Chapter 5: Chapter Outline
The following annotated chapter outline will help you review the major topics covered in this chapter.
Instructions: Review the outline to recall events and their relationships as presented in the chapter. Return to skim any sections that seem unfamiliar.
I. Opening Vignette |
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A. In 2004, China celebrated the 2,555th birthday of Confucius, despite Communism. |
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1. Buddhism and Christianity also growing rapidly in China |
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2. part of enduring legacy of the classical world |
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B. In the period around 500 B.C.E., there was a great emergence of durable cultural traditions that have shaped the world ever since. |
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1. China : Kong Fuzi (Confucius) and Laozi |
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2. India : Hinduism and Buddhism |
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3. Middle East: development of monotheism |
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a. Persia : Zoroastrianism (prophet Zarathustra) |
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b. Israel : Judaism (prophets such as Isaiah) |
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4. Greece : rational humanism (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, et al.) |
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5. all sought an alternative to polytheism, placating of gods through ritual and sacrifice |
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a. quest for source of order and meaning in the universe |
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b. guide humans to personal moral or spiritual transformation (especially development of compassion) |
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c. the questions they pose still trouble and inspire humankind |
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d. they defined their distinctive cultures |
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C. Why did all these traditions emerge at about the same time? |
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1. some historians point to major social changes |
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a. iron-age technology led to higher productivity and deadlier war |
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b. growing cities, increasing commerce |
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c. emergence of new states and empires |
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d. new contacts between civilizations |
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2. it’s a mystery why particular societies developed particular answers |
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II. China and the Search for Order |
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A. China had a state-building tradition that went back to around 2000 B.C.E. |
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1. idea of Mandate of Heaven was established by 1122 B.C.E. (foundation of the Zhou dynasty) |
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2. breakdown into the chaos of the “age of warring states” (403–221 B.C.E.) |
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B. The Legalist Answer |
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1. Han Fei was a leading Legalist philosopher |
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2. principle: strict rules, clearly defined and strictly enforced, are the answer to disorder |
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3. pessimistic view of human nature; only the state can act in people’s long-term interest |
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4. promotion of farmers and soldiers, who performed the only essential functions in society |
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5. Legalism inspired the Qin dynasty reunification of China |
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C. The Confucian Answer |
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1. Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.) was an educated, ambitious aristocrat |
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a. spent much of life looking for a political position to put his ideas into practice |
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b. Confucius’s ideas had enormous impact on China and the rest of East Asia |
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c. his teachings were collected by students as the Analects |
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d. elaboration and commentary on his ideas by later scholars, creating Confucianism as a body of thought |
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2. principle: the moral example of superiors is the answer to disorder |
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a. society consists of unequal relationships |
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b. duty of the superior member to be sincere and benevolent |
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c. will inspire deference and obedience from the inferior member |
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3. humans have capacity for improvement: education is the key |
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a. advocated a broad liberal arts education |
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b. application of liberal arts education to government problems |
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c. need for ritual and ceremonies |
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4. after Legalism was discredited, Confucianism became the official ideology of the Chinese state |
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5. the family as a model for political life, with focus on filial piety |
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a. defined role of women as being humble, serving husbands |
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b. woman writer Ban Zhao (45–116 C.E.): Lessons for Women |
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6. emphasized the great importance of history |
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a. ideal good society was a past golden age |
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b. “superior men” had outstanding moral character and intellect; not just aristocrats |
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c. created expectations for government: emperors to keep taxes low, give justice, and provide for material needs |
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7. Confucianism was nonreligious in character |
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a. emphasis was practical, focused on this world |
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b. did not deny existence of gods and spirits, but the educated elite had little to do with them |
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D. The Daoist Answer |
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1. associated with the legendary Laozi (sixth century B.C.E.), author of the Daodejing (The Way and Its Power) |
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2. Daoism was in many ways the opposite of Confucianism |
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a. education and striving for improvement was artificial and useless |
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b. urged withdrawal into the world of nature |
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3. central concept: dao: the way of nature, the underlying principle that governs all natural phenomena |
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4. elite Chinese often regarded Daoism as a complement to Confucianism |
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5. Daoism entered popular religion |
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a. sought to tap the power of the dao for practical purposes (magic, the quest for immortality) |
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b. provided the ideology for peasant rebellions (e.g., Yellow Turbans) |
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III. Cultural Traditions of Classical India |
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A. Indian cultural development was different | |||
1. elite culture was enthusiastic about the divine and about spiritual matters |
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2. Hinduism (the Indian religious tradition) had no historical founder |
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a. developed along with Indian civilization |
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b. spread into Southeast Asia, but remained associated with India and the Indians above all |
