only a small percentage of people in antiquity could read scholars offer different estimates
but perhaps 10 percent could read and only half of those could read and write there was also a
difference between those who could write and those who could write well in antiquity by the
time children of well-to-do families reach their mid-teens they had already learned how to write
and would proceed to the next level where they would be taught to write well it's here that
they were exposed to compositional textbooks containing writing exercises called pro gymnast
meta the earliest of these that has survived was composed in Greek by Theon in the first century
quintillion provided similar exercises in Latin in the first century however there were others
who preceded Theon and quintillion in my book I focused on exercises provided by Theon in
his chapter titled paraphrasing Theon describes four techniques paraphrase consists of changing
the form of expression while keeping the thoughts there are four main kinds variation and syntax by
addition by subtraction and by substitution plus combinations of these in other words to paraphrase
one can change the grammatical structure one can add to or subtract from the thoughts expressed or
substitute some words for synonyms or synonymous phrases here's a quick example of substitution
in 66 BC Cato Yuta Kansas also referred to as Cato minor he was approaching the city of
Antioch when he saw a crowd waiting to welcome him enthusiastically at the city's gate not to
be halti he dismounted from his horse proceeded on foot and ordered those accompanying him to
do the same however when they arrived at the gate a leader of the welcoming committee asked
him where Poppy's freedmen Demetrius was they were looking for someone of much lower status than Cato
and were disappointed when it was not him while failing to recognize that they were speaking to a
much greater person the men who accompanied Cato broke out in laughter and Cato responded curtly
with Oh curse city that's how Plutarch reports what he said in his life of Cato minor however
in his life of papi he substitutes cursing with miserable Oh miserable City Theon goes
on to say there are even more techniques there are other ways of varying the content along the
lines discussed in the chapter on narration for example recasting an assertion as a question a
question as a potentiality and similarly other forms of expression that we mentioned here's a
quick example of Plutarch change in a statement to a question a Caesar continued to increase in power
after becoming dictator some were warning him of Brutus to which Caesar replied Brutus will wait
for this shriveled skin that's what Plutarch reports in his life of Caesar however in his
life of Brutus Plutarch recast Caesars reply as a question what does it not occur to you that Brutus
intends to wait for this flesh how important was it to learn how to paraphrase here's Theon's
answer training and exercises is absolutely useful not only for those who are going to be orators but
also if anyone wants to be a poet or historian or if he wants to acquire facility with some other
form of writing these things are in effect the foundation of every form of writing theon says
that these exercises in paraphrasing and writing narrative are absolutely useful to those aspiring
to be historians because they are the foundation of every form of writing let's look at a few
examples of these techniques being used by the gospel authors I'll assume that mark was the
first gospel written as do a very large majority of scholars those interested in wide the majority
think mark was written first may find season 2 of my Risen Jesus podcast helpful Jesus parable
the mustard seed is reported by Matthew Mark and Luke mark reports Jesus saying how can we compare
the kingdom of God or with what parable may we use for it it is like a grain of mustard luke
reports Jesus saying what is the kingdom of God like and to what will I compare it it is like a
grain of mustard and here's Matthew the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard matthew does two
things here when editing mark first he conflates the question and statement and presents the two
as a single statement second instead of saying kingdom of God he substitutes kingdom of heaven
in fact Matthew has a habit of changing kingdom of God to kingdom of how when speaking to Jews
Jesus may very well have used kingdom of heaven instead of kingdom of God regardless of the reason
Matthew edits mark let's look at another example Jesus's parable of the vineyard and wicked tenants
this parable is also reported in Matthew Mark and Luke with all three located in it after Jesus's
triumphal entry on Palm Sunday the parable is most similar in mark and Luke where the vineyard owner
sends three servants one at a time the tenants wound or kill each one mark adds that the owner
sent many others mark and Luke then say the owner sent his son whom the tenants kill instead of
sending three servants one at a time Matthew says the vineyard owner sends three servants
at the same time whom the tenants wound and kill then he sends more the second time than the first
finally he sends a son whom the tenants kill mark and Luke then report that Jesus asks and answers
his own question pertaining to what the vineyard owners will do but Matthew seems to create a short
dialogue in which Jesus asks the question and the chief priests and Pharisees answer him and they
do so with even more vigor theon refers to this technique as creating a dialogue and elaboration
I provide an abundance of examples like this in my book here's how Lydia McGrew answers the
claim that historians employed these compositional devices in editing she writes here the claim is
