Early Christian education
A threat to society?
Jantine Huisman (s1860674)
14 January 2012 (revised version)
Monitor: B.E.A.L van der Lans
Course: Jews, Christians and Muslims in the ancient Mediterranean.
Ma Origins of Abrahamic Religions, University of Groningen
1
“Papyri offer us the most direct access we have to the experience of ordinary people in
antiquity, including even the illiterate, provided their affairs were of enough
consequence to be worth registering at all”.1
1
Edwin A. Judge. Rank and status in the world of the Caesars and St Paul (University of Canterbury,
1982), 7
2
1. Introduction
‘Muslim schools do fit well into the Western world and are not a threat to our society’.2
This quote by Wilna Meijer, forms the start of this paper concerning early Christian
education and its interplay with society. According to Meijer, a part of the Dutch
government incorrectly sees Muslim schools as a threat to their society. Because of the
governments’ statements and publications, a fear has risen in society that Muslim schools
will have a negative effect on the values that the Dutch society tries to uphold. A fear
also, that this new religion will spread further. By stating that these schools are a threat to
society, people try to restrict the founding of new schools and, as a consequence, restrict
the influence of the new religion.
The fear of a new religion and the wish to restrict its influence on society is not
uncommon to European societies. An example can be found in the persecution of the
Cathars in the Languedoc, starting as early as the 11th century. The Cathars were famous
for their literacy, their skill in debating and, for their establishment of various schools.
While the Cathars were noticed but ignored during their emergence in the 11th century,
after they started to become bigger, stronger and more talented in debating and in
convincingly arguing their points of view, the Catholics started to fear for their own
religion, and began to persecute the Cathars.3 The Cathars became more powerful in
debate, because of the establishment of various ‘Schools of Catharism’. According to
several sources, every Cathar church established a school, on every educational level. A
consequence of the founding of these schools was a high literacy rate among the Cathars.
In the end, this high literacy rate was threatening for the Catholics, because the Cathars
could formulate their beliefs so well, that they started to ‘win’ from the Catholics in
debates.4 We can say that the practical enforcement of their faiths and values lead to fear
and threat for the – leaders of – the Catholics.5
In Dutch society we see that the ideas of the ‘leaders of society’ are copied by the
6
public. But how much fear actually existed before that among the citizens, were they
Siebren Miedema, “Islamschool hoort thuis in Vrije Westen,” Trouw (June 23th 2006)
Peter Biller and Anne Hudson, eds., Heresy and Literacy, 1000-1530 (Cambridge University Press, 1994),
61-82
4
Biller and Hudson, Heresy and Literacy.
5
Raymond A. Mentzer. Herecy proceedings in the Languedoc (University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1984)
6
εiedema, “Islamschool hoort thuis in Vrije Westen”έ
2
3
3
really afraid of this new religion in their midst? And did they truly fear these Muslim
schools? Wilna εeijers’ attempt to objectively review the Dutch criticism on and fear for
Muslim schools among the public, is an interesting way of looking into religion criticism
and the interplay of religion and society. In this paper an attempt will be made to follow
Meijers’ line of research. However, instead of analyzing the modern day criticism on
Muslim schools, an effort will be made to analyze the criticism on and fear for the rise of
Christian education in third century society. Was early Christian education really
perceived as different from Jewish and pagan education and, when being different, was it
seen as a threat, or merely as ‘yet another form of (religious) education’? The research
question answered in this paper thus will be: Was Christian education, seen as a threat to
society in the third century C.E.?
2. Primary Sources
In literary sources, a lot of comments can be found on Christians and their
education, for example in Origen and Augustine. But their comments might have been
put onto paper for rhetorical purpose. In this paper we therefore try to create a picture of
early Christian education by using papyri written by the public, by ‘normal citizens’.
These papyri, for example personal letters or educational exercises, refer to education
only sideways, or are a direct product of this education, which thus must lead to an
accurate picture of the way education was organized. The (sub)research question thus
answered by the primary sources isμ “How did the early Christians organize their
education of children and new members?”.
The first kind of primary source that is used, are Christian ‘letters of
recommendation’.7 In the ancient world, it was common to provide travelers with a letter
of recommendation. This letter appealed to the hospitality of the receivers, to provide the
traveler with food, housing, a job or, in our case, education. For this paper a collection of
thirteen letters of recommendation written in the third or early fourth century has been
analyzed. To answer the research question, only the five letters were used which referred
Also known as ‘letters of Peace’ (T.M. Teeter, “δetters of Recommendation or δetters of Peaceς”, Akten
des 21. Internationalen Papyrologenkongresses, Berlin 13.-19.8 1995 (eds. B. Kramer et al, 1997) p. 954θί), ‘letters of introduction (CέWέ Keyes, “Greek letter of Introduction,” in American Journal of Philology
56 (1935): 28-44) and ‘letters of εediation’μ university of Earlham (2ί12)
7
4
directly to education, this by using the word α χου
ου
(catechumen). All the
letters are listed in table 1 to be complete.
