Why was Jesus not educated...?

[Oberon]

It's one thing to be able to memorize it but a whole other thing to be able to quote certain quotes on occasion, as Jesus did.

It's actually the same thing, at least from a cognitive and memory perspective. See e.g.

Rubin, David C. (1995). Memory in Oral Traditions: The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-out Rhymes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Talmon, Shemaryahu. (1991). "Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period." in Wansborough, H. (Ed.) Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition. London: Sheffield Academic Press.

 

[waitasec]

It's one thing to be able to memorize it but a whole other thing to be able to quote certain quotes on occasion, as Jesus did.

if he in fact did

 

[dogsgod]

Interesting that Jesus consistently throughout the gospels asks the Pharisees if they've read this scripture or read that scripture every time they try to entrap him, yet Jesus supposedly can't read himself. Funny how that works, but then I'm not an expert on the "historical" Jesus who apparently can't read. Who is this gospel character and what did they do with the "real" Jesus?

 

[octoberheat]

Wouldn't Jesus most likely have been raised as any other typical Jewish boy in Nazareth? Why would his education level be any different than the others?

 

[Reverend Rick]

So Jesus was the son of god at least and educated for he taught and read and spoke, and his father/himself knows everything. Those two together and no one said we should write this down so there is no question of our faith....

get it??

I don't think you get it. If everything was proof positive, faith would no longer play a part in it all.

Faith is the requirement for salvation.

 

[dogsgod]

Wouldn't Jesus most likely have been raised as any other typical Jewish boy in Nazareth? Why would his education level be any different than the others?

According to the gospels, Jesus could read. According to the experts, Jesus couldn't read. Go figure.

 

[octoberheat]

Well the gospels were written by men who knew Jesus or knew someone who knew Jesus, so wouldn't they have more validation than the experts of today 2000 years later. In Luke 4:16, it talks about Jesus standing up in the synagogue to read.

 

[Midnight Pete]

According to the gospels, Jesus could read. According to the experts, Jesus couldn't read. Go figure.

Jesus quoting from Jewish Law while confronting the Pharisees would suggest that he was literate.

 

[dogsgod]

Jesus quoting from Jewish Law while confronting the Pharisees would suggest that he was literate.

Exactly.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Exactly.

It only took 20 pages to reach this conclusion. :clap

 

[dogsgod]

It only took 20 pages to reach this conclusion. :clap

I've been saying it all along Sherlock.

 

[Oberon]

Jesus quoting from Jewish Law while confronting the Pharisees would suggest that he was literate.

Why, when most jews were familiar with jewish law through oral teaching and memorization?

 

[dogsgod]

Jesus quoting from Jewish Law while confronting the Pharisees would suggest that he was literate.

The gospels having Jesus read would also suggest that he was literate.


According to the "experts" a Jesus that can read, such as the one the gospel writers describe, doesn't fit the profile.

 

[Oberon]

According to the "experts" a Jesus that can read, such as the one the gospel writers describe, doesn't fit the profile.

Neither does a Jesus who is the actual son of god and who rises from the dead. History is all about what most likely happened given the evidence. It is certainly possible that Jesus could read, and some experts have argued he could. However, we have a priori reason to doubt this given the high rates of illiteracy in 1st century palestine and Jesus' social status, as well as a priori reasons to doubt the gospels which try to present Jesus as a master teacher and more learned than the scribes and pharisees.

 

[dogsgod]

So what we have to do is draw a profile of a first century Galilean itinerant preacher in order to determine whether Jesus can read or not.

 

[fantome profane]

Does anyone else find the idea that the Word could not read kind of ironic?

 

[Oberon]

So what we have to do is draw a profile of a first century Galilean itinerant preacher in order to determine whether Jesus can read or not.

It isn't a matter of simply drawing a profile. The methods used to understand the historical different are not different for any other historical figure: look at the data, determine the type of data you are working, use the methods historians use to work with that data. We don't need to know anything about Jesus at all to know what literacy rates were like in the roman empire. Jesus' social status and where he lived can be determined through the sources via (among other things) the criterion of multiple attestation.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

The issue, as is always the case when looking at biographies or histories from ancient rome, greece, israel, etc, is determining which parts of any given source are likely to be historical. It may be that Jesus could read and write, and it has even been suggested that he had his followers write down his teachings. However, our sources do not really give us conclusive evidence here, and given literacy rates during Jesus' day, it is far more likely he could not read given his social status.

I think I could agree with this. Even though that one scripture reference implies he could read it is inconclusive.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

It's one thing to be able to memorize it but a whole other thing to be able to quote certain quotes on occasion, as Jesus did.

Not really a big deal to tell you the truth. As you may know Christians are perfectly capable of quoting their bible when it suits their purpose. In fact some Muslims are encouraged to memorize the whole Quran. The late Ahmed Deedat was skilled at the memorization of (both) the Bible and Quran.

 

[MW0082]

Does anyone else find the idea that the Word could not read kind of ironic?

Indeed I do....