Larry Siedentop

“Christianity changed the ground of human identity. It was able to do that because of the way it combined Jewish monotheism with an abstract universal that had roots in later Greek philosophy. By emphasizing the moral equality of humans, quite apart from any social roles they might occupy, Christianity chagned "the name of the game". Social rules became secondary. They followed and, in a crucial sense, had to be understood as subordinate to a God-given human identity, something all humans share equally. Thus, humans were to live in "two cities" at the same time.”
― Larry Siedentop, Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism

“The Jewish sense of time was different. It was unilinear rather than cyclical. Even the repeated lapses of Israel into idolatry did not dispel belief in God’s overall control and direction of events.”
― Larry Siedentop, Inventing the Individual: The Origins of Western Liberalism