Tertullianʼs Views of Gender, Baptism, and Martyrdom Through the Examples of Thecla and Perpetua by Heather Barkman A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate studies of The University of Manitoba In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Religion University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2011 by Heather Barkman ii Abstract Using mainly textual analysis, this thesis examines Tertullianʼs views of gender, martyrdom, and baptism by studying his differing reactions to the martyrs Thecla and Perpetua. Tertullian was the first writer to make reference to both of these women. Considering Tertullian was the only church father to disparage Thecla, discovering the reasons behind his rejection will allow for a greater understanding of the issues that he sees as most important in his church. It will be made clear that the events in the Thecla narrative are in opposition to Tertullianʼs central beliefs about how he expects Christian women to behave, whereas Perpetuaʼs actions confirm Tertullianʼs ideals. iii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the encouragement of my advisor, Dr. Heidi Marx-Wolf, who provided me with guidance and suggestions when needed while allowing me the freedom to explore this topic independently and build my skills as a scholar. I would also like to thank my thesis committee, Dr. Kenneth MacKendrick and Dr. Lea Stirling, for their invaluable insights. I am further indebted to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for the Joseph- Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, which provided me with the financial support necessary to allow me to focus on completing my thesis research. Finally, my sincere gratitude to my husband, parents, family, and friends for their unwavering love and support throughout it all. iv Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………….. ii Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………. iii Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………... 5 Chapter 1 Tertullianʼs Identifications of the Species of Women …………………………….. 24 Chapter 2 Thecla and Perpetua as Representations of Their Species …………………….. 56 Chapter 3 Tertullian and Baptism ………………………………………………………………. 87 Chapter 4 Baptism in the Thecla and Perpetua Narratives ………………………………… 107 Chapter 5 Tertullianʼs Advice To the Martyrs ………………………………………………... 127 Chapter 6 The Martyrdoms of Thecla and Perpetua ………………………………………... 147 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………… 187 5 Introduction Readers are often struck by the hostile language Tertullian uses to describe women and his apparent desire to limit womenʼs authority and participation within the church. These hostilities are especially evident in the treatises On the Apparel of Women, On the Veiling of Virgins, and On Baptism. However, other treatises such as To His Wife and To the Martyrs reveal a glorification of wives and female martyrs consistent with the views of the narrator of The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas. How can this view be reconciled with his otherwise apparently virulent opposition to women in any position of authority? The content of the works of Tertullian cannot be divided into misogynist ideas and feminist ideas, not the least because both categories are anachronistic.1 Rather, his writings must be approached with a set of questions that are sensitive to his historical circumstances (both particular and general) and larger debates within his contemporary church. This thesis will therefore examine the ways that Tertullian represents women and gender differences by focusing on his drastically different opinions of two women who initially appear to be very similar. Both Thecla and Perpetua were Christian women who were condemned to die in the arena. The narrative texts detailing the lives of both women quickly became popular reading among men and women and both women were looked to as examples for how Christians ought to live, die, and profess their faith. Despite these similarities, Tertullian explicitly rejects the Thecla narrative as a forgery2 while Tertullian himself may have edited the Perpetua narrative. Even if he did not have 1 Earl Lavender, “Tertullian - Against Women?” in Essays on Women in Earliest Christianity: Volume 2. Ed. Caroll D. Osburn. (Joplin, Missouri: College Press Publishing Company, 1995), 334. 2 Tertullian, De Baptismo 17. Latin version edited by J.W.Ph. Borleffs in Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina I (1954). English translation of Tertullianʼs Homily on Baptism, trans. Ernest Evans (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.), 1964). 6 a hand in creating the text, it certainly contains many similarities to imagery found in Tertullianʼs other treatises, and he praises Perpetua fully in his treatise On the Soul.3 This disparate reaction to two superficially similar women can be used to demonstrate the issues that Tertullian views as the most important as well as the role that gender plays in making his determinations. The issues of the different identities of women (Thecla is a virgin, while Perpetua is a wife and mother), baptism, and martyrdom are particularly important both to Tertullian and to the Thecla and Perpetua narratives and will therefore be closely examined. This will provide a way to understand what constitutes a normative interpretation of culturally available symbols that Tertullian uses to understand gender and the way that these symbols are either upheld or challenged in the Thecla and Perpetua narratives. Terms such as sex and gender are socially constructed, and Tertullian demonstrates this through his construction of subcategories of women, which he identifies as virgins, wives, and widows. In attempting to explore these issues, Joan Scottʼs “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis” will provide a foundation. In this article, Scott argues that gender should be understood as “a constitutive element of social relationships based on perceived differences between the sexes.”4 Scott further identifies that “normative concepts” of gender are “expressed in religious, educational, scientific, legal, and political doctrines and typically take the form of a fixed binary opposition, categorically and unequivocally asserting the meaning of male and female, masculine and feminine.”5 It is with this understanding that I will be exploring Tertullianʼs 3 Tert., De Anima 55. Latin version edited by J.H. Waszink in Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina II (1954). English translation of On the Soul trans. by Peter Holmes in The Ante-Nicene Christian Library (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1870). 4 Joan Scott, “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” The American Historical Review 91 (1986): 1067. 5 Ibid. 7 attempts to recreate a normative interpretation of the role of women within his church that is in direct contrast to male authority. This thesis will also show that there are competing constructions of these categories within the church of Tertullianʼs time. Some, like the ones Tertullian is opposing in his rejection of the Thecla narrative, represent radical departures from the normative interpretations of the Roman patriarchal familial structure that Tertullian attempts to re-assert. Tertullian Before engaging in a close reading of Tertullianʼs treatises, his identity and cultural context must be examined. While Tertullianʼs dates of birth and death, many details of his life, and the precise chronology of his writings cannot be known with certainty, it is generally accepted that Tertullian was born at Carthage around 160.6 That he spent his literary career in Carthage and writing about issues in the Carthaginian church can be seen through several mentions to the city in his writings.7 The most detailed reference to Tertullian and his importance comes from Jeromeʼs On Illustrious Men, written at the end of the fourth century.8 In this text, Jerome identifies Tertullian as being “from the province of Africa, from the city of Carthage . A man of impetuous temperament, he was in his prime in the reign of the emperor Severus and Antoninus Caracalla.”9 While Jerome lived long after the death of Tertullian, and therefore did not know him personally, it is not difficult to imagine how Tertullian may have gained a reputation of impetuousness, as his writings display “a passionate commitment to Christ 6 Francois Decret, Early Christianity in North Africa, trans. Edward Smither (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2009), 33. 7 Geoffrey D. Dunn, Tertullian (London: Routledge, 2004), 4. These include addressing De Pallio to the men of Carthage, his reference to the Carthaginian martyr Perpetua, and the fact that Ad Scapulam was written to the proconsul of the Roman province of Africa. For further examples, see Dunn, 4. 8 Ibid., 3. 9 Jerome, De Viris Illustribus 53.1-2. Jerome, On Illustrious Men, trans. Thomas P. Halton (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1999). 8 and . a violent polemic [against] those persecuting the church.”10 However, Jerome does provide details of Tertullian that are likely more based on tradition than truth, including that his father was a “proconsular centurion”11 and that Tertullian was “a presbyter of the church until his middle years.”12 That Tertullian was not a presbyter “may be inferred from some of the comments that he made in which he contrasted himself and lay Christians with clerics on the topic of second marriage and found no contrast at all (On Monogamy 12.2; On Exhortation to Chastity 7.3).”13 Significantly, Tertullian also never identifies himself