Was Jesus literate? [Archive] - Two Plus Two Newer Archives

Davidius

06-17-2006, 05:14 PM

There is at least one instance in which Jesus reads a scriptural passage from the Old Testament in front of a synagogue. As to why he didn't write... I don't know. Since most people in his day were illiterate and wouldn't be able to read what he wrote, maybe he decided that the best way to spread the word was by preaching. Just a guess.

Davidius

06-17-2006, 05:16 PM

There is at least one instance (from the Gospels) in which Jesus reads a scriptural passage from the Old Testament in front of a synagogue. As to why he didn't write... I don't know. Since most people in his day were illiterate and wouldn't be able to read what he wrote, maybe he decided that the best way to spread the word was by preaching. Just a guess.

PLOlover

06-20-2006, 04:53 AM

It's pretty clear in the gospels, that when the disciples ask him why he speaks in parables and stuff , Jesus tells them it is so that most people will not be able to understand him.

Luke 8.10 and I think something similiar in the other three gospels too.

---
KJV: And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
---

Given that sort of mindset, that his teachings were not for everyone, it is easy to see why he chose a more esoteric method of instruction.

CORed

06-20-2006, 05:38 PM

A carpenter's son in the middle east in that era? Most likely illiterate.

SamIAm

06-21-2006, 02:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
A carpenter's son in the middle east in that era? Most likely illiterate.

[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, if you take a random sampling from carpenters, sure.

Chances are he couldn't walk on water, either. /images/graemlins/smile.gif
-Sam

CORed

06-21-2006, 02:57 PM

Well, until Gutenberg invented (or borrowed from the Chinese) movable type, literacy was pretty rare everywhere. It's kind of hard to teach people to read when books are a rare and very expensive commodity. So, it's not impossilbe for Jesus to have been literate, but given that he was from a working class family, it's certainly the way to bet. I'll leave arguments based on sripture to the believers.

LadyWrestler

06-21-2006, 04:20 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Where can I find evidence (biblical or historical) that demonstrates whether Jesus could read and write? If he could write, why didn't he?

[/ QUOTE ]

He could read and write, and He did both. The evidence is in the Gospels.

PLOlover

06-21-2006, 06:35 PM

Yeah, he wrote some stuff in the sand when they were gonna stone the prostitute.

This thread kinda sheds some light on that, btw. If literacy was so rare, perhaps most if not all of the people could not even read what he wrote in the sand, but he did it just to add to his authority so they would listen to him, as a person able to write was almost certainly someone in a position of some power who should be listened to.

LadyWrestler

06-21-2006, 06:40 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, he wrote some stuff in the sand when they were gonna stone the prostitute.

This thread kinda sheds some light on that, btw. If literacy was so rare, perhaps most if not all of the people could not even read what he wrote in the sand, but he did it just to add to his authority so they would listen to him, as a person able to write was almost certainly someone in a position of some power who should be listened to.

[/ QUOTE ]

/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Borodog

06-21-2006, 06:43 PM

Why does it matter, by the way?

Not trying to be snarky, just wondering what possible difference it could make whether or not he could read and write. Isn't this like asking, "Was Jesus righthanded?"

bunny

06-21-2006, 07:23 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Why does it matter, by the way?

Not trying to be snarky, just wondering what possible difference it could make whether or not he could read and write. Isn't this like asking, "Was Jesus righthanded?"

[/ QUOTE ]
It is puzzling to me that he didnt write holy books. Scripture clearly carried a lot of weight in those days and the early church was quick to produce a written guide to the new religion. On the face of it, I would expect someone claiming to replace the old law with new would write it down.

diebitter

06-21-2006, 09:46 PM

I severely doubt he couldn't read. He had to put together bookcases and stuff, after all, so he must have been able to read instructions.

bisonbison

06-22-2006, 12:31 AM

I severely doubt he couldn't read. He had to put together bookcases and stuff, after all, so he must have been able to read instructions.