Table 1
List of letters of Recommendation
Identifier
P.Alex 29
P.Berl.Sar 11
P.Col. 11.298
P.NagHamman 78
P.Oxy 8.1162
P.Oxy 31.2603
P.Oxy 36.2785
P.Oxy 56.3857
PSI 3.208
PSI 9.1041
SB 3.7269
SB10.10255
SB 16.12304
Sender
[Sot]as
NN
Thomas
Zaccheos
Leon
Paul
Presbyteroi
NN
Sotas
Sotas
Tyrannus
Theonas
Heraclides
Receiver
Maximus
elo ed father
Paul
Sansnos
synlitourgoi
S[erapio]n
Sotas
elo ed rothers
Peter
Paul
elo ed rother
Mensurius
elo ed rothers
Educational reference
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
In addition to these letters of recommendation, some ‘writing exercises’ were
analyzed. We consider the work that students did for school as writing exercises. This in
contrast to school texts, which are professionally produced books that circulated in class.8
The eight writing exercises used for our analysis are known to have been written by
Christians, due to subject or the use of chrisms and nomina sacra.9 In table the writing
exercises are listed, with identifier and content. Besides these, a personal letters from the
second century was used to answer the first research question. In this letter someone
refers to a ‘lady teacher’ called Kyria.10
8
See Rafaella Cribiore, Writings, Teachers and Students in Greco-Roman Egypt (Scholar Press,1996), 28
Cribiore, Writing, Teachers and Students.
10
Rafaella Cribiore, Gymnastics of the Mind; Greek education in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt (Princeton
University Press,2005), 81. The identifier of this letter is SB 14. 11.532
9
5
Table 2
List of Writing Exercises
Identifier
P.Cairo. 56226
P.Cairo. 56227
P.Laur 4. 140
P.Lond.Lit. 207
P.Oxy 2.209
P.Mich 3. 134
P.Vindob. Gr. 29274
T.Berol 14000
Content
Philemon
Fusion of pagan and Christian moralizing
part of Psalm 1.1-2 LXX
Psalm 6:7 – 14:4
Letter to the Romans 1:1-7
Passage of Proverbs 7:3-13
Psalm 32:9-15
T o rosses, Emmanuel
3. Analysis
3.1 Constructing early Christian education
In the third century, the Christians were a religious group with increasing influence and
growth of members.11 As a consequence of this growth, the need arose to found
Catechumenal schools. The goal of these schools was to prepare adults and children for
church membership. The Christians organized schools for ‘elementary education’ as wellέ
These schools were comparable to Jewish and Pagan schools in construct and
curriculum.12 Can this differentiation between ‘catechumenal’ and ‘elementary’
education be found in our primary sources? The fact that both letters of recommendation
and writing exercises have been analyzed to form an idea of Christian education can be
an indication of this. In this paragraph we try to establish an idea of who the students
receiving Christian education were (adults or children, male or female), what texts were
used to educate them (what did they read or study and which texts were used to learn
them how to write), what kind of teachers they had, and where they received this
education.
Students
In the letters of recommendation
By reading the letters of recommendation we can establish a certain idea of Christian
studentsέ In the letters we find eight different ranks of ‘community members’. The three
11
Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity; a Sociologist Reconsiders History (Princeton University Press,
1996).
12
See for an elaborated explanation paragraph 3.3 below.
6
interesting for us, are elects,13 beloved brothers and sisters, and catechumens. According
to Treu, brothers and sisters were full members of the congregation, whereas
catechumens were the ones that still needed to be instructed, before they could become
full members.14 His remark seems to be true when analyzing the letters of
recommendation. εost of the times when ‘catechumen’ are named in the letters, they are
named apart from people introduced by ‘brother’ or ‘sister’έ15 That catechumens still
needed to learn something more, cannot only be detected from the word ‘catechumen’μ
someone who is being instructed in a subject at an elementary level,16 it can also be
detected from the sentence: “Anos, who is send for edification”έ17 ‘Edification’
(ο ο ο
) means intellectual, moral or spiritual improvement.18 Thus, catechumens
were ‘students of the Christian community’, but not yet fully part of this community.
In the analyzed letters we get acquainted with a few different catechumens. We
meet a catechumen in the beginning of the gospel ( α
υαγ’γ
ου), a catechumen in Genesis ( α
catechumen ( α χού
( α
χου
ου
ω
ο
π
υ αγο
χού
ο
χού
ο
Γ
α χ
ου
), a faithful
), a group ‘catechumen of the congregation’
ω ) and Serenos ( α χού
ο
Σ
ο ). The
catechumen were not necessarily introduced by their name, but could also be introduced
by what they studied. This suggests, that this was of significance to the early Christians.
What this significance was, we cannot say for sure. When we follow the texts of Origen,
the reference to study material, was a reference to the stage of catechumenate. He stated
13
According to Allen D. Fitzgerald (ed. Augustine through the Ages (Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1999), 145-4ι) these ‘elects’ were the catechumen almost ready for baptismέ They were ‘the chosen ones’,
deemed ready for a full Christian life. The other five ranks were, in random order: presbyters, deacons,
fellow-minister, papa, and daughter.
14
Kέ Treu, “Christliche Empfehlungs- schemabriefe auf Papyrus,” in Zetesis; Album Amicorum (ed. E. de
Strycker; Antwerpen; De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1973), 633-639. He also states here that receivers of
the letters should know who where brothers and who were catechumens, in order to know how to treat the
travelers coming to themέ This differentiation of catechumens and ‘beloved brothers and sisters’ might be
different than in the first (and maybe second) century. We see for example in the Letters of Paul, there is no
differentiation between catechumens and ‘beloved brothers and sisters’, off course, everybody back then
was still learning what Christianity was about, so they all were in a way ‘catechumens’έ
15
For example PSI 9.1041
16
The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Edited by John S. Bowden, 2005, 1330.
17
P.Oxy 36.2785
18
The Oxford English Dictionary Second Edition Volume V, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 2004, 71.
Oikodomen,was in early Christianity the word for building the congregation (for example in Pauls letters),
and so a task for the apostles. We can ask ourselves if the meaning of the word changed, but on the other
hand: to educate catechumen to make them real members of the congregation is in a way expanding and
‘building’ the congregation.
