As compared to polytheism, monotheism which is practiced by Christians, Muslims, Jews and other monotheistic religious denominations, has virtually taken over as the primary religious belief system in today's modern world. For Muslims who practice Islam, the only god is Allah which is comparable with the biblical Jehovah, but for all those who practice some form of monotheism, there is only one true God which forms the foundation and creates the inspiration of all monotheistic world religions.
For most of western civilization, the Holy Bible serves as the foundation for modern monotheistic Christianity and for some portions of Islam. Biblically speaking, God/Jehovah is the source of all life and is pure spirit, meaning that He is without physical form or presence. Thus, the biblical God is transcendent or unlimited related to time and space; he is eternal, timeless, ever-present, all-knowing and all-powerful, similar in some ways to the ancient Greek god of Zeus except for the fact that Zeus was considered as a real living and breathing human being rather than as a spiritual entity.
Also, according to some believers, a monotheistic God is a personal God who is rational, self-conscious and self-determining or in other words, an intelligent moral being. God's biblical names are expressions of his personal characteristics or attributes, manifested in specific human situations. For example, in the Old Testament, God is often referred to as Lord or Yahweh,
Elohim and Jehovah, all of which symbolize his all-powerful and all-knowing presence in the lives of believers. Much like the ancient Greek image of Zeus, the monotheistic God also makes his own plans and carries them out in his own time and in his own way. Basically, this God is sovereign which indicates that everything created by man will always be...
Prior to the solidification of society in the major cities of Greece, the period called the Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100-750 BC) shows that there was a great deal of trade and cultural influence between Greece, Egypt, and the Assyrian/Babylonian cultures, This was a time in which the alphabetic script was brought to Greece, and the basis of culture and technology developed. Because of the influences of the other
How the Ancient Hebrews Shaped Western CivilizationThe Hebrews were an ancient Levantine people whose monotheistic religion and scriptures left an enduring legacy on world history, even as conquests and migrations dispersed them from ancestral homelands (Fleming, 1993). Their contributions resonated widely in Western civilization, making it important for modern historians to develop a better understanding concerning this outcome. To this end, the purpose of this paper is the explicate the
Islamic Civilization A civilization in simple terms is the development of human potential in all dimensions including physical, intellectual, spiritual, moral and psychological. In order for the potential to be developed, civilizations have to work to utilize the resources that are available to them, benefits of which should reach the entire society and bring a positive effect on to the whole world. It is a manifestation of beliefs that are present
..." The hymn also follows the general creation myth of Genesis, a staple in the Judeo mythology. Like the Genesis story, in the Hymn of Aton, the myth states that God is the one who gave speech, races, land and people. In essence, according to the hymn, the sun is the giver of all life, which makes sense as it is the sun's light that gives the means to sustaining
Jewish Monotheism Historians of Judaism actually date the strong Jewish emphasis on monotheism somewhat later than expected within Jewish history. The archaeological discovery of idols and artifacts indicating cultic participation from the time of Israel's presence in Canaan has seemed to indicate a relative laxity in actual practice before the Babylonian captivity, while textual criticism seems agreed that most of the Torah's foregrounded statements of strong monotheism date from textual recensions
It evolved into a major part of the very fabric of society. Ambassadors from these provinces would report their sacral worship and elaborate religious practices when visiting Rome. Often, these rites and practices were woven into the religious system. The religious system in Rome and in the provinces in the time of Augustus, or Rex Gestae, was steeped in his achievements. He ordered the inscription of these achievements on
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