Bibles Bible Studies Books

--and brother, does the Big Guy have problems! Read any biography of Stalin side-by-side with the Old Testament and you don't see much difference between the dictator and the Almighty. Paranoid, jealous, vain, ruthless, and vengeful, they demand unquestioning, unthinking obedience and they will crush you with unlimited violence if they don't get it. Gulag, Hell, it's all the same, except you can't escape Hell even in death.

God, as Jung points out, isn't quite right in the head. As Exhibit A, Jung uses the biblical story of Job--the faithful servant tortured to within an inch of his life by the God he loves--to deal with that age-old question: why do horrendous things happen to good people, or, if God is so powerful, so good, so infallible, why are there concentration camps, cancers, pederastic serial killers, tsunamis, terrorists--so many Evil-doers in the world? And, even worse, why are there so many innocent victims of all this evil? It's a problem inherent in monotheism. If there's only one God, then why shouldn't he be held responsible for all of it...good and bad?

There's got to be a better answer than the one God gives Job in the Bible, which is, basically, "I'm bigger than you, I'm stronger than you, this is my world, I made it, and if you don't shut yer yap I'm gonna rip you a new one, you worm!"

Job gets the point: might makes right--and he does obeisance and keeps quiet as any sensible person would confronted by an armed and pumped up lunatic in full-blown `roid rage. But there's got to be a better answer to Job's very valid question than that, doesn't there?

With wit, passion, and probing analytic insight, Jung finally provides Job with the answer God Himself should have given Job--if only the Almighty could have articulated it. For the truth is, as Jung rather stunningly tells it, God is actually unconscious of a large part of Himself and not unlike a lot of his creatures, He's in the process of "discovering" Himself as an individual. Perhaps even more stunning is Jung's assertion that God has a lot of catching up to do with his creatures since men like Job, who've looked deeply into themselves, actually occupy higher moral ground than He does. That, according to Jung, is the reason that God had to become man, and why he is still trying to become man: to come to awareness about Himself.

God, in other words, would be better if only he realized what a lot of pain and misery He's been causing! It's truly a case of His Right Hand not knowing what His Left Hand was doing.

*Answer to Job* is a simply brilliant interpretation of this classic Biblical story and its subsequent influence on the development of New Testament theology from the point of view of Jungian psychoanalysis. The translation is crystal-clear, largely free of technical or scholarly jargon, and livened by Jung's often irreverent sense of humor. You really do get the sense, as Jung says in his preface, that he's writing as a man for whom Job's pained and passionately urgent questioning of God doubles for his own: Why so much suffering? Why so much evil? How can there possibly be a God?

As Jung makes clear, these are questions that are evolving over time, along with their answers. And while in presuming to answer for God, Jung's may not be the final word, but it's sure a lot more satisfying than the answer God Himself gave.

C.G. Jung was literally unique in both knowledge and wisdom. "Answer to Job" is by his own attestation one of his most important books of so many excellent contributions to understanding the human psyche. It is most essential for human survival that people understand how the lack of integrating the self in what Jung calls individuation allows the unconscious to compel us perpetually towards attitudes and actions of mutual destructiveness. (See also his essay "The Development of Personality". ) "Answer to Job" delineates precisely how humans have projected onto their image of god the unresolved conflicts of a deeply conflicted shadow self. It should be read with Edward F. Edinger's "Transformation of the God-Image" and Murray Stein's "Jung's Map of the Soul". Dr. Jung (medical doctor, analyst, scholar and author extraordinary) remains one of the great SEERS of the modern world, and as such offers us a special CURE FOR THE SOUL of humanity in our perilous condition.

Jung's "Answer to Job" was recommended to me by friends, and after some procrastination, I finally decided to give it a read. My only regret is that I waited so long to get around to it. I was surprised by both the candor and the comprehensive sweep of the book.

It should be understood that this book is not a book on pure theology, though theological issues inevitably arise. Jung himself emphasises that he is a "layman" in this area. He also makes plain that the book is a subjective response to Job. Jung also works from an orthodox premise, taking as given that the Father of Jesus Christ and Yahweh are the same being. With these born in mind, Jung's book is informative, interesting and very thought-provoking.

