during the summer uh we you know we're in Phoenix you don't leave anything slightly perishable or that could be damaged by being cooked because that's that's what happens uh in the sun in Phoenix and uh it gets really hot really hot in there.

So um I think he's going to be getting most of the stuff put together so that the cameras will be in there and because I I don't see the camera out there so he may have already grabbed all that stuff I'm not sure it may already be in the unit but he's gonna be setting all that stuff up so you know if worst came worse something happened uh and we need to do something on Friday uh the unit's sitting there I've got 5G I could throw the you know Starlink out and uh and get it hooked up probably need to do that anyways probably should do that anyways because we always have to reactivate it after it's been off for a while um so we could do that but otherwise probably as I'm traveling and then we've put a bunch of stuff on the calendar and I I keep forgetting to mention this and I apologize for that we do have a calendar at aomin .org.

Um so when I go on these trips Rich does what he can poor guy um not without no without a whole lot of cooperation from me normally and tries to put what we're gonna be doing there so um you know the churches I'll be preaching at uh I'm gonna be stopping again uh in uh the Lafayette area uh before I end up in Livingston for the for the debate and so there's a lot of places I'll be stopping um around the Louisiana loop uh shall we say coming and going.

So uh prayers for safe travel obviously I can you know there's only so much you can do you have to share the road with other human beings and um uh the reality is uh yikes uh sometimes you see people and you know they're driving down the road like this I don't know how they see anything.

Um lord lord has to take care of me. I can only go I can only contribute so much and then it's keeping the crazy people off of you after that. So prayers appreciated. Um travel fund at aomin .org helps with all the you know gas and everything goes with it.

And of course we just you know handed the repair place another check because pretty much every time I come back we've got to do something. Not because there's something wrong with the unit but because Louisiana is a good distance from here a lot of bouncy roads between here and there stuff happens all right.

The Purpose of Story Time and Apocryphal Church History

So today is um story time with Uncle Jimmy. We haven't done this in a long long time and uh once in a while we what we will do is we'll just read through some we've done the protevangelium of James and the gospel of Thomas and all sorts of interesting stuff from church history um some of which had major impact in church history.

When we read the protevangelium of James I mean large portion of Roman Catholic theology even orthodox theology of Mary doesn't come from the New Testament doesn't come from any semi-fair reading in the New Testament.

It comes from external sources like the protevangelium of James Ascension of Isaiah passages. You know books like this literature was being produced in you know yeah late first century and especially into the second century.

And most of the time you cannot have any idea who produced these things where it was produced what their connection was to the church. Were they orthodox unorthodox was it even a period of time where they lived where you'd have any idea what orthodoxy was.

And I'm not talking about orthodoxy as an eastern orthodox. That's well the problems with that terminology um but even when you look at the apostolic fathers that you know again that's a anachronistic description of basically the literature that was produced during a period of time where someone might have had some firsthand contact with the apostles or maybe their immediate successors um followers I guess anyway wide variety of quality between Clement and the Epistle to Diognetus and Shepherd of Hermas or Epistle of Barnabas.

A wide variety there. So it it I've often used the illustration you know what if what if there is a massive natural disaster let's let's not say a nuclear war let's say let's say it was a massive natural disaster the the earth shook in its orbit or something a massive earthquakes that buried much of what exists today just in one shot and two thousand years from now archaeologists are discovering things and they they discover a christian bookstore rare as they are today.

Um and they start pulling out random books from the remains of this christian bookstore. What conclusion are they going to come to about the theology of our day. You know uh you you pull out some uh Joel Osteen and some uh Kenneth Hagen and Kenneth Copeland and some Paula White.

And then you pull out some Puritans. Good luck putting all that together. And that's one of the funny things about church historians is sometimes they try to put that together when in reality there wasn't really much of a connection at all other than you know similar terminology but belief systems very very different and uh so that's what you're what you're looking at when we look at some of these early writings and what I want to read you today is the Acts of Paul and Thecla.

