yalla

Care to elaborate Roger?

Doug Shaver

What John said, with just a bit of elaboration.

I happen to believe that Jesus probably never existed, in which case your question would be moot. But I'm not dogmatic about it, and I don't mind speculating about what was probably true about him if he did exist.

The gospel authors claim that he was literate, but we know that not everything they wrote about him was true. If his origins were as humble as they suggest, then it is unlikely he would have had any schooling. That doesn't mean he couldn't have had some, but there is no evidence in any extant document that he did. Even without any formal education, it is not impossible that he could have learned to read and write. Aside from the temple incident when he was 12, there is not a shred of evidence for what he did with his life before beginning his ministry. For all we can tell from the historical paper trail, he could have been highly educated. On the other hand, if in fact he had been, it is implausible that no mention would have been made of the fact.

In any case, no surviving document was even allegedly written by him, and there is no believable claim that any such document ever existed. (Even most Christians don't believe the story about his letter to Abgar.)

Amaleq13

IIRC, we've had evidence put forth that suggests even the most humble of Jews were taught to read the Torah. I have not been successful in locating a specific post, however.

vid

Didache speaks about Gospel of Jesus, doesn't it? I am not really sure about Greek (or whatever language extant Didache exists in) meaning of "of" - whether it can mean solely that gospel was written by Jesus, or it allows also "Gospel about Jesus" interpretation.

mens_sana

I've never seen anyone deal with "levels" of literacy. There is a big difference between the polished author and the ordinary laborer — especially in a largely oral society, where the sculpture on the Ara Pacis told a story readily understandable to the unread Everyman.

The tekton, shop owner and tax gatherer at the city gate could probably all sign their names and do simple tallying. Their livelihoods depended on it. This is not literacy and it was the status of around 95% of the population, per Wm. V. Harris' Ancient Literacy (or via: amazon.co.uk) and other studies. I suspect that Jesus fell into this bracket.

everettf

Would you mind translating. I have no idea what that means.

Amaleq13

IIUC, that is the Greek for John 7:15 for which you already have the translation.

Doug Shaver

So would I, assuming his historicity. I think anyone claiming that he was sufficiently literate to read the Torah and understand what he read well enough to carry on a sophisticated debate with scholars needs to provide better evidence than a couple of gospel anecdotes.

Jeffrey Gibson

To be exact -- for which you already have "a" translation.

Jeffrey

Solitary Man

Likewise for those who think he was illiterate.