How and why was polytheism ultimately replaced by monotheism in the western world by a.d. 500?

Question

western world= europe

ideas?

topic sentences?

Answer 1

well....wow....first off it wasnt replaced, merely supplemented... as to the how and why....that is a GARGANTUAN paper..

topic sentences=

The supplementation of polytheism chiefly consisted in the slow decline of paganism as a result of their respective sponsors, including but not limited to: A. Rome

                          B. have fun

Answer 2

death and destruction

Answer 3

  First, it would be a few hundred more years before you could say that monotheism replaced polytheism in Europe. Christianity predominated by 500CE, but had not made significant inroads to those areas outside of the old Roman empire. Christianity did rule the most populated areas of Europe then, and was inexoribly reaching out to claim all the other areas.

   Why? A number of reasons. First, it had an appeal that pagan religions found hard to match. Everyone who believes gets to go to Heaven, a place where you serve no one but your god himself, where everyone lives in ":mansions". Your position in society before dying had no bearing on how kingly a lifestyle you would enjoy after.

  Also, it seemed to give order to the world. No matter how bad things were, there was a reason for it. Not just the whims of gods squabbling with each other, or lashing out at a mortal for a petty offense or overlooked sacrifice. God was there, he has a plan, and if bad things are happening, its because God permits it, or someoen deserves it. Once the Church had formed up and standardized its doctrines, this offered the believers a consistant world view where their lives had meaning, rich or poor.

   With the collapse of secular powers and authority, the church offered more stability in people's lives. And as the church grew, it offered employment opportunities, a chance for education, and social status. All without requiring prowess in battle. As the money moved towards the church, so did the people. If one's own religion couldn't provide something, it's not suprising they turned to one that could.

  Finally, once monotheism dominated the upper classes of society, it was natural for that religion to be enforced down through the ranks, as pointed out by another poster. Christian missionaries quickly learned to try and convert the tribal leaders. If they could succeed, the lower classes would follow. Start at the bottom, and you were liable to find yourself dead for stirring up trouble.

  Possible topic sentence? Monotheism came to dominate the western world because of the product it offered and the way it was promoted.

  

    

Answer 4

One of the reasons early Christians were enticed away from polytheism was the simplicity.  Instead of having to go to this god or that goddess for specific needs, you had ONE God and he could do it all.    Think of the economic savings alone.  You wouldn't have to sacrifice to a multitude of gods during the year.  

To get what I mean, try watching the HBO mini-series of Rome.  They tried to be accurate and mostly succeeded (except for totally blackening the reputations of several Roman matrons).   Count how many gods there are and how many sacrifices are done by common people.  You'll be able to understand why one god was attractive.  

Answer 5

Well, strictly it wasnt replaced by 500AD

The only real monotheists in the ancient world were the Hebrews, probably adopting monotheistic ideals from around 1800BC.

Monotheism had replaced Polytheism in much of the middle east by around 150AD. Christianity was a Semitic Religion whose first followers were Aramaic speakers, and Christianity therefore spread throught the Semitic world very quickly...ie Israel, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, The Levant etc. Some of these ancient Churches survive to this day...the Assyrian Church, and the Coptic Church.

In Europe, it was somewhat different. Christianity and its ideals and the culture it sprung from was Alien to Europeans initially.

Christianity remained a minority religion, one of many. It was popular with those dissatisfied with Roman rule, and thus initially persecuted.

In order to control this threat, Rome decided to calculatingly adapt the religion to fit in with European culture and mind set, and then promote itself as the centre of Christianity.

So the doctrines and actual beliefs of the original Semitic Churches were perverted and tampered with, and Rome gradually set about agressively spreading their version of the religion, by persuasion, and often force, using it as a tool of control, and a way to make money and assert political power.

However, by 500AD many parts of the Western World were still Pagan; Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Russia, Belorus, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Holland, Belgium were all Pagan still, as were swathes of Britain and France at this time. The Arabs, who still lived in the Southern Arabian deserts at this time, were also still Pagan, as were the Persians in Iran.

By 500AD Mesopotamia(Iraq), Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Malta, Asia Minor(Turkey), Armenia, Georgia, Greece, and much of the Roman Empire(Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, North Africa, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania) were Firmly Christian.

So it was mainly the East that was fully Christian, Europe was still very much a mix, monotheism would not completely take over all of Europe for another 500 to 600 years.

Islam and the Arabs arrived on the scene in the 7th Century, forcing many of the native races of the Ancient middle east to convert to Islam, and converting the Persians from their Zoroastrian religion.

Answer 6

Ultimately, it was by fiat.  Constantine made the Christianity the State religion of the Roman Empire, which at the time, pretty much constituted the Western World.  And he convened the council of Nicea in 325 a.d. which formalized and canonized scripture.