Thecla in Orthodox Veneration and the Problem of Historical Evidence

What's interesting is if you go to oca .org which is the orthodox church in America oca .org and under the orthodox faith you look for Thecla. T-h-e-k-l-a c-l-a won't pull anything up. Strangely uh but t-h-e-k-l-a you will find an article called proto-martyr and equal of the apostles Thecla.

So Thecla is a woman who has been canonized and it's a different process between Rome and the east but she is considered a saint. Um and it here it starts. Uh the holy proto-martyr and equal of the apostles Thecla was born in the city of Iconium.

So this is the terminology they use equal of the apostles and the holy proto-martyr. And there is a day you know that just like in Roman Catholicism you have days of commemoration and so on and so forth and you can read the whole thing that they have here.

It's not very long about Thecla. Um it says the last paragraph is the holy church glorifies proto-martyr Thecla as the glory of women and guide for the suffering opening up the way through every torment from of old many churches were dedicated to her one of which was built in Constantinople by the holy equal of the apostles Constantine so they call Constantine.

This is why i mentioned this yesterday in the program. This is why the orthodox try to modify the history of Constantine and the reality that he was baptized by an Arian bishop uh because he's equal to the apostles.

Historically he not only wasn't but he was a politician and he held whatever theological views would be politically useful sort of like President Trump. Let's just be honest about that remember he's the one that chose Paula White and I'll be honest with you the only reason he chose Paula White is because she's pretty and he has made comments like that.

I mean he's he has made comments about reporters. I would never even give you a second look. Blah blah blah blah. Well I think the only reason she's there is because she's the prettiest one in the room and all the other guys look ugly.

So that's all there is to it. Um which is sad uh which also by the way connects in with yesterday's topic as well. Um because there's been some discussion about the video and about how later on in the program they were talking about how the magistrate should be able to go around and close down all the heretical churches all the churches that have a rainbow flag and give their property to orthodox churches.

And again if if we're talking about a a day where a massive work of the spirit has come and 85 percent of the population is Christian there's massive unity in the church. Uh that would make that would make sense.

That's not where we are. And until that happens if you adopt that then you need to realize that. Hey uh if the magistrate Donald Trump who they also said could have had that woman preacher removed from the pulpit and kicked out of the church remember the crazy woman preacher that went after her and Vance um instead of them just getting up and walking out uh what you need to realize is that theory could also go the other direction.

So if he wants to apply Paula White's theology then he can come along and take Joel Webben's church and give it to a word faith preacher and there's nothing can be done about it and you can't complain about it because you said that that's what the Christian magistrate does and you see the Christian magistrate has to have an objective standard and that objective standard has to be the law of God and that means there has to have been a massive move of the spirit and the nation's expecting God's Torah and that's revivalism according to Stephen Wolfe's you know there you go so many holes in that whole theory going on there anyway um so uh look it up for yourself the uh role of Thecla in orthodox theology and you will see the problem is there's no historical reason to believe that Thecla ever existed.

This is an apocryphal work. The first uh documented evidence we have of its existence is from Tertullian and in fact I looked up um what he had to uh say and uh Tertullian in his book on baptism chapter 17 so this is written and again it'd be nice some sometimes we have a specific date very very rarely.

Sometimes you'll have a reference to a ruler so you have some general idea idea but Tertullian is writing late second century into the beginning of the third century depending on which phase of his life and stuff like that and so he writes quote.

But if certain acts of Paul which are falsely so named claim the example of Thecla for allowing women to teach and to baptize because she baptized herself by the way let men know that in Asia the presbyter who compiled that document so he's talking about whoever put together the entire acts of Paul acts of Paul and Thecla is a sub section of this larger apocryphal work from let's just for the sake of convenience say that Paul's martyred and again that depends on which theory you have of did he end up going to Spain or did he get out of after you know in second Timothy does he is he released.

