15
other side of the spectrum, the religious hierarchy of the day were probably literate and scribes
were most certainly well trained in reading and writing.
Even among the literate, it should be noted that there were several different degrees of
literacy that ranged from only being able to sign ones name to the well trained scribes who
could take dictation and copy documents.54 Another issue with writing at this time is that many
of the documents were written without punctuation or spacing between words.55 This form of
writing, Scripta Continua, made reading even more difficult and exclusive to the scribal class.56
Scribes were utilized, for this reason, to draft documents for the illiterate.57
Given this dynamic of the time of the first generation of Christians, it is a plausible
assumption that several of the apostles were themselves illiterate.58 With the exception of
Matthew, whose occupation as a tax collector would have necessitated his literacy, little is
known of the other apostles’ professions prior to following Jesus.59 Three of them (Peter,
James, and John) were fisherman and may not have been literate.60 Indeed, Acts 4:13, implies
that Peter and John were “ἀγράμματοί,” (unlearned). While some may argue that the apostles
were well versed in Torah, it can reasonably be assumed that their knowledge came from
hearing it in synagogue each Sabbath.61
54
Ibid, 167.
Ibid.
56
Ibid.
57
Dunn, The Oral Gospel Tradition, 290.
58
Dunn, “Altering the Default Setting: Re-envisaging the Early Transmission of the Jesus Tradition,” 148.
59
Dunn, The Oral Gospel Tradition, 290.
60
Ibid.
61
Ibid.
55