Paul and Thecla

I have had a great deal of interest in learning more about Thecla ever since watching an episode of "Banned from the Bible."  I recently bought a book The Lost Books of the Bible in an estate sale.  This compilation included Paul and Thecla!

So, I finally had my chance to read about this 2000-year-old heroine.  Thecla is a young woman who converted to Christianity after listening to Paul of Tarsus.  I find no reason why this should be considered a banned book.  In fact, I found much in here that reaffirms the teachings of Jesus.  The story of Thecla also provides an interesting perspective on how the general population viewed Christian teachings.

The story begins when Paul visits his friend Onesiphorus.  Paul of Tarsus was a staunch celibate.  His views on celibacy can be seen in his Letter to Romans and his two letters to the Corinthians.  At this house, Paul of Tarsus gave a toast and said:

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.
Blessed are they who keep their flesh undefiled; for they shall be the temple of God

Thecla was a young woman engaged to marry.  After hearing Paul speak, she decided not to marry and to live a virginal lifestyle.  Quite a lot of women enjoyed listening to what Paul of Tarsus said about celibacy and chastity.  The other people considered chasity abhorrent.  Thecla's fiance Thamyris protests her changing religious views.  What I find interesting is that Thamyris does not consider Thecla to be a intelligent individual with her own mind and reasoning who can make her own decisions.  In fact, the townspeople do not consider their wives at all and only think of themselves when they protest celibacy and chastity.
The people say

[Paul of Tarsus] deprives young men of their wives, and virgins of their husbands.
(Thamyris) Thou hast perverted the city of Iconium, and among the rest, Thecla who is betrothed to me, so that now she will not marry me.
(multitude) he has perverted the minds of our wives

No one considers that perhaps these women listened to him and made their own decisions.  In this society, the men believed that women existed for men's sexual pleasure and had no say or willpower about their own bodies.  Paul of Tarsus was expelled from the city, and Thecla's own mother insisted she be burnt on a stake for desiring to keep her virginity.  God miraculously saves her.

Another interesting snippet is that when Thecla meets with Paul again, Paul voices suspicion that she cannot keep herself pure and that she would commit sexual sin.  Paul's suspicions about women are mirrored in his comments from 1 Timothy 5:11-14.  Thecla, however, asserts that no temptation will affect her due to her faith in Jesus.

So, Thecla and Paul travel together.  In Antioch, a young man named Alexander grabs her and attempts to rape her.  Thecla cries out for him to stop "Force me not!" but he refuses to stop.  Thecla thoroughly beats him up.  In just a few decades after the death of Jesus, here is a book in which a young woman rescues herself from attempted rape and beats her attacker.  Now, how is this for a strong, empowered woman, hm?
Thecla is captured and thrown into a pit full of wild animals.  At first the female animals defend her, but they are killed.  Then, God rescues Thecla and baptizes her.

Thecla returns to Paul.  Shortly afterward, she settled down near Seleucia where she preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I found nothing in the book of Thecla that contradicts the Bible.  No one can use this manuscript as an argument against the Christian faith.  Even so, the history of the past 2000 years would have been radically different if the people who compiled these works into the Bible had included Thecla. 

A more general note: More often than not, Thecla could not save herself and needed divine intervention to rescue her out of trouble.  I do not see this as sexist or demeaning.  This places her on an equal level with the male apostles who were always being rescued and freed by the angels throughout the book of Acts.  Actually, God Himself - not angels - saved Thecla.
After being rescued from the pit of animals, the manuscript begins to call Thecla "blessed", "martyr" and "apostle."

David Eddings and The Elenium: The Diamond Throne

It has been a while since I read David Eddings.  I read his Belgariad series roughly 13-15 years ago.  I loved it and enjoyed it.  After I read Belgariad, there was a flowing stream of words in my head.  Reading improves writing; I discovered that firsthand when I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and that flowing stream of words was a clear sign that I could also write something awesome.  More recently although still several years - maybe seven - I read The Redemption of Althalus by Eddings, which disappointed me because both the characters and the style were flat and stereotyped.

As I said, reading improves writing.  For the past two years or so, I have been searching for more high quality fantasy.  I have been reading the series Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams.  A couple days ago, I decided to begin reading The Elenium by David Eddings.  The description is highly-detailed and very indepth.  The tense conversations between central protagonist Sparhawk and the antagonists reveal vivid characters and personalities.  A mere fifty pages into the book, I remember why I enjoyed David Eddings.

