RE: monothiesm
Hi Patsy,
BCE is the same as BC (Before Christian Era, I think or rather assume); hence CE = same as AD, or 'Christian Era' I think. It came in during years when I wasn't anything to do with academia, and I gather it's just reckoned to be more PC. Silly, yes I know...
V
RE: monothiesm
Thanks for enlightening me, David. If it is PC, then I'll be sticking to BC and AD when defining time. I don't want to know anything about any PC terms.
[&:]
I do believe that King Akhenaten was the first monotheist in history, but new thought has it that he was influenced by Hebrew thought, or vice versa. He was the true monotheist - no minor gods - just the Aten was worshipped.
Love,
Patsy.
xxxxxx
RE: monothiesm
Hi Patsy,
It’s worth noting that his people did not take to his ‘one god’ worship as evidence has been found that they continued to worship other gods too, as well as him and his wife:); moreover, in his temple dedicated to Aten, he had statues of his wife constructed and placed in the four corners of the temple (positions always reserved for Gods).
Many individuals have come and gone that believed in ‘one god’ but are not considered to be ‘founders’ as it is their belief and not the belief of a mass of people that bought into the belief.
Akhenaten tried to impose it on his people and failed, if he’d succeeded, then the religion would have at least survived (not even flourished) – which it did not.
Moreover, his was a worship of the very physical ‘Sun’ Aten (disc) (not dissimilar to the worship that had existed before him at heliopolis) as opposed the spiritually perceived omnipotent, omniscient creator of all.
So, if we decide (for no apparent reason) to push to one side the worship of Brahma (as that leads you into potential dates of +10,000 BC (see I used BC :D), together with the other civilisations I mentioned; then that surely leaves Zarathushtra.
Zarathushtra (the founder of Zoroastrianism) or Zoroaster as the Greeks rendered the name, cannot easily be placed at any precise date, and dating him is (very much) still hotly contested issue. But current academic opinion (which bases its case on linguistic analysis of the oldest texts) suggests a date roughly around 1500 - 1700 BC (which at best makes Akhenaten a contemporary if not 200 years later).
But it is well worth noting that early western writers on the history of Asia (who were predominantly if not exclusively Christian) were loath to place any historical Asian figure before the presumed date of Noah & the ‘great flood’. - a Prime example is Buddha who is supposed to have been born in 500ish BC (yet there is much evidence that Buddhism existed proir to this date).
So anyway… if we base the date for Zoroaster on Greek sources, we arrive at Greek texts that (some of which) place him as far back as 6000 BC.[:-]
Rgds,
roger
RE: monothiesm
Hello Patsy and David
BCE is Before Common Era, so of course CE corresponds...
Common Era
The Common Era is the period beginning with a year near the birth of Jesus, coinciding with the period from AD 1 onwards. It is synonymous with the period called the Christian era and is sometimes used as a religiously neutral alternative to it. The term has been in use since the late 19th century and is common in academic circles around the world. Though it is increasingly used, it cannot be said to have entered into general use by the public.
Taken from http://www.answers.com/topic/common-era
Many use these terms now because they are non-denominational, and therefore, I suppose, "politically correct".
Laura.
RE: monothiesm
Hi Roger,
Akhenaten thought that people could reach the goid Aten through him and his family, and that's why he had statues of himself placed in the temple at Amarna. Meanwhile in Thebes, people were still worshipping Amun and his cohorts. It was never cohesive probably because it was foisted on people.
If Akhenaten had done things differently, the course of history might have turned out with a few surprises.
Love,
Patsy.
xxxxxx