Chapter 7- World Religions

Jude Chudi Okpala; Megan Ackatz

Chapter 7- World Religions

World Religions

Learning Objectives

To identify the origins of the world religions.
To understand the practices and beliefs of religions and how they developed.
To compare the relationship between religion and the developments of society.

Etymology and History of Hinduism

Introduction

Hinduism is the predominant religion of India. Among other practices and philosophies, Hinduism includes a wide spectrum of laws and prescriptions of “daily morality” based on karma, dharma, and societal norms. Hinduism is a conglomeration of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid common set of beliefs.

Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. Among its direct roots is the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India and, as such, Hinduism is often called the “oldest living religion” or the “oldest living major religion” in the world.

Hinduism, with about one billion followers (950 million estimated in India), is the world’s third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam. ⁽²⁾

Etymology

The word Hindu is derived (through Persian) from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, which is first mentioned in the Rig Veda.

The word Hindu was borrowed by European languages from the Arabic term al-Hind, referring to the land of the people who live across the River Indus, itself from the Persian term Hindū, which refers to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustān emerged as a popular alternative name of India, meaning the “land of Hindus.”

It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism was introduced into the English language in the 19 ^thcentury to denote the religious, philosophical, and cultural traditions native to India. ⁽²⁾

History

Hinduism developed over many centuries from a variety of sources: cultural practices, sacred texts, and philosophical movements, as well as local popular beliefs. The combination of these factors is what accounts for the varied and diverse nature of Hindu practices and beliefs. Hinduism developed from several sources.

Prehistoric and Neolithic culture, which left material evidence including abundant rock and cave paintings of bulls and cows, indicating an early interest in the sacred nature of these animals. ⁽³⁾

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley civilization , located in what is now Pakistan and northwestern India, flourished between approximately 2500 and 1700 B.C.E., and persisted with some regional presence as late as 800 B.C.E. The civilization reached its high point in the cities of Harrapa and Mohenjo-Daro. Although the physical remains of these large urban complexes have not produced a great deal of explicit religious imagery, archaeologists have recovered some intriguing items, including an abundance of seals depicting bulls, among these a few exceptional examples illustrating figures seated in yogic positions; terracotta female figures that suggest fertility; and small anthropomorphic sculptures made of stone and bronze. Material evidence found at these sites also includes prototypes of stone linga (phallic emblems of the Hindu god Shiva).

According to recent theories, Indus Valley peoples migrated to the Gangetic region of India and blended with indigenous cultures, after the decline of civilization in the Indus Valley. A separate group of Indo-European speaking people migrated to the subcontinent from West Asia. These peoples brought with them ritual life including fire sacrifices presided over by priests, and a set of hymns and poems collectively known as the Vedas. ⁽³⁾

Upanishads

The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads. Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as Vedanta (conclusion of the Veda). The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the rituals. The diverse monistic speculations of the Upanishads were synthesized into a theistic framework by the sacred Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita.

The major Sanskrit epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, were compiled over a protracted period during the late centuries BCE and the early centuries CE. They contain mythological stories about the rulers and wars of ancient India, and are interspersed with religious and philosophical treatises. The later Puranas recount tales about devas and devis, their interactions with humans, and their battles against rakshasa.

Increasing urbanization of India in 7 ^thand 6 ^thcenturies BCE led to the rise of new ascetic or shramana movements, which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals. Mahavira (c. 549—477 BCE), proponent of Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563 — 483), founder of Buddhism were the most prominent icons of this movement. ⁽²⁾

Persia

Persia held dominance in northern India until the conquest of Alexander the Great in 327 BCE. One year later, Alexander had defeated the Achaemenid Empire and firmly conquered the Indian subcontinent. Again, foreign influences were brought to bear on the region, giving rise to the Greco-Buddhist culture, which impacted all areas of culture in northern India from art to religion to dress. Statues and reliefs from this period depict Buddha, and other figures, as distinctly Hellenic in dress and pose (known as the Gandhara School of Art). Following Alexander’s departure from India, the Maurya Empire (322—185 BCE) rose under the reign of Chandragupta Maurya (322—298) until, by the end of the third century BCE, it ruled over almost all of northern India. ⁽²⁾

Maurya Empire

The Maurya Empire proved short-lived, in large part due to poor financial administration. Following its collapse, the country splintered into many small kingdoms and empires (such as the Kushan Empire) in what has come to be called theMiddle Period . This era saw the increase of trade with Rome (which had begun c. 130 BCE) following Augustus Caesar’s conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE (Egypt had been India’s most constant partner in trade in the past). This was a time of individual and cultural development in the various kingdoms, which finally flourished in what is considered the Golden Age of India under the reign of the Gupta Empire (320-550 CE). The empire declined slowly under a succession of weak rulers until it collapsed around 550 CE. ⁽²⁾