Jung's book has three main sections to it, as far as I could tell. First, he discusses the Book of Job, and the situation surround Job's life, trials and the drama played out with Satan. This section is darkly humorous, often eliciting a chuckle at Jung's descriptions of Yahweh. This aspect truly surprised me immensely, though pleasantly so. Jung treats Yahweh honestly, and is not shy of pointing out Yahweh's faults, which are many and abundant. Yahweh's apparent willingness and readiness to take Satan's bait, Yahweh's readiness to violate his own laws and so on are all mentioned and raised.

As the book progresses, Jung starts to address the pyschological processes within Yahweh, as he sees them. The book also gets more serious, losing that dark humour. Some aspects were a bit difficult understand the workings of, like the failure of Yahweh "to consult his omniscience" in dealing with Job. It seemed to me that there was a separation between Yahweh and some part of his being, which I could not grasp very well. That said, this is the first book of psychology that I have read, so those more familiar may have a better understanding of it than I.

Thirdly, Jung enters into a discussion on the psychological processes of people who have become "incarnations of the spirit", (Jung's words, paraphrased a bit). In this section, Jung discusses the Book of Revelation in detail, tackling some of the issues that book raises, especially in the contrast between the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of Revelation.

Overall, the entire book is definitely interesting, and gives one a lot of food for thought. Jung takes an honest and very open look at the problems raised by Yahweh's dealings with Job, and uses that as a spring board for a broader discussion on psychology from Jung's perspective.

Despite my own problems of understanding parts in detail, I still enjoyed the book immensely, and have a lot of new ideas to think about. The book was well written, and certainly has a lot crammed into the 108 pages of text, (not including other stuff).

However, nowhere does Jung go so far as the Gnostics to say that Yahweh is an inferior and ignorant demiurge. While criticising Yahweh, Jung offers a pyschological explanation as to why Yahweh seemed to be an absolute cretin to a man who was blameless in his sight; as good an explanation as I have ever read or heard.

For such a topic, it is pretty rare to find a book that gives so much to ruminate on in such a small space. An excellent buy, and certainly one that will occupy your mind for some time after the last page.

Just as Freud wrote _Moses and Monotheism_ at the end of his career, in which he analyzed the Hebrew religious tradition; Jung wrote _Answer to Job_ late in life as an attempt to integrate the Christian God! It is sometimes hilariously chatty, as when he remarks that "the family life of our first parents was not all beer and skittles." (p. 31) The central thesis is that the motive for the Christian Incarnation was to redeem God, whose moral inferiority had been disclosed by the events of Job. Jung's text culminates in a discussion of the Apocalypse.

Although Jung at first claims to be limiting his treatment to the psycho-symbolic dimensions of the Apocalyptic narrative, without discussing their parallels in historical events, he eventually succumbs to the latter temptation. Specifically, he points out the Roman Catholic church's doctrinal acceptance of the Assumption of the Virgin as a socio-historical realization of the Patmos vision of the Woman Clothed with the Sun.

In my reading, it occurred to me that the Catholic church can function like a great mythic barometer of Western society, because of its vast population, tightly integrated through an organismic hierarchy. And I wondered what "archetypal" conditions might be augured by that church's current focus of attention: priestly child abuse.

The paternal figure of the priest, denoted as benevolent and an agent of divine forgiveness, is now shown to have a terrible hidden aspect more fearsome than that of the God of Job. While that God was merely unjust in authorizing the torment of a righteous man, the God of the abusive priest is cruel in having his ministers victimize the innocent.

Of course, this cruelty is not entirely without biblical precedent. The plague on the firstborn of Egypt was, at least, visited on the offspring of tyrannous, non-Yahweh-respecting, unregenerate pagans who were thus understood as estranged from God. But the molestation of Roman Catholic children who have been brought to church for blessing and instruction is more reminiscent of Herod's massacre of the innocents, which usually portends an array of dark and worldly forces opposing God's attempt at sacrificial incarnation. In this case, though, it is God who sends the sacerdotal predators, like He sends the locusts from the bottomless pit in Revelation IX:

"For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." (v. 19)

The Book of Job has remained a mystery to me regardless having read
the biblical texts several times, studied several sermons and even
gone through a group study with several fellow christians - they all
say more or less the same thing. Repeatedly hearing the same thing
brings about a distinct curiosity for a deeper and broader understanding.

