Monotheism's Influence On Early Western Civilization
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The difference in Monotheism compared to polytheism is that monotheism is the belief that only one God exists and that God demands a high standard of personal and societal behavior. Even though this issue is still disputed to this day, the monotheistic thought changed the early Western Civilization for the better. With the collapse of Akkadian rule, Polytheism was at its last leg and with the help of Moses and the beginning of Christianity, Monotheism changed the Western Civilization, bringing new thoughts, new beliefs, new people and a different view of society.
Judaism (one of the oldest religions in the world) is the foundation of Monotheism. Moses plays one of the biggest roles in monotheism to date:
In about 1250 BCE, the extraordinary…show more content… During this time period Moses taught people to have a relationship with god. Moses’ goal was to influence people to have faith in God. Having faith in one God is much easier rather than having faith in many Gods, which allowed people to feel more of a comfort with religion. Religion was now not such a lost cause but one of the main ideas that influenced the early Western Civilization. Even though Moses ideals stood the test of time, during the time of the Babylonian Captivity some ideas were added to this religion. During the Babylonian captivity new ideas were implemented into the Judaist…show more content… After the death of Valentininan I in 375 A.D. the real power came to be wielded by the emperor’s military commander or generalissimo. With the death of Valentininan the Roman Empire had a hard time enforcing any rule. The armed forces could not do anything as well as the civil administration being powerless. After Constantine had set the foundation of Christianity in the old empire and that empire fell the new empire was brought up only knowing Christianity and the belief in one god.
Even though the Akkadian collapse was thousands of years behind Christianity it began one of the biggest world changes known to date. With the help of Moses, Christianity, and the fall of the Roman Empire the polytheistic way of life was changed and people became different. Moses impacted people giving them comfort and something to believe in. Christianity changed polytheism the most with the change in people, the change in society, and the change in culture as a whole. Lastly with the fall of the Roman Empire the sweeping power of Christianity rid almost all doubts of the polytheism way. All of this led people to the monotheistic religion of Christianity, which still exists