7
that there were three different catechumenal stages: a precatechumenate stage and two
stages of actual catechumenate. The first stage was a time of probation, in which the
‘wannabe catechumen’ should show that he was able to lead a sinless life. During this
period the postulant, was not formally introduced to the Christian faith, but his faith
‘awakened’έ19 Only when the postulant proved that he really desired a virtuous life, the
catechumenate began.20 This catechumenate was divided in two. The first stage was the
‘beginner stage’ wherein catechumens were introduced to Christian morals in ‘privately
formed classes’έ τrigen thought that these beginners should be introduced to books asμ
Judith, Tobit, Esther and Wisdom. These were supposed to teach good moral lessons.21
In the second stage the catechumens were introduced to ‘our mysteries’, the ‘next step
towards real blessedness.’22 What these mysteries were, can only be guessed.23
Thus, following Origen, it seems that the catechumens we met, were in different
catechumenal stages, but in which? We know Genesis was valued for its moral lessons:
according to bishop Ambrose, virtues could be derived from the stories of the patriarchs,
which was why, Genesis was used in Lenten catechesis assemblies.24 Because of this
moral value, the catechumen reading Genesis probably still was in the first stage of
catechumenate. The catechumen in the beginning of the Gospel was probably somewhere
further on the line of becoming a full Christian member. Building on Auf der Maurs
theory,25 I would say that learning the Gospel points to learning the mysteries of the
19
In the time of Augustine, the people who wanted to become a catechumen, were interviewed by a
catechumen of the community, in order to get to know their intentions and true desires. (Fitzgerald; 1999)
20
The testing of the intentions can be found in Michel Dujarier, A History of the Catechumenate; the First
Six Centuries, (Sadlier,1979). In contrast to Origen, Augustine states that this time of being a postulate, was
only really short: after the interview (see note above), the same catechumen that held the interview, gave a
short introduction to the Christian faith: first he explained the unity of the New Testament, than how the
events in the New Testament were foreseen in the Old and how the New fulfilled the prophecies of the Old
Testament, and finally the catechumen gave the warning of the Day of Judgment. When the wannabe
catechumen still wanted to be a catechumen, he or she got the sign of the cross (like a blessing, on the
forehead) and became a catechumen in the beginner stage. (Fitzgerald, “Augustine through the Ages”, 14ι)
21
Killian McDonell and George T. Montague, Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit: evidence
from the first eight centuries, second edition (Liturgical Press, 1994).
22
McDonell and Montague, Christian Initiation. Origen in his contra Celsum, 3:59
23
Catholic neophytes in later centuries knew another catechumenal stage. In their postbaptismal period,
also called ‘mystagogy’, they were introduced ‘more fully’ into ‘the mysteries’ by reading and studying the
Gospels. (John A. Gurrieri, The rite of Christian Initiation of Adults; Study Edition (Archdiocese of
Chicago; Liturgy Training Press, 1988).
24
Paul Fέ Bradshaw, “The Gospel and the Catechumenate in the Third Century,” JTS 50 (1999): 143-52
25
They state that the second stage entailed more ‘Göttlichen Dingen’ and ‘Glaubensunterweisung in all das
was Jesus seinen wahren Jüngern besonders gelehrt hat’έ
8
Christian faith, so to the second catechumenal stage.26 Should we follow Origen on this?
Nowhere in the letters of recommendation we find further proof of catechumens being in
different stages of catechumenate. The references to the books they studied, and the other
additions as well (faithful, of the congregation), might represent a personal touch, but
Origen might be right as well.
Establishing a profile of ‘the catechumen in early Christianity’ is hard, using only
the letters of recommendation. In them, we do not find references to age or social status.
We do find, that these catechumens traveled. Whether this was obligatory as a
catechumen we do not know, but it is known that, in antiquity, students often traveled to
keep studying under a specific teacher.27 Also, the ones traveling alone should at least be
either youth or adult. The catechumens traveling in companion, could have been
younger.28 Second, we detect that catechumens could be woman and man, although the
catechumens found in the letters of recommendation are only male. But we find Anos,
who is traveling with ‘our sister’ Taionέ ‘Sister’ presumably did not mean that the author
and receiver of the letter and Taion self were family. The use of ‘sister’ and ‘brother’
often referred to a Christian identity.29 This means that Taion was a full member of the
Christian community, thus must have once been a catechumen as well.
In the writing exercises
The writing exercises do not tell us much about the students. The subject of the exercises
do indicate that students could read and also understand moralizing texts, plus knew
something, or were taught something, about the differences between pagan and Christian
26
See also AnneMarie Luijendijk, Greetings in the Lord; Early Christians and the Oxyrhynchus Papyri
(Harvard University Press, 2008), 81-112. She suggests in contrast that the differentiation made by bishop
Sotas between ‘catechumens of the congregation’ and a catechumen in the beginning of the Gospel, means
that the catechumens of the congregation were in the second, more advanced stage of being a catechumen,
where they learned the ‘mysteries of the congregation’έ Whereas the catechumens in ‘the beginning of the
gospel’ and ‘in Genesis’ were still learning the moral ways of Christian lifeέ
27
Edward Watts, “Student Travel to Intellectual Centersν What was the Attractionς” in Travel,
Communication and Geography in Late Antiquity: Sacred and Profane (ed. L. Ellis and F.L. Kidner;
Hants, England: Ashgate, 2004), 13-23
28
We can read in Fitzgerald, Augustine through the Ages, 146 the following passage on catechumens:
“Not all catechumens were adults, Christian parents did not generally have their children baptized, but
instead had made them catechumen.” This means that in late fourth century, catechumens could be
childrenέ It’s not a far leap from here, to say that it is possible then, that in the third century, children could
be catechumens as well.
