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... ending Jesus sacrifice, hanging at the front as well. One of the interesting things about Christian churches is their steeple. None of the other religions studied have had these.
Inside there was usually a bell or a collection of bells that were rung to summon people to church or to tell the time of day. A cities wealth and power was represented by the height of their church's steeple. There have been many different styles of architecture throughout the days and different ways to show glory to the civilizations God or Gods, this could be because of the differences in the one being worshipped. These three styles of worship and places of worship may have been so different because of the how different the deities that they were worshiping were.
In Mesopotamian religion there were well over 3000 gods and goddesses. Each city had its own patron god who was in charge of that city. Also it was believed that each person had their own lesser god who would appeal with the greater gods on their account. At the top of the Mesopotamian pantheon sits An, the lord of heaven and Enlil, lord of the earth. These two had an uncaring attitude toward the human beings, it was Enki, god of sweet waters, magic and wisdom, that was humanity's friend.
The Mesopotamian's also had a very interesting view on doing evil and evil acts. They never blamed themselves, instead it was blamed on a demon taking over the persons body. So therefore instead of punishing people for their crimes the Mesopotamian's would try to exorcise them. People wore amulets or charms to try to keep the evil demons away. If they performed a ritual fault or accident, like touching a cursed person, it could invoke the wrath of the gods and that was when a persons personal god would have to defend you before the greater gods (Garber, 204). Greece also had a multiple gods, but not the extremes of Mesopotamia.
There were 12 gods in the Greek pantheon called the Olympian gods. Outside this group there were also two other important gods, Hades, god of the underworld and Dionysus, the god of wine. Each of these gods was anthropomorphic, meaning they have human characteristics, both the good and the bad. They had the same needs that we have and that is why there were often offerings of food left for a god or goddess. While having human characteristics, these gods were still all powerful controlling everything from the stars and planets to the harvest of grain brought in that year. Of all the ancient gods, Greek gods are the most widely known, probably for the amazing myths involved with them.
Almost every single event or item on the earth has a Greek myth explaining why it is here, how it came to be here and whos fault it is that it is here. For example, in the myth of Pandora's box, the curious Pandora releases all the evil emotions that plague the world. This helps people take the blame off of themselves when they give into some of these emotions. Many myths are like this, to make people feel better and lay the blame on someone else. (Walker, p 131) Of all the religions seen through time, the most different in the nature of god is Christianity.
Like Judaism, Christians believe in a single god, making them monotheistic. They believe in the same god as Jews do, but they take it farther. They believe that Jesus Christ was the messiah, Gods son. This is what separates Christians from Jews because while the Jews still wait for the messiahs first coming, Christians now wait for his second. God himself is seen as all-powerful, having created everything with a single thought. He is seen as having three distinct parts, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The first is the creator of all and sits up in heaven watching us down on earth. He is vengeful and quick to anger. That is where the second part comes in, God the Son, this is Jesus Christ, who took human form and came down to earth to forgive us of our sins. If it were not for him, then we would not have a chance of getting to heaven. Last is the Holy Spirit, which is the form that is said to have come down upon the disciples at Pentecost. Suddenly a sounds like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they [the disciples] were sitting.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues and the Spirit enable them. (Acts 2: 2 - 4). The Holy Spirit has no corporeal form but instead lives inside each of us. This is the trinity that is worshipped by Christians all over the world today and by the early Christians under Roman rule. These three very different views of deities may be the reasons for all the other differences in these religions. As can be seen as the world has progressed through time, there have been many different religions, and there still are.
I have only looked at three of the many that there have been, Mesopotamian, Greek and Christianity. There are also many different aspects of religion. Only three were used to compare the religions, worship style, places of worship and nature of God or Gods. These three parts seemed to show the differences particularly well.
Religion was very important to people in the ancient days and still is to many people around the world today. No matter if they worshipped one God or three thousand, it was the need for some greater being that drove people to temples, churches and shrines throughout the ages. With a God or multiple Gods to show them the way and even to put the blame on at times, they felt they could live with their problems. Also, having a God to turn to in times of trouble they had direction. Even though the three religions that were compared were different, they all provided the same thing, giving people the will to live and go on.
- ? Garber, Janet Selling The Concise encyclopaedia of Ancient Civilizations Franklin Watts/New York/London 1978?
Millard, Anne Ancient Civilizations Warwick Press 1983? Webster, T. B. L Everyday Life in Classical Athens Jarrold and Sons Ltd 1969?
Williams, Paul L. Everything You wanted to Know About the Catholic Church but Were Afraid to Ask for Fear of Excommunication Doubleday 1975? Walker, Robert J. World Civilizations: A Comparative Study Oxford University Press 1998 New International Version The Teen Study Bible Zondervan Publishing House 1993
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Research essay sample on God Or Gods Places Of Worship
