Category: English

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By JT Torres, Director of the Harte Center for Teaching and Learning, Washington and Lee University

The average American checks their phone over 140 times a day, clocking an average of 4.5 hours of daily use, with 57% of people admitting they’re “addicted” to their phone. Tech companies, influencers and other content creators compete for all that attention, which has incentivized the rise of misinformation.

Considering this challenging information landscape, strong critical reading skills are as relevant and necessary as they’ve ever been.

Unfortunately, literacy continues to be a serious concern. Reading comprehension scores have continued to decline. The majority of Gen Z parents are not reading aloud to their young children because they view it as a chore. Many college students cannot make it through an entire book.

With their endless scrolling and easy reposting and sharing of content, social media platforms are designed to encourage passive engagement that people use to relieve boredom and escape stress.

As a cognitive scientist and a literacy expert, we research the ways people process information through reading. Based on our work, we believe that deep reading can be an effective way to counter misinformation as well as reduce stress and loneliness. It can be tough to go deeper than a speedy skim, but there are strategies you can use to strengthen important reading skills.

Deep reading versus doomscrolling

People use smartphones and social media for a variety of reasons, such as to relieve boredom, seek attention, make connections and share news. The infinite amount of information available at your fingertips can lead to information overload, interfering with how you pay attention and make decisions. Research from cognitive science helps to explain how scrolling trains your brain to think passively.

To keep people engaged, social media algorithms feed people content similar to what they’ve already engaged with, reinforcing users’ beliefs with similar posts. Repeated exposure to information increases its believability, especially if different sources repeat the information, an effect known as illusory truth.

Deep reading, on the other hand, refers to the intentional process of engaging with information in critical, analytical and empathetic ways. It involves making inferences, drawing connections, engaging with different perspectives and questioning possible interpretations.

Deep reading does require effort. It can trigger negative feelings like irritation or confusion, and it can very often feel unpleasant. The important question, then: Why would anyone choose the hard work of deep reading when they can just scroll and skim?

Motivating mental effort

Mindless scrolling may come with unintended consequences. Smartphone and social media use is associated with increased boredom and loneliness. And doomscrolling is related to higher levels of existential anxiety and misanthropy.

In contrast, attention and effort, despite being exhausting, can deepen your sense of purpose and strengthen social connection. People also feel motivated to complete tasks that help them pursue personal goals, especially when these tasks are recognized by others. For these reasons, sharing books may be one tool to promote deep reading.

One example is a teacher who guides students through longer texts, like novels, paired with active discussions about the books to reinforce comprehension and interpretation. While the debate over the ongoing practice of assigning excerpts over full books in schools continues, evidence does suggest that sustained reading in social settings can promote lifelong enjoyment in reading.

With social connection in mind, social media can actually be used as a positive tool. BookTok is a popular online community of people who use TikTok to discuss and recommend books. Fans post in-depth analyses of “K-Pop Demon Hunters” and other movies or shows, demonstrating that close analysis still has a place in the endless scroll of social media.

Slowing yourself down to read deeply

There are steps you can take to meaningfully engage with the constant stream of information you encounter. Of course, this process can be taxing, and people only have so much effort and attention to expend. It’s important to both recognize your limited cognitive resources and be intentional about how you direct those resources.

Simply being aware of how digital reading practices shape your brain can encourage new attitudes and habits toward how you consume information. Just pausing can reduce susceptibility to misinformation. Taking a few extra seconds to consciously judge information can counteract illusory truth, indicating that intentionally slowing down even just a bit can be beneficial.

Reading deeply means being able to intentionally choose when to read at different speeds, slowing down as needed to wrestle with difficult passages, savor striking prose, critically evaluate information, and reflect on the meaning of a text. It involves entering into a dialogue with the text rather than gleaning information.

Awareness does not mean that you never doomscroll at the end of a long day. But it does mean becoming conscious of the need to also stick with a single text more frequently and to engage with different perspectives.