India’s Independence

In 712 CE the Muslim general Muhammed bin Quasim conquered northern India, establishing himself in the region of modern-day Pakistan. The Muslim invasion saw an end to the indigenous empires of India and, from then on, independent city-states or communities under the control of a city would be the standard model of government. The Islamic Sultanates rose in the region of modern-day Pakistan and spread northwest. The disparate world views of the religions, which now contested each other for acceptance in the region and the diversity of languages spoken, made the unity and cultural advances, such as were seen in the time of the Guptas, difficult to reproduce. Consequently, the Islamic Mughal Empire easily conquered the region. India would then remain subject to various foreign influences and powers (among them the Portuguese, the French, and the British) until finally winning its independence in 1947 CE. ⁽²⁾

Key Takeaways

Hinduism is a conglomeration of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid common set of beliefs that developed over many centuries from a variety of sources; cultural practices, sacred texts, and philosophical movements, as well as local popular beliefs.

The Hindu Theology of Samsara and Yoga

The Hindu Theology of Samsara

Common to virtually all Hindus are certain beliefs, including, but not limited to, the following:

Belief in many gods, which are seen as manifestations of a single unity. These deities are linked to universal and natural processes.
Preference for one deity while not excluding or disbelieving others.
Belief in the universal law of cause and effect (karma) and reincarnation.
Belief in the possibility of liberation and release (moksha) by which the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) can be resolved. ⁽³⁾

The concept of Samsara is reincarnation, the idea that after we die our soul will be reborn again in another body — perhaps in an animal, perhaps as a human, perhaps as a god, but always in a regular cycle of deaths and resurrections.

Another concept is Karma , which literally means “action,” the idea that all actions have consequences, good or bad. Karma determines the conditions of the next life, just like our life is conditioned by our previous karma. There is no judgement or forgiveness, simply an impersonal, natural and eternal law operating in the universe. Those who do good will be reborn in better conditions while those who are evil will be reborn in worse conditions.

Dharma means “right behavior” or “duty,” the idea that we all have a social obligation. Each member of a specific caste has a particular set of responsibilities, a dharma. For example, among the Kshatriyas (the warrior caste), it was considered a sin to die in bed; dying in the battlefield was the highest honor they could aim for. In other words, dharma encouraged people of different social groups to perform their duties as best as they could.

Moksha means “liberation” or release. The eternal cycle of deaths and resurrection can be seen as a pointless repetition with no ultimate goal attached to it. Seeking permanent peace or freedom from suffering seems impossible, for sooner or later we will be reborn in worse circumstances. Moksha is the liberation from this never-ending cycle of reincarnation, a way to escape this repetition. But what would it mean to escape from this cycle? What is it that awaits the soul that manages to be released from samsara? To answer this question we need to look into the concept of atman and Brahman.

The Upanishads tell us that the core of our own self is not the body, or the mind, but atman or “ Self ”. Atman is the core of all creatures, their innermost essence. It can only be perceived by direct experience through meditation. It is when we are at the deepest level of our existence.

Brahman is the one underlying substance of the universe, the unchanging “ Absolute Being ”, the intangible essence of the entire existence. It is the undying and unchanging seed that creates and sustains everything. It is beyond all description and intellectual understanding.

One of the great insights of the Upanishads is that atman and Brahman are made of the same substance. When a person achieves moksha or liberation, atman returns to Brahman, to the source, like a drop of water returning to the ocean. The Upanishads claim that it is an illusion that we are all separate: with this realization we can be freed from ego, from reincarnation and from the suffering we experience during our existence. Moksha, in a sense, means to be reabsorbed into Brahman, into the great World Soul. ⁽⁴⁾

The following passage explains in metaphorical terms the idea that atman and Brahman are the same:

“As the same fire assumes different shapes When it consumes objects differing in shape, So does the one Self take the shape Of every creature in whom he is present.” (Katha Upanishad II.2.9 ⁽⁴⁾)

How is moksha achieved?

There are many ways according to the Upanishads: Meditation, introspection, and also from the knowledge that behind all forms and veils the subjective and objective are One, that we are all part of the Whole. In general, the Upanishads agree on the idea that men are naturally ignorant about the ultimate identity between atman, the self within, and Brahman. One of the goals of meditation is to achieve this identification with Brahman, and abandon the ignorance that arises from the identification with the illusory or quasi-illusory nature of the common sense world. ⁽⁴⁾

Yogas

One accrues karma over the course of one’s life by fulfilling the duties associated with one’s caste, as well as through the various yogas. In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life; there are several methods of yoga that sages have taught for reaching that goal. Texts dedicated to Yoga include the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and, as their philosophical and historical basis, the Upanishads.

