Rise of World Religions

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Rise of World Religions

• Axial Age

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What is religion?

• Broad sense adherence to a set of beliefs or
  teachings about the deepest and most elusive of
  lifes mysteries
• Narrow sense
• A particular system of faith and worship
• Recognition on the part of man of some higher
  unseen power as having control of his destiny,
  and as being entitled to obedience, reverence,
  and worship the general mental and moral
  attitude resulting from this belief, with
  reference to its effect upon the individual or
  the community personal or general acceptance of
  this feeling as a standard of spiritual and
  practical life. (OED)

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What are sacred writings?

• Come in every form imaginable
• Poetry
• Hymns of praise
• Prayers of petition for harvest
• Instructions to live
• Proverbs
• Narrative accounts

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Area of World Religions
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Hinduism

• Unknown origins Aryan?
• Polytheistic or Henotheistic (1 god with multiple
  manifestations) religion?Vishnu (sustains) and
  Shiva (destroys)
• Sacred books
• Vedas contain hymns, incantations, rituals
• The Upanishads - elaborate on how the soul
  (Atman) can be united with the ultimate truth
  (Brahma) through contemplation and mediation, as
  well as the doctrine of Karmathe cumulative
  effects of a persons' actions
• Bghavad Gita duty should be done w/o emotion
  God is all things, so all creation is to be loved
  as one life

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Hinduism

• Afterlife
• Transmigration of the Soul (atman) transferring
  of the soul to another body after death
  (reincarnation)
• Produces a continuing cycle of birth, life, death
  and rebirth called samsara.
• Karma is the accumulated sum of ones good and bad
  deeds.
• The ultimate reality is called Brahma (formless
  and nameless), everything is a manifestation of
  the ultimate reality.

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Buddhism

• Guatama, called Buddha
• questioned the fairness of the earthly life
• accepted Hindu beliefs
• attacked the priests and caste system
• Reached enlightenment and came back to share the
  path

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Buddhism cond

• Four Noble Truths
• Everybody suffers
• Desire is the cause of suffering
• Nirvanastate in which all desires are extinct
• Noble Eightfold Path to Nirvana
• Rightness of 1.) knowledge of the cause ending
  of suffering, 2.) thought, 3.) speech, 4.)
  conduct, 5.) livelihood, 6.) effort, 7.) mind,
  8.) meditiation

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Buddhism, cond

• Strong monastic tradition
• Monks carried Buddhism beyond India to most of
  Asia (missionary trips)
• 1st Century CE
• Mahayana?delay entrance into nirvana to help
  others find enlightenment
• Theravada?emphasis on individual enlightenment
  based on Buddhas teaching
• Zen Buddhism?700s, China?sudden enlightenment
  through meditation

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Confucianism

• Characterized as a system of social and ethical
  philosophy rather than a religion
• civil religion?social rituals (li)
• Adopted by Emperor Wu (Han) as state ideology and
  orthodoxy importance of civil service
• Mandate of Heaven
• Components exterior practices, viz., filial
  piety, chaste women

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Confucianism cond

• Also stressed humaneness (ren)
• Ancestor worship
• Cultivation of conscience and character
• Education
• Reflection upon actions
• Linked to everyday life

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Daoism

• Dao (Tao)The Way
• Unknowable in essence, but observable in its
  manifestations
• The force that lies behind the functionings and
  changes in the natural world?Yin and Yang
• State of mind, attitude that forms a utopia
• Spirits permeated/pervaded nature
• Many manifestations of the one Dao

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Daoism cond

• Taoist priests
• Harmonized and reunited the spirits to the Tao
• Visual religion climbing sword ladders, floating
  lanterns?greatly influenced Chinese art (visual
  and performing)
• Spurned wealth and position
• Fatalistic and passive
• Creation of traditional herbal medicines

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Judaism

• Ancient Hebrews
• Abraham is founder (and of Islam)
• 1st major example of monotheism
• No physical manifestation of Yahweh (God)
• Kings did not claim to be god
• Emphasis on ethical living

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Judaism, cond

• Scripture
• Torah
• Mosaic Law
• Talmud
• Beliefs
• in being a chosen people
• Coming Messiah (savior)

