Early religions have been studied very extensively, and continue to be a predominant topic among many scholars and historians. This could be due to the fact that there are so many different types of religious, and each religion having their own written guidelines, but yet most are very closely related. Whither looking at primary sources or secondary, one thing is for sure, and that is that the early religions can often be confused due to their closeness in nature. This Bibliographic essay will hopefully be helpful when sorting through information in order to write an exceptional paper.
(The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Edition. New York: Romans 1, 5, 10; Matthew 5, 6, 1952.) From the book of Matthew in chapter 5, otherwise known as the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is preaching to a gathering on Mt. Zion. This passage gives us a picture of how the early Christian religion is supposed to be, and also gives Jesus view on the Golden Rule, as well as a commentary of the Ten Commandments. This passage contains the central tenets of Christian discipleship, and is often viewed by many scholars. This is the most major reading in the Christian community, and rightfully so, it has so much information that has been studied so extensively since its creation. This source can be used greatly in comparison with other early religious documents because this is such a famous piece of literature, and it is also a primary source, which makes it great for open interpretation. Another advantage of this source will be the fact that it covers a vast verity of subjects and topics which could be helpful.
(The Holy Qur’an, M.H. Shakir, Tahrike Tarsile Qur’an, Inc. 1983.) The Holy Qur’an, sometimes referred to as the Koran, is the cen...
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...ween for showing the closeness in more than two different religions, because it can so closely tie into more than one story.
I feel with just these few sources I could truly write an excellent paper on the early religions of the world. Each source offers pretty much the same information just displayed in a different manor directed to a different audience, but the differences are what make them so great. Believe what you wish, you can’t help but see the irony in millions of people living and dying for one religion or another when in reality we all are just looking for a place to belong. These sources, for being so different and so debated over the years are subsequently almost the same in a lot of aspects. Although they each have their own little spin on it, they all can teach us the same basic principals of life, and they can all make us feel like we belong.
All religions are very specific with the details which set that religion apart from others. However, when all the little details are melted away, there are only a mere handful that are different in essence. When looked at closely, even the religions which are perceived completely dissimilar at first glance are surprisingly similar. For example, the Voodoo religion, and that of early Christianity are stereotyped as extremely different, but with closer inspection, not only are these two religions are very obviously similar, but Voodooism stemmed, partly, out of Christianity. Both religions revolve around a mortal individual being used as a mouthpiece by a higher, being, be it spirit or god, to communicate with our mortal world. Yet at the same time, each religion has taken it’s own path and although equivalent in essence, have very different aspects with respect to background (such as time and status), as well as publicity, and language.
How did people revere their gods differently among three civilizations? Did they worship with the same general intent? What were gods’ role(s) in people’s lives? A brief exploration into the religions of Egypt, Greece, and the Hebrew people may bring insight to these questions. Although the main idea of higher beings remains constant throughout societies’ religion, their form of presence in people’s lives varies. I will present the relationship between the leaders and the gods, as well as resemblance to monotheism and systems of government.
Armstrong, Karen. A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
The growth of religious ideas is environed with such intrinsic difficulties that it may never receive a perfectly satisfactory exposition. Religion deals so largely with the imaginative and emotional nature, and consequently with such an certain elements of knowledge, the all primitive religions are grotesque to some extent unintelligible. (1877:5)
There are many books and works that presents the influence of these two big religions on the culture. Let us focus on three examples of Old English Literature works in which this influence is the most visible for a reader.
"The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم." The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم. The Noble Qur'an, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
Smart, Ninian, and Richard D. Hecht. "Scripture and Tradition in Islam- The Qur'an and Hadith," Sacred texts of the world: A Universal Anthology, ed.. Crossroads Publishing, 1982. 130-32,135-41,144-46,150-53,158-59,162-64. Print.
Dedicated scholars have been looking into ancient Mesopotamian since the early 20th century. Due to lack of record keeping many historians have been forced to slowly fill in the gaps as new evidence comes to light. They find that it is safe to say that there isn’t a uniform religion in Mesopotamia, but instead it is a mixing of several ancient cultures. Throughout all of the cultures that made up Mesopotamia, one thing that held true is a devout following for their polytheistic beliefs. Due to more recent discoveries, it is now safe to say that Mesopotamians felt that after life, given the proper circumstances, they would be immortalized in the Netherworld.
For the layman, familiarity with the major religions stems from the stories that are associated with them. Using the narratives that are derived from the sacred texts is the most prominent way in which our society identifies the Western religions. The Jewish tradition is best correlated to stories like the Exodus and the parting of the Red Seas, for example, as are the many tales of the miracles of Jesus connected to Christianity. This essay will present narratives as an easy method of providing the basic groundwork for the Western religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam because of their simplicity and easily transmittable nature. Furthermore, narratives impart many of the rules, laws, and moral fundamentals for these faiths, and are used by religious writers as a novel method of initiating discussion or providing a parallel for other narratives.
Throughout the ancient world, religions and ideologies have developed into forms and practices that influence the very essence of civilizations. Religions could pose as a form of foundation for the beliefs, ideas, social organizations, and economic structures of a certain group of people. They provided a means of justification and form of unity between people and they helped establish and infuse new ideas into a culture. Religions were used as source to explain the misconcepted beliefs in nature and science as well as natural phenomina and it was also used to provide a source of motivation, control, and stability in a civilization.
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
Although there are many religions in the world that have affected the lives and cultures of many people it is clear that most of the historical developments that have affected the way people now live seem to have been greatly influenced by the three religions with close relationships to each other resulting in being clustered together as the Abrahamic faiths. While there are many differences among the three most populous religions called the Abrahamic faith (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), there are a number of similarities that deserve a closer look. In this article will look at three major similarities. At times there may be more similarities between any two of them but dissimilarity with the third. For instance, on the personality and
In conclusion, I find that these two religions are very interesting. I really have learned a lot about these two different religions. I could have gone on and on about all the similarities and differences of these two religions. It was very informative to look at two completely different religions than mine and made me think about how little I actually know about my own.
Dirks, Jerald. The Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam : similarities & contrasts. Beltsville, Md.: Amana Publications, 2004.
There are many similarities and differences between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are also many differences that separate the three major religions of the world. This paper will delve into all three of them.