I address notions like that in this piece<\/a>: <\/p>\nIt is worth noting that the *evangelists* are not always the same as apostles. Luke is a doctor, not an illiterate. Matthew is a tax collector (literacy required). Mark is not a fisherman and obviously not illiterate (since he does, after all, write a gospel). And the rumors that John was illiterate merely because snooty members of the Jerusalem elite regarded the apostles with disdain do not make for a persuasive case. Much of the \u201cilliterate fisherman\u201d meme comes from Hollywood, not from the actual text of the NT, nor from the internal witness of the gospels. There is good reason to think that John was actually quite well-educated and came from a fairly well-off family. He was, for instance, \u201cknown to the High Priest\u201d. This suggests strongly that his family hobnobbed with the Jerusalem elite. It\u2019s quite possible that John was regarded by the Jerusalem elite as a young well-to-do radical from a good family who had fallen in with a nutty cult.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A reader writes: I was in an argument with my brother who is an atheist, who was arguing that none of the writings in the New Testament could have been written by the Apostles, because they were illiterate fishermen. I was wondering if you had any thoughts or knew about any resources concerning this topic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A reader writes: I was in an argument with my brother who is an atheist, who was arguing that none of the writings in the New Testament could have been\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A reader writes: I was in an argument with my brother who is an atheist, who was arguing that none of the writings in the New Testament could have been\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-03T18:19:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-31T04:28:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html\",\"name\":\"Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-03T18:19:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-31T04:28:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"A reader writes: I was in an argument with my brother who is an atheist, who was arguing that none of the writings in the New Testament could have been\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?","description":"A reader writes: I was in an argument with my brother who is an atheist, who was arguing that none of the writings in the New Testament could have been","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?","og_description":"A reader writes: I was in an argument with my brother who is an atheist, who was arguing that none of the writings in the New Testament could have been","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2011-10-03T18:19:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-12-31T04:28:08+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html","name":"Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-03T18:19:30+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-31T04:28:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"A reader writes: I was in an argument with my brother who is an atheist, who was arguing that none of the writings in the New Testament could have been","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/10\/were-the-apostles-a-bunch-of-illiterates.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Were the apostles a bunch of illiterates?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}