29
Osni Ferreira, “Christian Identity in the Context of Social Economic Tenstions” in Christian Identity (ed.
E. van der Borght; Leiden, the Netherlands; Koninklijke Brill BV, 2008 ), 255-272
9
morals.30 This means that at least they were older than nine.31 τf the ten ‘hands’ we find
in the writing exercises, four are classified as ‘evolving’, a few are ‘proficient’. Only two
are classified as ‘zero-grade’ or ‘alphabetic’έ32 This shows that the students who wrote
Christian texts, were mostly evolved in their writing, although being an ‘evolved writer’
was not an exigency. We should think here though, about the ‘survival chances’ of a text.
Was it more probable that a well written text was better preserved than an ill written one?
We know from other sources that in antiquity, parents bought wax and stylo’s for their
children to use in school.33 Texts written on a wax tablet could have easily been erased
and the tablet used again for new practice. It might have been then, that both beginners
and advanced students used biblical texts to practice writing with. The writing exercises
we have found, only give us proof for the latter. The writing exercises do not show the
students’ gender or age. Assuming that Christian education is comparable to Jewish and
Pagan education in the third century, on expects the students to have been children, either
boy or girl.34
Curriculum
Of catechumens
In the letters of recommendation we find a difference in what kind of Bible books the
catechumens read or studied. We met a catechumen in the beginning of the Gospel and
one in Genesis. As previously seen, the significance of this addition is unclear, but other
questions can be asked about these additions as well. What texts did these catechumen
actually read and can these additions be an indication for a set curriculum? We know that
in the ancient Greco-Roman world a set curriculum existed for the secondary school. In
elementary school, Roman and Greek children were taught to read and write by literary
texts from Homer and Heriod, but also by using various myths and poems. In secondary
30
See for example P.Cairo 56227, which contains a fusion of pagan and Christian moralizing.
At least, when we say that the moral development of children in the third/fourth centuries was the same
as now. Children in our current century develop and understand a deeper way of morals from their ninth or
tenth. (Christie Amons-Lievegoed, et al. Het Dilemma van de morele opvoeding; wie moet er wat aan
doen? (Zeist; Christofoor 2008)
32
Cribiore, Writings, Teachers, Students
33
Cribiore, Writings, Teachers, Students, 15. The identifier of this letter is P.Oxy 4.736.16
34
Henri I. Marrou, Education in Antiquity (The University of Wisconsin Press, 1956).
31
10
school students were to study (again), Homer and Heriod, as well as Choerilus,
Apollonius of Rhodes, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Menander.35
δet us return to the texts read by ‘our’ catechumensέ Genesis in the third century,
was almost the same text as Genesis today and was seen as a moralizing text.36 As seen
above, Genesis probably was used for its moralizing qualities in the early stages of
catechumenate. But was it common to read Genesis? In Egypt, many Old Testament
manuscripts have been found in early Christian communities. The most found Old
Testament texts is Genesis (eight times).37 This suggests that Genesis was a text that
circulated frequently through early Christian communities and probably was often read.
We also know that Genesis was part of the catechesis at the end of the fourth century.
Egeria, a pilgrim to the Holy Land, wrote to people at home that ‘the bishop studied the
whole Bible with the catechumens, beginning with Genesis’.38 Plus, as seen above,
Genesis was used in catechumenal moral lessons in Lenten assemblies.39 Knowing this,
we might say that Genesis was part of the (moral) Christian education to their
catechumens.
Then, what exactly was meant by ‘the beginning of the gospel’? The beginning
of Matthew, the first gospel in the New Testament canon? But this canon was not yet
assembled in the early fourth century.40 Or was it Mark, which begins with: α χ
υαγγ
ου I
οu Χ
οu υ οu
οv
οu? An additional question is: when were
catechumens allowed to learn the gospel? According to Bradshaws translation of a
Sahidic text, catechumens were only permitted to hear the Gospel ‘when they fulfilled
every good work’.41 This might have been true, but find no evidence for this in our
primary sources. The question remains though, what Gospel did Leon study? Not only
Mark and Matthew were read in early Christian communities, also the Gospel of Thomas
35
Ibid.
Craig, A. Evans, Joel N. Lohr and David L. Petersen, The Book of Genesis; Composition, Reception and
Interpretation. (Leiden; Koninklijke Brill NV, 2012).
37
Larry W. Hurtado, The Earliest Christian Artifacts; Manuscripts and Christian Origins (Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 2006). Compare for example to the Gospel of Matthew (found twelve times).
38
Bradshaw, “Catechumenate and Gospel”έ
39
Ibid.
40
The first Christian author that suggested a New Testament canon as we know it, was Athanasius in 367
C.E. (Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Christianities; the Battle for Scriptures and the Faiths we Never Knew (Oxford
University Press, 2003)
41
Bradshaw, “Catechumenate and Gospel”, 143. See also texts of Hippolytes and Augustine (Fitzgerald,
Augustine through the Ages, 145-147).
36
11
was among Christian literature.42 We even do not know whether ‘the beginning of the
Gospel’ actually meant the beginning of ‘a Gospel’ or ‘the beginning of the message of
Jesus’.
In writing exercises
In the exercises we find parts of Old Testament texts (Psalms and Proverbs) and New
Testament texts (Letter to Romans, Philemon). One could argue that Old Testament texts
in writing exercises do not necessarily refer to Christians, but could also be identifiers of
Jewish education. I agree, but the writing exercises with passages of Old Testament texts,
also contain chrisms (and identifier of Christianity) and nomina sacra, which are used
mostly in Christian text, although their origin might have been Jewish.43 Thus, third and
early fourth century (Christian) teachers used both Old and New Testament texts as
writing examples. In the exercises, the most often found Old Testament texts are Psalms.
