“there were VERY FEW books or documents to be had by the general public...there was really no need to learn to read because there was nothing to read.”
I just posted a list of 27 1st century authors, whose works still survive. Sorry the links don’t work, but you could look them up on Wikipedia.
There was a language called Greek that was widespread at the time. It was only one of many languages that were written down at the time.
there were probably many first century authors....there were few if any first century books available to the public.....Greek may have been a popular language at the time, but virtually no one had hand copied a book in greek available to the people....it just didn't happen at that time......people couldn't read, and if they could, there was virtually nothing to read
A young boy named JESUS (given said name by an angel, so claim the parents) was learning the carpentry trade (so says tradition) at His father's knee.
SOMEhow, this same young boy had managed to learned to read (His parents couldn't - says the statistic claimers of today) and was wowing the elders with His knowledge and Wisdom.
Luke 2:39-52
Luke 4:16-21