stephan huller

I thought this article by Meir Bar-Ilan was important for understanding textual diversity in the early gospels before Irenaeus. The corollary would be for me, since so few people could read second century editors were freer to innovate than people might imagine at first. After all who would pick up on the innovation? Add to this the fact that gospels were not likely to have been put in the pews, you have all the elements in place for the 'forgeries' represented by Matthew and Luke (and presumably even Mark if an earlier source is imagined):

steve_bnk

What is the definition of literacy?

People who can read and write sufficient for commerce and trade?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_illiteracy

'...Functional illiteracy is reading and writing skills that are inadequate "to manage daily living and employment tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level."[1] Functional illiteracy is contrasted with illiteracy in the strict sense, meaning the inability to read or write simple sentences in any language...'

If you narrow it further and say literate and also possessing the reasoning skills to understand myth vs reality it probably gets much worse.

If it were just literacy we would not have such a high percentage of Christians in the USA.

Minimalist

W. V. Harris' work on Ancient Literacy came up with a figure of 5%, IIRC, for Athens itself.

The issue of the degree of literacy is quite valid. The Romans in the Imperial Period taught their legionaries to read/write rudimentary Latin for the purpose of bookkeeping and reading the duty rosters but it is highly doubtful that many of them could have spoken enough Greek to pick up Plato and read it.

outhouse

Reading was one thing, writing it again another.

I see 3%-5% as common.

It would depend greatly on how Hellenistic a city was in the levant. Which also equates directly to the socioeconomic differences of the two.

Rural Galilee would be tough, and to where Sepphoris would have a much higher degree.

Tristan Scott

Interesting study Stephen. I can't help but notice that the study doesn't appear to take into account the fact that it is using post printing press data and extrapolating it to the pre printing press era. Maybe that is accounted for in some way in the more detailed analysis he is referencing. Seems like it would be a significant factor.

I agree with outhouse too that rural Galilee may not be typical to the rest of Israel.

spin

Maybe this could be useful:

Catherine Hezser, Jewish Literacy in Roman Palestine, Mohr Siebeck, 2001. Google books

Cheerful Charlie

Acts 4:13 presents Peter and John as being perceived as ignorant and illiterate men. Jesus is presented as able to read from the Torah in a synagogue.

Cheerful Charlie

outhouse

Yet cultural anthropology shows Capernaum to be a poor Jewish village similar to Nazareth, with roughly 750ish more people in the first century. Which doesnt help for a reading Jesus.


Tektons labeled as displaced renters who lived a life below that of a common peasant doing handwork or odd jobs, doesnt help either.


So that brings me to "says who"


The unknown Hellensitic gospel authors who new nothing of Galilean village life living in the Disapora?

Adam

Only in Mark 6:3, perhaps a late insertion, is Jesus called an artisan. Mt. 13:55 gets it better as "son of the....", and Luke 4:23 calls him Joseph's son--the two contrasting texts indicate that Mark 6:3 is the poorer text. You are presupposing HJ minimalism against the evidence of all four gospels. The very verse you used (as always with you, without citation) is immediately preceded by If you're standing on Mark 6:3 as determinative, do you also accept Mark 6:2 (and backed by Mt. 13:54) that Jesus worked miracles?

As always, you pick and choose what you want to remember, and your memory proves to be pretty bad. Cheerful Charlie has a much better record here than you do.

outhouse

Stop it.

Using the criterion for embarrassment we see the oldest text telling what he possibly is.

Then later authors trying to cover up the label given by the unknown author of Gmark.



"possibly" is much better then hiding embarrassing details.


the cultual anthropology also fits a tekton.