Galilee or Greek

Dr. Ehrman in several places in Jesus Interrupted makes a big point of the Galilean disciples of Jesus being illiterate, or presumed to be illiterate.  I don’t think though that he deals specifically with Jesus and the passage in Luke 4 where Jesus stands in the Nazareth synagogue and reads from the Isaiah scroll.   Jesus knew how to read.  How was he trained to read, when he also comes from this poor region of Israel, Galilee?  Dr. Ehrman does not deal with the issue because he has no answer for why Jesus can read.

Whether the disciples read or write is not the issue that Dr. Ehrman makes it out to be in Jesus Interrupted.  What is interesting about this time in history are these facts:  1.  Rome ruled and so there was peace during this time in Israel.  2.  Rome had previously conquered Greece and Greek had become the dominant language of the Roman Empire.  3.  The literacy in the Roman Empire was very high and thus when the Gospels and Net Testament letters were written and copied a few years later, many people under Rome’s domain could read them.  This makes the era and ideal time for the Messiah to come and for His Message to be communicated.

I am sorry that Dr. Ehrman can not see this.  As historian he would be served by a broad survey 1st century history.  Researching Greek words in the New Testament or extra-New Testament literature may never get him to where he needs to be.