We find psalms 1:1-2, 6:7-14:4, and 32:1-5.44 Analyzing their subject, we cannot say
anything definite about a religious (moral) curriculum. Interesting is though, that only
parts of the first 32 psalms are found. Does this mean that for educational purposes only
the first psalms were used, or is this a coincidence? The passage from Proverbs contains
warnings about women. The hand is qualified as ‘rapid’, so the student could write okay.
The wax tablet on which this text is found, was erased several times, so Proverbs was
only one of the texts the student practiced writing with. I would suggest though that this
texts was used for moral teaching as well, seeing the subject. Why we find only examples
of Psalms and Proverbs in the writing exercises, is not quite clear. Whether only these
texts were used for education is not sure. Maybe these texts were the most popular, or
most easy to understand or copy, or the ones that thought morals best on a certain
elementary level.
Finally the New Testament text. We found the first seven verses of Paul’s letter to
the Romans. These verses concern the introduction: from Paul, to the Romans, the Good
42
Hurtado, The Earliest Christian Artifacts.
See Cribiore, Writings, Teachers and Students, 86-87 for information on chrisms. For an extensive
discussion on the origin of Nomina Sacra see Anton, H.R.E. Paap, Nomina Sacra in the Greek papyri of
the first five centuries A.D.: The sources and some deductions (Leiden; Brill, 1959).
44
3 prayers for help, 2 for justice, 1 for happiness, 1 for Gods glory and dignity, 1 on forgiveness, 1 on
confidence in God, a thanksgiving to God, and a psalm on human wickedness.
43
12
News for you, greetings in the Lord.45 Interesting is, that the papyrus sheet on which the
verses are written, has an alpha in the left upper corner. This could imply that it was the
first page of more pages of writing, or that it was copied from an teaching model, which
contained the whole letter, or even more letters of Paul. Codices like that were a standard
item in most church communities to read from during services. It is possible, that these
were also used for writing practices at school.46
Proof for a curriculum? I cannot say anything definite about a Christian
educational curriculum. But, noteworthy is that the analyzed Christian writing exercises,
concerned either Old or New testament texts. Comparing this to the curriculum of the
Roman schools, we see a big difference. Whereas they used myths and Homer to teach
their students, Christians – as far as I can tell – used their religious texts to teach their
children. An interesting fact as well, is that Christian monks, when entering a monastery,
were supposed to learn in their first few weeks a few psalms by heart, as well as 2 letters
from the Apostles.47 This corresponds really well with the texts we have found in the
analyzed exercises. The question rises than if, in the early centuries, the core of Christian
religious education at school, consisted of learning psalms and letters of Apostles. To say
anything definite about this theory is impossible, mostly because of the size of the sample
of writing exercises here. Eight writing exercises are not enough to make any
conclusions, but the theory remains interesting.
Teachers and learning environment
Who taught the catechumens what they had to know about the Christian morals and
mysteries? And who learned the children how to read and write? Also, did the students go
45
The New Revised Standard Version, Romans 1:1-7
See for an expanded explanation Anneεarie δuijendijk, “A New Testament Papyrus and its
Documentary Context: An Early Christian Writing Exercise from the Archive of Leonides (P.Oxy 2.209)”
in The Journal of Biblical Literature 129 (3) (2010): 575-579
47
Theodor Klauser, “Auswendiglernen” in Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum 1(1950), 1030-1039
46
13
to school? Was there home schooling? A classroom in the church? In the following
paragraph an answer to these questions is tried to be found.
According to a personal letter
There are no papyri sources, that refer directly to Christian teachers. The one that is used
for the analysis here, is one that refers to it indirectly. This fragmentary fourth century
letter, is written by somebody unknown, to Philaxelos, a teacher, about something
unknown.48 Because of the concluding greeting, which is typically Christian, scholars
agree this is a Christian letter.49 The letter mentions a woman, Kyria (a Christian name)
and her position:
α
α ο (lady teacher). This is interesting, because often we read
that in the early church, woman were not supposed (or allowed) to teach, while we do
find references to pagan ‘lady teachers’έ50 Is it possible that there were Christian woman
teaching the children? According to Clark, the upbringing and early education of children
was to be done at home, by the family or (educated) slaves.51 Maybe Kyria was an
elementary teacher, teaching the Christian children to read and write. Although we do not
know for sure, it seems like a good possibility.
According to the letters of Recommendation
The analyzed letters of recommendation were written to provide catechumen with
education at their place of destiny. But who was going to teach them? Scholars argue
whether the sender and receiver of the letters were the teachers.52 We know Sotas, the
sender and receiver of some of the letters was a Christian bishop in Oxyrhynchus. Was he
then also the one who taught this catechumen he send away and welcomed? In one of the
letters, written by the Presbyters of Herakleion, Sotas is asked to receive for ‘edification’
Anos. We do not know if Sotas was the teacher, but because the letter was written
directly to him and because he was the leader of the Christian community in
Oxyrhynchus, it seems a good possibility that he taught the catechumens in his
congregation. We know from texts by Origen and Augustine that catechumens were
48
SB 14. 11.532
See Cribiore, Gymnastics of the Mind, 80-81
50
Ibid.