Paths that one can follow to achieve the spiritual goal of life (moksha, Samadhi, or nirvana) include:

Bhakti Yoga (the path of love and devotion)
Karma Yoga (the path of right action)
Rāja Yoga (the path of meditation)
Jñāna Yoga (the path of wisdom)

An individual may prefer one or some yogas over others, according to his or her inclination and understanding. Some devotional schools teach that bhakti is the only practical path to achieve spiritual perfection for most people, based on their belief that the world is currently in the Kali Yuga (one of four epochs which are part of the Yuga cycle). Practice of one yoga does not exclude others. Many schools believe that the different yogas naturally blend into and aid other yogas. For example, the practice of jnana yoga, is thought to inevitably lead to pure love (the goal of bhakti yoga), and vice versa. Someone practicing deep meditation (such as in raja yoga) must embody the core principles of karma yoga, jnana yoga, and bhakti yoga, whether directly or indirectly. ⁽²⁾

Sacred Text

Sacred Text: The Vedas

The Vedas are a collection of hymns and other religious texts composed in India between about 1500 and 1000 BCE. It includes elements such as liturgical material, as well as mythological accounts, poems, prayers, and formulas considered to be sacred by the Vedic religion. ⁽⁷⁾

The origin of the Vedas can be traced back as far as 1500 BCE, when a large group of nomads called the Aryans, coming from central Asia, crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains, migrating into the Indian subcontinent. We do not know much about the authors of these texts: In Vedic tradition the focus tends to be on the ideas rather than on the authors , which may allow one to look at the message without being influenced by the messenger.

Vedic literature is religious in nature and as such tends to reflect the worldview, spiritual preoccupations, and social attitudes of the Brahmans or priestly class of ancient India. The Vedas were first composed sometime around 1500—1000 BCE in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent– present day Pakistan and northwest India — and they were transmitted orally over many generations before eventually being committed to writing. Like the Homeric epics, parts of the Vedas were composed in different periods. The oldest of these texts is the Rig–Veda, but it is not possible to establish precise dates for its composition. It is believed that the entire collection was completed by the end of the second millennium BCE.

In general, the Vedas have a strong priestly bias, as the priestly class had the monopoly in the edition and transmission of these texts.

The Rig-Veda is the largest and most important text of the Vedic collection; it includes 1028 hymns and it is divided into ten books called mandalas . It is a difficult text, written in a very obscure style and filled with metaphors and allusions that are hard to understand for the modern reader. The Sama-Veda has verses that are almost entirely from the Rig-Veda, but are arranged in a different way since they are to be chanted. The Yajur-Veda is divided into the White and Black Yajur-Veda and contains explanatory commentaries on how to perform religious rituals and sacrifices. The Atharva-Veda contains charms and magical incantations and has a more folkloristic style.

The Vedas present a multitude of gods, most of them related to natural forces such as storms, fire, and wind. As part of its mythology, Vedic texts contain multiple creation stories, most of them inconsistent with each other. Sometimes the Vedas refer to a particular god as the greatest god of all, and later another god will be regarded as the greatest god of all.

Some elements of the religion practiced by the natives of India before Vedic times still persist in the Vedas. The Pre-Vedic religion, the oldest known religion of India, which was found in India before the Aryan migrations, was apparently an animistic and totemic worship of many spirits dwelling in stones, animals, trees, rivers, mountains, and stars. Some of these spirits were good, others were evil, and great magic skill was the only way to control them. Traces of this old religion are still present in the Vedas. In the Atharva-Veda, for example, there are spells to obtain children, to avoid abortion, to prolong life, to ward off evil, to woo sleep, and to harm or destroy enemies. ⁽⁷⁾

Sacred Text: The Upanishads

The Upanishads are a collection of texts of religious and philosophical nature, written in India probably between c. 800 BCE and c. 500 BCE, during a time when Indian society started to question the traditional Vedic religious order. Some people during this time decided to engage in the pursuit of spiritual progress, living as ascetic hermits, rejecting ordinary material concerns, and giving up family life. Some of their speculations and philosophy were compiled into the Upanishads. There is an attempt in these texts to shift the focus of religious life from external rites and sacrifices to internal spiritual quests in the search for answers.

Etymologically, the name Upanishad is composed of the terms upa (near) and shad (to sit), meaning something like “sitting down near .” The name is inspired by the action of sitting at the feet of an illuminated teacher to engage in a session of spiritual instructions, as aspirants still do in India today.

The books, then, contain the thoughts and insights of important spiritual Indian figures. Although we speak of them together as a body of texts, the Upanishads are not parts of a whole, like chapters in a book. Each is complete in itself. Therefore, they represent not a consistent philosophy or worldview, but rather the experiences, opinions, and lessons of many different men and women. ⁽⁴⁾

Sacred Text: Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Indian text that became an important work of Hindu tradition in terms of both literature and philosophy. The earliest translations of this work from Sanskrit into English occurred around 1795 CE by Sir Charles Wilkins. The name Bhagavad Gita means “ the song of the Lord ”. It is composed as a poem and it contains many key topics related to the Indian intellectual and spiritual tradition. Although it is normally edited as an independent text, the Bhagavad Gita became a section of a massive Indian epic named “The Mahabharata,” the longest Indian epic. There is a part in the middle of this long text, consisting of 18 brief chapters and about 700 verses: this is the section known as the Bhagavad Gita. It is also referred to as the Gita , for short.