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Christianity

• Origins in Judaism
• Monotheistic, with 3 attributes (Trinity)
• Beliefs
• Jesus is the Messiah
• Through Gods grace people are saved through
  faith in Jesus
• Sins are forgiven through faith new/eternal life

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Christianity, cond

• Scripture
• Bible Jewish Talmud, teachings of Jesus,
  writings of followers
• Persecuted by Romans, legalized by Constantine
• Monastic element
• monks preserved Greek/Roman learning after
  breakup of Roman Empire
• Missionary trips to Europe/Africa/Asia
• Strong hierarchical structure, within church

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Islam

• Muhammad, prophet of Allah (others Abraham,
  Moses, Jesus)
• 5 Pillars
• There is no God but Allah (God) and Muhammad is
  His Prophet.
• Prayer 5xs a day facing Mecca
• Charity
• Fasting during Ramadan
• Pilgrimage to Kaaba, in Mecca

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Islam, cond

• Scripture Quran (Koran)
• Split
• Sunni
• Modern majority of Islamic adherents
• Shiis
• Other groups Sufi, etc.
• No hierarchical structure
• Immam

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Chronology of Major Events

• 4000 BCE?The Vedic period begins earliest Vedic
  hymns (Hinduism)
• 3500?roots of the Semitic tradition (Judaism,
  Christianity, Islam)
• 2000-1400?Patriarchal Age (Judaism, Christianity,
  Islam)
• 1994-1525?Xia dynasty instituted the principle of
  hereditary succession (Confucianism)
• 1700?Gods covenant with Abraham (Judaism)
• 1500-1200?traditional dates for the Aryan
  invasion (Hinduism)
• 1400?Age of Krishna (Hinduism)
• 1028-222?Zhou dynasty (Confucianism)
• 740-700?Isaiah prophesies (Judaism)
• 604?date of Lao Tzus birth (Daoism)
• 587-6?Judean exile to Babylon (Judaism)

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Major Events cond

• 571?life of Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius)
• 563-483?Life of Siddhartha Guatama, the Buddha
• 515?Jewish Temple rebuilt emergence of classical
  Judaism
• 500-200?Bhagavad Gita composed (Hinduism)
• 400?Confucius sayings edited
• 350-300?Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) composed
  (Daoism)
• 327-325?Alexander the Great invades northwest
  India
• 322-185?Mauryan dynasty Buddhism spread
  throughout northern India
• 300-600CE?Buddhist missions expand beyond India
  to Central, East, and Southeast Asia
• 221-210?Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di tries to
  suppress Confucian texts transforms feudal China
  into centralized bureaucracy
• 206-221CE?Han dynasty Confucianism official
  state policy

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Major Event cond part tres

• 202-220CE?religious Daoism emerges
• 200-200CE?Buddhism spreads to Central Asia and
  China
• 150-75CE?Essenes live ascetical life at Qumran at
  northern end of Dead Sea (Judaism)
• 140-87?Emperor Wu Di (Han) makes Confucian system
  his official ideology
• 63?Rise of Roman rule conquest of Palestine
• 4BCE-29CE?Life of Jesus of Nazareth
  (Christianity)
• 66 CE?massacre of Jews at Alexandria
• 70?Jewish Diaspora
• 250-356?Life of Anthony of Egypt, Father of
  Monasticism (Christianity)
• 282-305?Emperor Diocletians persecution of
  Christians
• 290-347?first Christian monastic community in
  Egypt

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Yet more major events

• 312?Constantine, patron of Christianity, assumes
  control of Roman Empire Christianity is
  legalized
• 320-550?Gupta dynasty Indias Golden Age
  (Hinduism)
• 325?Council of Nicaea (Christianity)
• 390?Jerusalem Talmud is completed (Judaism)
• 399?Buddhism spreads to Korea from China
• 450?Northern Transmission Buddhism enters
  northern and eastern Asia
• 570-632?Life of Muhammad (Islam)
• 610-622?Muhammad prophesies Meccan Suras of the
  Quran are composed (Islam)
• 622?Hijra, emigration, of Muhammad and his
  followers from Mecca to Medina (Islam)
• 630?Muslim community gains access to Mecca
• 634-44?Umar, the Second Caliph, mobilizes a
  tribal force against Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt,
  and Persia (Islam)
• 638?Muslim conquests of Jerusalem and surrounds

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How can we write about them?

• Comparisons?
• Changes?