Messages 2009
Greek Culture and the Jews in Ancient Palestine.
January 31st, 2009
Santa Cruz, California
Received by FAB
I am here, John.
Yes, some of us Jews knew Greek, for the purpose of business, and some were educated in the Hellenistic culture, but not the disciples of Jesus, because we were humble fishermen. There was a very strong feeling that the Greek culture represented contamination, even though some Jews were engaged in it for reasons of necessity.
It was a Roman world, and Greek was part of the culture of the time. We tried to isolate ourselves as best we could in order to preserve the purity of the Jewish faith. But there were Jews who were comfortable with this Gentile way of thinking.