There's all sorts of theories discussions which are sort of fun as I get older I don't have time for them. But let's say AD 60 just for a nice round number and let's say that the acts of Paul and Thecla are the acts of Paul which include the acts were written at least 100 years later.

Okay at least 100 years maybe 110 115 years after these events they're they're apocryphal. There's no evidence they existed prior to that. And so Tertullian says let men know that in Asia the presbyter who compiled that document thinking to add of his own to Paul's reputation so he may have had so many of these documents were often written by someone who you could say had a good motivation was found out and though he professed he had done it for love of Paul he was deposed from his position.

So he was a presbyter he was removed from his position even though he said he did it out of love of Paul Tertullian. And that's the first reference to the acts of Paul and hence the acts of Paul and Thecla in that we have in history.

And the first reference is it's fraudulent it's falsely so named it was made up uh at least a century or more after the time of the death of Paul. So that's what you have. Um historically speaking in regards to uh this particular subject.

So there's some background ready for reading. And i know you could do this you could just you know. But man these days if if i write more than four sentences in a row on twitter you get too long didn't read uh text wall and i i'm just like oh boy the future is not good for these folks.

Reading the Acts of Paul and Thecla

Anyways uh so let's get to it. The acts of Paul and Thecla. As Paul was going up to Iconium after the flight from Antioch his fellow travelers were Demas and Hermogenes full of hypocrisy and they were importunate with Paul as if they loved him.

But Paul looking only the goodness of Christ did them no harm but loved them exceedingly. So he made the oracles the Lord sweet to them and the teaching both the birth and resurrection of the beloved.

And he gave them an account word for word of the great things of Christ how he had how he had been revealed to him. And a certain man by name of Onesiphorus hearing that Paul had come to Iconium went out to meet him and his children Silas and Zeno and his wife Lectra in order that he might entertain him.

For Titus had informed him that Paul was like what what Paul was like in appearance for he had not seen him in the flesh but only in the spirit. And he went along the road to Lystra and stood waiting for him and kept looking at the passers-by according to the description of Titus.

And he saw Paul coming a man small in size bald-headed bandy-legged well-built with eyebrows meeting rather long nose full of grace. By the way this is one of the earlier physical descriptions of Paul means zip but it is you know pretty early for sometimes he seemed like a man and sometimes he had the countenance of an angel.

And Paul seeing Onesiphorus smiled. And Onesiphorus said hail oh servant of blessed god. And he said grace me with you in your house. And Demas and Hermogenes were jealous and showed greater hypocrisy.

So Demas said are not we of the blessed god that you have not saluted us. And Onesiphorus said i do not see you i do not see in you the fruit of righteousness but if such you be come you also into my house and rest yourselves.

And Paul having gone to the house of Onesiphorus there was great joy and bending of knees and breaking of bread and the word of god about self-control and the resurrection. Paul saying blessed the pure in heart for they shall see god.

Blessed they have kept the flesh chased they shall become the temple of god. Blessed they that control themselves for god shall speak with them. Blessed that have kept aloof from this world they shall be called upright.

Blessed that have wives as not having them for they shall receive god for their portion catching the origination within early monastic thought here. Um blessed are they that have the fear of god for they shall become angels of god.

Blessed that have kept the baptism for they shall rest beside the father and the son. Blessed are the merciful they shall obtain mercy and shall not see the bitter day of judgment. Blessed are the bodies of the virgins for they shall be well pleasing to god and shall not lose the reward of their chastity chastity for the word of the father shall become to them a work of salvation against the day of his son and they shall have rest forever and ever.

While Paul was thus speaking in the midst of the church in the house of Onesiphorus a certain virgin Thecla the daughter of Theoclius betrothed to a man named uh Tamaris sitting at the window close by actually have the greek right here.

But i'm not looking at that right now. And so i did not take the time to double check pronunciations i'm just running with them in the english um betrothed to a man named Tamaris sitting at the window close by listen night and day to the discourse of virginity prayer and did not look away from the window but paid earnest heed to the faith rejoicing exceedingly.