that compositional textbooks from which the gospel authors would have been instructed directly taught
students that it was legitimate to make factual alterations in history either in reported sayings
speeches or other aspects of events Laconia and Craig Evans are claiming both that the gospel
authors were trained according to the pedagogical methods they have in mind and also at the methods
involved teaching students to alter history making factual alterations teaching students
to alter history is not at all how Craig Evans and I Craig keener Richard Burge and many others
interpret with fee on top but McGrew was caught in black-and-white thinking if peripheral details we
just observed were altered intentionally in her mind that's altering history and fictionalizing
and McGrew will have none of it how then does McGrew explained the differences in Matthews
version of the parable of the vineyard and wicked tenants she proposes the following harmonizations
one possibility is that Jesus paused for a moment and that some in the crowd spoke up
at approximately the same time that Jesus decided to go ahead and answer his own question another
possibility is that someone in the crowd spoke up and answered the question approximately is given
in Matthew and that Jesus affirmed that's right he'll come and destroy those tenants or words to
that effect remembered and recorded by Peter as told to mark the sort of natural harmonization
hardly stretches the bounds of credibility in fact it describes quite a common interactive
teaching situation McGrew posits two alternative scenarios she judges as being possible however
granting that something is possible is not equivalent to saying it's probable I'm willing
to grant that both of her invented scenarios aren't possible even perhaps plausible however
I believe the solution I provided is likewise possible and plausible the remaining question
is which is the more probable solution in order to refute the claim that theon meant for aspiring
historians to apply the rhetorical techniques for paraphrasing and compose a narrative prescribed
in the compositional textbooks McGrew provides a few hypothetical examples of what a modern
high school student may be asked to do such as write a speech that George Washington could have
given to encourage his men at Valley Forge and to write a dialogue between two soldiers just before
the Battle of Gettysburg she then says just as there is no reason to think that students who
were taught to write from a curriculum like the hypothetical modern one just described will get
the idea that creative alteration and invention of fact are welcome in serious historical writing
there is no reason to think that Theon's exercises were taken to be instructing students in that way
either the literary device theorists are therefore completely misinterpreting and miss applying these
exercises when they imply that they provided historiographical models that instructed students
to change historical facts the Greek exercise books do recommend paraphrase as an exercise
but make no statement whatsoever about the degree of freedom allowed or encouraged and reporting of
the spoken word in history that is simply not the point of the exercises the authors of the
exercise books are writing curricula in rhetoric and those curricula are not teaching the ethics
of truthfulness and reporting history one way or another even if Theon did not explicitly state
that historians are to handle their sources this way when writing history it's a very small step
to surmise that they would later when engaged in historiography and remember theon statement
that training in these exercises is necessary for those aspiring to be historians McGrew attempts to
downplay this she says Theon is pointing out that while future rhetorician czar the most obvious
consumers of his curriculum all future writers can profit including poets and historians but
this again does not mean that he is giving advice or opinions concerning the degree of factuality
that an historical narrative should have dion is advertising the broad usefulness of his writing
curriculum that is all no that's not all a few minutes ago I quoted Theon on his techniques for
paraphrasing in one instance he says there are additional techniques for paraphrasing that he
provides in his chapter on narrative in that chapter Theon writes since we are accustomed
to setting out the facts sometimes as making a straightforward statement and sometimes as doing
something more than making a factual statement and sometimes in the form of questions and sometimes
those things we seek to learn about and sometimes those things about which we are in doubt and
sometimes is making a command sometimes expressing a wish and sometimes swearing to something
sometimes addressing the participants sometimes advancing suppositions sometimes using dialogue
it is possible to produce varied narrations all these ways the last sentence in Greek is clear
it is allowed according to all of these ways to vary the narrative the term for vary here is pour
coolant us which carries the meaning of bringing forth in various colors to embellish to adorn to
tell with art and elegance to change Fionna sayin all of these techniques are permitted for varying
the narrative artfully he is not talking about different manners by which historians report
different facts for example fact day as reported as a question while fact B is reported as a
statement contrary to McGrew these techniques taught in the compositional textbooks are not
only for the classroom they are for historians to use when writing their narratives and theon
says historical writing is nothing other than a combination of narratives if this is not clear
