The Girl Who Baptized Herself

How a Lost Scripture About a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth

By: Meggan Watterson

Narrated by: Meggan Watterson

This riveting exploration of a nearly lost first-century scripture tells the story of a courageous saint named Thecla and offers us a road map to knowing our worth.

“Meggan Watterson writes with a prophet’s vision and a mystic’s heart.”—Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO, Thrive Global

A teenage girl named Thecla is sitting at her bedroom window listening to a man share stories nearby. Her mother and fiancé order her to stop. But Thecla, trapped in a world that expects her to marry and have children, refuses. This man, Paul, is talking about a world she wants to believe in: an inner world of freedom to define her own life. And he’s talking about a kind of love she hasn’t known before—a love that asks her to be true to who she is within.

For Meggan Watterson, a Harvard-trained feminist theologian, Thecla’s story in The Acts of Paul and Thecla has everything to do with power. Thecla’s refusal to be controlled, as well as the authority she reclaims by baptizing herself, reads like a lost gospel for finding our own source of power within—a power that allows us to know who we are and to make choices based on that knowing. This hidden scripture suggests that Christianity before the fourth century was about defying the patriarchy, not deifying it. But early church fathers excluded The Acts of Paul and Thecla, along with other sacred texts such as The Gospel of Mary, from the New Testament.

Watterson synthesizes scripture, memoir, and politics to illuminate a story that has been left out of the canon for far too long, one that follows a girl freeing herself from a life predicated on the expectations of others—a path that made her feel unworthy. Thecla’s story offers us a path to take back the power we often give to others and live based on the truth of who we are.

*Includes a downloadable PDF of additional resources from the book

Outstanding and Moving

This book is amazing and inspiring for any man or woman who has been brave enough to walk their own spiritual path or anyone who may be interested in learning different Christian perspective’s that are more equitable than the patriarchal perspective that has left our world off balance for centuries. Thank god for Meggan and her work that revives these important special stories and helps to rebalance the divine energies which humans have sent out of balance due to fear. 🙏

Profound!

Incredible story! I am so grateful that this story has been found and is being told.

Powerful and Freeing

I will be reading this again and again because if I tried to get a hard copy and highlight it, the entire book would be bright yellow. Thecla’s courage is what women need to hear from pulpits.

Empowering

This is an inspiring and impactful book! The narrator is passionate and a provides clarity on a moving story

Powerful reclaiming

We learn to go inward and listen for truth, to meet, know and trust our worth.