You can start small, perhaps with poems, short stories or essays, before moving up to longer texts. Partner with a friend or family member and set a goal to read a full-length novel or nonfiction book. Accomplish that goal in small chunks, such as reading one chapter a day and discussing what you read with your reading buddy. Practicing deep reading, such as reading novels, can open you up to new perspectives and ideas that you can explore in conversation with others, in person or even on TikTok.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Deep reading can boost your critical thinking and help you resist misinformation – here’s how to build the skill – https://theconversation.com/deep-reading-can-boost-your-critical-thinking-and-help-you-resist-misinformation-heres-how-to-build-the-skill-268082

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Sarah Stroup, Professor of Political Science, Middlebury College

Since Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term in office, President Donald Trump has slashed U.S. foreign aid spending. It began with a stop-work order that paused spending on everything from treating tropical diseases in Mali to providing nutrition support in Nepal.

By early February 2025, billionaire Elon Musk announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development, the lead foreign aid agency, had been fed “into the wood chipper.” By July 1, USAID had ceased to exist, 83% of its programs had been canceled, and remaining aid programs were moved into the State Department – where it was unclear how they would be managed. Congress clawed back billions in previously approved aid spending, at Trump’s request, in July.

These developments rattled nongovernmental organizations around the world because about half of USAID’s funding was channeled through nongovernmental organizations prior to this upheaval. According to Tom Hart, who heads a coalition of U.S.-based NGOs, “We’re in a pivot moment, a massive transition, and things aren’t clear.”

Favoring government-to-government spending

According to the official foreignassistance.gov website, the U.S. spent US$32 billion on foreign aid in 2025, less than half of the $68 billion it spent in 2024. These figures include all of USAID’s budget.

The Trump administration is seeking to continue these cuts in its proposed budget for 2026. For example, its proposed $3.8 billion global health budget would mark a 60% decrease from actual 2025 spending.

But the budget the House of Representatives passed in January 2026 would spend $50 billion on international diplomacy and foreign aid, including $9.4 billion for global health and $5.5 billion for humanitarian aid.

The Trump administration has shown a clear preference for distributing U.S. foreign aid to other governments. That means most future aid is likely to be channeled bilaterally rather than contracted out through NGOs or private companies.

We, two scholars of international NGOs, have observed several strategies they are following to keep operating and meeting their missions.

Struggling to adapt

The first is simply scaling back.

Save the Children US had one-third of its funding frozen, restricting the humanitarian, health and education support it provides to kids in over 100 countries.

Eighty percent of Freedom House’s activities to promote human rights and democracy, which include everything from supporting judicial integrity in Moldova to enhancing media reporting on human rights in Uganda, were terminated.

World Vision, the world’s largest evangelical humanitarian organization, lost 10% of its budget, laid off as many as 3,000 employees and cut programs engaged in HIV/AIDS prevention and child health care and malnutrition in countries like Bangladesh, Kenya and Rwanda.

Search for Common Ground lost $23 million overnight – a 40% cut to its conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts around the world.

Shifting from shocked to strategic

Once nongovernmental organizations overcame their initial shock, their leadership teams began to respond to USAID’s demise. Three strategies have emerged: reducing operations to focus on activities that support core missions, searching for new sources of reliable funding, and transforming the size and scope of their organizations.

Regardless how they’ve responded, NGOs have had to scale back. As of April 2025, 81 NGOs had closed at least one office. This includes streamlining activities, laying off staff, encouraging their early retirement and cutting pay.

These changes have allowed most NGOs to continue at least minimal operations. But doing more with less may simply not be sustainable for an exhausted workforce over the long term.

Tapping philanthropy and social enterprises

Philanthropy may fill some gaps. However, foundations and individual donors are also facing economic and political uncertainty. Charitable giving to international affairs has been on the rise, but the $35 billion in giving to international causes in 2024 would have to more than double to make up for the reduction in government spending.

Social entrepreneurship combines for-profit models with the mission orientation of nonprofits, and this approach, used by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and others, is often mentioned as a model for NGOs seeking to provide local services.

