Greco-Roman pagan societies feature the belief in many gods and deities, with their immense power create phenomena such as thunderstorms and volcanoes. In these societies, when something positive occurs, you are to give praise and make a sacrifice to the gods. But when something negative occurs like a disaster, these societies believe that you have angered the gods and will suffer their wrath. But when looking at these two occurrences, neither one these events are seen as the right thing or the malicious thing. There is no concept of that idea in these societies. While looking at Judeo-Christian societies they do have the concept of good and evil. When you do something honorable…
Although the Catholic Church started in Rome, Christianity was not the first religion practiced there. Like Greece, the Romans’ first religion was polytheistic; they worshipped the same gods as the Greeks but gave them Roman names and added a few gods too. Zeus became Jupiter, Hera became Juno, and Athena became Minerva. Also, some emperors were considered to be deities which influenced political power in Rome. Later on during the expansion of the empire, the popularity of religions such as Christianity and Judaism were on the rise. Certain emperors saw Jews and Christians as a threat to the empire, resulting in the Jewish Wars and the persecution of Christians. All of this would end though, following the Edict of Milan in 313 CE under the…
Compare and contrast the religious beliefs of the people of Mesopotamia and the people of Egypt.…
Roman religion and Christianity both express many similar foundational and structural ideas. Romans and Christians share the same base of strong moral as well as respect for authority. The Roman family’s shrines to the gods although not exactly the same is very similar to Jesus’s followers enamored by his teachings, and in turn was very cult-like. They were passionate about their gods, and needed to express that. Both religions believe in sacrifice. Roman’s would sacrifice themselves, food, and objects in order to please the gods, while Jesus sacrificed himself for humanities sins, others who followed in Jesus’s footsteps were considered Martyrs. Another similarity belongs in the hierarchy and social status, Rome was very structured with the patron-client system, which focused on respect. The hierarchy of Christianity was focused on doctrine and keeping internal strife at bay, as did Rome’s hierarchy.…
The first civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Palestine, and the Near Eastern States had many different and yet many similar religious views. The Hebrew’s religion became one of the chief religions of the Near East. While most of the other religions of the ancient Near East were polytheism, the Hebrew religion was monotheism. Some of the ancient Near East religions believed that the king ruled in service of god or that the king was a god. The Hebrew religion, however, believed that there god was a spirit and spoke to his people and his prophets. Most of the ancient Near East religions had different social classes where the kings, priests, and noblemen were first, the commoners were second, and the slaves were third. The Hebrew religion believed that they were all of Gods people and that everyone was equal according God. Women, in most ancient Near East religions, were considered as “baby makers”, house keepers, and sometimes were involved in property ownership and business. Since the Hebrew’s believed in a patriarchal family, women still weren’t respected as much as men but were still prophets and “heroes”. One ancient Near East religion, Zoroaster, was very common to the Hebrew religion. They both were monotheism, and believed in good deities such as “truth”, “righteous thought”, “devotion”, etc. for laws and way of living. They also both believed in dualistic power, or two divine forces, but that only one true god in whose messages we are to hear. These forces were God and an evil omen; or devil. The ancient Near East religions and Hebrew religion had many differences but were also similar in several…
GodsSince the beginning of time man has believe in higher powers. People, especially during ancient times, believed these higher powers had influences in our everyday lives. During this time many stories, mostly pertaining to the religion practiced at the time, have been told and passed down in texts about these higher beings, or gods. People in the Greek era wrote texts like The Odyssey and The Iliad to try to explain how life was governed by multiple deities, while texts like Genesis, written by Christians expressed a monotheistic higher power. Theses two different kinds of texts share similarities and differences with each other in explanation of higher powers, especially in their roles, characteristics, views, and interaction between people and their respective gods.Greek mythologies like The Iliad and The Odyssey portrayed the roles of the gods similarly to modern-day imperfect politicians. Just like in modern government, Greek gods held many different positions, with their own followers and intentions behind each of their actions. An example of the sideways intentions of the gods can be seen in The Odyssey, “Zeus, Father, I will lose all my honor now among the immortals, now there are mortal men who show me no respect” (Homer p.446 l.145-147). The Christian God of Genesis was different in that He was portrayed as a perfect being with no mistakes and ethical reasons in judgment behind all of his verdicts, many times saving the righteous. This is shown in Genesis chapter 6 when God spares Noah, his family, and two of all kinds of animals from the destructive flood He sent on the wicked earth (p.56 l.18-34).Just as the roles of the gods in the Greek poems, The Odyssey and The Iliad, and the God in Genesis differed, their views of humanity also differed. The God in Genesis seems to view humanity as equals among each other from the highest king to the lowest poorest vagrant, as long as they kept Him in mind with their worship and obedience. God shows this in…
