How did the Romans' attitude toward religion dffer from the Jews' religion?

Answer 1

The Romans were very religious. Their religion was very different. It was polytheistic; that is, it had many gods. There were many rites to many of the gods and there were ceremonies of fertility, purification and exorcism. The Roman calendar was full of religious festivals. For the Romans religion was a matter of observing rituals. They did not have a theology. They had myths associated with the gods and religious observances and traditions.

Answer 2

One of the reasons that the Greeks and Romans hated the Jews was the stark difference of the Jewish practices (and not just the beliefs), as compared to those of the Greeks and Romans. The Jews, by and large, adhered to the practices of the Torah, which calls for kindness, charity, scholarliness, the value of human life, and the abhorrence of promiscuity.

Just a very few examples:

1) Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's unwanted young babies is perfectly acceptable. Roman law (Patrias Potestas) permitted a man to kill his male descendants of any age and for any reason. Professor and former President of the American Historical Association, William L. Langer (in The History of Childhood), writes: "Children....were abused in almost unimaginable ways." 2) In the Roman cities, the Bacchanalian feasts became so wild that a royal decree was promulgated that they be held outside city limits.

3) Prostitution was a fixed part of temple worship.

4) Under Israelite law, "an eye for an eye" has always meant the monetary value placed upon it by the court (Talmud, Bava Kama 83b). Roman law, however, included literal retaliation (Twelve Tables of Roman Law, 7:9).

Given the vast difference between the two peoples, the Romans found it hard to stomach the kindliness and temperance of the Jews, and they lashed out with physical cruelty as well as slander. Tacitus, one of their greatest historians, penned ta number of anti-Semitic screeds.

Answer 3

The Roman and Jewish religions were two different types of religion. The Jews worshiped only one God which is called monotheism. The Romans worshiped many gods which is called polytheism. The Jews considered their God to be omnipotent, that is, covering everything while the Romans had a god/goddess for just about everything under the sun.

Answer 4

One of the reasons that the Greeks and Romans hated the Jews was the stark difference of the Jewish practices (and not just the beliefs), as compared to those of the Greeks and Romans. The Jews, by and large, adhered to the practices of the Torah, which calls for kindness, charity, scholarliness, the value of human life, and the abhorrence of promiscuity.
Just a very few examples:
1) Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's unwanted young babies is perfectly acceptable. Roman law (Patrias Potestas) permitted a man to kill his male descendants of any age and for any reason. Professor and former President of the American Historical Association, William L. Langer (in The History of Childhood), writes: "Children, being physically unable to resist aggression, were the victims of forces over which they had no control, and they were abused in almost unimaginable ways."

• Link: European infanticide

2) In the Roman cities, the Bacchanalian feasts became so wild that a royal decree was promulgated that they be held outside city limits.
3) Prostitution was a fixed part of temple worship.
4) Under Israelite law, "an eye for an eye" has always meant the monetary value placed upon it by the court (Talmud, Bava Kama 83b). Roman law, however, included literal retaliation (Twelve Tables of Roman Law, 7:9).
5) Romans were killed for the crime of slander (Twelve Tables, 7:8).
6) A Roman could be killed for assembling a noisy crowd at night and disturbing the town (Twelve Tables, 9:6).

Given the vast difference between the two peoples, the Romans found it hard to stomach the kindliness and temperance of the Jews, and they lashed out with physical cruelty as well as slander. Tacitus, one of their greatest historians, penned the canard that the Jews originated as Egyptians who were expelled from Egypt due to disease (History of Jews V, ch.2). Today we can expose this claim for what it is, since DNA analysis shows that Jews were not Egyptians.
Not satisfied with that, he wrote that "the Jews are the most lewd nation on Earth," despite his own contradictory admission that "the Jews will not corrupt foreign women." He also claims that the Jews "are taught to have their parents, children and brethren in the utmost contempt" (ibid.), despite the Jewish Torah being one of the major sources of Western morality.

Link: Western morality