But building social enterprises takes time. And there do not seem to be any quick fixes that might restore funding for international NGOs to pre-2025 levels.

Envisioning new models

The Trump administration has asserted that NGOs had become too dependent on government aid. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump named USAID’s acting administrator until the agency was shuttered, has derided this relationship as the “NGO industrial complex.”

While scholars tend to be less dismissive, they have long highlighted that depending on powerful donors, including governments, can limit innovation and distract organizations from their missions.

USAID’s dissolution has expedited experts’ re-envisioning of the NGO model – the idea of private charitable organizations based in rich nations providing services in poor countries.

One push has been to move decision-making and resources to residents of the communities where NGOs are delivering goods and services, through a process development experts call “localization.”

For example, U.K.-based Christian Aid announced in April 2025 that it would close its own offices and instead work with established partner organizations in the countries where it works.

It has halved its staff in a year when revenues dropped by 14% due to the Trump administration’s slashing of its contributions to the U.N. World Food Program.

Losing so much funding has also made cooperation more necessary.

As a book that one of us (Hadden) wrote with University of Pennsylvania professor Sarah Bush shows, the NGO field had become more crowded and competitive since the mid-2010s.

Janti Soeripto, Save the Children’s chief executive officer, has said that in 2025 her organization began cooperating more extensively with MercyCorps and CARE to increase their collective “surge capacity,” or ability to respond to disasters in a quick, effective and efficient manner.

Some NGOs have also reportedly begun discussions about mergers to streamline costs and maintain valuable programs. Although mergers can be challenging when organizations have different values or workplace cultures, we believe that there will be fewer international NGOs in the years ahead.

Moving toward an uncertain future

A leaner, more financially diversified, more localized and better coordinated NGO sector could have positive consequences in the long run.

But we’re certain that the transition will be rocky, both for the people who benefit from the work of NGOs and for the experts and staff members who have built their careers around global poverty alleviation and improving public health in low-income countries.

Funding cuts shuttered many long-standing development and humanitarian programs, with devastating consequences. According to expert estimates, the dismantling of USAID could result in more than 14 million deaths by 2030, including over 4 million children under 5 years old in countries like Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia.

The Trump administration’s new foreign aid plan cuts out NGOs to fund local governments, but those partner governments may not be able or willing to spend aid money better than their NGO counterparts.

It’s now up to NGO leaders to chart a new course.

According to Essi Lindstedt, a climate and development adviser, there is “a lot of agreement that the ‘old aid’ wasn’t right,” but we have “not yet seen a transition into something better.”

During her 2025-26 sabbatical year, Sarah Stroup has received funding from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation. She is currently academic-in-residence at CMI-Martti Ahtisaari Foundation, a global peace mediation group.

Jennifer Hadden received funding from the National Science Foundation under grant No. 1758755.

– ref. International aid groups are dealing with the pain of slashed USAID funding by cutting staff, localizing and coordinating better – https://theconversation.com/international-aid-groups-are-dealing-with-the-pain-of-slashed-usaid-funding-by-cutting-staff-localizing-and-coordinating-better-273184

Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Jordan Kraft Lambert, Director of Ag Innovation and Partnerships, College of Business, Colorado State University

Cowboys guided a herd of longhorn cattle through downtown Denver to celebrate the opening of the annual National Western Stock Show on Jan. 8, 2026. As ranchers bring their best cattle to compete for blue ribbons over the course of this month, it’s a good time to consider whether beef production can be part of a circular economy.

Circularity is an economic model where raw materials are responsibly sourced, waste products are put to best use and the system maximizes ecosystem functioning and human well-being.

As with most human activities, beef production provides a valuable contribution to human health while also impacting the natural environment, sometimes in negative ways.

We are innovators and researchers who live in Colorado and study the beef supply chain. Our work broadly focuses on investigating ways to make beef production more circular and sustainable.