51
A.J. Clark, Child and School in the Early Church. (Catholic Educational Review, 1968)
52
Luijendijk, Greetings in the Lord, 122
49
14
taught by the church leaders in their ‘catechumenal stage’έ They received information in
‘privately formed classes’, but also during the sermon on Sunday. According to
Augustine, the catechumens came once a week to listen to the sermon. On this special
day, the bishop would pause in the middle, to explain parts especially for the
catechumens and then would continue.53 This seems in accordance to other views on
Christian tradition. As Smith states: the background of rabbinic tradition had to be found
in the school, the Christian tradition in the sermon.54 Or, as Aune argues, the preacher
was seen as the primary bearer of the Jesus tradition.55
It seems then, that again, we have found a differentiation between elementary
education and religious education. According to secondary literature, Christians followed
the Jewish traditions by teaching at home. But in the third century, Christian schools did
start to arise.56 According to Neymeyr, this elementary education was for children, while
religious education was only for adults.57 This seems in contrast to Augustine: he claimed
that both adults and children could attend catechumenal classes.58 Where these lessons
took place is not clear. Jews educated their children at school or at home. 59 On the other
hand, Jesus taught his students while being outside and on the road, like Greek sophists.60
We also find that early Christians probably used the houses of their wealthier members as
a gathering place and place of worship.61 So where took their education place? We cannot
say anything for sure, but whatever the early Christians chose as their place of education,
it seems most likely that they followed either the Jewish example by teaching at home or
school, followed Jesus in his way of teaching outside, or used the same places of
‘worship’ for educationέ
53
See Fitzgerald, Augustine through the Ages and McDonnel, Christian Intiation.
Morton Smith, “A comparison of Early Christian and early rabbinic tradition” in The journal of biblical
literature 82 (1963), 169-76 .
55
David E. Aune. Prophecy in Early Christianity and the Ancient Mediterranean World (Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 1983)
56
Larry Arnoldsen, The Early Christians and Schooling (online source).
57
Ulrich Neymer, Die Christlichen Lehrer im Zweiten Jahrhundert: Ihre Lehrtätigkeit, ihr
Selbstverständnis und ihre Geschichte (Leiden; E.J. Brill, 1989)
58
Fitzgerald, Augustine through the Ages
59
James S. Jeffers. The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era; Exploring the Background of
Early Christianity (InterVarsity Press, 1999).
60
Charles F. Melchert. Wise Teaching: Biblical Wisdom and Educational Ministry (Trinity Press
International, 1998).
61
See the Pauline letters
54
15
3.2 Christian, Jewish and Pagan education
In secondary literature
When we try to construct a picture of Jewish, Christian and pagan education in the third
century, according to secondary literature, we find three main approaches to this subject.
Scholars focusing mainly on the differences, scholars who acknowledge the differences,
but focus on the similarities and scholars who focus on the lack of a separate Christian
education, where pagan and Jewish education did exist.
The scholars focusing on the differences, first see a difference in the goal of
education. According to Arnoldsen, Jews and Christians taught their children to build
their character by teaching them moral lessons found in the Bible. Education was to
create ‘good people’. Elite non-Jews on the other hand, so states Arnoldsen, taught their
children to become part of and of use to the society. The educational goal was in the
interest of the State. Arnoldsen sees a two differences in the content of the curriculum as
well. First,
Jewish, Christian and pagan education focused on the own rituals and
religion. Pagan (Roman) schools attempted to teach the children pagan rituals, while
Jewish schools and Christian (home)schooling focused on their religious theories and
acts.62 Following this, the curriculum of pagan schools existed of classic poets and
authors as Homer and of (religious) myths63. The Christians used Old and New
Testament texts for their education and also the Jews had their own curriculum, which
did not include the literature of other nations. Only Hebrew literature was supposed to be
taught to their children (Psalms, Prophets).64
Ferguson and Halliday describe almost the same picture of pagan, Christian and
Jewish education, but instead of focusing on the differences, they find that Jewish,
Christian and pagan education was organized according to the same Greco-Roman
model. This consisted of primary, secondary and advanced education in schools, with
boys and girls starting school from circa age six. The curriculum for Jews, Christians and
pagans contained reading and writing, as well as simple mathematics. The teaching
methods for all three were copying texts and memorizing them, even more, Jews and
Christians also used Greco-Roman rhetorical in their instruction. Ferguson and Halliday
62
Arnoldsen, The Early Christians and Schooling
Marrou, Education in Antiquity
64
Arnoldsen, The Early Christians and Schooling, 3
63
16
do note the differences between pagan, Christian and Jewish education, but the model
was the same. The main differences were the texts used to teach literacy: Homer for the
pagans, Torah for the Jews, Bible for the Christians, and synagogues versus gymnasia as
learning environment.65
The last group of scholars build on the theory of the previous group. They state
that both Jewish and pagan education was build on the same Greco-Roman model,
wherein education was an important aspect of civic life. But, whereas scholars as
Ferguson state that the Christians followed this same model, scholars in this group state
that there actually was no separate Christian education. We have for example Pranjic,
who argues that there was not really a need for a separate education, because children
were raised by their families. Pranjic does acknowledge a separate religious education but
this was mostly offered to adults.66 Kirkegaard comes to a different conclusion. He states
that early Christian elementary education took place within the standard Greco-Roman
schools. For more advanced students, the Christians did create different curricula, but
until then, according to Kirkegaard, the Christians were receiving their education
alongside the pagans.67
One form of Christian education?
