Jesus’ Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee (Library of New Testament Studies | LNTS)
Overview
Chris Keith critically engages the question “could Jesus read or write?” Building on the significant scholarly progression of the last 10 to 15 years, Keith argues that Jesus was able to simultaneously convince his contemporaries both that he was literate and that he was illiterate.
Save more when you purchase this book as part of the T&T Clark Jesus Studies Collection.
- Provides fresh perspectives on the historical Jesus
- Presents multiple angles to explore the knowledge and humanity of Jesus
- Engages the question “could Jesus read or write?”
- Jesus, Reading, and Writing
- Jesuses Literate and Illiterate
- Jesus Tradition, Memory, and What Really Happened
- Scribal Culture in the Time of Jesus
- Jesus’ Scribal-Literate Status in Early Christianity
- Jesus and Scribal Literacy
- The Controversy of Jesus the Teacher
Top Highlights
“Do the Gospels portray an intra-Pharisaical dispute? Or do they portray an attempt by Jesus, a renegade scribal authority, to challenge his former comrades? Or do they portray an attempt by known scribal authorities to shame Jesus as an unqualified imposter?” (Page 23)
“Jesus most likely did not hold the form of literacy known as scribal literacy” (Page 4)
“no memory, no preserved past, and no access to it, without interpretation” (Page 61)
“Jesus did not hold scribal literacy, but managed to convince many in his audiences that he did” (Page 26)
Keith makes two important contributions to the ongoing exploration of Jesus’ life—he demonstrates the strengths of an emerging methodology in Gospel studies, what he identifies as the ‘Jesus-memory approach,’ as well as nuances the category of literacy to better reflect the historical situation in first century Galilee and Judea. His even-handed critique of the criteria of authenticity and his careful examination of the various levels of reading and writing abilities evidenced in the ancient sources further support his case. Jesus’ Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee opens compelling vistas in the study of Jesus and the Gospels; his compelling arguments deserve careful attention.
—Lynn H. Cohick, associate professor of New Testament Biblical and theological studies at Wheaton College in Illinois
Indeed, all subsequent discussions will inevitably take their bearings from Jesus’ Literacy. The work is comprehensive, well-informed, and well-argued, and time and time again it reveals that almost everybody who has addressed the pertinent issues has come to premature conclusions.
—Dale C. Allison Junior, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Chris Keith offers scholars the learned study of the literacy of Jesus that has been much needed. For too long scholars have made assumptions about the literacy or illiteracy of Jesus and his followers. Offering a critical analysis of all the relevant data, Keith’s impressive book sheds a great deal of light on this important topic. I recommend it enthusiastically.
—Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College in Canada
- Title: Jesus’ Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee
- Author: Chris Keith
- Series: Library of Historical Jesus Studies
- Volume: 8
- Publisher: T&T Clark
- Print Publication Date: 2011
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 240
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Jesus Christ › Education; Jesus Christ › Knowledge and learning; Literacy › Palestine--History
- ISBNs: 9780567374295, 0567374297
- Resource ID: LLS:JESUSLITERACY
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:07:39Z