Kim Stackhouse-Lawson and Sara Place are experts in cow burps and technologies to mitigate the methane associated with them. Jennifer Martin is an expert in meat processing and supply chains for byproducts like organ meats. Jordan Kraft Lambert is an expert in commercializing technologies that help farmers and ranchers steward the environment while feeding the world.

Beef is a source of complete protein. It has the full complement of amino acids humans need to build muscle and is a rich source of vitamin B12, which is necessary to ensure nervous system function and red blood cell formation. Beef produced in the U.S. each year meets the total protein needs of 40 million people and provides enough B12 to meet the needs of 137 million people, according to research.

In 2019, U.S. beef cattle production comprised about 3.7% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Beef cattle production is also responsible for approximately 5% of U.S. water withdrawn from surface or groundwater, and 0.7% of the nation’s fossil fuel energy use.

New tech to reduce environmental impact

Cows are able to digest tough, fibrous plant material that humans, pigs and chickens can’t. This makes them an important part of a circular economy because they can digest what would otherwise be considered waste from other industries, like the grain left over from making beer and almond hulls from almond milk. By using these ingredients to feed cattle instead of letting it rot in landfills, U.S. feedlots decreased the amount of human-edible feeds required to produce more beef protein.

When cattle are being fed waste products like almond hulls and spent grain, it’s easy for producers to include feed additives, like herbs and custom-made molecules. These additions may reduce the cows’ methane production by changing how the microbes in their stomachs process carbohydrates.

For the same reason that cows can digest what would otherwise be considered waste, cows are able to eat grass. Grazing is important in dry regions like the mountains and high plains of Colorado. If the grass isn’t removed via grazing, it dries and becomes tinder for wildfire. In addition, many of these mountainous areas are too cold, rocky and steep to grow crops. Grazing can turn land that would otherwise be difficult to farm into food-producing land.

Until now, grazing required physical fences, which are costly to maintain and limit wildlife movement. But new technologies like virtual fencing allow Western Slope ranchers to use their smartphones to set digital boundaries. A collar on the cow beeps and buzzes to tell the cows where to go. Virtual boundaries are easy to change and visible only to the cow; thus, they support more environmentally-friendly grazing practices, protect streams and wildlife habitat and reduce wildfire fuel in dry seasons. While our recent research shows that this technology needs more development, it could be an important tool for beef’s role in a circular economy.

Beyond steak: Organ meats, pet treats and leather

In our experience, many U.S. consumers rarely eat cuts beyond steaks and ground beef — often due to a bad first experience with organ meats, like liver, or unfamiliarity with how to cook lesser-known cuts, like heart.

When customers won’t buy these cuts, Colorado’s beef producers who sell online or at farmers markets have to send them to the landfill. That costs the producer money and wastes the water, land and feed used to make these cuts.

Studies show that these cuts are among the most nutrient-dense parts of the animal, providing high levels of iron, B vitamins, choline and and other micronutrients. Making use of these lesser-known cuts can reduce emissions by using more of the animal and keep edible meat out of landfills, where it would otherwise rot, releasing greenhouse gases.

This does not mean anyone has to suffer through a meal of rubbery liver to save the planet. Many cultures globally value organ dishes, and U.S. tastes are expanding to include foods like lengua tacos made from beef tongue. Meanwhile, cooking tools such as sous vide can improve tenderness and juiciness by holding meat at precise temperatures for longer times.

Pets also benefit from eating organ meats, so these cuts are a key ingredient in pet foods and treats.

Consumer fashion choices matter too. About 270 million bovine hides are produced globally each year, and about 70% are turned into leather. Due to insufficient demand, remaining hides are burned or sent to the landfill, both of which release greenhouse gases.

Rather than letting these hides rot, they can be turned into leather, a durable, breathable and biodegradable high-performance material. When consumers choose to buy genuine leather boots, belts and car seats, they’re engaging in the circular economy.