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c. was never a single tradition; “Hinduism” is a term invented by outsiders |
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B. South Asian Religion: From Ritual Sacrifice to Philosophical Speculation |
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1. widely recognized sacred texts provided some common ground within the diversity of Indian culture and religion |
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2. the Vedas (poems, hymns, prayers, rituals) |
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a. compiled by Brahmins (priests), transmitted orally |
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b. were not written down (in Sanskrit) until around 600 B.C.E. |
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c. provide a glimpse of Indian civilization in 1500–600 B.C.E. |
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d. role of Brahmins in practicing elaborate ritual sacrifices gave them power and wealth |
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3. the Upanishads (mystical, philosophical works) developed in response to dissatisfaction with Brahmins |
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a. composed between 800 and 400 B.C.E. |
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b. probe inner meaning of Vedic sacrifices—introspection |
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c. central idea: Brahman (the World Soul) as ultimate reality |
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d. Brahmin priests and wandering ascetics spread Hindu teachings |
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C. The Buddhist Challenge |
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1. developed side by side with philosophical Hinduism |
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2. Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 566–ca. 486 B.C.E.) |
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a. spiritual journey led to “enlightenment” (insight) at age 35 |
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b. his followers saw him as the Buddha, the Enlightened One |
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3. central Buddhist teaching: life is suffering |
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a. sorrow’s cause is craving for individual fulfillment, attachment to self |
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b. “cure” it with modest and moral life, meditation |
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c. goal is achievement of enlightenment or nirvana (extinguishing of individual identity) |
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4. large elements of Hinduism are present in Buddhist teaching |
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a. life as an illusion |
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b. karma and rebirth | |||
c. overcoming demands of the ego |
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d. practice of meditation |
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e. hope for release from the cycle of rebirth |
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5. much of Buddhism challenged Hinduism |
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a. rejection of Brahmins’ religious authority |
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b. lack of interest in abstract speculation |
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c. need for individuals to take responsibility for their own spiritual development |
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d. strong influence of Indian patriarchy |
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6. appealed especially to lower castes and women in India |
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a. teaching was in local language, not classical Sanskrit | |||
b. linked to local traditions with establishment of monasteries and stupas (shrines with relics of the Buddha) |
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c. state support from Ashoka (268–232 B.C.E.) |
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7. the split within Buddhism |
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a. early Buddhism (Theravada, or Teaching of the Elders) |
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b. by early in the Common Era, development of Mahayana (Great Vehicle) |
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D. Hinduism as a Religion of Duty and Devotion |
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1. Buddhism was gradually reincorporated into Hinduism in India |
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2. Mahayana Buddhism in particular spread elsewhere in Asia |
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3. first millennium C.E.: development of a more popular Hinduism |
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a. expressed in epic poems, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana |
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b. action in the world and performance of caste duties provide a path to liberation |
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c. bhakti (worship) movement began in south India |
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IV. Moving toward Monotheism: The Search for God in the Middle East |
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A. The radical notion of a single supreme deity developed in Zoroastrianism and Judaism and became the basis for both Christianity and Islam. |
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B. Zoroastrianism |
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1. Persian prophet Zarathustra traditionally dated to sixth or seventh century B.C.E. |
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2. some state support during Achaemenid dynasty (558–330 B.C.E.) |
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3. single god Ahura Mazda is source of truth, light, goodness |
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a. cosmic struggle with Angra Mainyu (force of evil) |
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b. Ahura Mazda will eventually win, aided by a final savior |
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c. judgment day: restoration of world to purity and peace |
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d. need for the individual to choose good or evil |
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4. Zoroastrianism did not spread widely beyond Persia |
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a. Alexander and the Seleucid dynasty were disastrous for it |
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b. flourished in Parthian (247 B.C.E.–224 C.E.) and Sassanid (224–651 C.E.) empires |
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c. final decline caused by arrival of Islam; some Zoroastrians fled to India , became known as Parsis (“Persians”) |
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5. Jews in the Persian Empire were influenced by Zoroastrian ideas |
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a. idea of God vs. Satan |
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b. idea of a last judgment and bodily resurrection |
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c. belief in the final defeat of evil, with help of a savior (Messiah) |
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d. remaking of the world at the end of time |
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C. Judaism |
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1. developed among the Hebrews, recorded in the Old Testament |
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a. early tradition of migration to Palestine, led by Abraham |
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b. early tradition of enslavement in Egypt and escape |
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c. establishment of state of Israel ca. 1000 B.C.E. |
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2. Judean exiles in Babylon retained their cultural identity, returned to homeland |
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3. distinctive conception of God |
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a. Yahweh demanded exclusive loyalty |
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b. relationship with Yahweh as a covenant (contract) |
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c. lofty, transcendent deity—but communication was possible |
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4. foundation for both Christianity and Islam |
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V. The Cultural Tradition of Classical Greece : The Search for a Rational Order |
