Religions of the Classical
Civilizations
Chapters 7-12
Hinduism and Jainism
• People to Know:
• Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma
• No founder, No religious figure
• Individual Religion
• Unite humans with divinity
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Reincarnation
Ahimsa
Karma
Moksha
• Social Organization:
• Caste System
• JAINISM
• Extreme Ahimsa
• Impractical to masses
Buddhism
• People to Know:
• Siddhartha Gautama
• Four Noble Truths:
• World is suffering
• Eighth-Fold Path
• Enter Enlightenment by Ending Suffering
• Anyone can break reincarnation
• Rejects the Caste System of Hinduism
Confucianism
• People to Know:
• Confucius
• Analects
• Everyone has a role and obligation in
society
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•
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Ren: kindness
Li: respect for elders and superiors
Xiao: filial piety
Junzi: : superior individual
• No real focus on political actions or gods
Daoism
• People to Know:
• Laozi
• Daodejing
• Rejection of society, politics, etc.
• Ambition and activism is chaos
• Dao: passive and yielding
• does nothing yet accomplishes everything
Legalism
• Clear laws and swift punishments to
transgressors
• No concern with ethics and morality
• No concern with the principles governing
nature
• No concern with divinity
Zoroastrianism
• Persia
• Epic Battle: Good vs Evil
• People to know:
• Zarathustra
• Ahura Mazada
• Angra Mainyu
• Fate sealed at Death
• Paradise or Hell
• Morals/Ethics
• Pleasures gifts from gods
Judaism
• God guides destinies
• Non-Conversion
• Distinctive Jewish culture
• God:
• less human, more abstract
• orderly and justice
• Ten Commandments
• Torah
• People to Know:
• Abraham
Christianity
• Founded in Middle East
• Popularized by Rome
• People to Know:
• Jesus, Peter, Paul
• Reform of legalistic policy in Judaism
• Life after death
• Morals and Ethics
Religious Diffusion and
Appeal
Bell Ringer
• What is this a picture of?
• Where was this art work created?
• What is the significance of this piece?
• What can this work teach us as historians?
Major Trade Routes of Afroeurasia
China and Religion
• A way to solve the Warring States
• Confucianism
• Legalism
• Daoism
• No real focus on a God, but focused on stability and social order
• Solved the needs of the People
• provided a role for every person
Buddhism Rejects a Caste System
• During the fall of the Han Dynasty Buddhism emerges from India to
China
• Appealed strongly to members of lower castes
• did not recognize castes
• less demanding than Jainism
• vernacular tongues
• The monastic organizations—
• spreading message
• conversions
Hinduism and Jainism stay in India
• Regional Kingdoms and weak political unity made
Hinduism the right fit for social order.
• Jainism:
• rejection of caste system and social hierarchy is
attractive
• strict principles and rules makes religion difficult
Judaism and Zoroastrianism
• Judaism wanders with its people
• Zoroastrianism
• attractive to the wealthy aristocrats in Persia
(material possessions are a blessing)
• weakens with the growth of Islam
Christianity provides equality
• Rapid growth of early Christianity in Rome
• Strong appeal:
• lower classes
• urban population
• Women
• Promised:
• equality at death
• a better life after death
Diffusion
• Made Possible:
• advanced technology
• trade routes
• increasing interactions
• Leads to:
• blending of religious
• blending of culture