If the Child asked: Part III

[CyrilSebastian]

How would you answer if a child inquired:
Did the Boy Jesus go to school?

 

[Kelfa28]

I’d say…“no, he didn’t go to an actual school, like you do, his parents taught him.”

 

[Xantippe]

I’d say…“no, he didn’t go to an actual school, like you do, his parents taught him.”

For all we know, he did.

Here’s a Wikipedia piece on the cheder (Hebrew school) system. There are some nice photos of children at cheder (I really like the early 20th century colorized one from pre-Soviet Uzbekistan):

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheder

Some of the Hebrew schools look like they were very, very small–just a teacher and a small handful of boys sitting around a table and studying. I had a heck of a time googling this, but it isn’t unreasonable to think that even in a small village in first century Judea, there would be a rabbi or other person with a smattering of learning that would teach boys for at least a few hours a week.

 

[Kelfa28]

For all we know, he did.

Here’s a Wikipedia piece on the cheder (Hebrew school) system. There are some nice photos of children at cheder (I really like the early 20th century colorized one from pre-Soviet Uzbekistan):

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheder

Some of the Hebrew schools look like they were very, very small–just a teacher and a small handful of boys sitting around a table and studying. I had a heck of a time googling this, but it isn’t unreasonable to think that even in a small village in first century Judea, there would be a rabbi or other person with a smattering of learning that would teach boys for at least a few hours a week.

Well, then.

The answer is “I don’t know…he might have.”

 

[EasterJoy]

Luke tells us that after Our Lord knew the Scriptures so well that “all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers,” he nevertheless returned to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them.

I might explain, too, that although the Jews have always thought it important for every boy to be educated in the study of Torah the concept of universal schooling is far more recent.

If the child is old enough, educate him about the reforms of St. John Baptiste de La Salle, the patron saint of teachers, which were not begun until nearly 1700. God used him to spread the notion that education ought to be for all, rich and poor alike, in ways that St. John himself said he could never have foreseen when he started his work in education.

 

[Xantippe]

Luke tells us that after Our Lord knew the Scriptures so well that “all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers,” he nevertheless returned to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them.

I might explain, too, that although the Jews have always thought it important for every boy to be educated in the study of Torah the concept of universal schooling is far more recent.

If the child is old enough, educate him about the reforms of St. John Baptiste de La Salle, the patron saint of teachers, which were not begun until nearly 1700. God used him to spread the notion that education ought to be for all, rich and poor alike, in ways that St. John himself said he could never have foreseen when he started his work in education.

I think parents (especially parents of a bright, pious only child) would make an effort to put him in touch with a rabbi or visiting Pharisee or Zealot. In fact, we see from the story of Jesus in the Temple that by the age of 12, he was more than capable of seeking out learned people. John the Baptist was also his cousin and Jesus’s uncle was a priest, so Jesus was actually better connected than we tend to give him credit for.

So, while it is reasonable to think that Jesus’s education was less formal or regimented than that of a typical child in a developed country today, I would not assume that his only education happened at home from his parents.