For these reasons, Colorado State University is hosting Future Cowboy on Jan. 25, 2026, at the National Western Stock Show. It’s an event that lets Colorado foodies, fashionistas and cattle producers come together to explore circularity firsthand. The event will feature a leather fashion show, a ranch technology showcase and an opportunity try chef-prepared bison tongue and beef heart.

Jordan Kraft Lambert receives funding from the Small Business Association, Conscience Bay, Colorado Beef, Halter, and American Farm Credit.

Jennifer Martin has received research funding from the USDA, USDA-AMS, JBS, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Fats and Protein Research Foundation, Colorado Beef Council, and the National Pork Board She is currently serves as a board member for the Colorado Pork Producers Council and on various livestock boards.

Kim Stackhouse-Lawson has received funding from the Conscience Bay Research Foundation, USDA-NRCS, Cargill, DairyMax., CO-WY NSF Ascend Engine, Gerstner Philanthropies, Elanco Animal Health, Zoetis, Merck Animal Heath and Colorado Department of Agriculture.

Sara Place has received funding from the Grantham Foundation, USDA-NRCS, Cargill, Dairy Management Inc., CO-WY NSF Ascend Engine, Gerstner Philanthropies, Elanco Animal Health, Zoetis, Colorado Department of Agriculture, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the American Hereford Association.

– ref. Colorado ranchers and consumers can team up to make beef supply chains more sustainable – https://theconversation.com/colorado-ranchers-and-consumers-can-team-up-to-make-beef-supply-chains-more-sustainable-272582

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Zachary W. Binder, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, UMass Chan Medical School

After a sharp uptick in flu cases in mid-December 2025, flu activity across the U.S. and Canada remains high.

Although cases are trending downward in Canada as of Jan. 9, 2026, the season has yet to peak in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As an emergency room pediatrician in central Massachusetts, I’m seeing a tremendous amount of flu over the past few weeks. I’m hearing from colleagues in emergency rooms across the country that they are experiencing a similar explosion of flu cases.

In early January, New York state recorded the highest number of flu cases in a single week on record. Several other states, such as Colorado, are also experiencing record flu levels, and 44 out of 55 states and other jurisdictions are reporting high or very high flu activity, according to the CDC.

The spike in flu cases – widely referred to in media reports as a “superflu” – is largely driven by a newly identified subtype of the virus called subclade K.

What’s different about the current flu season?

Flu seasons vary every year. In 2024-2025, influenza cases rose fast beginning in October 2024. In contrast, the 2025-2026 season started out slow, but then it’s as if a switch was flipped in early to mid-December.

In the last week of December, throughout the United States, over 8% of doctors visits were for flu symptoms – the highest weekly rate since 2005. Emergency department visit rates for flu are spiking throughout the country, most notably in the South and Northeast, where rates exceeded the national average.

Over this same time period, more than 26% of flu tests taken throughout Canada were positive for influenza.

As of Jan. 15, the CDC estimates that flu has caused 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths this season. One small saving grace is that the flu this season hasn’t come on concurrently with either a respiratory syncytial virus – RSV – or COVID-19 surge, as it often does.

Traditionally, the flu is most dangerous for people over 65 or those with underlying health conditions, with young children experiencing more mild symptoms. But this year’s strain is hitting kids harder. They are arriving in the emergency room after having had a high fever of more than 104 degrees for 5-7 days, or with flu complications including febrile seizures, croup or severe dehydration.

An especially high number of children is currently being hospitalized for flu, the CDC reports. As of Jan. 9, the U.S. had seen 17 deaths of children due to flu so far during the 2025-2026 season.

In 2024-2025, the deadliest year on record for kids, flu caused 289 pediatric deaths.

What is subclade K?

Every year, the subvariants of the influenza virus that are the most pervasive change slightly.

This year, the most prevalent variant is subclade K, which is a subtype of influenza H3N2. Subclade K was first detected in Australia in July 2025. It’s driving 91.5% of infections in the U.S. so far this season and is also responsible for the peak in Canada.

