In the following question, two statements and five connectors are given. Only one of the connectors from those given can be used to combine the given two statements into one sentence without changing the meaning. Choose that connector as your answer.
I. The scholars of antiquity often revered the stars as celestial markers of divine intervention.
II. Their contemporaries mocked these interpretations as naive superstitions.

The sentences show contrasting perspectives. I tells us how many ancient scholars respected the stars as indications of God and his interventions in human life. II contrasts this by telling us how many of their contemporaries ridiculed these interpretations and called them ignorant superstitions. WHEREAS is used to introduce a comparison or contrast: "The scholars of antiquity often revered the stars as celestial markers of divine intervention, whereas their contemporaries mocked these interpretations as naive superstitions."