"Answer to Job" is a gift from Jung to christians in such sense.
As enlightening as scientists come to explain the physical
biblical wonders, so is Jung's insights to the psyche's
developement(both God's and human's) since creation and where do
human beings fit in the process, providing a unique perspective
that fits right in. Another reason I like the book is due to
Jung's humble and objective attitude in observing, perceiving
and interpreting, albeit how passionate he felt about the subject,
I could sense his integrity as a scholar. This book is a valuable
personal sharing from a man to his fellow human beings whom he
cared about dearly.

After previewing a number of different bibles available for elementary aged children, our church school chose this one for its easy to use organization. Each book has a brief summary and a Table of Contents. The illustrations are better than most - pleasant but not too sappy. There is no illustration of Abramham with a knife poised over Issac's throat and the people shown are believably middle eastern with a variety of races included. The translation is the contemporary English version, which seems to be the standard for children's bibles. Headings make it fairly easy for children to locate the passage they're looking for so Bible study discussions are not consumed with trying to get everyone on the same page! Maps and supplimentary material are helpful in familarizing the children with the organization of the bible. Overall we thought it was the best choice of the ones we reviewed.

I have used this particular Bible with elementary school children (and this translation, although not this Bible, with teenagers)in catecism classes. I found it the best Bible for the elementary age. It is advertised as a translation meant to be read aloud, and I agree that it works well when listened to. It holds the attention of the first and second graders. They are able to listen and act out the stories with little further explanation. As the students get older, the vocabulary is easily accessible to them and they can easily follow along. As they gain confidence as readers, they can read with understanding. And the illustrations are outstanding. No crowds of blondes, and at the same time, no heavy handedness with ethnic representations. I agree with the reviewer who said the illustrations are not sappy, and with the reviewer who said the illustrations are inviting to the younger set. I and the other catechists are very happy with this Bible.

I was looking for a bible to have in the house, mostly as a reference so we can answer difficult questions posed by our children. But I also wanted something they might be encouraged to pick up themselves.

This bible is attractively illustrated and is nicely broken up into manageable chunks that are not too intimidating. The translation is in plain english, so the language is accessible to the children and does not require translation by us.

Overall (if you want to judge by the cover) it is a book that invites the reader in rather than warning them off. I ended up reading the loaves and fishes to the kids over dinner, and later my wife took it to bed while I watched Lost on TV. I guess that makes it an instant success.

Great resource. I got this bible basically for the commentary, quotes, and articles that Ray Comfort has put in between the pages Gods word. They are encouraging and instructional words to help you share Jesus with other people. Great Bible, easy to read and I recommend it to anyone. This will help you with your every day discussions with people about why we need Christ to pay our sins in full.

I really love this. This Bible continually encourages me to share the gospel and it has helped me answer a lot of my teenage son's questions about God.

I got this for my husband and he can not put it down. He can imagine himself standing in the streets of our town confronting the world with Truth. I have to fight him for my turn to look at it. It is full of questions that make you think about your own relationship with Jesus. Comfort and Cameron clearly establish the importance of not sugar coating the gospel. The commentary identifies questions that non-believers ask, and how to answer those question. I love it and it is a great tool, not just something to add to the collection.

This item is all and more that I thought it would be. A lady saw it on my desk and began looking through it. She was so impressed, she told one of her friends she was ordering one. Her friend was impressed by what she heard as well so they ordered two.

I have been through lots of bibles, study bibles, different translations, different notes. This one, by far, is the best! It isn't a study bible (I would recommend MacArthur's commentary to use with this bible) this bible is a weapon. Filled with so many tools I find it so helpful.

Get it

This provides all the information you need to parse words in Greek translation assignments. It is well put together, and as user friendly as this type of resource can be. I recommend reading the "how to use" section of the preface in order to use this tool most effectively.

I am in my first year of New Testament Greek, and as a beginner I've found this lexicon easy to use, and it has most of the words I've needed. It spells out all the pertinent information about the word needed for a proper translation in an intuitive manner. This was the Lexicon recommended for my class by the professor and I'm very happy with it thus far. Again, I'm not an advanced student, so I can't speak to those who are further along, but if you're just getting started in a classroom environment, this is a good Lexicon.

