Modern versus Greek and Roman Religious Ideologies - Essay Example

Although present-day Christians have some practices in common, there is a recognizable difference in their beliefs and ideologies about Christianity. It is therefore important to identify the modern religious practices to explain their difference from the Greek and Roman religious beliefs.

In ancient times, the Greeks and Romans were identified by their worship of “many gods” and goddesses (Mikalson, 2010, p. 224). The present-day Christians, Jews, and Muslims only recognize one God. It is however worth noting that Hindus have many gods whereas atheists believe in none. The aspect of believing in multiple gods for the ancient Greeks and Romans as compared to one God for the present-day religions is the largest distinctive factor between the two kinds of religious ideologies. However, there are a couple of other differences and some similarities too that can be identified between the two groups.

Firstly, present-day religions believe that God is unanimously powerful and he can control every aspect of life by Himself. On the other hand, Greeks and Romans appreciated the fact that the gods were powerful but they associated each god with a specific area of power. For instance, Zeus was the god of the skies, earthquakes, storms, lightning, and so on. Similarly, present-day religious ideologies tend to describe God as good, morally pure, and blameless. Contrary, the Romans and Greeks believed that the gods had similar personalities to human beings. They believed that the gods too did wrong and felt jealous and rage as much as they felt mercy and compassion.

The present-day Christian ideologies tend to explain that people can talk directly to God through prayers and that their prayers would be answered appropriately. This is however not the case for the ancient Greeks and Romans, who believed that although gods would sometimes listen to prayers, especially if the individual has offered a sacrifice, the person that offered a better sacrifice will most likely get the help from the gods.

Ultimately, even though the present-day religious ideologies and the Greek and Romans religious beliefs have some things in common such as the belief in a supreme being(s) who are invisible, and religious practices such as worship among others, there is a great difference between the two sects in their approaches towards the religious beliefs and practices.