As has been stated in many threads, most Witnesses have long considered education - especially higher or university education - in a negative light. Most Witnesses take a dim view of any educational pursuits beyond the bare minimum required by the socities and communities in which they live. Of course, this is not true for every single Witness in every congregation around the world; there are some who "buck the trend," and pursue higher education [often facing some kind of sanction or ostracism for doing so]. Moreover, during the past ten years or so, there appears to be some ambivalence on the part of the Organization. A few years back, the Organization was sending out "mixed signals" on the issue. Most recently, it appears that a more conservative, hard-line position has been taken - a position that harks back to the militant anti-higher-education position adopted in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's.
My questions is: In adopting such a stance an attitude, are the Witnesses, in fact, assuming [perhaps unknowingly] the attitude of the earliest Christians?
I am presently reading a very interesting book on biblical textual criticism by Bart Ehrman entitled Misquoting Jesus - The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible And Why. In his chapter, "The Beginnings of Christian Scripture," Ehrman writes about Celsus - a learned, pagan opponent of Christiantiy living at the end of the second century - and Origen, a Christian apologist who lived some seventy years later, at the beginning of the third century. Celsus wrote a book entitled The True Word in which he attacked Christianity with the argument that it was a foolish and dangerous religion that should be thoroughly eradicated, wiped off the face of the earth. Unfortunately, nothing remains of Celsus' The True Word in of itself; there are no surviving manuscripts. What does survive is Origen's work - Against Celsus [Contra Celsum]. Origen was asked to write a reply to Celsus' criticism. In doing so, Origen quoted extensively from Celsus' The True Word. Thus Origen's Against Celsus is the chief source of information about Celsus' criticism of Christianity.
In Contra Celsum, Origen notes the following charges made against Chritianity by Celsus: "[The Christians injunctions are like this - 'Let no one educated, no one wise, no one sensible draw near. For these abilities are thought by us to be evils. But as for anyone ignorant, anyone stupid, anyone uneducated, anyone who is a child, let him come boldly.'" (Against Celsus 3.44)
Amother quote by Celsus that Origen cites in his book, Against Celsus: "Moreover, we see that those people [the Christians] who display their secret lore in market-places and go about begging would never enter a gathering of intelligent men, nor would they dare to reveal their noble beliefs in their presence; but whenever they see adolescent boys and a crowd of slaves and a company of fools, they push themselves in and show off." (Against Celsus 3.50)
And in a third quote, Celsus disparages Christians as being "wool-workers, cobblers, laundry-workers, and the most illiterate and bucolic yokels who would not dare to say anything at all in front of their elders and more intelligent masters. But whenever they [the Christians] get a hold of children in private...they let out some astonishing statements, as, for example, that they must not pay attention to their father and school teachers...[The Christians] say that these talk nonsense and have no understanding." Celsus goes on to mock Christians for urging youngsters to "learn perfection" at the wooldresser's, cobbler's, or washerwoman's shop. (Against Celsus 3.56)
Basically, Celsus portrays Christians as sneaky, cowardly predators wallowing in their own ignorance. Being foolish,ignorant, and stupid themselves, they search out those who are even more naive, ignorant and stupid. They encourage social unrest and turmoil by persuading simpletons and naifs to ignore parents and others in authority.
In short, while reading these passages, I noticed how they "resonate" with what the Organization has to say about seeking education. Hence my question: Is the Witness stance on education simply a return to the thinking of early Christianity? After all, Witnesses pride themselves on "restoring" the true and original form of Christianity. Could it be that, with their anti-educational policies, they got it right? Is Christianity fundamentally and radically - at its foundation and at its roots - an anti-intellectual (indeed anti-intellect) religion? Could Jesus possibly have intended the religion for misfits, simpletons, and other asundry riff-raff? Were these his target audience?