And when she still saw many women going in beside Paul she also had an eager desire to be deemed worthy to stand in the presence of Paul and to hear the word of Christ for never had she seen his figure but heard his word.

Only remember Tertullian said the guy that compiled this he didn't say wrote it but compiled it did it for the love of Paul. And as she did not stand away from the window her mother sends to Tamaris and he comes gladly as if already receiving her in marriage.

And Theoclius said i have a strange story to tell you Tamaris. For surely for three days and three nights Thecla does not rise from the window neither to eat nor drink but looking earnestly as if upon some pleasant sight.

She is so devoted to a foreigner teaching deceitful and artful discourses that i wonder how a virgin of such modesty is so painfully put about Tamaris. This man will overturn the city of the Iconians and your Thecla too besides for all the women and the young men go in beside him being taught to fear God and live in chastity.

Moreover also my daughter tied to the window like a spider lays hold of what is said by Paul with a strange eagerness and awful emotion. The virgin looks eagerly at what is said by him and has been captivated but go near and speak to her for she has been betrothed to you and Tamaris going near and kissing her but at the same time also being afraid of her overpowering emotions said Thecla my betrothed why do you sit thus.

And what sort of feeling holds you. Uh empowered overpowered turn round to your Tamaris and be ashamed. Moreover also her mother said the same thing why do you sit thus looking down my child and answering nothing but like a mad woman.

And they wept fearfully Tamaris indeed for the loss of a wife and Theoclius of a child and the maidservants of a mistress. There was accordingly much confusion in the house of mourning. And while these things were thus going on Thecla did not turn around but kept attending earnestly to the word of Paul.

And Tamaris starting up went forth into the street and kept watching those things watching those going into him and coming out. And he saw two men bitterly contending with each other. And he said men tell me who is who this is among you leading astray the souls of young men and deceiving virgins so they do not marry but remain as they are.

I promise therefore to give you money enough if you tell me about him for i am the first man of the city. And Demas and Herogenes said to him who this is. Indeed we do not know. But he deprives young men of wives and maidens of husbands saying there is for you a resurrection in no other way unless you remain chaste and pollute not the flesh but keep it chaste.

Of course it's not all taught. And Tamaris said to them come into my house and rest yourselves. And they went to a sumptuous dinner and much wine and great wealth and a splendid table. And Tamaris made them drunk made them drink sorry from his love to Thecla and his wish to get her as his wife.

And Tamaris said during the dinner you men what is his teaching. Tell me that i also may know for i am no little distressed about Thecla because she thus loves the stranger and i am prevented from marrying.

Demas and Herogenes said bring him before the governor Castellius on the charge of persuading the multitudes to embrace the new teaching of the Christians and he will speedily destroy him. And you shall have Thecla as your wife and we shall teach you that the resurrection of which this man speaks has taken place because it has already taken place in the children which we have.

And we rose again when we came to the knowledge of the true god. And Tamaris hearing these things being filled with anger and rage rising up early went to the house of Onesiphorus with archons and public officers and a great crowd with batons saying you have corrupted the city of the Iconians and her that was betrothed to me so that she will not have me.

Let us go to the governor Castellius and all the multitude said away with the magician for he has corrupted our wives and altitudes have been persuaded to change their opinions. And Tamaris standing before the tribunal said with a great shout oh proud council this man who he is we know not.

Who makes virgins averse to marriage. Let him say before you on what account he teaches these things. And Demas and Hermogenes said to Tamaris say that he is a Christian and thus you will do away with him.

But the procouncil stayed his intention and called Paul saying who are you. And what do you teach. For they bring no small charges against you. And Paul lifted up his voice saying since i am to stay examined as to what i teach.

Listen oh procouncil a living god a god of retributions a jealous god a god in need of nothing consulting for the salvation of men has sent me that i may reclaim them from the corruption and uncleanness and from all pleasure and from death so that they may not sin.

