This study analyzes the historical development and eastern transmission of Abrahamic monotheism—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—through the dynamics of empire, resistance, and cultural adaptation. It argues that monotheism did not emerge in isolation but as a dialectical response to polytheistic imperial structures. From Judaism’s defensive monotheism under Babylonian and Persian rule, to Christianity’s transformation into Roman imperial ideology, to Islam’s paradoxical rise as an anti-imperial movement that rapidly created a new empire, the paper identifies a recurring pattern of “persecution → resistance → adaptation → imperial utilization.” A central contribution of this work is the re-evaluation of the Church of the East (Nestorian Christianity) as a crucial bridge for the transmission of monotheistic thought along the Silk Road. Expelled from the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Church of the East established networks across Persia, Central Asia, and China, reaching Chang’an by 635 CE. By the time of Muhammad, an eastern monotheistic infrastructure already existed, enabling Islamic ideas to resonate across Eurasia. The paper proposes a unified model of monotheistic expansion driven by imperial pressure, eastward migration, and re-expansion under new empires such as the Islamic and Mongol states. This framework clarifies the deep interdependence between religion and political power across Eurasia and positions the Church of the East as a historical nexus linking Western and Eastern civilizations.
Yuji Marutani (Sun,) studied this question.