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A. Classical Greece did not create an enduring religious tradition. |
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1. system of polytheism, fertility cults, etc., remained |
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2. Greek intellectuals abandoned mythological framework |
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a. world is a physical reality governed by natural laws |
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b. humans can understand those laws |
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c. human reason can work out a system for ethical life |
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3. perhaps was caused by diversity and incoherence of mythology |
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a. intellectual stimulation of great civilizations |
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b. possible influence of growing role of law in Athenian political life |
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B. The Greek Way of Knowing |
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1. flourished 600–300 B.C.E. (same time as city-states flourished) |
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2. key element: the way questions were asked (argument, logic, questioning of received wisdom) |
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3. best example: Socrates (469–399 B.C.E.) of Athens |
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a. constant questioning of assumptions |
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b. conflict with city authorities over Athenian democracy |
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c. accused of corrupting the youth, executed |
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4. earliest classical Greek thinkers |
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a. applied rational questioning to nature |
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b. application to medicine |
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5. application of Greek rationalism to understand human behavior |
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a. Herodotus: why did Greeks and Persians fight each other? | |||
b. Plato (429–348 B.C.E.) outlined design for a good soC.E.y (Republic) led by a “philosopher-king” |
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c. Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) emphasized empirical observation |
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C. The Greek Legacy |
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1. many people continued traditional religious beliefs and practices |
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2. Greek rationalism spread widely |
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a. helped by Roman Empire |
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b. Christian theology was expressed in Greek philosophical terms |
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c. classical Greek texts preserved in Byzantine Empire |
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d. Western Europe: neglect of classical scholarship after fall of Roman Empire |
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e. part of Islamic culture |
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VI. Comparing Jesus and the Buddha |
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A. The Lives of the Founders |
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1. Gautama was royal; Jesus was from a lower-class family |
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2. both became spiritual seekers |
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a. both were mystics: claimed personal experience of another level of reality |
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b. based life’s work on their religious experience |
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3. both were “wisdom teaC.E.s” |
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a. challenged conventional values |
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b. urged renunciation of wealth |
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c. stressed love or compassion as the basis of morality |
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d. called for personal transformation of their followers |
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4. important differences |
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a. Jesus had Jewish tradition of single personal deity |
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b. Jesus’ teaching was more social and political than Gautama’s |
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c. Jesus was active for about three years; Gautama for over forty |
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d. Jesus was executed as a criminal; Gautama died of old age |
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B. Establishing New Religions |
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1. probably neither intended to C.E.te a new religion, but both did |
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2. followers transformed both into gods |
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3. how Christianity became a world religion |
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a. process began with Paul (10–65 C.E.) |
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b. women had more opportunities (but early Christianity still reflected patriarchy of time) |
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c. early converts were typically urban lower class and women |
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d. attraction of miracle stories |
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e. attraction of Christian care for each other |
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4. Roman persecution of Christians as “atheists” for their antagonism to all divine powers except their one god |
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a. ended with conversion of Emperor Constantine in early fourth century C.E. |
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b. later Roman emperors tried to use Christianity as social glue |
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c. Theodosius ordered closure of all polytheistic temples |
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d. spread of Christianity throughout Europe, parts of Africa, Middle East, Asia |
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5. Buddhism: Ashoka’s support helped, but Buddhism was never promoted as India ’s sole religion |
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C. Creating Institutions |
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1. Christianity developed a male hierarchical organization to replace early “house churches” |
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a. women were excluded from priesthood |
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b. concern for uniform doctrine and practice |
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c. | emergence of bishop of Rome (pope) as dominant leader in Western Europe contributed to Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox split | ||
d. doctrinal controversies |
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2. Buddhism clashed over interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings |
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a. series of councils did not prevent divisions |
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b. less sense of “right” and “wrong” than with Christian conflicts |
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3. Buddhism did not develop an overall church hierarchy |
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VII. Reflections: Religion and Historians |
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A. Religion is a sensitive subject for historians, too. |
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B. There are important points of tension between believers and historians. |
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1. change: religions present themselves as timeless, but historians see development over time, as a human phenomenon |
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2. experience of a divine reality: historians have trouble dealing with believers’ experiential claims |
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3. which group within a religion is “authentic”: historians usually refuse to take sides |
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C. It can be difficult to reconcile personal religious belief with historical scholarship. |
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D. Classical religious traditions are enormously important in world history. |