Term Paper on "Monotheism Atomism Zarathustrism Judaism"

Term Paper 5 pages (1379 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Mythology is defined as the oral retelling of stories that one particular culture believes to be true. These stories, called myths, often times contain elements of the supernatural with the purpose of explaining or interpreting natural events as they pertain to nature, the universe and humanity in general. When viewed together, mythology creates a historical account of the development of humanity within the world. As one culture fades and new cultures have risen, the outgoing culture's myths were often adapted by the new culture and added to. Thus, mythology can be described as an accumulation of our collective mythological history.

Three of the major areas of mythology that have influenced the development of this so-called collective mythological heritage are the concepts of Atonism, Zarathustrism and Judaism, all of which follow the monotheism line of mythology. To understand this, one can look at history as being divided into two periods of mythology. The first period is the polytheistic period where a cultures mythology was characterized with the presence of many gods and other divine characters. Thus, explanations for the creation of the universe, the weather and all other happenings were explained through the actions of the actively present gods. Examples of such cultures include the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians.

On the other hand, these polytheistic cultures eventually gave way to the cultures following a monotheistic mythology. These cultures included Atonism, Zarathustrism, Judaism and, eventually Christianity. However, it must be noted that monotheism mythology has never completely replaced polytheism but has had a much more influential role in the development of what has become known as Western mythology.

Atonism comes from the word atonement and is a prevalent part of the Judea and Christian mythology. Accordingly, Atonism describes how one's sins can be forgiven by the follower's god. In Judaism, atonism is the process of forgiving or pardoning a transgression and, with in Judea mythology, this is done through the performance of rituals performed by a high priest. In Christianity, atonism refers to the pardoning or forgiving of sins done through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Zarathustrism, on the other hand, is based on the philosophical mythology as given by Zoroaster, an ancient Iranian prophet. According to Zarathustrism, the universe is a cosmic struggle between the truth and the lie. The main characteristics of this mythology are the belief in a doctrine consisting of creation, existence and Free Will. The purpose of humankind is to sustain creation, existence and free will. This is accomplished through taking an active participation in life and exercising good thoughts, words and deeds.

Judaism is perhaps the best know mythology as it is also a prominent religion that has had much influence on such Western thought as Christianity. Although the mythology of Judaism is much to expansive to even attempt to summarize, it can be characterized by several key beliefs. Unlike many other religions, the mythology of Judaism is not based in a specific group but instead within a collection of sacred texts and traditions, thus giving it a strong mythological tradition. According to the Judeo mythological tradition, there is a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent and transcendent god who created and continues to govern the actions of all living things.

The best way to truly gain an in depth understanding of these three mythologies is to review the primary sources that have developed them. Thus, the next step to understanding the mythology of monotheism is to review the myths that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Akhenaton's, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Hymn to Aton provides a remarkable insight into the mythology of the ancient Egyptians. The hymn is remarkable in it is one of the rare examples of the artistic outpouring that occurred during the Amarna period. Further, it serves as an excellent example of the gradual transition between polytheism and monotheism as the poem is highly monotheistic whereas ancient Egypt was highly polytheistic.

According to the hymn, the Pharaoh Akhenaten praises Aton, the disk of the sun, as being the only god and thus the creator of the entire universe. For example, the hymn states, "O sole god, like whom there is… READ MORE

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