Around the time when the Gita was written, asceticism was seen in India as the ideal spiritual life. Ascetics from different sects along with Jains and Buddhists all agreed that leaving everything behind (family, possessions, occupations, etc.) was the best way to live in a meaningful way.

The Bhagavad Gita revolves around the following questions:

How can someone live a life spiritually meaningful without withdrawing from society?

What can someone who does not want to give up family and social obligations do to live the right way?

The Gita challenges the general consensus that only ascetics and monks can live a perfect spiritual life through renunciation and emphasizes the value of an active spiritual life.

The Plot of the Gita

The plot of the Gita is based on two sets of cousins competing for the throne: The Pandavas and the Kauravas .

Diplomacy has failed, so these two clans’ armies meet on a battlefield in order to settle the conflict and decide which side will gain the throne. This is a major battle and it takes place in Kurukshetra, “the field of the Kurus,” in the modern state of Haryana in India.

Arjuna , the great archer and leader of the Pandavas, is a member of the Kshatriyas caste (the warrior rulers caste). He looks out towards his opponents and recognizes friends, relatives, former teachers, and finally realizes that controlling the kingdom is not worth the blood of all his loved ones. Emotionally overwhelmed, Arjuna drops down, casts aside his bow and arrows, and decides to quit. He prefers to withdraw from battle; he prefers inaction instead of being responsible for the death of the people he loves.

His chariot driver is the god Vishnu, who has taken the form of Krishna. Krishna sees Arjuna quitting and begins to persuade Arjuna that he should stick to his duty as a warrior and engage the enemy.

The Bhagavad Gita is presented as a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna, a man and a god, a seeker and a knower.⁽⁸⁾

Key Takeaways

Integral to Hindu Theology is: Samsara is the concept of reincarnation, Karma, Dharma, Moksha, Brahman, and the Yogas.
Vedic literatures religious in nature and as such tends to reflect the worldview, spiritual preoccupations, and social attitudes of the Brahmans or priestly class of ancient India.
The Upanishads are a collection of texts of religious and philosophical nature. They tell us that the core of our own self is not the body, or the mind, but atmanor “ Self”.
The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Indian text that became an important work of Hindu tradition in terms of both literature and philosophy

Early Years and History of Buddhism

Introduction

Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning “the awakened one” in Sanskrit and Pāli). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering (dukkha) through eliminating ignorance (avidyā) by way of understanding and seeing dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and eliminating craving (taṇhā), and thus attain the highest happiness, nirvāņa.

Two major branches of Buddhism are generally recognized:

Theravada (“The School of the Elders”)

Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar etc.).

Mahayana (“The Great Vehicle”)

Mahayana is found throughout East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan etc.) and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, and Tiantai (Tendai).

In some classifications, Vajrayana —practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China and Russia—is recognized as a third branch, while others classify it as a part of Mahayana.

While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world. Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantly depending on the way Buddhist adherence is defined. Conservative estimates are between 350 and 750 million. Higher estimates are between 1.2 and 1.7 billion. It is also recognized as one of the fastest growing religions in the world. ⁽¹⁹⁾

The Three Jewels

Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels :

The Buddha
The Dharma (the teachings)
The Sangha (the community)

Taking “refuge in the triple gem” has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to being on the Buddhist path, and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-Buddhist.

Other practices may include following ethical precepts; support of the monastic community; renouncing conventional living and becoming a monastic; the development of mindfulness and practice of meditation; cultivation of higher wisdom and discernment; study of scriptures; devotional practices; ceremonies; and in the Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas and bodhisattvas. ⁽¹⁹⁾

Early Years of the Buddha and the Four Sights

There is no agreement on when Siddhartha was born. This is still a question mark both in scholarship and Buddhist tradition. Several dates have been proposed, but the many contradictions and inaccuracies in the different chronologies and dating systems make it impossible to come up with a satisfactory answer free of controversy.

Modern scholarship agrees that the Buddha passed away at some point between 410 and 370 BCE, about 140-100 years before the time of Indian Emperor Ashoka’s reign (268-232 BCE). Both scholars and Buddhist tradition agree that the Buddha lived for 80 years. More exactness on this matter seems impossible.

Siddhartha’s caste was the Kshatriya caste (the warrior rulers caste). He belonged to the Sahkya clan and was born in the Gautama family. Because of this, he became to be known as Shakyamuni “sage of the Shakya clan”, which is the most common name used in the Mahayana literature to refer to the Buddha. His father was named Śuddhodana and his mother, Maya. ⁽²⁰⁾

According to this narrative, shortly after the birth of young prince Gautama, an astrologer visited the young prince’s father and prophesied that Siddhartha would either become a great king or renounce the material world to become a holy man, depending on whether he saw what life was like outside the palace walls.

