Were the twelve apostles poor and illiterate? I was leading a Bible Study tonight when one of the people involved made the statement that the Twelve Apostles were probably mostly poor and illiterate. After all, they were fishermen and salt of the earth, and many people did not know how to read or write back then. But, is this an accurate statement of the probable situation of the Twelve Apostles? Well, I had the people go to a certain passage in the Gospel of John:
And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.
This passage is obviously right after Jesus’ arrest. Read it again. One of the disciples is so well known to the high priest and to the guards at his place that he is able to walk right in without being stopped. And then he shows how well-connected he is by going back and giving the guard permission to let Simon Peter in. Now let’s review a bit what has happened. The priests and the Sadducees are so worried about crowd reaction to the arrest of Jesus that they arrange to arrest him late at night and secretly so that there will be no riot. In this type of setting, security would have been very tight at the high priest’s house. In fact, the Scriptures comment on how the high priest’s courtyard was crowded with guards and servants. This is not a setting in which just anyone can walk in. In fact, Simon Peter was stopped and prevented from entering, showing the elevated security level.
So, who is this disciple who is so well connected that even on a night of elevated security he can walk right in? This is the Apostle John, the brother of the Apostle James, one of the sons of thunder, whose father was Zebedee. But, this means that John and James bar Zebedee were not simple poor fishermen from the Sea of Galilee. You may wish to reread some of the Gospels. Notice that a couple of times, when they are shown fishing, there is more than one boat mentioned. Given the connection with the high priest, it is quite likely that James and John were educated and obviously able to travel in high society circles. Notice that while Simon Peter’s accent is pointed out, nothing is ever said about John’s accent or about his being a follower of Jesus. That is, John is placed high enough that neither the guards nor the serving maids feel comfortable hassling him. They do feel quite comfortable hassling Peter, who goes on to deny Jesus three times.
Have I begun to help you reevaluate your opinion of at least some of the Apostles? Well, there are other apostles that might surprise you, but that is for another post.
More from OrthoCuban
- On Luther and the Desert Fathers
- Intersexuals and the Church, part 02
- Poor and illiterate apostles and New Testament people?
FIrst off “poor” is relative. To someone earning $8/hr at Wal*Mart and able to buy all the junk in the world I bet they all seemed rather poor. What was their own standing in their own community? We can’t know, I think. But from the texts alone, it seems evident that they had their own business and one of them, at least, owned a boat. Several of them had houses (one passage in the Gospel says something to the effect that Jesus, too, owned a home). The passage you cited indicates some political connections – as does even Judas’ betrayal. We know that several wealthy women bankrolled the ministry.
We also know that these were Jewish boys belonged to a culture where literacy was *highly* valued. For the largest majority some training happened at the local synagogue – illiteracy would not have been a problem although, shall we say, “Finesse” would not have been included in the rough training in possibly all three languages (Greek for the LXX, HEbrew & Aramaic for the scrolls).
How is poverty relative?
Awww, you spoiled part of my next post. GRIN.
I want people to realize how little most people notice the descriptions in the Gospels. We look for the pious interpretation or the theological point and miss the details that tell us so much about the people involved. As a result, we tend to build up some “interesting” ideas about the people involved, such as some of our ideas about the Apostles or about Mary Magdalene, or about . . .
Isn’t there some indication from the early centuries (as quoted by Eusebius, maybe) that John the Theologian (and therefore, presumably his brother James as well) were from a priestly family?
There are some indications. In fact, one passage records that Saint John began to wear both the mitre of a priest and to wear a chestplate with the twelve stones like the one that is spoken of in Deuteronomy.
Can someone provide a link to a document that says this? (St John or James wearing the mitre of a priest?)
In the second century, Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, says, “John, moreover, who reclined on the Lord’s bosom, and who became a priest wearing the mitre, and a witness and a teacher-he rests at Ephesus.” While there is some argument as to whether Polycrates was referring to John in Israel before he became an apostle or afterwards, most would say that Polycrates was claiming that John wore them as a Christian priest because otherwise the sentence makes no sense.
Both Eusebius and Jerome in the fourth century quote this passage of Polycrates.
But, there is an interesting side story. You may know that St. Paul’s tomb was opened last year. The bones were carbon dated and did date back to the first century. “The pope said that when archaeologists opened the sarcophagus, they discovered alongside the bone fragments some grains of incense, a “precious” piece of purple linen with gold sequins and a blue fabric with linen filaments.”
This does point towards a more liturgical Christianity than many Protestants are willing to admit.