Now we have three different views on how Christian, pagan and Jewish education could
have been organized in the third century. Comparing these views to my construction of
Christian education, which seems the most likely? Summarizing my view on Christian
education, we find a probable differentiation between elementary education and religious
education. This differentiation is never explicit, but it seems to be the best explanation for
some of the differences found in the primary sources. Of the elementary education (based
on the writing exercises) we know that the Christian curriculum existed of Old and New
Testament text, and that the age of the students was probably somewhere around eight or
nineέ In these sources we find also ‘teacher’ hands, but who these teachers were, we do
65
Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, third edition. (Eerdmans Publishing Company,
2003) and W.R. Halliday, Pagan Background of Early Christianity (Kessinger Publishing, 2003).
66
Marko Pranjicέ “Odgojno-teorijska Dvojba Ranog Krscanstva” (Educational and Theoretical dilemma of
Early Christianity). Crkva u Svijetu 47 (2012): 322-347
67
Brad Kirkegaard, “Placing Early Christianity as a Social Movement within its Greco-Roman Context,”
Journal of Lutheran Ethics 6 (1) (2006). The theory that Christians went to pagan schools is derived here
from Tertullians ‘De Idolatria 1ί’έ
17
not know. Of the religious education (based on the letters of recommendation) we know
that students could have been male or female, adults (and when comparing to other
sources: also children), and their curriculum existed of Old Testament text (moralizing)
and New Testament texts (to teach the Christian mysteries?). Comparing these findings to
the three ‘scholarly views’, we can begin by saying that it seems unlikely that there was
no separate Christian (elementary) school. The use of Biblical texts and signs (chrisms,
nomina sacra) seems to point to a Christian teacher, and I do not think Christian teachers
would have taught at a pagan or Jewish school. This means that the third view drops out.
It does seem likely that Christians copied the pagan and Jewish way of organizing
education, for the Christians were mostly Jew or pagan before they became Christian. Of
course there must have been differences, but where Arnoldsen focuses on the differences
only, we have found similarities as well. Therefore, I would say that the second view on
education in antiquity is the one that is most likely true. Jewish, Christian and pagan
education probably was based on the same model, although the content of their curricula
was different. We found that in all school forms boys and girls could attend school, and
also the curriculum was almost the same, finding that reading and writing was on all three
the programs. Whether mathematics was part of the Christian curriculum, was not found
in the primary sources, but one can imagine that this was the case. All three school forms
also had religious education as a (partly) goal. The biggest difference between the three
educational forms was the content of the curriculum. The content of the texts used for
Christian reading and writing was completely different from the pagan texts, and only
partly comparable to Jewish educational texts. The Christians still used the Old
Testament texts to teach morals, just as the Jews, but the addition of New Testament texts
to teach Christian religion was obviously something the Jews did not do.
To differentiate between elementary schools and ‘catechumenal schools’ might be
a really important feature for answering our question if people might have felt threatened
by Christian education. Because, whereas we see that the ‘elementary’ way of teaching
was overall built on the same model, the catechumenal schools were a different story. In
Christian community, these ‘schools’ were places or groups where people went to, to
receive religious education, which would prepare them for church membership. Though
mostly for adults, youth and children as well began to participate in these Catechumenal
18
schools. Also we see that in the third century these schools became more important and
the number of catechumenal schools shot up.68 This fact might have lead to fear for this
rapid growing religion.
3.3 Criticism on Christian education
There has been a lot of criticism on Christianity in the first and second century,
both by Jews and pagans. An example of pagan criticism can be found in the words of
Lucius Apuleius. In his metamorphoses he gives a description of a women which he calls
‘the wickedest of all’έ He accuses her of being man-crazy, drunken, stubborn, but the
worst thing, according to Apuleius is that she despises the gods, and worships a god
‘whom she called “only”’έ This is in accordance with the general idea on Christians in the
second century: Christians despised the gods and had loose sexual standards and no
moral. This lack of moral was seen as threatening by the Romans.69
One example of Jewish criticism on Christianity is the criticism Jews had on the miracles
and exorcisms by Jesus and his later followers. According to Jewish critics these were not
done by the power of God, but were the result of magical powers or possession by an evil
demon.70 Other examples of Jewish criticism of Christianity can be found in the bible, for
example by the Pharisees in Marc 2.
But where there is a lot of criticism in general, there is not much criticism to be
found on Christian education. One pagan though, who did criticize Christian education,
was Celsus, a second century writer. He stated: “There is nothing new or impressive
about their ethical teaching; indeed, when one compares it to other philosophies, their
simplemindedness becomes apparent (…), many of the ideas of the Christians have been
expressed better – and earlier – by the Greeks, who were however modest enough to
68
Arnoldsen, The Early Christians and Schooling
Stephen Benko, “Pagan Criticism of Christianity during the first two centuries AέDέ,” in Religion:
Vorkonstantinische Christentum Verhältnis zu Römishcen Staat und Heidnischer Religion (ed. W. Haase;
vol. 23 of Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt, ed. H. Temporini und W. Haase; Berlin: De
Gruyter, 1980), 1055-1118
70
Graham N. Stanton, “Matthews Christology and the Parting of the Ways,” in Jews and Christians; the
parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135 (ed. J.D.G. Dunn; vol. 66 of Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum
Neuen Testament, ed. P. Siebeck; J.C.B. Mohr, 1992), 99-116
69
19
refrain from saying that their ideas came from a God or a son of God”71. Another quote
is thisμ “(…) I shall ask them whence they come, and whom they regard as the originator
of their ancestral customs. They will reply, No one, because they spring from the same
source as the Jews themselves, and derive their instruction and superintendence from no
other quarter, and notwithstanding they have revolted from the Jews”72. Both quotes
point to the fact that the Christians were criticized, but not seen as a threat. According to
Celsus the Christians ethical teaching derived from well-known Greek theories, and their
religious ideas derived from already well-known Jewish ideas. The Christians were, at
least according to Celsus, seen as simpleminded, not threatening, because they could not
come up with any new theories themselves. Interesting is, that this seems in contrast to
the general criticism we have found on Christianity. Whereas Christians in general were
seen as people lacking moral, with a new, completely different religion, Celsus sees
Christian education as nothing new, simple even. According to Setzer, some of the
Jewish criticism on Christianity regarded Christian education (for example as found in
the letters of Paul), but Christian education is never mentioned as a threat.73 In sum, we
can say that while there is much criticism to be found on Christianity in general, both by
pagans and Jews, there is not so much criticism directly pointed to Christian education.