History is linear the course of the world was determined at creation. We find that the Old Testament is full of history about God. Each event leads to God’s plan for our lives. From a baby to the time we pass through this life, we should have a legacy people should remember the accomplishments you did while you were on this earth. Some of the great’s people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Park, Billy Graham, just to name a few, have made a great in pack on so many people’s lives. However the great’s in pack is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God came down in the form of a man and finished the God-Man’s history. The word became flesh and walked among us.…
There are hundreds of different religions practiced all over the world. Christianity and Judaism are two religions with similar origins, but varying beliefs, practices and teachings. With many comparable components, I will decipher the difference between the two goals of religion, life after death, and the direction of prayer.…
The Axial Age is a time period where many religions began and answered questions about how one should live his life. Pre-axial religions were focused on oneself and how to live in the present. They had local gods and as one moved around he worshiped the god of that area. These gods demanded sacrifices and other rituals. However, there was no emphasis on what happened after a person died. The pre-axial religions were more concerned with practical problems like winning wars and growing crops. The religions from the Pre-axial Age did not have any focus on these questions. It was up to each person to decide how he would live his life, if it was ethical or not. During the Axial Age, Hinduism provided some answers to Axial Age questions, while…
Most Christians believe in the stories told in the Bible. These stories are usually regarded not only as stories, but as historical accounts of important people, events, and perceptions of the Christian faith. However, stories of Greek and Roman mythology are typically regarded as nothing more than fictional, fantasy stories. But just as many Christians would find it offensive to have their history viewed as unreasonable and oblivious to fact, it only seems logical that Greeks might as well. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance to try and understand that both Greeks and Christians hold similar beliefs about the world they live in.…
It's evident that throughout history there have been radical changes that developed humanity into what it is today. The axial age is described as innovations of religion and philosophy that attributed to the spread of revolutionary thinking that occurred during the 800-200 BCE (“World History (4): Axial Age”). The German philosopher, Karl Jaspers, described how the axial age transformed human thoughts of four diverse revolutions around the world; Judaism in the Middle East, Confucianism in Eastern Asia, Buddhism and Greek philosophy (“World History (4): Axial Age”). The axial thinkers played an important role in determining the philosophy of the postaxial age. In addition, the axial thinkers had a huge influence on religion, which explains why most religions share similar…
Tension between Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity was one big cat fight to say the least. The two groups did not get alone with each other, in fact they barely interacted with one another. The separation between the two led to misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility even though Judaism had a major influence on Christianity. Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity had their similarities that they didn’t come to appreciate until years later.…
Most people describe a “god” as a powerful and omnipotent being who created the world, and guides his people to be morally just. Whether it is God of Christianity, Yahweh of Judaism, or Allah of Islamism, most “Western” religions have the same monotheistic feel, and even Buddhists who are neither monotheistic nor polytheistic all follow the same concept of working towards a more honest life. However, in ancient times, religion was not at all like this. In Ancient Mesopotamia, and Ancient Egypt, religion was polytheistic, and there were not many teachings that prevented people from becoming sinful. It was not until the Hebrews came along, that this new idea of monotheism and righteousness was considered. The religious structure and implementation of the Hebrews was more developed than that of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.…
Identify a religion that you believe has the most in common with the teachings of Christianity. Explain your choice by discussing at least three comparative aspects of these two religions.…
Religion has impacted civilizations since Paleolithic times. Ancient civilizations flourished with religion, as it influenced the virtues of ancient governments, art, architecture, and literature in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Hebrew culture. While the Hebrews, Mesopotamians, and Egyptians developed separate cultures, each have had religion shape the values of society by impacting the art, architecture, and literature.…