The theologian and bestselling author shares the revolutionary story of a first-century woman named Thecla—and the buried history of women’s spiritual power in the early Church | Listen 46 minutes

Theologian and author Meggan Watterson

In today’s episode, I share a fascinating discussion with the theologian and bestselling author Meggan Watterson.

Watterson has a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. She is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Mary Magdalene Revealed and has a new, highly anticipated book out: The Girl Who Baptized Herself: How a Lost Scripture About a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth.

Here are just a few of the topics we covered in this interview:

• How rediscovered texts like the Acts of Paul and Thecla (dating to 70 CE) prove women held positions of spiritual authority from Christianity’s very beginning—evidence that was systematically erased to create a “divine succession of male authority.”
• The remarkable story of Thecla, a first-century woman who transformed from having zero personal agency to baptizing herself and becoming a minister—offering a seven-stage template for reclaiming authentic power and purpose.
• The startling and concerning disparities between the pre-Constantine version of Christianity that existed for hundreds of years after Jesus’ death and what became Christianity when it was made the official religion of the Roman Empire.

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As some of the early readers of Changing the Channel know, I was seriously considering going to Yale Divinity School after I left CNN.

The primary reason I chose to defer for a year and then ultimately move on from the idea was that I found myself on a faster path to living in Italy than I had expected, and there was no way to do the master’s program from abroad.

What drew me to apply to YDS was my frustration with the way Christianity is presented. It has always seemed to me that an important piece was missing from the story. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been overlooked or intentionally omitted.

That something was the voices of women.

It turns out Meggan Watterson felt this way too, and she didn’t just get one advanced degree in theology, but two, in her search for the lost voices of the women of pre-Empire Christianity.

It was a joy to have such a deep conversation about a topic that matters so much to me and I think many of the readers here. In many ways it matters to the world because of the influence Christianity plays in so many cultures.

You can listen to the interview on most podcast platforms or watch the video below. It was the first time recording in my renovated Trullo (an update is coming soon) and there is a bit of an echo so I apologize for that. I’ll have to find another place to record in the future.

Whether a woman or Christian or not, I hope you get as much from listening to Meggan Watterson as I did.

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