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Greek God Research Paper

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Christianity and Greek mythology show both remarkable similarities and differences. Consequently, much of what we know about both religions is through the gods’ use of prophets. Amos is a prophet of the Christian god, Yahweh. Likewise, Anchises is a Greek prophet of the multiple gods of Greek mythology. Amos tells about consequences of sin, justice, God’s all-powerfulness and The Day of the Lord. God uses Amos to tell his people that Israel will be judged for the sins they have committed. Amos does not question the job God has imposed upon him. Instead, when God shows himself to Amos and tells him to “prophesy to my people in Israel” (Amos 7:15), Amos follows God’s instructions without hesitation. Instead of translating God’s message, Amos …show more content…

Amos tells of a single god, indicating a monotheistic religion. God, named Yahweh, is all knowing, absolute, eternal, singular, above all beings and demands obedience from his people. God is able to rule over the people by instilling fear in them and showing consequences to mal-action. Contrarily, Anchises interacts with multiple gods and goddesses, presenting a polytheistic religion. Some gods are righteous and others are wicked. Unlike Yahweh to Amos, Anchises gods do not always speak directly to him. Anchises must interpret the omens that he is sent. The Greek gods are depicted as more human-like than Yahweh. Additionally, Christianity is depicted as a very serious religion. God determines where your soul will reside for the rest of eternity by your actions on earth. By choosing to follow God’s words, a person can decide their own eternal fate. Greek mythology does not deal with life and the afterlife in the same way. Seen in The Aeneid, the gods are not there to doom you for eternity, but to help fulfill your destiny. Also, the dead are not condemned to heaven or hell. The dead can potentially interact with humans on earth, if they are acting for the gods. Both religions do believe in the after life, but regard the severity of earthly decisions very differently. Another difference we can conclude from the men’s interactions is the role of prayer. In Christianity, prayer is a personal and singular act. God comes only to Amos to talk; he does not talk to all of Israel. The Greek gods, on the other hand, send signs and great omens to denote their presence. The last similarity that can be assumed from their interactions is the superiority of males to females. It is no accident that both prophets are male, for both religions and societies at this time were

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