This is solid. Ikea is a swedish store and I have it on good authority that the multitudes were fed with bread and swedish fish.

guesswest

06-22-2006, 01:36 AM

Ikea instructions are just pictures! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

bisonbison

06-22-2006, 01:40 AM

Ikea instructions are just pictures!

Apostate.

Cue-Ball 66

06-22-2006, 10:44 AM

deleteduser

06-22-2006, 11:10 PM

People its Jesus of course he can read and write he could do anything did you get the memo?

pilliwinks

06-22-2006, 11:22 PM

I suspect one reason he may not have written a bunch of laws was that he was coming to a society who had already been given all that. His job was to be the radical wake up call to start taking God seriously and personally rather than following a bunch of rules.

CORed

06-23-2006, 02:20 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Have you ever met a left-hander who could walk on water?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm left-handed and I can walk on water.

<font color="white">If it's frozen</font>

Silent A

06-23-2006, 03:29 AM

Simple answer:

If Jesus was the son of God, then of course he was literate, and if he wasn't then he was almost certainly illiterate.

LadyWrestler

06-23-2006, 08:52 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why does it matter, by the way?

Not trying to be snarky, just wondering what possible difference it could make whether or not he could read and write. Isn't this like asking, "Was Jesus righthanded?"

[/ QUOTE ]
It is puzzling to me that he didnt write holy books. Scripture clearly carried a lot of weight in those days and the early church was quick to produce a written guide to the new religion. On the face of it, I would expect someone claiming to replace the old law with new would write it down.

[/ QUOTE ]

Think about this for a while, and I suspect you will no longer be puzzled. Have a great day! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

SamIAm

06-24-2006, 12:14 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Think about this for a while, and I suspect you will no longer be puzzled. Have a great day! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]Responses like this make you look like a jerk, and doesn't do much else. The whole thread is about puzzling this question. It's not exactly a deep question, but telling someone to "think about it for a while" is condescending.

It's a "discussion forum". If you're not going to discuss, don't post. If you want to present a counter-argument, or even a snarky joke, do that. Your comment just makes you look pompous and self-important. I presume that wasn't your goal.
-Sam

FortunaMaximus

06-24-2006, 02:36 AM

Practical answer: Educated men of the era had the Latin and the Greek, both spoken and written, and had a smattering of other languages, especially if they travelled in trade or in war.

Yeah, he had to be been literate. Not because he happens to be Jesus. But because he was an educated man of his era.

LadyWrestler

06-24-2006, 02:44 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Think about this for a while, and I suspect you will no longer be puzzled. Have a great day! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]Responses like this make you look like a jerk, and doesn't do much else. The whole thread is about puzzling this question. It's not exactly a deep question, but telling someone to "think about it for a while" is condescending.

It's a "discussion forum". If you're not going to discuss, don't post. If you want to present a counter-argument, or even a snarky joke, do that. Your comment just makes you look pompous and self-important. I presume that wasn't your goal.
-Sam

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, my post was based on my opinion that the poster, Bunny, is a very intelligent person, who simply had not thought about it very much. I do that, myself, sometimes...question things without really thinking them through...and I do not mind at all if somebody points out that my brain is of sufficient quality to reason out the answer with a little more thought. Unlike your post, it was not meant as a personal attack. If my post offends Bunny, and Bunny says so, I would not hesitate to apologize...because that certainly was not my intention.

As to which post(s) (yours, mine, both, or neither) reveal(s) pompous, self-important, jerk like attitude(s)...others can decide.

Have a very nice day! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Carl_William

06-24-2006, 03:51 AM

Gee, He made bookcases before people had books. I thought He made scroll jars.

IronUnkind

06-24-2006, 04:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
As to which post(s) (yours, mine, both, or neither) reveal(s) pompous, self-important, jerk like attitude(s)...others can decide.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I also felt your response came off as smug. What conclusion should he have drawn had been more thoughtful?

Carl_William

06-24-2006, 04:19 AM

Of course Jesus was literate. He came from a good family with high standards for their Child.

