Religions Ancient Connections Christianity: Compared With Greek

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Ancient connections

Christianity: Compared with Greek and Roman religions

Christianity is a monotheistic religion. In contrast, Greek and Roman religion were polytheistic and viewed the world as being controlled and created by many gods. Most conceptions of Christianity viewed God as existing as a trinity: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but in Greek and Roman religion, the 'gods' were plural in number and comprised many personas of different genders and levels of power. In the Holy Trinity, all aspects of the divine were equally powerful, while in Greek and Roman religion, certain gods had greater power. In Greece, the Olympic gods had greatest authority. In Rome, Jupiter was a powerful god, as were the household gods, and even the deified Emperor himself.

The conception of the beginning of the world in Christianity suggested that God made the world with a specific intention, and that God wished to make human beings obedient to His will. In contrast, Greek and Roman religions viewed the coming to power of Zeus (in Greece) or Jupiter (in Rome) as a gradual process. The current king of the gods only assumed power after an epic struggle with the Titans, a previous generation of gods. The rule of the heavens in Greek and Roman religions is seen as a power struggle, rather than a moral struggle.

This sense of amorality is manifested in Greek and Roman myth, which shows the gods experiencing sexual desire and manipulating human life for their own pleasures, rather than to enforce a moral code. The gods often desire human beings, as in the case of Zeus and his many lovers, and commit adultery. Although Jesus preaches compassion, there is a clear sense that there is a moral way of acting in the world that is expected of human beings and is reflected in how Jesus himself acts towards the poor. Piety is demanded in Greek mythology of humanity, in terms of the sacrifices they are called on to make, but the standards demanded of human beings are different from those which the gods obey themselves. Also, the gods are not 'fair' in the ways that they mete out justice. For example, King Oedipus of Thebes is cannot avoid his fate of marrying his mother and killing his father. His punishment is decided even while he is an infant, and is given out simply because the gods say that it must be, not because of anything Oedipus has done. His sacrifice, unlike Christ's, is not willingly chosen, and is not for any discernable moral or useful purpose for the rest of humanity.

Another difference between Christianity and Greek and Roman mythology is that Christianity is not tied to a specific nation, even though it began as a sect of Judaism. The Apostle Paul says "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3: 28). But Greek and Roman religions were clearly nationalistic and tied to specific territories. They were also civic in nature, which is why the Christian refusal to make sacrifices to Roman gods caused such anger and was viewed as seditious in the Empire.