Established by 1000 C.E.

Polytheism: origins

•Earliest religions across all cultural regions

•Sumerian, Shang, Greek, Roman, Germanic, Mayan, Aztec, and African

Polytheism: Tenets

•Belief in many gods/ spirits•Gods as personification of

nature•animism

Hinduism: Origin & Spread

• Began with the Aryan invaders– vedas

• 1700-1500 B.C.E.• Later groups added to ideas• Spread thru Indian

Subcontinent

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

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

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

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)

Judaism: Significance

• First monotheistic religion• Greatly influenced both

Christianity and Islam• No widespread hierarchical

structure• No missionary movement

• 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.

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

Buddhism: Tenets

• Four Noble truths– Universality of Suffering– Desire causes suffering– Nirvana is the cessation of desire– Eightfold path is guide to entering

NirvanaRightness of : Knowledge, thought,

speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mind, and meditation

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

Confucianism: Origins

• Confucius began teaching in 500s BCE

• Developed an ethical philosophy

• Never spread from China or regions dominated by China (Japan, Korea, Taiwan)

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

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

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

Lao Tze

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

Daoism: Significance

• Social conventions such as Confucian rituals are unnatural

• Mixed with peasant belief in spirits (animism)

• Interest in nature greatly influenced Chinese arts

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

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

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

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.

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

The Ka’ba

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