Compare Hebrews and Zhou Chinese

The Hebrew society of Noah's time that existed roughly 4300 years ago and the Chinese Zhou Dynasty which was prominent from 600 -960 C.E. vary tremendously from the date which civilizations were major societies, to the locations of Chinese and Hebrew civilizations, to their cultures, yet the two religions were alike in their main principals, and varied slightly on their minor ideas. The two religions had similar views on God and Heaven, with both being monotheistic, omnipotent, caring, and structured are a few of the major ways which they were in harmony. Yet the two had small differences, such as the relationship which the Heavens or God had with humans and secondly, the Chinese had Ð''Heaven' while the Hebrews had a Ð''God'.

The Chinese and Hebrew cultures have separate views on their relationship with God and Heaven. The Chinese King is the middleman, or the bridge, between the Chinese citizens and Heaven, so nobody has a direct relationship with Heaven except for the king. The quotation, "The king will come representing the High God" establishes the concept that God does not talk directly to anyone but the King, whose job is then to relay the message to everybody else or carry out the given command. By having an indirect relationship with one's God, it becomes less personal and more of a social act. Conversely, in the Hebrew religion, everyone had a direct relationship with God. God would talk to his people, as demonstrated through the quote "The LORD said to Noah". The Hebrews were able to talk to God without anyone needed to connect the two which results in personalization the relationship between the Hebrews and God. The Chinese had a Heaven where a God lives, yet it is more often referred to as Heaven than God. On the other hand, Hebrews only used God as an authoritative power and mentioned Heaven as a location, not a being.

However, the two religions were similar in the way that both the Chinese Heaven and Hebrew God made agreements with those following their religion. A Chinese king will sustain his Mandate of Heaven as long he "rules by his Ð''virtue'. Virtue requires of the king restraint, humility, and willingness to listen to advice". The king must be both virtuous and maintain harmony with the peasants in order to continue ruling. Otherwise the kingdom will be attacked from an outside source such as the nomads or have an uprising from within as a punishment from Heaven. This will replace the ruler and remove his Mandate of Heaven. Natural disasters were not punishment; they only represented reminders from Heaven to the King of his position and his responsibilities. Simply stated, the Heavens would allow the King to rule through the Mandate of Heaven as long as he was virtuous. If the King did not uphold his end of the agreement, he was overthrown. Likewise the Hebrew God made an agreement with Noah and all those, stating "Never again shall I put the earth under a curse because of mankindÐ'... nor shall I ever again kill all living creatures as I have just done". This is a promise to Noah's family, and all those in the future to never again destroy civilization. He also assures Noah that he and his offspring will "Be fruitful and increase in numbers,

...