Religious Expression's relation to ancient cultures through Greek and Roman times - Essay Example

II. Roman Temple Cultus (150 words) The temple cultus of Rome was what drove Roman society. Romans were expected to make sacrifices to the temple court on a regular basis, and no one was exempt—from the very wealthy to the very poor. However, early Christianity started to rise up in popularity. The Christians refused to pay sacrifices to the temple cultus, claiming that they only served one god alone. According to Hauer and Young (1998), “On one point devout Christians were obdurate in their resistance to Roman policy.

This was teh cult of the divine emperor…The cult of the emperor was more popular in the provinces than in Rome itself [and the divine kingship in the eastern Mediterranean” (pp. 338). This was the beginning of the end of divine rule in Rome, as Christianity was spreading like wildfire. It is certain that the rituals that the Christians developed were based on traditions already in place. III. Pre-Christian Tradition in Rome (300 words) Early Christianity was basically based on Judaism as well as Roman religious tradition.

Everything from the Lord’s Supper (which was basically consisting of bread and wine)—to providing sacrifices for Jehovah or Yahweh—were rituals based on both Roman and Jewish tradition. While the Eucharist was based on a Jewish tradition, Roman love-feasts were also the basis for the Lord’s Supper. People got together in secret burial societies and had feasts, committing each other to themselves in order to ensure that after their deaths they would be properly buried. These burial societies were the precursors of early Christian tradition.

It was only with the appearance of the early church fathers that these Jewish and Roman customs were totally extracted from Christian tradition, and new religious meanings were associated with the Lord’s Supper. In lieu of the Jewish tradition of celebrating in the mikveh ceremonies, the practice was renamed baptism and was required of all Christian converts. There were so many traditions that were borrowed from Judeo-Roman religious tradition that many Christians are not even aware of these traditions.

It is necessary for Christians to realize that Christianity indeed was a sprout forth from Judaism, and, indirectly, a branch of Judaism. The only difference was that Christianity declared Jesus not only their prophet, but the son of God, Yahweh—also known as Jehovah in some circles, depending upon one whether one used the Hebrew or the Greek translation. Even though the language of Jesus was Aramaic, many of Jesus’s followers were indeed Jewish before realizing that following Jesus meant converting into a Christian—which was a new way of life and unfettered by all the rules of Pharisaic Judaism.

Indeed, it is true that the several traditions that still continue today in Christianity are evocative of religious Jewish and Roman tradition. IV. Greek Gods (200 words) Greek gods were frequently worshipped in the Greco-Roman Empire as well. Since the histories of both Greece and Rome are so intertwined, some of their religious traditions overlapped. According to Newsom and Ringe (1998)“Many cities honored one particular god or goddess as primary, such as the worship of Artemis at Ephesus, but also honored other deities as well.

Judaism acknowledged only one deity, Yahweh, the God of Israel…