# Was Jesus Literate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 5, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jesus-literate/570254 "2011-02-05T04:16:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 144
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jesus-literate/570254/144 "2011-04-13T07:23:39Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s not reasonable to expect that he was formally educated in anything, because he came from a social class that was not educated and grew up in a culture where well over 90% of the populace was illiterate. The fact that he was (maybe) called “master” by his disciples does not in any way indicate a formal education, and asserting over and over again that it did will not make it so. > > I would also point out that just because the Gospels claim that his disciples called him _rabbi_ does not mean they actually did. The Gospels are basically fiction, after all. Do I care if Jesus existed? No. Do I care if he could write? No, but the OP asked a question and since the only freaking evidence I have is the Christian bible, I’ll take that and add what I know. Since Jesus appeared to be a scholar of Torah and was treated as such, I’m going to vote “probably literate” or “highly possible”. This man wasn’t like 90 per cent of the population, anyway. John the Baptist was presumably literate, since his father was a priest. If Jesus and John were close, is it really so far fetched that Jesus learned to read like his dear cousin? \*\*Why \*\*are you even in this conversation? To be negative? \ //end Dio Show. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jesus-literate/570254)._