Wherefore god sent his own son whom i preach in whom i teach men to rest their hope who alone has had compassion upon a world led astray that they may be no longer under judgment oh procouncil but may have faith and the fear of god and the knowledge of holiness and the love of truth.

If therefore i teach what has been revealed to me by god wherein do i do wrong. And the procouncil having heard ordered paul to be bound and sent to prison until said he i being at leisure shall hear him more attentively.

Time to wet the whistle. I only have so much that left and nobody to get me anymore. And thekla by night having taken off her bracelets gave them to the gatekeeper. And the door having been opened to her she went to the prison.

And having given the jailer a silver mirror she went in beside paul and sitting at his feet she heard the great things of god and paul was afraid of nothing but ordered his life in the confidence of god and her faith also was increased and she kissed his bonds.

And when thekla was sought for by her friends and tamaris as if she had been lost was running up and down the streets. One of the gatekeepers fellow slaves informed him that she had gone out by night.

And having gone out they examined the gatekeeper and he said to them she has gone to the foreigner in the prison. And having gone they found her as it were and chained by affection and having gone forth.

Hence they drew the multitudes together and informed the governor of the circumstance and he ordered paul to be brought to the tribunal. But thekla was wallowing on the ground in the place where he had where he sat and taught her in the prison and he ordered her too to be brought to the tribunal.

And she came exalting with joy. And the crowd when paul had been brought vehemently cried out he is a magician away with him. But the proconsul gladly heard paul upon the holy works of christ. And having called a council he summoned thekla and said to her why do you not obey tamris according to the law of the iconians.

But she stood looking earnestly at paul. And when she gave no answer her mother cried out saying burn the wicked wretch burn the midst of the theater her that will not marry in order that all the women that have been taught by this man may be afraid.

The governor was greatly moved and having scourged paul he cast him out of the city and condemned thekla to be burned. And immediately the governor went away to the theater and all the crowd went forth to the spectacle of thekla but as a lamb of the wilderness looks around for the shepherd so she kept searching for paul.

And having looked upon the crowd she saw the lord sitting in the likeness of paul and said as i am unable to endure my lot paul has come to see me. And she gazed upon him with great earnestness and he went up into heaven real imbalance here as you can tell.

But the maidservants and virgins brought the faggots in order that thekla might be burned. And when she came in naked the governor wept and wanted the power that was in her and the public executioners arranged the faggots for her to go on the pile on the pile and she having made the sign of the cross went up on the faggots and they lighted them.

And though a great fire was blazing it did not touch her for god having compassion upon her made an underground rumbling and a cloud overshadowed them from above full of water and hail and all that was in the cavity of it was poured out so so that many were in danger of death.

And the fire was put out and thekla saved. And paul was fasting with an asiphorus and his wife and his children in a new tomb as they were going from iconium to daphne. And when many days were past the fasting children said to paul we are hungry and we cannot buy loaves for onesiphorus had left the things of the world.

And followed paul with all his house. And paul having taken off his cloak said go my child buy more loaves and bring them. When the child was buying he saw thekla their neighbor and was astonished and said thekla where wither are you going.

And she said i have been saved from the fire and i'm following paul. And the boy said come i shall take you to him for he is distressed about you and is praying six days. And she stood beside the tomb where paul was with bended knees and praying and saying oh savior christ let not the fire touch thekla but stand by her for she is yours.

And she standing behind him cried out oh father who has made the heaven the earth the father of your holy son i bless you that you have saved me that i may see paul. And paul rising up saw her and said oh god that know the heart the father of our lord jesus christ.

I bless you that you having heard me have done quickly what i wished. And they had five loaves and herbs and water and they rejoice in the holy works of christ. And thekla said to paul i shall cut my hair and follow you wherever you may go.

And he said it is a shameless age and you are beautiful i'm afraid lest another temptation come upon you worse than the first. And that you withstand it not but be cowardly. And thekla said only give me the seal in christ and temptation shall not touch me.