If you are taking your first semester of Greek, and trying to learn how to translate the New Testament, you need this book. Every word in the New Testament is here so no matter how the Greek root has been mutated into some unrecognizable form, you can still figure it out. This book will help avoid sleepless nights puzzling over the Greek text.

Found the book quite helpful in finding the Greek word as it exists in the original text and tracing the word back to the original form whether it be a verb or noun.

The strong point is that it is keyed to Mounce's "Morphology". But I am soooo tired of paying big money for a "serious" reference only to see it printed on cheap paper and with "glue-injected" binding...Just TRY to open this book fully and it will no doubt crack the CHEAP binding. Issued by Zondervan and printed in the U.S.A....Their wonderful A Reader's Greek New Testment, with "folded and stitched folios" binding, and quality slick paper was prined in China...It opens nicely in one's hand...not this stiff-brick.

Our Sunday School is a group of young adults with children, and we looked for a study that would not be a huge commitment for the leader and would involve a lot of discussion. This book suits us very well.

Preparation time is 30 minutes or so per lesson, and the leader does not have to spend a lot of time preparing lessons or questions. In fact, we have started rotating leadership responsibilities. It is hard to get through a chapter each week, since we have lots of discussion. However, each lesson is usually in two or three parts, so they lend themselves to serial presentation.

We are very satisfied and will order from this series again!

Vanhoozer's Drama of Doctrine, is a sweeping reconceptualization of Christian doctrine using the metaphor of drama. In an age when many pastors and theologians believe doctrine to be irrelevant or even divisive and dangerous; Vanhoozer's project cuts like a laser to reveal the importance, purpose, and practicality of biblical doctrine for the 21st century church. According to Vanhoozer, doctrine expounds to the church the Divine drama of the canonical scriptures in a way that allows the church to act in that continuing drama. Doctrine teaches us to improvise fittingly in the continuing Divine drama. As Vanhoozer puts it, "Canonical-linguistic theology attends both to the drama in the text--what God is doing in the world through Christ--and to the drama that continues in the church as God uses Scripture to address, edify, and confront its readers" (17). While this book is long, it is worthy of a wide reading by pastors, theologians, and churchmen and women around the world.

This book should jolt both liberals & evangelicals. Vanhoozer favourably quotes sociologist of religion, Jack Wolfe, who nails down what the church is facing: "Evangelical churches lack doctrine because they want to attract new members. Mainline churches lack doctrine because they want to hold on to those declining numbers of members they have" (cited on p. xii). The great strength of this book is the call to marry the teaching of biblical doctrine with living it personally and in church life. If his treatment is followed, it should deal with the disease that teaches doctrine in a "dry as dust" form.
Some may find it difficult to adjust to the redefinition of theological categories: "This book sets forth new metaphors for theology (dramaturgy), Scripture (the script), theological understanding (performance), the church (the company), and the pastor (director)" (p. xii).
I'd recommend this book to thoughtful pastors and laity who may have forgotten their responsibility to teach sound/healthy doctrine (I Tim. 4:6; 6:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1). I hope the book's length (488pp) does not deter them.

What I'd like to add to what's been said so far is that Vanhoozer restates, not reinvents, theory of doctrine so as to make doctrine at every point a matter of both believing and doing as directed by doctrine. His approach is deeply redemptive-historical. This frame, the scriptural frame, allows him to think of doctrine as directive without giving up one inch to contemporary theology's attempt to reinvent key doctrines. This should be read and understood, i.e. dramatized (lived because Christianity is real), by all ministers.

I hope that many people give Kevin Vanhoozer's book a chance. I understand that the cover of the book is not too catchy, but besides that, what it contains can change your perspective on the necessity and relevancy of scripture for your life today. There is very few people out there that can clearly as profoundly with an artist's brush paint a practical realistic theology of the Bible.
Vanhoozer's illustrative use of Drama and the Stage are profound and inivative for the creative thinker as well as for boring dusty stale systematic theologian. My friends, if these perspectives catch on, it is unthinkable what good could come from such a work. Please pick up this book today, and savor the eloquent truth that is found therein.

I gotta warn you, there's nothing like this book nowhere nohow. It's a grand slam tour de force of a work. Great art, great theology, great spiritual/character formation stuff all packed in one volume.
All you Arminianists out there who have lost your way in all the drivel, I dare you to give this a try. It'll really stretch your brain.

