First civilization to believe in one god?

Answer 1

The ancinet Greeks beleived in a pantheon of many gods, including the Olympians, the titans, and others. However when Christianity spread into Greece the country was converted to believing in only one God.

Answer 2

The first known civilization to believe in one god was ancient Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1353-1336 BC), who established the worship of the sun god Aten. This period is known as the Amarna Period in Egyptian history.

Answer 3

According to Jewish tradition, the world's population believed in One God for the first couple of centuries after the Creation and again for a century or so after the Flood

They then gradually strayed into idolatry, which became ubiquitous. The idolatry continued unabated until Abraham (born 1812 BCE), through his own contemplations, realized that there is only One God; and he taught this to as many people as were willing to listen.

We speak of Abraham as being the first, since the original (earlier) tradition had gone lost by his time.

Answer 4

The Aryans of southern Russia were probably the first people to believe in one God, who is called Ahura Mazda ('Wise Lord'). There is evidence that their Zoroastrian religion dates back to at least 1700 BCE, long before monotheistic Judaism. They later migrated to eastern Iran, and much later, around 700 BCE, converted the Persians and Magi of western Iran to Zoroastrianism.

Answer 5

According to careful research, the original tradition, which was widespread, was monotheistic. However, it died out completely in a relatively brief span of time. This belief does not refer to a specific people, country, or named religion, since it was not centralized or organized, and no one made a concerted effort to preserve it.
1a) The first continuous monotheistic tradition and religion as we know it, was and is Judaism, the tradition founded by Abraham. It began 3800 years ago, and its founding principle is that God is One. This was well before the Egyptian king Akhenaten, who in any case (according to tradition) was influenced by Israelite beliefs.

1b) Some might claim that monotheistic Judaism started later, as (for example) King Josiah made reforms in the late First Temple period. However, this is a view found in secular academe, and flies in the face of tradition. Judaism had been monotheistic for eight centuries by the time of Josiah. All he did was eradicate the traces of the idolatrous influences of those Jews who had strayed from their own religion. This had happened repeatedly (such as with Jehoshaphat [2 Chronicles 17:6], and Samuel before him [1 Samuel 7:3-4]); and those who strayed into pagan practices never encompassed the entire people.

2) Zoroastrianism, which might be suggested as another early contender, is not such a clear matter. There is no consensus on when Zoroaster lived. Moreover, the Zoroastrians believed in two gods, not one. The Jewish Sages who redacted the Talmud in the early centuries of the Common Era lived in Babylonia, witnessed the practices of the Zoroastrians, and recorded this fact (Talmud, Sanhedrin 39a). In addition, in Zoroastrianism:

• there is worship through intermediaries, who are themselves "worthy of worship"
• evil and good each has its own creator
• some of its adherents believe in a self-creating universe
• some modern scholars see it as a form of pantheism.

Answer 6

Hebrews

Answer 7

Greece

Answer 8

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