Śuddhodana was determined to see his son become a king, so he prevented him from leaving the palace grounds. But at age 29, despite his father’s efforts, Gautama ventured beyond the palace several times. In a series of encounters—known in Buddhist literature as the four sights—he learned of:

The suffering of ordinary people, encountering an old man
A sick man
A corpse
An ascetic holy man, apparently content and at peace with the world

These experiences prompted Gautama to abandon royal life and take up a spiritual quest. ⁽¹⁹⁾

Historical Context

After leaving Kapilavastu, Siddhartha practiced the yoga discipline under the direction of two of the leading masters of that time: Arada Kalama and Udraka Ramaputra. Siddhartha did not get the results he expected, so he left the masters, engaged in extreme asceticism, and five followers joined him. For a period of six years Siddhartha tried to attain his goal but was unsuccessful. After realizing that asceticism was not the way to attain the results he was looking for, he gave up this way of life. ⁽²¹⁾

After eating a meal and taking a bath, Siddhartha sat down under a tree of the species ficus religiosa, where he finally attained Nirvana (perfect enlightenment) and became known as the Buddha.

Soon after this, the Buddha delivered his first sermon in a place named Sarnath, also known as the “deer park,” near the city of Varanasi. This was a key moment in the Buddhist tradition, traditionally known as the moment when the Buddha “set in motion the wheel of the law. ” The Buddha explained the middle way between asceticism and a life of luxury, the four noble truths (suffering, its origin, how to end it, and the eightfold path or the path leading to the extinction of suffering), and the impersonality of all beings.

The Buddha’s first disciples joined him around this time, and the Buddhist monastic community, known as Sangha, was established. Sariputra and Mahamaudgalyayana were the two chief disciples of the Buddha. Mahakasyapa was also an important disciple who became the convener of the First Buddhist Council. From Kapilavastu and Sravasti in the north, to Varanasi, Nalanda and many other areas in the Ganges basin, the Buddha preached his vision for about 45 years. During his career he visited his hometown, met his father, his foster mother and even his son, who joined the Sangha along with other members of the Shakya clan. Upali, another disciple of the Buddha, joined the Sangha around this time: he was a Shakya and regarded as the most competent monk in matters of monastic discipline. Ananda, a cousin of the Buddha, also became a monk; he accompanied the Buddha during the last stage of his life and persuaded him to admit women into the Sangha, thus establishing the Bhikkhuni Sangha, the female Buddhist monastic community.

During his career, some kings and other rulers are described as followers of the Buddha. The Buddha’s adversary is reported to be Davadatta, his own cousin, who became a follower of the Buddha and turned out to be responsible for a schism of the Sangha, and he even tried to kill the Buddha.

The last days of the Buddha are described in detail in an ancient text named Mahaparinirvana Sutra. We are told that the Buddha visited Vaishali, where he fell ill and nearly died. Some accounts say that here the Buddha delivered his last sermon. After recovering, the Buddha travelled to Kushinagar. On his way, he accepted a meal from a smith named Cunda, which made him sick and led to his death. Once he reached Kushinagar, he encouraged his disciples to continue their activity one last time and he finally passed away. ⁽²¹⁾

Forming of Two Separate Buddhist Lines

About a century after the death of Buddha, during the Second Buddhist Council, we find the first major schism ever recorded in Buddhism: The Mahasanghika School.

Many different schools of Buddhism had developed at that time. Buddhist tradition speaks about 18 schools of early Buddhism, although we know that there were more than that, probably around 25.

A Buddhist school named Sthaviravada (in Sanskrit “ school of the elders ”) was the most powerful of the early schools of Buddhism. Traditionally, it is held that the Mahasanghika School came into existence as a result of a dispute over monastic practice. They also seem to have emphasized the supramundane nature of the Buddha, so they were accused of preaching that the Buddha had the attributes of a god. As a result of the conflict over monastic discipline, coupled with their controversial views on the nature of the Buddha, the Mahasanghikas were expelled, thus forming two separate Buddhist lines: the Sthaviravada and the Mahasanghika .

During the course of several centuries, both the Sthaviravada and the Mahasanghika schools underwent many transformations, originating different schools.

The Theravada School, which still exists in our day, emerged from the Sthaviravada line, and is the dominant form of Buddhism in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
The Mahasanghika School eventually disappeared as an ordination tradition.
During the 1st century CE, while the oldest Buddhist groups were growing in south and south-east Asia, a new Buddhist school named Mahayana (“ Great Vehicle ”) originated in northern India. This school had a more adaptable approach and was open to doctrinal innovations.
Mahayama Buddhism is today the dominant form of Buddhism in Nepal, Tibet, China, Japan, Mongolia, Korea, and Vietnam. ⁽²⁰⁾

Buddhism Today

In the 21st century CE, it is estimated that 488 million (9-10% of the world population) people practice Buddhism. Approximately half are practitioners of Mahayana schools in China and it continues to flourish. The main countries that practice Buddhism currently are China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Due to the Chinese occupation of Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism has been adopted by international practitioners, notably westerners, in a variety of different countries.

‘Socially Engaged Buddhism,’ which originated in 1963 in war-ravaged Vietnam, a term coined by Tchich Nhat Hanh, the international peace activist, is a contemporary movement concerned with developing Buddhist solutions to social, political and ecological global problems. This movement is not divided between monastic and lay members and includes Buddhists from Buddhist countries, as well as western converts. Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka are the major Buddhist countries (over 70% of population practicing) while Japan, Laos, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam have smaller but strong minority status.