The book starts out:

It was raining.  A soft, silvery drizzle sifted down out of the night sky and wreathed around the blocky watchtowers of Cimmura, hissing in the torches on each side of the broad gate and making the stones of the road leading up to the city shiny and black.  A lone rider approached the city.  He was wrapped in a dark, heavey traveller's cloak and rode a tall, shaggy roan horse with flat, vicious eyes.  The traveller was a big man, a bigness of large, heavy bone and ropey tendon rather than of flesh.  His hair was coarse and black, and at some time his nose had been broken.
His name was Sparhawk, a man at least ten years older than he looked, who carried the erosion of his years not so much on his battered face as in a half-dozen or so minor infirmities and discomforts and in the several wide, purple scars upon his body, which always ached in damp weather.  Tonight, however, he felt his age and he wished only for a warm bed in an obscure inn which was his goal.

Such wonderful and awesome detail...  Right now, I consider it quite a shame that I must set it aside even temporarily.  My parents' bought me a stand-alone book whereas The Elenium is a triology.  I would read the stand-alone and return to the triology much quicker than if I did vice versa.  David Eddings will not be writing any more wonderful fantasies, but I hope everyone will continue to enjoy the high quality work that he has presented to the genre.

The Gender of Virtue

Gendered language can be really interesting.  The English word for Virtue comes from the Latin word Virtus.  It literally means "the way of the man".  Vir is the Latin word for man, and of course, its gender construct is masculine.  However, virtus is constructed as a feminine noun.

Sapientia is the Latin word for wisdom, and it is also a feminine construct.

I do not know the Hebrew or Aramiac word for wisdom, but because my translation of the Bible pairs it with a feminine pronoun, the Hebrew/Aramiac word for wisdom must also be a feminine construct.  Throughout the first several proverbs, wisdom is referenced as a powerful and almighty woman.

The concept of wisdom as a woman shows a more complex and nuanced view of gender relations in these old patriarchal societies.

Keep Writing

Again, it has been a while since I last posted.  My Saturdays have been busy.

This next topic is about maintaining your writing.  Once you have the inspiration for an idea, how do you keep writing the idea?

This is an interesting topic for me.  My dad says that when he writes, the words are always flowing to him on the computer.  I have had that happen to me at times as well.  However, sometimes when I am feeling stuck, I need to print out what I have, take a pen, and write by hand on the paper.  In past, the words felt at an impasse whenever I took out a piece of notebook paper, but recently, they have begun to flow to me on the pages.  Once I could not write a history assignment on a computer document, but I could certainly type it up in an online format.  And then, there was a curious week in which I needed to drink root beer and wear a certain hat in order to continue writing.

How do you maintain your writing?

Sara Douglass and Tad Williams

Almost a month has passed since I last posted here.  Life has been busy!  After making a big achievement in my life, I have spent the past week searching for a job.  What I need is a good job to support me for two years before I go to grad school.  I have also spent the a few days browsing through this website:

http://www.beyondacademe.com/

There will not be any author reviews this week, but as I considered it and looked at my books, I remembered something very strange I once read when I researched the suffrage movement.  A man was saying, "I would like to support women's suffrage, but my wife won't let me."  I forget where that source is or if I even have it printed.  The point is that women can be misogynistic and that men can be feminist.  Women can also be personally empowered while denying power to their gender; this has been the case throughout history where great female monarchs reigned over deep patriarchies.  At one point in Europe, the most sexist nation was governed by a woman - Queen Isabella of Spain in 1492.  But there has also been Eleanor of Aquitaine among others.

To make this a book-related post, I am reminded of my decision between two fantasy authors - Sara Douglass and Tad Williams.  I wanted to read books by female authors because I thought a woman writer would automatically have strong female characters.  The back of Sara Douglass's Starman has this description:

Axis is the StarMan of prophecy and legend, destined to lead the three races of his world to unite as one people.  The Prophecy foretold that Axis would defeat his half-brother, reclaim the land of Tencendor, and find a traitor in his camp.

So far, so good.  But then the summary reached a point where my opinion plummeted.

The Prophecy has also foretold of many a choice that Axis must make in order to fulfill his destiny... but neglected to mention that one of those choices would be to choose the love of either the beautiful and courageous Faraday or the feisty and hauntingly enchanting Azhure.
To Faraday he had pledged his love and a place by his side as ruler of Tencendor; to Azhure he had given his children, his time, and his devotion.