enough Theon is even clearer elsewhere in his preface he writes thought is not moved by any one
in only one way so as to express the idea that has occurred to it in a similar form but it is stirred
in a number of different ways and sometimes we are making a declaration sometimes asking a question
sometimes making an inquiry sometimes beseeching and sometimes expressing our thought in some other
way there is nothing to prevent what is imagined from being expressed equally well in all these
ways there is evidence of this in paraphrase by a poet of his own thoughts elsewhere or paraphrased
by another poet and in the orators and historians and in brief all ancient writers seem to have used
paraphrase in the best possible way rephrasing not only their own writings but those of each
other Theon is clear evidence of these techniques for paraphrasing may be observed when we compare
how a poet states has similar thoughts in more than one place it may be observed in
similar comparisons with orators and historians the matter concerns how an author states the
same thought in a different form therefore I was actually mistaken in my book when I wrote
and these exercises students improve their skills by altering the wording of their sources although
the textbooks do not specifically state this was the manner in which they handled their sources
when writing professionally it is a very small step of faith to surmise they would employ such
alterations theon says that all ancient writers used these techniques by rephrasing their own
writings and the writings of others and in my book I provide many examples that show how Plutarch
paraphrases his own writings and how Matthew and Luke paraphrase mark and there's even more Theon
has a chapter on elaboration in which he writes elaboration is language that adds what is lacking
in thought and expression what is lacking can be supplied by making clear what is obscure by
filling gaps in the language or content by saying some things more strongly or more believably or
more vividly or more truly or more word early each word repeating the same thing or more
legally or more beautifully or more appropriately or more opportunity or making the subject planets
pleasanter or making a better arrangement or a style more ornate we often observe the elaboration
when ancient historians improved or wrote speeches indeed Lucian prescribed that historians should do
this when recounting a speech and couldn't this be what we observed Matthew doing with the reply of
the chief priests and Pharisees when Jesus asked them what the vineyard owner will do to those who
killed a son what if mcruiz contention that Theon is not touching on the ethics of truthfulness in
historical reporting it's McGriff's black and white concept of truthful reporting that leads
her to think ethics is involved since Theon and other rhetorician Tsar teaching aspiring
historians that when writing narrative they are to paraphrase their sources using the
techniques they are practicing it's clear that these reticence did not regard it as unethical
to bring about these minor alterations moreover we observe some of the finest ancient historians
using many of the forms of the rhetorical devices learned in the compositional textbooks classicist
Ronald Miller writes of his historical training informs every page of his histories but it is
most obvious in his reliance on speeches to shape the historical narrative even Rome's enemies are
granted an opportunity to speak and to speak more effectively than they ever actually did on the
battlefields of Britain or Germany now where did Tacitus learn to improve or invent speeches from
the exercises in the compositional textbooks moreover when we observe Plutarch writing of
the same events we see him doing these things he never copies and pastes so we must observe what
historians of that period are doing do they invent speeches yes do they paraphrase and elaborate in
order to improve the quality of a speech or even a narrative yes do they change a statement to
a question and express a thought in any number of different ways yes do we see them doing this
with their own writings yes do we see them doing this with the writings of others yes do we observe
Matthew and Luke often paraphrasing mark in these ways yes when I identified the differences in how
Matthew and Luke report material for which mark is their likely source and read the
relevant gospel text through the lens of the prescribed exercises in the compositional text
books what I observe aligns perfectly with what is prescribed in the compositional text books
referring to the exercises that are commonly found in the compositional textbooks by Theon and others
gerald downing comments the procedures are always so similar that it would be absurd to suppose
without massive supporting evidence that the New Testament evangelists could have learned to write
Greek and cope with written source material at all while remaining outside the pervasive
influence of these common steps toward literacy in summary Magoo's wooden concept of truthful
reporting results in her misconstruing Theon in my fifth video we will observe how additional
problems with McGrew CSIS are even more egregious for they're not due to having an inadequate grasp
of the ancient literature instead they result from clouded reasoning but before we go there
we'll take a look at one of the more profound weaknesses in Magoo's book her black and white
concept of truthful reporting well that wraps up this segment do you think aspiring historians
were expected to employ the techniques for paraphrasing and composing narrative prescribed
by rhetorician Zinn their historical writing tell me what you think in the comment section
you