New movements continue to develop to accommodate the modern world. Perhaps the most notable are the Dalit Buddhist Movement (Dalits are a group of Indians known as the ‘untouchables’ because they fall outside the rigid caste system but who are now gaining respect and status supported by UN); New Kadampa Tradition, led by Tibetan monk Gyatso Kelsang, which claims to be Modern Buddhism focused on lay practitioners; and the Vipassana Movement, consisting of a number of branches of modern Theravada Buddhism which have moved outside the monasteries, focusing on insight meditation.⁽²²⁾

Buddhist Theology

The Buddha was not concerned with satisfying human curiosity related to metaphysical speculations. The Buddha ignored topics, such as the existence of god, the afterlife, and creation stories. During the centuries, Buddhism has evolved into different branches, and many of them have incorporated a number of diverse metaphysical systems, deities, astrology and other elements that the Buddha did not consider. In spite of this diversity, Buddhism has a relative unity and stability in its moral code. ⁽²⁰⁾

The Four Noble Truths

The Four Truths, also commonly known as ‘The Four Noble Truths’ explain the basic orientation of Buddhism. They are the truths understood by the ‘worthy ones,’ those who have attained enlightenment or nirvana.

The four truths are dukkha (the truth of suffering); the arising of dukkha (the causes of suffering); the stopping of dukkha (the end of suffering), and the path leading to the stopping of dukkha (the path to freedom from suffering). ⁽²³⁾

Analogy of Understanding the Four Noble Truths

The Four Truths are often best understood using a medical framework:

Truth 1 is the diagnosis of an illness or condition
Truth 2 is identifying the underlying causes of it
Truth 3 is its prognosis or outcome
Truth 4 is its treatment

Truth 1: The Truth of Suffering

All humans experience surprises, frustrations, betrayals, etc., which lead to unhappiness and suffering. Acknowledging or accepting that we will encounter difficulties in daily life as an inevitable and universal part of life as a human being is the first truth. Within this, there are two types of suffering :

Natural suffering: Disasters, wars, infections, etc.
Self-inflicted suffering: Habitual reacting and unnecessary anxiety and regret

Truth 2: The Causes of Suffering

All suffering lies not in external events or circumstances but in the way we react to and deal with them, our perceptions and interpretations. Suffering emerges from craving for life to be other than it is, which derives from the 3 poisons :

Ignorance (Delusion) of the fact that everything, including the self, is impermanent and interdependent.
Desire (Greed) of objects and people who will help us to avoid suffering.
Aversion (Anger) to the things we do not want, thinking we can avoid suffering. We can learn to look at each experience as it happens and be prepared for the next. ⁽²³⁾

Truth 3: The End of Suffering

We hold limiting ideas about ourselves, others, and the world, of which we need to let go. We can unlearn everything from our social conditioning and so bring down all barriers or separations. ⁽²³⁾

Truth 4: The Path that Frees us from Suffering

The mind leads us to live in a dualistic way, but if we are aware of and embrace our habits and illusions, we can abandon our expectations about the ways things should be and instead accept the way they are. We can use mindfulness and meditation to examine our views and gain an accurate perspective.

This Truth contains the Eightfold Path leading out of samsara to nirvana. It consists of:

Right View: Accepting the fundamental Buddhist teachings
Right Resolve: Adopting a positive outlook and a mind free from lust, ill-will, and cruelty
Right Speech: Using positive and productive speech as opposed to lying, frivolous or harsh speech
Right Action: Keeping the five precepts — refraining from killing, stealing, misconduct, false speech, and taking intoxicants
Right Livelihood: Avoiding professions which harm others such as slavery of prostitution
Right Effort: Directing the mind towards wholesome goals
Right Mindfulness: Being aware of what one is thinking, doing, and feeling at all times
Right Meditation: Focusing attention in order to enter meditational states

These eight aspects of the path are often divided into 3 groups: Insight (Right View, Right Resolve), morality (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood), and meditation (Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Meditation).

This eightfold path is not linear, passing from one stage to the next, but cumulative so that ideally all eight factors are practiced simultaneously. ⁽²³⁾

Religious Practice During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties

Introduction to Chinese Religions

Religious practices in ancient China go back over 7,000 years. Long before the philosophical and spiritual teachings of Confucius and Lao-Tzu developed or before the teachings of the Buddha came to China, the people worshipped personifications of nature and then of concepts like “wealth” or “fortune” which developed into a religion. These beliefs still influence religious practices today. For example, the Tao te Ching of Taoism maintains that there is a universal force known as the Tao which flows through all things and binds all things but makes no mention of specific gods to be worshipped; still, modern Taoists in China (and elsewhere) worship many gods at private altars and in public ceremonies which originated in the country’s ancient past. ⁽²⁴⁾

An Overview of Chinese Religious History

Chinese Prehistoric Religious Practice

In China, religious beliefs are evident in the Yangshao Culture of the Yellow River Valley, which prospered between 5000-3000 BCE. At the Neolithic site of Banpo Village in modern Shaanxi Province (dated to between c. 4500–3750 BCE) 250 tombs were found containing grave goods, which point to a belief in life after death. There is also a ritualistic pattern to how the dead were buried with tombs oriented west to east to symbolize death and rebirth. Grave goods provide evidence of specific people in the village who acted as priests and presided over some kind of divination and religious observance.

