Footnote

a Some suggest another reason: The Jews may have been influenced by Greek philosophy. For example, Philo, a Jewish philosopher of Alexandria who was approximately contemporary with Jesus, was greatly influenced by the Greek philosopher Plato, who he thought was divinely inspired. The Lexikon des Judentums (Lexicon of Judaism), under “Philo,” states that Philo “united the language and ideas of Greek philosophy (Plato) with the revealed faith of the Jews” and that to begin with he “had a visible effect upon the Christian church fathers.” Philo taught that God was indefinable and, hence, unnameable.