This is good stuff for a person who is interested in the bible. It contains maps, lost of comments and also take up interesting historic facts. So if you want to get more out of the bible then I suggest this one. It will make even the hard parts of the bible more fun to read! Since I got a study bible I now read it through twice a year!!!!! and it also creates an bigger desire to read it.

This is a well designed, attractive and organized Bible but needs two things...

1.) Why aren't the Words of Christ in red? (We're talking Jesus here; the most important Man who ever walked the earth.)

2.) A month by month scheduled Bible reading plan in the back to help new believers stay in the Word daily would be nice.

Otherwise, a good version.

I really enjoy studying with the NKJV Bible Study. It is very thorough and easy to understand. The only thing is the print is kind of light and small. I would prefer large bolder print.

I was eager to purchase this Bible thinking that Nelson would make an already good product even better. I have mixed feelings about this one:

PROS

Cultural Notes
Jesus in the Scriptures

CONS

The print is smaller than in the first edition
The words of Christ are not in red letter.
The notes are smaller and are in a light shaded blue (The notes in the first edition could be more easily seen. The word studies, for example, were more darkly shaded and were at the top of the page).
The FullView Bible Summaries charts are gone. These charts had excellent information about Doctrine in the Scripture, the Trinity, the Doctrine of Salvation, etc.

This study Bible is good, but not as good as the first edition.

I will admit I was very leary about purchasing this bible as I had a few beefs with the first edition (even though I had purchased it and use it as my primary study bible). After reading a few reviews, I went to our local Christian bookstore to check it out for myself--taking my current "handy dandy" first edition with me.

All I can say is WOW! Yes, Nelson still has the issues of using a bit flimsier paper than some and that lends to some bleed through, but it's actually a touch slimmer than the old version--and removing those "inserts" that were in the heavier paper--all I can say is Hallelujah! (I found them SO annoying because if I was near one of them in my reading my bible would keep trying to flip pages on me unless I held them down).

The other thing I like about this is that it's a bit easier on the eyes (at least, to me). As stated in another review, there's some "two-toning" going on in this version (as compared to black, more black, and grey) with a nice selection of shades of blue. Kinda odd to have blue in a black bonded leather bible, but hey. :)

The addition of the CD Rom is a nice touch--I haven't gone through mine yet to know how useful it'll be, but for those who do a lot of computer research, I would think, the more resources the merrier!

While every translation and (especially) study bible has pros and cons, I definitely think this is a good solid bible. The notes are good for new Christians and seasoned ones as well...excellent value (esp when you consider how much more a lot of the other study bibles are).

I have found Arnold's work to be great in the Contemporary section as well as the Bridging the Gap section. To me, there is a tremendous amount of material one can use to illustrate a point; if what he has offered does not quite fit my (our) circumstance, I have found that some of the ideas he presents spring new thoughts in me. I find this to be tremendous!

With respect to the exegetical consideration, I like what he has offered, but I think this work is best used in conjunction with two other book: The Expositor's bible Commentary and by Robert Gordon. In my office, these are my primary sources (all three). One other point; I would include the New English Translation (NET) with the multitude of notes.

Very Good!

Same consistent results from this soon to be "classic" commentary series. When teaching English Bible courses at a Christian college, I frequently went to the NIVAC to expose my students to a "good exegetical voice". The students were never disappointed.

1-2 Samuel is a lot of material to cover, but Arnold does a great job of "getting to the point" without excluding important details to help you get to his conclusions. This point alone makes it a great resource not only for the busy pastor, but also a Sunday School teacher or small group leader.

Due to the fact of their consistent providing of satisfaction with past purchases, I'll continue to pick up additional copies of the NIVAC to complete my library as the need arises and the budget allows!

I'm a Pastor who is consulting this work to help me teach a Bible study. Like all commentaries, this one has its strengths and weaknesses. Interestingly, the commentary is stronger on the original meaning than on application. (whereas many in the series give you application while the exegesis is left somewhat wanting.) Arnold even admits in the introduction that he is so engulfed in Ancient Near East studies that he doesn't have the best idea what's happening in contemporary culture. His applications aren't bad or wrong, they're just unexpected.

For instance, his application for I Samuel 4 deals largely with the idea of "holy war" or a Christian's stance on war. (Pacificism, etc...) While that is an interesting discussion, and somewhat pertinent to I Sam. 4, it's not an immediate application I would have drawn.