He communicated on a profound level with the hierarchy in the Temple at a young age. You have to be literate to pull this off.

Also it is possible to be literate without having adequate reading and writing skills. An example would be Muhammad who I was told could not read or write. It is said that Muhammad communicated with the Angel Gabriel to receive Allah's messages. I was told that Muhammad then relayed these messages to a wife who was literate and wrote all of this down. Muhammad had to be literate to relay 114 chapters to someone else....

diebitter

06-24-2006, 04:56 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Gee, He made bookcases before people had books. I thought He made scroll jars.

[/ QUOTE ]

He was a carpenter, not a potter.

No, he definitiely made bookshelves, I've seen pictures of it. And he had a nifty sideline in crosses too.

IronUnkind

06-24-2006, 06:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
And he had a nifty sideline in crosses too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Except for that last one.

Carl_William

06-24-2006, 02:00 PM

He probably made shelves. Books were a thing of the future. At least you admit HE was.... He proably made yokes, tables, chairs. wheels, doors, and cribs, beds, and ceiling rafters.

Carl_William

06-24-2006, 02:06 PM

He had twelve(approximately) other guys to spread the word and write it down; or have the many subordinates of these twelve guys write it down.... He allocated responsibility.

LadyWrestler

06-24-2006, 02:06 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
As to which post(s) (yours, mine, both, or neither) reveal(s) pompous, self-important, jerk like attitude(s)...others can decide.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I also felt your response came off as smug. What conclusion should he have drawn had been more thoughtful?

[/ QUOTE ]

OK. That is fair enough, and I agree that I need to work on that. Thank you, and have a great day! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Carl_William

06-24-2006, 02:11 PM

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever met a left-hander who could walk on water?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm left-handed and I can walk on water."

Yup; Probably at low tide which doesn't count -- you know that.... (old reply -- but bears repetition)

Carl_William

06-24-2006, 02:21 PM

With regard to the many reply posts listed below regarding; "Was Jesus Literate?" -- It seems to me that there are too many echo and repeat posts; and after a while this can make for a very boring, tiresome, sluggish dicussion.... Please try to add fresh material and ideas --most of the time. Thank you.

LadyWrestler

06-24-2006, 03:12 PM

As a further thought...my response was "Bunny" specific, not a general response to the OP or others. In hindsight I should have either PM'd Bunny (something I resist doing without permission) or kept my mouth (fingers) shut.

Again...I agree that coming off as smug is something I need to work on.

Thanks again for your response to my response! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

SamIAm

06-24-2006, 03:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yup; Probably at low tide which doesn't count

[/ QUOTE ]Check the original text in white. CORed is tricky. /images/graemlins/smile.gif
-Sam

SamIAm

06-24-2006, 03:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I've seen pictures of it.

[/ QUOTE ]
http://www.stainedglassphotography.com/Sacred_Heart_Jersey_City/slides/Jesus%20the%20Carpenter.jpghttp://www.ict.mic.ul.ie/100yearsago/bernadettemckee/web%20design/jesus-carpenter.gif
http://sherrysheartbeats.homestead.com/files/jesus_carpenter_shop.jpghttp://216.23.183.165/photos32/ph_32_187440_1109706004_file4.JPG

Q.E.D.
-Sam

P.S. He sure was white, though. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

CallMeIshmael

06-24-2006, 04:03 PM

[ QUOTE ]
He was a carpenter, not a potter.

No, he definitiely made bookshelves, I've seen pictures of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

"I was walking through the woods, thinking about Christ. If he was a carpenter, I wondered what he charged for bookshelves." - Love and Death

CORed

06-26-2006, 04:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever met a left-hander who could walk on water?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm left-handed and I can walk on water."

Yup; Probably at low tide which doesn't count -- you know that.... (old reply -- but bears repetition)

[/ QUOTE ]

You missed the white text in the post you responded to. Not low tide, but it's not miraculous either.