As you should suspect by now, Christianity and Islam evolved from Judaism. Interestingly, however, Judaism itself appears to have evolved from earlier religions and been influenced by other contemporary religions. Look, for example, at the creation stories, the flood stories, the nature of women, the personalities of the gods.

Compare Judaism’s mythologies with the mythologies of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as Ancient Greece and Rome. You may focus on the four examples I suggested above or bring in other comparable mythological elements that you’ve discovered.

For this exercise, you’ll focus on lectures and Wright readings

Think of this as a brief essay. Your post should be about two double spaced pages. The best approach is to type your work in an outside document and then to copy and paste it into the Discussion. This way you can spell check and you’ll be more inclined to read it over for coherence before you post. (Once you paste it, it will no longer be double spaced, but don’t worry about that.)

You must respond to one other student’s posting. You can agree or disagree with the student, but you must provide evidence to support your argument.

Respond to this student:

The early civilization of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome are believed to be among the ancient societies with mythologies that ended up influencing their religious stories. These civilizations looked similar in various ways, especially when it comes to creating stories and worshiping many gods (Holloway 100).

I noted that Judaism had similar mythologies like ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians as well as ancient Greece and Rome in the sense that both religions have a belief in a supreme being. In Judaism, God is regarded as the creator of the world. God is an eternal being who is absolutely real and good, the source of every moment (Wright, ch.5). Judaism depended on the story of Genesis, which explores the events in the Garden of Eden. The religion made us believe that the first humans to be created were Adam and Eve.

In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, they worshiped several gods, such as the sky, thunder, and the sun. One of their significant gods was known as Apsu and Tiamat, (Holloway 110). The gods of Mesopotamia were believed to have mated and gave birth to new gods of the sea, floods, and dry land (Holloway 90). The Osiris god from Egypt had a recognized brother who was also a god known as Seth. These gods fought for superiority (Wright 254).

On the other side, in ancient Greece and Rome, many gods are regarded to have created the earth and punished humans. Similarly, Judaism religion believed in God’s punishment for both their history and that of Islam and Christianity (Holloway 76). In the Jewish Holy Scripture, God flooded the Earth, which is evident in Noah’s case, to punish individuals for their wickedness. In the pre-Islamic era, it housed more than 350 idols that were said to have been founded by Adam, destroyed in flood, rebuilt by Noah, and rediscovered by Abraham when he visited his son Ishmael (Colling 12/54). In both Judaism mythologies, ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and ancient Greece and Rome, the gods’ personality is that they respond through punishment when offended.

In Judaism religion, God’s sovereignty is the central focus since He wills those things that take place in the physical world and the history of humanity (Colling 30/44). On the other hand, despite the flood, it is reported that this is the spot where Hagar and Ishmael found water to survive their exile (Colling 12/54). Women are regarded as significant people in nature. For instance, in the stories of luminescent baby and divinity tales, mother Amina gives birth to a prophet (Colling 17/54). Women are portrayed as essential beings because they contribute to leaders such as prophets. I think the mythological stories of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome had a lot of similarities and it help understand creational stories.