Chapter Three. Writing And Gradations Of Literacy

Abstract

This chapter begins with a brief overview of the literacy landscape of the Greco-Roman world by focusing on two issues that complicate modern understanding of ancient literacy: multilingualism and gradations of literacy. It then considers the place of writing in the pedagogical process in three contexts pertinent to the present argument: Greco-Roman Egypt; Palestinian Judaism; and the early Church. Though important differences exist between the Egyptian context on the one hand, and both Palestinian Judaism and early Christianity on the other, the chapter nevertheless observes the essential continuity between the literary environment reflected in Pericope Adulterae (PA) and the literary environment in which PA was inserted into Gospel of John (GJohn): compositional writing was a rarely possessed skill across the Roman Empire, both geographically and chronologically.Keywords: compositional writing; early Church; Gospel of John (GJohn); gradations of literacy; Greco-Roman Egypt; multilingualism; Palestinian Judaism; Pericope Adulterae (PA)