Established by 1000 C.E.

1. Established by 1000 C.E.

2. Polytheism: origins • Earliest religions across all cultural regions • Sumerian, Shang, Greek, Roman, Germanic, Mayan, Aztec, and African

4. Polytheism: Tenets • Belief in many gods/ spirits • Gods as personification of nature • animism

5. Hinduism: Origin & Spread • Began with the Aryan invaders • vedas • 1700-1500 B.C.E. • Later groups added to ideas • Spread thru Indian Subcontinent

6. Hinduism: Major Tenets • One ultimate reality: Brahma • Rebirth for spiritual progress, determined by karma • Release for cycle of rebirth (moshka) • Dharma, duties and rules of conduct to be followed to achieve release from reincarnation

8. Hinduism: Significance • No founder, no specific date • Tolerant of other religions • Adaptable; offers both meditation and ritual • Varna, division of people into 4 classes, beginnings of caste, as a measure of one’s spiritual progress

9. Judaism: Origins/Spread • Hebrews, ancient Israelites • First writings between 1000 and 800 B.C.E. • Began in ancient Palestine spread into land of Canaan to Egypt (Exodus) and back to Canaan. • 130s C.E. into the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe

12. Judaism: Tenets • Monotheistic • Chosen people through a special relationship with God (covenant) • Messiah to come • Beliefs set forth in the Torah and the Talmud (collection of oral laws)

13. Judaism: Significance • First monotheistic religion • Greatly influenced both Christianity and Islam • No widespread hierarchical structure • No missionary movement

14. Grew from protest of Brahman (highest caste) practices • Siddhartha Gautama 500s B.C.E. • Spread from Northern India, Asia and Southeast Asia as far as Japan by the 700s C.E.

15. Buddhism: origins and spread • Siddhartha Gautama- 500 BCE • Buddha is not a god (allows for spirits) • Northern India- Nepal • Spread along trade and travel routes into China, Japan, Southeast Asia

18. Buddhism: Tenets • Four Noble truths • Universality of Suffering • Desire causes suffering • Nirvana is the cessation of desire • Eightfold path is guide to entering Nirvana Rightness of : Knowledge, thought, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mind, and meditation

20. Buddhism: Significance • Strong monastic tradition; monks helped to spread • Revival of Hinduism and Islamic invasions wipe out of India by 1000 ce • Different forms emerge- • Theraveda: oldest (Southeast Asia() • Mahyaha: emphasis on the bodhisattva

22. Confucianism: Origins • Confucius began teaching in 500s BCE • Developed an ethical philosophy • Never spread from China or regions dominated by China (Japan, Korea, Taiwan)

24. Confucianism: Tenets • Based on five basic relationships; ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, brothers, and friends • Filial piety(honor to one’s elders/betters); family as the extension of the state • Superior man; only the educated should govern

25. Confucianism: Significance • Philosophical and ethical system of conduct • Dominant in government, education, and scholarship for 2000 years • Basis for civil service • Conservative influence: status quo • Mandate from heaven • Ancestor worship

27. Daoism: Origin/spread • Attributed to Lao-tzu 400s and 300s BCE • Spread through China has become popular in some Western thought • 2nd most influential thought system

28. Lao Tze

29. Daoism: Tenets • Tao “The Way” • Live in accord with one’s nature • Balance • Oneness with everything thru the tao, meditation • Yin and yang; passive and active principles • Borrowed Buddhist practices

30. Daoism: Significance • Social conventions such as Confucian rituals are unnatural • Mixed with peasant belief in spirits (animism) • Interest in nature greatly influenced Chinese arts

32. Christianity: Origins/Spread • Originated with the teachings of Jesus 30s CE • Spread from Palestine throughout the Roman world, including the Byzantine Empire and northern Europe • Three major sects: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant found in all continents

34. Christianity: Tenets • Monotheism; Jesus as the Messiah • Thru God’s grace and the gift of faith people are “saved” • Gospels as main source of early teachings of Jesus • Large body of later writings developed to interpret and build on original teachings

36. Christianity: Significance • Legalized by Constantine in the late 300s • Monastic element preserved much of Greek and Roman learning after Roman Empire • Missionary outreach • Strong, universal hierarchial structure and discipline • As RCC, papacy rivaled that of European emperors and kings

38. Islam: origins/Spread • Muhammad, Early 600s CE • From Arabian peninsula through middle East to Western India, Western China, sub-Saharan Africa, and Moorish enclaves in Spain • Easy to learn and practice and teaches equality. • Non-Muslims, who were “Peoples of the Book,” were allowed religious freedom, but paid additional taxes.

40. Islam: Tenets • One God, Allah • Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets • 5 pillars • No god but Allah, Muhammad is his prophet • Prayer facing Mecca five times a day • Charity • Fasting during Ramadan • pilgrimage

41. The Ka’ba

42. Islam: Significance • Split into sects: argued over who would lead the faith after the death of the prophet • Sunni: modern majority originally adherents of the Umayyad • Shi’is: originally followers of Ali • Developed the Sharia, a legal code for many Islamic Nations