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Old 06-28-2013, 04:12 PM
JB3 JB3 is offline
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first, martureo states in post 394-
Quote:
The three centuries of scholars I mentioned, the majority of them were/are atheists.
so heres what wikipedia has to say on jesus literacy-
Historical Jesus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:
"There are strong indications of a high illiteracy rate among the lower socio-economic classes in the Roman Empire at large, with various scholars estimating 3% to 10% literacy rates.[76][98] However, the Babylonian Talmud (which dates to 3rd-5th century) states that the Jews had schools in nearly every one of their towns.[98]
Geoffrey Bromiley states that as a "religion of the book" Judaism emphasized reading and study, and people would read to themselves in a loud voice, rather than silently, a practice encouraged (Erubin 54a) by the Rabbis.[98] James D. G. Dunn states that Second Temple Judaism placed a great deal of emphasis on the study of Torah, and the "writing prophets" of Judaism assumed that sections of the public could read.[76] Dunn and separately Donahue and Harrington refer to the statement by first century historian Josephus in Against Apion (2.204) that the "law requires that they (children) be taught to read" as an indication of high literacy rate among some first century Jews.[76][99] Richard A. Horsley, on the other hand, states that the Josephus reference to learn "grammata" may not necessarily refer to reading and may be about an oral tradition.[100]
There are a number of passages from the Gospels which state or imply that Jesus could read.[101] The Jesus Seminar stated that references in the Gospels to Jesus reading and writing may be fictions.[102] John Dominic Crossan who views Jesus as a peasant states that he would not have been literate.[103] Craig A. Evans states that it should not be assumed that Jesus was a peasant, and that his extended travels may indicate some measure of financial means.[104] Evans states that existing data indicate that Jesus could read scripture, paraphrase and debate it, but that does not imply that he received formal scribal training, given the divergence of his views from the existing religious background of his time.[105] James Dunn states that it is "quite credible" that Jesus could read.[76] John P. Meier further concludes that the literacy of Jesus probably extended to the ability to read and comment on sophisticated theological and literary works".[106]
lets see whos mentioned-

Quote:
Geoffrey Bromiley-
Geoffrey W. Bromiley

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Geoffrey W. Bromiley (1915 - August 7, 2009) was a church historian and historical theologian. He was professor emeritus at Fuller Theological Seminary, having been Professor of Church History and Historical Theology there from 1958 until his retirement in 1987."[1]
Bromiley, born in Bromley Cross, Lancashire, England, in 1915, earned his MA at Cambridge University and his PhD, DLitt, and DD at the University of Edinburgh. Ordained in the Church of England, he served from 1951 to 1958 as Rector of St. Thomas’s Church, Edinburgh. In 1958, he accepted the appointment as Professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Fuller, where he served until his retirement in 1987."[1]
Geoffrey W. Bromiley died on August 7, 2009.
hmm, doesn't look like an athiest

Quote:
James Dunn (theologian)

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James D. G. ("Jimmy") Dunn (born 1939) is a leading British New Testament scholar who was for many years the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in the Department of Theology at the University of Durham. Since his retirement he has been made Emeritus Lightfoot Professor. He has worked broadly from within the Protestant tradition. Dunn is especially associated with the New Perspective on Paul, along with N. T. (Tom) Wright and E. P. Sanders. He is credited with coining this phrase during his 1982 Manson Memorial Lecture.[citation needed]
He is a Methodist Local Preacher.
well gee, I doubt a methodist preacher is an athiest, lets continue-

Quote:
Richard A. Horsley

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Richard A. Horsley is Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and the Study of Religion at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.[1]
He described his view of the historical Jesus in these words (Jesus and the Spiral of Violence, pp. 207-208):

Horsley has a PhD from Harvard and previously taught at Wesleyan University.[3]
hmm, could be an athiest, but I doubt it.

Quote:
Craig A. Evans

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Craig Alan Evans is a biblical scholar and author. He has written widely on the historical Jesus, New Testament textual criticism, and early Christianity.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in history and philosophy from Claremont McKenna College, a Master of Divinity from Western Baptist Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Claremont Graduate University in southern California.
A master of divinity.
next-

Quote:
John P. Meier

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For other people named John Meier, see John Meier (disambiguation).
John Paul Meier (born 1942) is a biblical scholar and Catholic priest. He attended St. Joseph's Seminary and College (B.A., 1964), Gregorian University Rome (S.T.L, 1968), and the Biblical Institute Rome (S.S.D., 1976). He is author of the series A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus (4 v.), six other books, and more than 70 articles for peer-reviewed or solicited journals or books.[1]
Meier is William K. Warren Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. His fields include biblical studies and Christianity and Judaism in antiquity.[2][1] Before coming to Notre Dame, he was professor of New Testament at The Catholic University of America.
A catholic priest. So basically in the poor mans verison of research, searching wikipedia, there is debate on Jesus's literacy even among current scholars, who instead of being athiest as martureo claims, are most likely religious men.
As you can see above, 5 scholars mentioned in the page all happen to be biblical scholars and many priests of one type or another.

The idea of being trained as a scribe specifically is interesting, something martureo could have simply mentioned instead of petulance. Basically its clear scholars don't know if he could write, but it seems a majority believe he could read, and we can't even agree on his profession or socioeconomic status in the first place.

So we are back to square one, we just don't know, not enough information
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