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Any posts regarding the existence of Jesus are off topic...BUT, a thread on whether he existed or not can be started in a New Thread...I believe there are many already.
I think the world would be a better, saner place, if most folks recognized that Jesus - even if a composite - exists among the pantheon of Humans Who Changed Stuff Significantly.
He'd be rubbing shoulders with the dude (or dudette) who harnessed fire, invented the wheel, figured out the power of levers, Newton, Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Einstein, Ricky Gervais et al.
I had forgotten about that one. I wonder how a tradesman learned to read? Of course this is the Bible, so we can just deem it a miracle. He just let the god side of him come through. Surely god knows how to read.
The tradition by which Jewish boys STILL learn Torah? You really ought not to assert things about which you know nothing.
His second (?) cousin, Zechariah the priest, taught him?
I doubt that Zechariah could have made the trip to Nazareth for that purpose on a regular basis. Or that Joseph could spare Jesus for the inverse trip. But in the gospels, all things are possible.
I doubt that Zechariah could have made the trip to Nazareth for that purpose on a regular basis. Or that Joseph could spare Jesus for the inverse trip. But in the gospels, all things are possible.
It seems that Jesus and John had a relationship, and may have known each other as children, so they would've seen each other at least occasionally. One of my sons taught himself to read at 4; I learned to read at 5; surely Jesus' father wouldn't have had him working with him at such an early age and he would have been able to travel with his mother (who had previously stayed with Zechariah for 3 months).
Then, nate's posts have indicated that people were not necessarily illiterate in that time and culture. So... it doesn't seem necessary to play the miracle card in this case.
It seems that Jesus and John had a relationship, and may have known each other as children, so they would've seen each other at least occasionally. One of my sons taught himself to read at 4; I learned to read at 5; surely Jesus' father wouldn't have had him working with him at such an early age and he would have been able to travel with his mother (who had previously stayed with Zechariah for 3 months).
Then, nate's posts have indicated that people were not necessarily illiterate in that time and culture. So... it doesn't seem necessary to play the miracle card in this case.
Formal education, including tradecraft, traditionally began at 12 IIRC. So yes, it's possible there could have been someone doting on a very young Jesus in this regard, like one of my older brothers lavished his tutelage on me beginning at age 3.
I guess my main point is that we simply don't know and the odds are against it. The sort of broad and deep literacy that would be needed to read and interpret the OT and commentaries strike me as highly unlikely. But yes ... with a few literate connections, a good dollop of precociousness, etc., just maybe. And the "miracle card" is always available to the faithful.
...particularly as there was no 'Nazareth' at that time.
LOL, that's what they have said of many cities they have found after it was said.
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