Subclade K has proved itself to be a particularly infectious variant, based on how quickly the volume of flu cases has surged. Its dominance may be driven by mutations that make it different from previous strains. Some scientists speculate that H3 influenza viruses have circulated at relatively low levels the past few years, which may have led to lower levels of immunity in the general population.

In my emergency department, we’re also seeing particularly high spiking fevers of 104 or 105 degrees, compared with more usual lower grade fevers. That in itself is not dangerous, but for young children it does result in more instances of febrile seizures and dehydration.

How late is too late to get vaccinated?

Generally speaking, I recommend people get the flu shot, in line with guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Getting vaccinated for the flu has proved to decrease the risk of serious illness, hospitalization and death. People who get the vaccine are more likely to have milder cases.

For people still considering getting the flu shot for this season, I strongly recommend doing so sooner rather than later. Waiting longer would limit the window in which the vaccine is most effective. That’s because it takes a couple of weeks for the flu shot to impart its maximal benefits. Vaccination in mid-January would mean peak protection in late January and early February.

Flu season generally peaks in December through February in North America.

One thing to note, however, is that the strains that were chosen to be included in the 2025-2026 flu vaccine weren’t a great match for the predominantly circulating subclave K. Still, evidence suggests that this year’s vaccine does provide protection.

Should you take an at-home flu test?

In my opinion, in most cases home testing for flu is not especially useful.

Many people seek out flu tests to determine whether they should get antiviral therapies like Tamiflu. But while those therapies might decrease your symptoms slightly, they aren’t particularly effective, and they come with their own risks, such as upset stomach, vomiting and diarrhea. Most of my colleagues in the emergency department, myself included, rarely recommend them.

Whether you have the flu or a flu-like illness such as RSV, COVID-19 or rhinovirus, the recommendations for treating and managing the illness at home as well as the point at which I’d suggest someone seek care are no different.

Because of that, being able to put a label on the disease isn’t all that important. With the high levels of flu circulating now, if you’re feeling unwell and have signs of fever and upper respiratory symptoms, you can almost assume it’s the flu.

One exception is for people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease or severe asthma. For them, as for people who are hospitalized for flu, antiviral therapy may be recommended and thus testing for the flu can be helpful.

Basic precautions can protect you and your community

The same precautions apply for all flu-like illnesses, but it’s worth being particularly mindful of just how contagious subclade K seems to be.

It’s important to protect yourself and your community. Washing your hands frequently can minimize exposure to flu-containing droplets. Even more importantly, people who feel unwell – particularly if they have a fever – should stay home from work, school or activities, if possible, until they are fever-free for 24 hours.

Zachary W. Binder does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. New variant of the flu virus is driving surge of cases across the US and Canada – https://theconversation.com/new-variant-of-the-flu-virus-is-driving-surge-of-cases-across-the-us-and-canada-273556

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Christy Cobb, Associate Professor of Christianity, University of Denver

The Bible is filled with brave and courageous women.

Deborah, the judge who fought a war to protect her people. The widow Ruth, who wittingly convinces a man to marry her in order to continue the lineage of her mother-in-law, Naomi. Esther, who boldly stands up to an evil politician, Haman, in order to save the Jewish people from death. Judith, who beheads an opposing general in order to save her community.

The stories of these confident women are found in the Hebrew Bible, the sacred text of Judaism, which also forms half of the Christian Bible. But when it comes to the New Testament, where are the “leading ladies” of Christianity?

While a few important women are mentioned – such as Mary, the mother of Jesus; and Mary Magdalene, who discovers his empty tomb – no women are the stars of their own books in this half of the Bible. Instead, one must look to the Christian apocrypha: texts that are not found in the New Testament but were written by early Christians. One example of a prominent woman in these writings is Thecla, venerated for her persistence, courage and influence.

Thecla makes frequent appearances in my research and teaching, which focus on gender and early Christian literature. Her story is memorable not only for its dramatic miracles but Thecla’s persistence as a woman who felt called to preach, teach and baptize.

