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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 9 page paper begins with the question: Were early Christian beliefs radical and revolutionary? To answer the question, the writer compares the beliefs of four groups in the First Century: Romans, Greeks, Jews and Christians. The topics discussed include the concept of God, the roles of women, slavery miracles, worship and the afterlife. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Page Count:
9 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MM12_PG1stcen.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and contrast the religious beliefs of First Century Jews, Romans, Greeks and Christians. In the First Century, there were numerous religious beliefs, some pagan and polytheistic and some monotheistic.
Both the Roman and the Greek cultures gods of individual cities (Bonz, 2005). The Greeks worshipped the gods of Mount Olympus, which was led by Zeus (Bonz, 2005). The Romans
also had a family of gods, each of whom was also responsible for some aspect of life (Bonz, 2005). By the first century, however, the Greek god Zeus had begun
to merge with the Roman god Jupiter (Bonz, 2005). Jupiter was viewed as being more serious than Zeus (Bonz, 2005). This combined god was supposed to be the "supremely just,
powerful, and even benevolent protector of the Roman empire (Bonz, 2005). The cults of the Roman state actually adopted "the Eastern pattern of deifying emperors and honoring the gods of
individual cities" (ReligionFacts.com, 2004). Judaism and Christianity, by contrast, were monotheistic. Jews believed there was only one god, who was invisible (Jesus Institute, 2005). They were waiting for the Messiah
to arrive as was predicted in Scripture (Jesus Institute, 2005). They expected that Messiah would be a savior, a type of warrior who would smite their enemies through military actions
and free them from years of persecution (Jesus Institute, 2005). Since Jesus came in peace, many did not accept Him as the true Messiah. One author explained: "First-century Roman Palestine
offered the ancient religion of Judaism, the political religion of the Roman state, the personal religion of the mystery cults, and the intellectual and ethical schools of Greek philosophy" (ReligionFacts.com,
2004). Christianity was characterized by a belief in one God, a belief that Jesus was the Son of God and that Jesus was the Messiah. Christians believed Jesus was crucified,
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