That there screamed out a big NO!  For one thing, it delves into the old stereotype of women as love interests when women should be more, much more than that.  The struggle of choosing two women merely compounds the problem.  Just about every fantasy involves a love interest, but it should never be central to the plot.  Making it central to the plot further establishes the concept of women as love interest and nothing else. 
I am fine with women being a love interest.  After all, Arwen was essentially there for Aragorn's romance, but Arwen was also a side (not main) character whose appearance helped make Aragorn a more 3-dimensional character.  Also, Lord of the Rings had its Eowyn and its Galadriel.  The problem comes when the love interest is a main character who does nothing except be a love interest or when women feature prominently in a love triangle.

So, I decided to read The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams.  Although no women were mentioned in the back summary, I knew Tad Williams could write female characters well.  I had previously read War of the Flowers in which  30-year-old Theo Vilmos - an aimless man in a state of pepetual adolesence and immaturity - finds himself in the dangerous land of the Faerie.  Theo meets Applecore, a fearless and no-nonsense woman whose quick wit saves him many times over.  Applecore is one of the best female characters I have read, and she becomes the role model and inspiration for Theo to immature and improve himself into a better character.

Because I enjoyed War of the Flowers and because I knew Tad Williams can write female characters pretty well, I decided to read The Dragonbone Chair.  I am not disappointed in his portrayal of female characters.  The hero of the story is an orphaned scullion named Simon (Seoman), but his mistress Rachel is powerful and demanding.  Also, there is the princess Miramiele who is assertive and clever.  Miramiele once had gorgeous blonde hair until she shaved it and dyed her hair brown to disguise herself and to investigate the evil changes in the land.  She turned her blonde hair into a wig for when she resumes her princess duties.  She is not afraid to place herself in danger.  When she thinks her uncle has refused to seek a province as an ally, Miramiele sets off on her own to obtain that province's support.  And that is currently were I am reading.

Elantris: How NOT to Write a Female Character

I was very disappointed in Elantris by Brandon Sanderson for many reasons, but I will focus upon the female protagonist Sarene.

Sarene is meant to be a strong and independent woman in a patriarchal society.  However, there is not much depth or detail to the patriarchy, and quite a lot of the men tend to accept her without any serious difficulties.  King Iadon seems to be the main exception.  Iadon hates Sarene and considers her a nuisance.  Sanderson tells the reader instead of showing the reader how intelligent Sarene is.  Because he tells and does not show, the reader never witnesses her strength and independence.

Sanderson attempts to portray Sarene's intelligence by denigrating all the other women in the book and by writing the other women as mindless chatterboxes, which is a sexist stereotype.  These few lines from page 23 are an example:

"Sarene nodded, fascinated - not by the conversation, but by the queen. Sarene had assumed her lecturers at her father's academy had been skilled at saying nothing with lots of words, but Eshen put them all to shame. The queen flitted from one topic to the next like a butterfly looking for a place to land, but never finding one suitable enough for an extended stay."

I have no doubt that most women in patriarchy spent a considerable amount of time in conversation with each other.  Even though they might not be able to act, they can discuss serious events such as politics and cultural problems.  Instead of being a mindless chatterbox, Eshen could have been a witty character who shared valuable information with Sarene.  Sarene pretends to be silly and frivolous to deceive king Iadon.  The patriarchy expects women to be silly and frivolous (pg 55), but in this book, women actually are that way with Sarene being the exception that proves the rule.

Later on, in another failed attempt to make Sarene seem somehow feminist, Sanderson wrote her as being inept at the expected feminine hobbies.  Sarene is unable to sew or paint.  So, she lacks any sort of artistic ability whatsoever.  In the end, this flaw merely makes her all the more ineffectual.  I will reach the end soon.

Sarene stumbles her way to usurping Iadon (pg 410) and accidentally discovers a scandal.  How do the men including her father react?  Instead of regarding her as a serious person, they coo over her.  What a cute little woman she is!

"A month and a half and you've already dethroned the king."
...
Her father chuckled.  "I should never have sent you over there.  You were bad enough when we let you visit our enemies." (421)

And at the end, Sarene becomes a helpless damsel-in-distress who does not resist much.  Her prince mirculously overcomes his dementia and rescues her from a religious zealot.  At the end of the novel, Sarene is a useless and ineffectual character who does very little to advance the story on her own initiative.

Intro

I am an avid reader with a strong interest in books and storytelling.  I will probably update on Saturdays, but today, I decided to go ahead and start the blog.  I want to share my love of reading and writing with the internet community.  More detailed comments will be up later!