Facing down fires and seals

Thecla’s story is told in a second-century text titled the Acts of Thecla, or the Acts of Paul and Thecla. The story begins when the apostle Paul, who spread Jesus’ gospel more than any other follower in early Christianity, visits the city of Iconium, in modern-day Turkey. Paul’s teachings there highlight celibacy, and he blesses the bodies of virgins, which he says are pleasing to God.

Thecla listens intently while sitting in her home by the window. She is so drawn to Paul’s voice that she refuses to move, eat or drink for three days and nights. Even though she is engaged to be married, she longs to be pure like the virgins Paul celebrates. Thecla’s mother and fiancé are troubled by this, and they convince the leaders of the city to arrest Paul.

Thecla gains entry to the prison by trading her bracelets and sits with Paul and kisses his chains. During his trial, Thecla is questioned and refuses to answer. Her own mother calls for her to be burned because of her refusal to marry. Thecla is stripped naked and placed on a pyre, but no flames touch her. A miraculous storm erupts, the fire is extinguished, and Thecla survives.

Afterward, she cuts off her hair and dresses as a man in order to follow Paul in disguise. Thecla also asks that he baptize her. Paul asks instead that she have patience and takes her to the city of Antioch.

Thecla’s beauty attracts unwanted attention there, and a man named Alexander immediately falls in love with her. Rather than come to Thecla’s aid, Paul denies knowing her, and Alexander attempts to rape her. Thecla humiliates him by ripping his robe and tearing the wreath off his head. Alexander brings her to the governor of Antioch, who condemns her to face the beasts in the arena.

The scene is terrifying and vivid. Thecla is stripped naked and thrown into the arena, where lions and bears are waiting to attack her. But a lioness walks over to Thecla, lies at her feet and protects her from the other animals.

In the midst of this danger, Thecla stands, reaches out her hands and prays to God. When she opens her eyes, she sees a pool of water filled with killer seals, yet throws herself in to baptize herself. Immediately after, lightning strikes and the seals are killed.

The governor finally releases Thecla and provides her with clothes. She goes immediately to Paul, who finally blesses her and commissions her to teach the gospel.

Women preaching

Many Christians in the ancient world viewed Thecla as an inspiration and an example for leadership. Yet not everyone approved of women teaching and preaching, including a second-century church father named Tertullian. He discouraged Christians from reading the Acts of Thecla and claimed that it was a forgery, since he did not think Paul – who wrote that women should be silent in church – would affirm a woman’s right to teach and baptize.

Tertullian’s warnings reflect controversies surrounding women’s leadership and imply that some women claimed Thecla’s example as justification for preaching.

Later Christians remembered Thecla through artwork as well as texts. For example, a fresco of Thecla – along with her mother and Paul – is depicted in a fifth- or sixth-century grotto just outside of Ephesus, an important city both in the Roman Empire and in early Christianity. The painter imagined Thecla looking out her window, just as the beginning of the Acts of Thecla describes.

In Egypt, a round, carved plate was discovered depicting Thecla with the lions at her feet. This fifth-century artistic depiction demonstrates how far the story of Thecla’s perseverance in the arena with the beasts had spread.

Today, Thecla is the patron saint of the city of Tarragona, Spain, where the cathedral is named after her and images of Thecla decorate the altarpiece. Each year on Sept. 23, the feast day of St. Thecla, this Spanish city celebrates her story through parades, music, dancing and human towers called “castells.” A relic of her arm is processed through the city and displayed in the cathedral so that devotees can view it and pray for blessings.

Just as Thecla listened through her open window to Paul’s message, today Thecla’s story echoes to those who desire to hear the stories of courageous early Christian women.

Christy Cobb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Thecla, the beast fighter: The saint who faced down lions and killer seals is one of many ‘leading ladies’ in early Christian texts – https://theconversation.com/thecla-the-beast-fighter-the-saint-who-faced-down-lions-and-killer-seals-is-one-of-many-leading-ladies-in-early-christian-texts-270346