The Yangshao Culture was matrilineal, meaning women were dominant, so this religious figure would have been a woman based on the grave goods found. There is no evidence of any high-ranking males in the burials, but a significant number of females. Scholars believe that the early religious practices were also matrilineal and most likely animistic, where people worship personifications of nature, and usually feminine deities were benevolent and male deities malevolent, or at least more to be feared.

These practices continued with the Qijia Culture (c. 2200–1600 BCE) who inhabited the Upper Yellow River Valley but whose culture could have been patriarchal. Examinations of the Bronze Age site of Lajia Village in modern-day Qinghai Province (and elsewhere) have uncovered evidence of religious practices. Lajia Village is often referred to as the “Chinese Pompeii” because it was destroyed by an earthquake, which caused a flood and the resulting mudslides buried the village intact. Among the artifacts uncovered was a bowl of noodles which scientists have examined and believe to be the oldest noodles in the world and precursors to China’s staple dish “Long-Life Noodles.” Even though not all scholars or archaeologists agree on China as the creator of the noodle, the finds at Lajia support the claim of religious practices there as early as c. 2200 BCE. There is evidence that the people worshipped a supreme god who was king of many other lesser deities. ⁽²⁴⁾

Religious Practice During the Shang Dynasty

By the time of the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) these religious beliefs had developed so that now there was a definite “k ing of the gods ” named Shangti and many lesser gods of other names. Shangti presided over all the important matters of state and was a very busy god. He was rarely sacrificed to because people were encouraged not to bother him with their problems. Ancestor worship may have begun at this time but more likely, started much earlier.

Evidence of a strong belief in ghosts , in the form of amulets and charms , goes back to at least the Shang Dynasty and ghost stories are among the earliest form of Chinese literature. Ghosts (known as guei or kuei) were the spirits of deceased persons who had not been buried correctly with due honors or were still attached to the earth for other reasons. They were called by a number of names but in one form, jiangshi (“stiff body”), they appear as zombies . Ghosts played a very important role in Chinese religion and culture and still do. The ritual still practiced in China today known as Tomb Sweeping Day (usually around 4 April) is observed to honor the dead and make sure they are happy in the afterlife. If they are not, they are thought to return to haunt the living. The Chinese visit the graves of their ancestors on Tomb Sweeping Day during the Festival of Qingming, even if they never do at any other time of the year, to tend the graves and pay their respects.

When someone died naturally or was buried with the proper honors, there was no fear of them returning as a ghost. The Chinese believed that, if the person had lived a good life, they went to live with the gods after death. These spirits of one’s ancestors were prayed to so they could approach Shangti with the problems and praise of those on earth. Tanner (2010) writes:

Ancestors were represented by a physical symbol such as a spirit tablet engraved or painted with the ancestor’s honorific name. Rituals were held to honor these ancestors, and sacrifices of millet ale, cattle, dogs, sheep, and humans were offered. The scale of the sacrifices varied, but at important rituals, hundreds of animals and/or human sacrifices would be slaughtered. Believing that the spirits of the dead continued to exist and to take an interest in the world of the living, the Shang elite buried their dead in elaborate and well-furnished tombs.

The spirits of these ancestors could help a person in life by revealing the future to them. Divination became a significant part of Chinese religious beliefs and was performed by people with mystical powers (what one would call a “psychic” in the modern day) one would pay to tell one’s future through oracle bones. It is through these oracle bones that writing developed in China. The mystic would write the question on the shoulder bone of an ox or turtle shell and apply heat until it cracked; whichever way the crack went would determine the answer. It was not the mystic or the bone that gave the answer but one’s ancestors who the mystic communed with. These ancestors were in touch with eternal spirits, the gods, who controlled and maintained the universe. ⁽²⁴⁾

Religious Practice During the Zhou Dynasty

The states during the Western Zhou period (1056-771 BCE) in China. Shows the Yellow River and Yangtze River. — **Figure 4-1:** States of the Western Zhou Dynasty by Philg88 is licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0 .

In the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–226 BCE) the concept of the Mandate of Heaven was developed. The Mandate of Heaven was the belief that Shangti ordained a certain emperor or dynasty to rule and allowed them to rule as long as they pleased him. When the rulers were no longer taking care of the people responsibly, they were said to have lost the Mandate of Heaven and were replaced by another. Modern scholars have seen this simply as a justification for changing a regime, but the people at the time believed in the concept. The gods were thought to watch over the people and would pay special attention to the emperor. People continued a practice, which began toward the end of the Shang Dynasty, of wearing charms and amulets of their god of choice or their ancestors for protection or in the hope of blessings, and the emperor did this as well. Religious practices changed during the latter part of the Zhou Dynasty owing to its decline and eventual fall, but the practice of wearing religious jewelry continued.