And paul paul said thekla wait with patience and you shall receive the water. And paul sent away on a syphilis and all his house to iconium. And thus having taken thekla he went into antioch. And as they were going in a as they were going in a certain syriac alexander by name seeing thekla became enamored of her and tried to gain over paul by gifts and presents.

But paul said i know not the woman whom you speak of nor is she mine. But he being of great power himself embraced her in the and she would not endure it but looked about for paul. And she cried out bitterly saying do not force the stranger do not force the servant of god.

I am one of the chief persons of the iconians. And and because i would not have tamaris i have been cast out of the city. And taking hold of alexander she tore his cloak and pulled off his crown and made him a laughingstock.

And he at the same time loving her at the same time ashamed what had happened led her before the governor. And when she had confessed that she had done these things he condemned her to the wild beasts.

And the women were struck with astonishment and cried out beside the tribunal evil judgment impious judgment. And she asked the governor that that said she i may remain pure until i shall fight with the wild beasts.

And a certain trefaina whose daughter was dead took her into keeping and had and had her for a consolation a little bit older. And when the beasts were exhibited they bound her to a fierce lioness and triphina accompanied her but the lioness with thekla sitting upon her licked her feet and all the multitude was astonished.

And the charge on her inscription was sacrilegious. And the women cried out from above an impious sentence has been passed in the city. And after the exhibition trefina again receives her for her daughter falconia had died and said to her in a dream mother you shall have this stranger thekla in my place and or that she may pray concerning me that i may be transferred to the place of the just okay interesting eschatology in that uh particular phrase.

And when after the exhibition trefina received her at the same time indeed she grieved that she had to fight with wild beasts on the day following at the same time loving her as much as her daughter falconia she said my second child thekla come and pray for my child that she may live forever.

For this i saw in my sleep. And she nothing hesitating lifted up her voice and said god most high granted this woman according to her wish that her daughter falconia may live forever. And when thekla had spoken trefina lamented considering so much beauty thrown to the wild beasts.

And when it was done alexander came to take her for it was he that gave the hunt saying the governor is sitting and the crowd is in an uproar against us allow me to take her away that is to fight with the wild beasts.

And trefina cried out cried aloud so that he even fled saying a second morning for my falconia has come upon my house and there is no one to help neither child for she is dead nor kinswoman prime widow god of thekla help her.

And immediately the governor sends an order that thekla should be brought. And trefina taking her by the hand said my daughter falconia indeed i took away to the tomb and you thekla i am taking to the wild beast fight.

And thekla wept bitterly saying oh lord the god in whom i believe to whom i have fled for refuge who delivered me from the fire grant a recompense to trefina who has had compassion on your servant. And because she has kept me pure.

Then a tumult arose and a cry of the people and the women sitting together. The one saying away with the sacrilegious person. The others saying let the city be raised against this wickedness take off all of us.

Oh proconsul cruel sight evil sentence. And thekla having been taken out of the hand of trefina was stripped and given and received a girdle and was thrown into the arena. And lions and bears and a fierce lioness were let loose upon her.

And the lioness having run up to her feet lay down. And the multitude of the women cried aloud and a bear ran upon her. But the lioness meeting the bear tore her to pieces. And again a lion that had been trained against men which belonged to alexander ran upon her and she the lioness encountered.

The lion was killed along with him and the women made great lamentations since also the lioness her protector was dead. I wonder if people today would talk about ancient feminism. I don't know. Just it just reminds me of that scene in that avengers movie where all the women get together to save the silly weak men superheroes anyway.

Then they send in many wild beasts. She's standing and stretching forth her hands and praying. And when she had finished her prayer she turned and saw a ditch full of water and said now it is time to wash myself.

And she threw herself in saying in the name of jesus christ i am baptized on my last day. Here's ding ding. There's. This is the specific element that tertullian makes reference to. Okay she's baptizing herself.

I am baptized on my last day. And the women seeing in the multitude wept saying do not throw yourself into the water so that also the governor shed tears because the seals were going to devour such beauty.