Similarities And Differences Among Ancient Mesopotamians, Ancient Jews, And Zoroastrians On The Relationship Between Men And The Divine Essays Examples

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Taking a close look at the ancient religions’ beliefs and practices among Mesopotamians, Jews and Zoroastrians; there exists some similarities as well as differences regarding their views on the relationship between men and divine. The three ancient religions believed in the existence of God. They however had similar and contrasting views when describing their God. For example, Jews believed in one true God. According to the Jews, the true God was the creator of everything in the universe. He is eternal and there is no other God apart from. He is the one in control of life and death as well as being omnipotent. He is also beyond human understanding.
On the other hand, Zoroastrians believed in one God with varying qualities. They believed that their God is only a source of good things in their society. They associated the evils to other separate principles exercised by human beings while making choices in life. The separate principles are described through the concept of having twin spirits, Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu. The twin spirits are the ones exercised by human beings while making choices. For instance, Spenta Mainyu spirit had good attributes while Angra Mainyu had bad attributes. All evils experienced in the Zoroastrians were believed to originate from Angra Mainyu. In addition, the ancient Mesopotamians believed in the existence of many gods and goddesses. There were both female and male gods each being associated with specific attributes. For example, ancient Mesopotamians had gods and goddess of wars. The gods and goddesses of ancient Mesopotamians had both human and animal forms. There were some instances when the two forms of gods and goddesses could be combined. A good example is Horus, who was portrayed as a hawk as well as a man having a head of a hawk.
The other common ground among the three ancient religions is the means of acquiring and practicing salvation. Al the three groups believed in the need for every individual to practice good deeds. Everyone has an obligation to do well to each other. The good deeds should be made possible through having good thoughts accompanied with good faith. Concerning life after death, the three religions had varying views and opinions. For instance, Jews believed in life after death whereby the resurrected would unify with god in the new form. On the other hand, Zoroastrians believed in eternal in attainment of eternal life. However, there were two possibilities associated with eternal life, either one could enjoy eternal life in heaven or in hell. The final destination of enjoying eternal was therefore associated to the personal characters and conducts. Good people would enjoy eternal life in heaven while evil people would suffer in hell. The ancient Mesopotamian religion had a different view on the possibility of life after death. They believed that not everyone could resurrect and exist after death. Only their king, pharaoh, could resurrect.
Angels were also recognized among the ancient religions. For example both the ancient Jews and the ancient Zoroastrians believed in the existence of angels. However the roles played by angels varied among the ancient religions. For instance, Jews believed that angels had a role of serving God, messenger. On the other hand, Zoroastrians believed that the role of angels was to serve Ahura Mazda.

Works cited

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