The criticism that has been found, does not regard Christian education as a threat, merely
as something already known through other sources.
Why was there so little criticism on education to be found? Was it not a big part
of Christianity, which seems not true, seeing that the Christians learned everything about
their faith in some way or anotherέ Was the word ‘education’ only used for elementary
education, and was this education not really different from what people (Jew or pagan)
knew? Maybe only the religious education was seen as a threat, but was this seen as the
core of Christianity and so the criticism on Christianity was also criticism on the way
they taught their faith?
4. Christian education, a threat to society?
71
R.J. Hoffmann, On the True Doctrine (Oxford University Press, 1987), 53/ 92-93
Henry Chadwick, Origen: Contra Celsum (Cambridge University Press, 1980), book 5, chapter 33
73
Claudia Setzer, Jewish Responses to Early Christians: history and polemics, 30-150 C.E. (Augsburg
Fortress, 1994).
72
20
Back to the main research question; Was Christian education seen as a threat to society in
the third century, compared to how Muslim schools are seen as a threat to Dutch society
today? Reviewing the results of the analyses made in this paper, my answer to this
question would be inconclusive. As far as I can tell by analyzing the primary sources and
comparing them to the results of analyzes by different scholars, Christian elementary
education was not very different from pagan and Jewish elementary education. It is
probable that they all were built on the same Greco-Roman model, but differed in content
of curriculum. The only threat people could have felt then, would have been based on the
content of the texts used to teach children how to read and write. Would people have
known about the content of texts used at primary schools their own children did not
attend? And would they be scared of the things Christians taught to their children? When
we look at the fear of people in Dutch society for Muslim schools (which are primary
schools), we should answer this question confirmative, a group of Dutch people does fear
the contents of the texts used to teach the children attending these schools. But I do not
think that the same goes for people in antiquity. This because no criticism has really been
found on education, unless the remark that it was ‘nothing new’έ On the other hand, we
have this notion of the rise of ‘catechumenal schools’ in the third centuryέ While these
schools had the goal to prepare their students for church membership, by teaching them
how to behave as a good Christian and to teach them the Christian faith, I would suggest
that if people feared Christian education, this would be what they were afraid of. But, as
mentioned above, no direct criticism on education or on these kind of schools in
particular was found. I have suggested shortly at the end of the last paragraph, that a
probable cause for this, is the fact that the Christian teaching of their faith and their
preparation of people for church membership was seen as the core of what Christianity
actually was. So any criticism on Christian morals and Christian religious theory, might
just be the criticism on Christian education that we were looking for. Christianity in
general was seen as a threat to Roman morals and Christian religion was seen as
something irrational. This can be seen as well in the rise and spread of Christian
persecutions in this period. This notion of Christianity as a threat to Roman morals is
most interesting for our research question. It seems in this way, our research question can
21
be answered affirmative: Yes, Christianity (and thus, Christian education) was seen as a
threat to society.
But still, seen as a threat to whom? Most of the references to Christians as people
with a lack of moral was found in writings from ‘community leaders’, not by the publicέ
Is this comparable to the situation in Dutch society? Yes. We see in Dutch community as
well, that criticism on the new religious schools derived from the community leaders (the
Government) and this criticism spread to the public. We found in this paper that
community leaders might have been sincere in their fear; the number of catechumenal
schools seemed to rise in the third century and the educational goal was to prepare
wannabe Christians for a full church membership. Whether this fear of the community
leaders spread to the public is unsure, but I can imagine that this was the case, the same
way that the ideas of powerful community members in Dutch society seem to have spread
under the public. On the other hand, the situation is not totally comparable. The article
about fear in Dutch society for εuslim schools, concerned ‘normal’ primary schools,
where children learned to read and write, but also received Muslim education and learned
Muslim morals. Is it possible that today more emphasis is placed on moral education in
elementary schools? This would make the situation more comparable. It seems though
that people in Dutch society are more afraid of the new form of religious (primary)
education in their midst, than people in ancient society were.
Is anything of the above conclusive? No. That we did not find much, if any
criticism on Christian education, might be due to a loss of documents. Also, criticism on
education might have not been written down. Today we live in a society where writing is
an established feature of life, in the third century, criticism might have been transmitted
orally and never put on paper. In conclusion we might say that Christianity was seen as a
threat to society in the third and early fourth century. Whether Christian elementary
education was also feared, is unsure, but also a little unlikely when looking into the
primary sources and seeing the similarities in education. That Christian catechumenal
schools were feared, is more likely, and it seems that the rise of Christianity in the third
century (a rise in numbers of members, so there must have been a rise in manners of
education as well), and the persecutions that were the consequence of that are proof of
this felt threat. Also, it seems that the fear for the morals in society is comparable to the
22
fear of people in Dutch society for their morals. Whether the comparison can be made in
total is not really clear, the different environment and of course total different time make
it hard to be conclusive on this part. Was Christian education seen as a threat to society?
Yes and No, it is just the perspective you come from.
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