Monothesim
So many similarities flow through man's interpretation of the unknown and the spiritual and it seems that all cultures and times have had the need to have something in their lives other then the material world that we can see, smell, taste and touch. Many today follow the belief in the One God. This seems to be driven by the notion that a supreme god is needed for religion which is driven by the hope for some form of salvation. The God of religion is the unspeakably great Lord on whom man depends, in whom he recognizes the source of his happiness and perfection; He is the righteous Judge, rewarding good and punishing evil; the loving and merciful Father, whose ear is ever open to the prayers of his needy and penitent children. Such a conception of God can be readily grasped by simple, non philosophic minds, by children, by the uneducated peasant, by the converted savage. Even with all their religious crudities and superstitions, such low-grade savages as the Pygmies of the Northern Congo, the Australians, and the natives of the Andaman Islands entertain very noble conceptions of the Supreme Deity. Primitive man was capable of monotheistic belief, even without the aid of Divine revelation, contrary to some religious
But what is this “god” thing that is the object of theism? A god is being, usually thought of as a person or having personal qualities, who plays a role in mythology and religion. This object of belief typically possesses supernatural or extraordinary powers far in excess of those that can be attributed to normal, mortal humans. The development of the idea of a “god” can be clearly observed in the development of religion in the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Indian “gods” were exemplary , strong, and victorious rulers who managed to accomplish a great deal more than their contemporaries. Later they were elevated to godhood and worshiped as supernatural deities. Similar processes can be seen even in the later periods of the Roman Empire, when emperors were declared gods after their death as a matter of routine (although it was not routine that coherent religions were maintained around them for very long). Indeed, the elevation of powerful warriors or kings to the status of godhood may have been one of the earliest ways belief in gods was developed. Another aspect in the development of theism would have been the observation of powerful forces of nature. They all appear to be beyond the influence of humans, but they would also have appeared to be animate, just like humans and animals. Thus would have developed the belief that unseen, powerful spirits are behind the events in life: animism. Parallel with the belief in unseen spirits is the desire to influence those spirits - much the way powerful humans are influenced. Early religion therefore developed means by which humans make offerings to the spirits the same as offerings were made to tribal leaders. They followed whatever rules and orders the spirits might be thought to issue the same as orders from tribal leaders were followed From this sprung the tendency towards organized religion. Monotheism was a gradual process and it was not until around 500 BC that the idea that the God of Israel was the
Some topics in this essay:
Roman Empire,
Deity Primitive,
,
True Faith,
Israel God,
Christianity Islam,
Christians Jews,
Originally Indian,
God Israelites,
Christianity Jewish,
supreme god,
god god,
god god israelites,
belief unseen,
created universe,
form monotheism,
god religion,
tribal leaders,
israel god,
idea god,
leaders followed,
tribal leaders followed,
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Approximate Word count = 1334
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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