Exploring the education and sophistication of the early leaders…

There is a common assumption that Christianity was founded by "illiterate fishermen" like Peter and Andrew, James and John. However, not all tradents of the Christian kerygma were such. Paul, for example, was no illiterate fisherman. Paul was an educated man. He is both literate in his own traditions, as one might expect from a Pharisee, and familiar with the conventions of Greco-Roman rhetoric, which would not have been unusual for a Diaspora Jew trained in the Greek traditions. His home town of Tarsus was known for its educational facilities, primarily its Greek gymnasia, which functioned as ancient universities.

Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976)

Paul's letters are highly structured, and all comply with conventions of ancient rhetoric, which dictated the techniques and structures of argumentation and logic. His theology, while not always consistent across letters, is well thought through and complex. Paul's kerygma was no simple rehearsal of the Jesus story; but a highly developed philosophical system. Paul was familiar with the pagan mystery cults, like Mithras and Dionysius, aspects of which he probably incorporated into his kerygma. The great German scholar, Rudolf Bultmann (1964), argued this possibility strongly, suggesting that it was because of Paul's astute "syncretistic" appreciation of the Christian message that he can be credited with being directly responsible for making Jesus understandable to non-Jewish audiences.

An educated man — but a poor orator…

It seems, then, that Paul was an educated man. But, on the other hand, Paul seems to have been a very poor orator — a fact that his opponents at Corinth made a feature of their attack upon him (2 Cor 10:10). Paul turns this argument to good effect by reveling in his "weaknesses" and suggesting that Christ makes up for his deficiencies (2 Cor 12:10). Again this was a common tactic that was well known to ancient rhetoricians, who counseled the orator or man of letters how to turn an opponent's criticisms to one's advantage using precisely this technique.

As to Paul's profession as a tentmaker, it was not unknown for tradespeople to be scholars. Most Pharisees were not professionals, but tradesmen who studied scripture as well. Only in the later centuries of the Common Era did the Rabbi emerge as a professional, fulltime minister. In Paul's time, most rabbis would have plied a trade. Jesus, after all, was a carpenter; as, most likely, was his brother James. Josephus tells us that James was well-versed in Jewish traditions, even rivaling the authority of the High Priest. As I have argued previously, I suspect that Jesus and his brothers were probably involved in the Pharisaic movement.

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (1996: 86-87) suggests that Paul may have consciously adopted and learnt the trade of tentmaking during his years (c. 39-41 CE) in Tarsus following his conversion as preparation for his missions. Tentmaking provided Paul with a portable means of financial support during his missionary journeys, as well as giving him an entry into the marketplaces and trades associations in the towns and cities to which he journeyed.

Having said that about Paul, however, I would be loathe to suggest that Peter, as well as his brother Andrew, and their fellow fisherfolk James and John lacked education. Unlike Paul we have no writings that derive directly from the Apostles – 1 and 2 Peter, not to mention the letters attributed to Jesus' brothers, James and Jude, are the products of much later Christians writing in the names of the long-dead apostles. Simply assuming, however, that Peter's status as a fisherman would preclude any training is an argument from silence. Although, it is unlikely that Peter would have received the sort of "classical" education that Paul seems to have received, we should not imagine that he was either illiterate or unversed in matters religious.

The myth that Christianity was a movement of simple folk…

There is a prevailing myth that Christianity was a movement of simple folk. I think the sophistication of the New Testament writings suggests otherwise. Even the underlying traditions bespeak a vibrant and complex oral culture that was all-too-familiar with complex theological debate and discourse. Peter, as indeed, most of the other Twelve, seem to have been associated with various religious movements of the period — John the Baptist in particular (Jn 1:35-51), and maybe even the Zealots (Lk 6:15). The call stories in John stress the fact that all the first disciples were steeped in the Jewish Law, which might suggest some sort of either formal training (as in Pharisaic schools or Essene communities) or intensive personal study.

In terms of education, Paul was no exception in early Christianity. Even Acts 15:5 suggests that so many Pharisees joined the early Jerusalem community that by 48 CE they constituted a distinct sub-group. Acts 6:7 speaks of many priests who joined the community, some of which may have been former members of the Essenes or even the upper echelons of the priestly aristocracy. John 18:15 speaks of one disciple in Jesus' retinue who was known to the High Priest, even to the extent of being allowed into the High Priest's courtyard during Jesus' "trial".

As always when we are dealing with early Christianity, the evidence is rarely decisive either way. But we must be very careful about making assumptions in the absence of any evidence. There was no one single kerygma; and at no time did this kerygma constitute a simple retelling of the events of Jesus' life. Nor, for that matter, was the propagation of the kerygma furthered solely by the work of illiterate fisherfolk. Some of the earliest tradents of the message were very well educated and sophisticated individuals, like Paul, who knew how to make a good story even better by "inculturating" it into the prevailing myths and religious practices.

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Bibliography and Further Reading:
For those who are looking for resources on Paul that are both reliable and readable, I can recommend the following:
R. Bultmann, "Paul" in Existence and Faith: Shorter Writings of R. Bultmann, ed. S. Ogden (London: Collins, 1964).
R. Jewett, Dating Paul's Life (London: SCM, 1979).
J. Murphy-O'Connor, Paul: A Critical Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
Photo Credits:
The headline image of St Paul has been sourced from an icon which you will find at: www.airmaria.com.

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©2008 Ian Elmer

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