Fortunately if you understand the Original meaning the Samuels are usually very easy to draw applications from. This is a good commentary, and probably worth the price for the original meaning/ bridging context material, but for the most part you will do a better job working at application on your own.

I will say that the work is very readable, and would be useful to most laypeople.

It is always great to have additional resources for learning Biblical Hebrew and Greek beyond the standard grammar books or college textbooks. This book is such a resource.

The book's greatest strengths are the exposition of differences between modern languages and Biblical languages. Not just with respect to the alphabet, but more importantly from the word order and semantics points of view. Its sections on discourse, and dialects and changes and relations of languages are very helpful too. The same goes for the chapter covering practical ways to study Biblical languages. It also provides glossary of linguistic terms and a list of Internet resources for studying Biblical languages.

Truly a valuable resource for both student and teacher. Highly recommended.

As a teacher of five languages as foreign languages and a self-taught on eleven I feel comfortable to recomend this jewel! Almost everyone of the insights I have been acquiring along years of language teaching and self-study is in it! Sure, not only students of biblical languages will profit abundantly from this work! Students of Arts will benefit from it as well, in the subject matter of Linguistics! It has even useful examples in Spanish, wich is very close to my own mother language, Portuguese! You will soon find yourself transferring learning without pain!

This book approaches biblical languages from a must-needed linguistic point of view. It shows how both Hebrew and Greek work in their grammar and spends more time demonstrating how the alphabets work. Probably the greatest strength of the book is the continued focus of how they work in relation to how English works. In addition, time is taken to address word order, with the nice example of the literal translation of John 3:16. As a whole, the book is well-written and full of insights that greatly enhance the study of the biblical languages.

By request of the author, here is the summary from the back of the book:

"An ideal supplement to first-year Hebrew and Greek grammars, this practical guide makes learning the biblical languages a less daunting task. By introducing students to characteristics and functions of all human languages, experienced linguists Peter James Silzer and Thomas John Finley create the basis from which to describe the major features of Hebrew and Greek: how the sounds are pronounced, how words are put together, how phrases and clauses are structured, how words convey meaning, and how languages change.
"The book includes practical exercises, a glossary of linguistic and grammatical terms widely used in standard grammars of Greek and Hebrew, and other resources for further study, including Internet sites.

Also requested was the outline of the chapters:

1. The Big Picture: An Overview of How Language Works
2. Can You Spell That? Reading and Writing
3. Putting It into Words: How Words Are Made
4. Putting Words Together: Phrases and Clauses
5. Telling Stories and Writing Letters: Understanding Discourse
6. What Do You Mean? It's Just Semantics
7. Variety Is the Spice of Life: Dialects and Change
8. Practical Ways to Study (and Learn) the Biblical Languages
-- Appendix: Glossary of Lingustic Terms
-- References

Typical "American Style" textbook starting from the basics (especially viz-a-viz grammar) which took me back to Latin class 50 years ago. Lots of interest which I'm still digesting so its probably unfair to be so critical so early. Good book for the beginner.

How Biblical Languages Work, is a guided introduction to Greek and Hebrew. The book has some short-comings. The Hebrew and Greek alphabets were charted-out in the second chapter but never used in the book. The IPA and SBL transliterations were used, then later only SBL. The value of this book would be increased if the transliterations were coupled with the Greek or Hebrew letters throughout the book. Sounds of the characters were highlighted in the second chapter but not sufficiently. The reader is encouraged to go to services (Jewish or Greek Orthodox) to aid learning by immersion, yet the possible pronunciations they would encounter there are never covered. This book lacks examples on many topics, many examples are English words only. The tables and charts are located in odd places in relation to the written topics. The table formats, in my opinion, could have been improved for better comprehension.

This book covers areas others books do not. Topics such as language change, speech mechanisms, study strategies for individual personality types, and online resources for futher study set this book apart and make it worth the time. If you already have experience in these areas there is no need to buy this book, it doesn't teach you Hebrew or Greek, it only "guides" you in your attempts with other resources.

I found it distasteful that the authors added religiously motivated, Christian comments. Other books seem to leave religion out of the pages when learning languages. But I guess most who are willing to learn Hebrew AND Greek are Christians, not Jewish or just "curious".