The Zhou Dynasty is divided into two periods: Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) and Eastern Zhou (771–226 BCE). Chinese culture and religious practices flourished during the Western Zhou period but began to break apart during the Eastern Zhou. Religious practices of divination, ancestor worship, and veneration for the gods continued, but during the Spring and Autumn Period (772–476 BCE) philosophical ideas began to challenge the ancient beliefs.

Confucius (c. 551–479 BCE) encouraged ancestor worship as a way of remembering and honoring one’s past but emphasized people’s individual responsibility in making choices and criticized an over-reliance on supernatural powers. Mencius (c. 372–289 BCE) developed the ideas of Confucius, and his work resulted in a more rational and restrained view of the world.

The work of Lao-Tzu (c. 500 BCE) and the development of Taoism might be seen as a reaction to Confucian principles if not for the fact that Taoism developed many centuries before the traditional date assigned to Lao-Tzu.

It is much more probable that Taoism developed from the original nature/folk religion of the people of China than that it was created by a 6th-century BCE philosopher. Therefore, it is more accurate to say that the rationalism of Confucianism probably developed as a reaction to the emotionalism and spiritualism of those earlier beliefs. ⁽²⁴⁾

Warring States Period

Religious beliefs developed further during the next period in China’s history, The Warring States Period (476–221 BCE), which was very chaotic. The seven states of China were all independent now that the Zhou had lost the Mandate of Heaven, and each one fought the others for control of the country. Confucianism was the most popular belief during this time, but there was another, which was growing stronger.

A statesman named Shang Yang (died 338 BCE) from the region of Qin developed a philosophy called Legalism , which maintained that people were only motivated by self-interest, were inherently evil, and had to be controlled by law. Shang Yang’s philosophy helped the State of Qin overpower the six other states and from that the Qin Dynasty was founded by the first emperor, Shi Huangti, in 221 BCE. ⁽²⁴⁾

Key Takeaways

Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) religious beliefs had developed so that now there was a definite “king of the gods ” named Shangti. Evidence of a strong belief in ghosts, in the form of amulets and charms, goes back to at least the Shang Dynasty and ghost stories are among the earliest form of Chinese literature
In the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–226 BCE) the concept of the Mandate of Heaven was developed. The Mandate of Heaven was the belief that Shangti ordained a certain emperor or dynasty to rule and allowed them to rule as long as they pleased him.

Religious Practice During the Qin and Han Empires

Qin Dynasty

During the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE), Shi Huangti banned religion and burned philosophical and religious works. Legalism became the official philosophy of the Qin government and the people were subject to harsh penalties for breaking even minor laws. Shi Huangti outlawed any books, which did not deal with his family line, his dynasty, or Legalism, even though he was personally obsessed with immortality and the afterlife, and his private library was full of books on these subjects. Confucian scholars hid books as best as they could and people would worship their gods in secret but were no longer allowed to carry amulets or wear religious charms.

Han Dynasty

Shi Huangti died in 210 BCE while searching for immortality on a tour through his kingdom. The Qin Dynasty fell soon after, in 206 BCE, and the Han Dynasty took its place. The Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE) at first continued the policy of Legalism but abandoned it under Emperor Wu (141–87 BCE). Confucianism became the state religion and grew more and more popular even though other religions, like Taoism, were also practiced.

During the Han Dynasty, the emperor became distinctly identified as the mediator between the gods and the people. The position of the emperor had been seen as linked to the gods through the Mandate of Heaven from the early Zhou Dynasty, but now it was his express responsibility to behave so that heaven would bless the people.

Arrival of Buddhism

In the 1st century CE, Buddhism arrived in China via trade through the Silk Road. According to the legend, the Han emperor Ming (28–75 CE) had a vision of a golden god flying through the air and asked his secretary who that could be. The assistant told him he had heard of a god in India who shone like the sun and flew in the air, and so Ming sent emissaries to bring Buddhist teachings to China. Buddhism quickly combined with the earlier folk religion and incorporated ancestor worship and veneration of Buddha as a god.

Buddhism was welcomed in China and took its place alongside Confucianism, Taoism, and the blended folk religion as a major influence on the spiritual lives of the people. When the Han Dynasty fell, China entered a period known as The Three Kingdoms (220–263 CE), which was similar to the Warring States Period in bloodshed, violence, and disorder. The brutality and uncertainty of the period influenced Buddhism in China which struggled to meet the spiritual needs of the people at the time by developing rituals and practices of transcendence. The Buddhist schools of Ch’an (better known asZen ), Pure Land, and others took on form at this time. ⁽²⁴⁾

Religious Practice During the Empire and Beyond

Map of the Tang Dynasty labeled with thirteen of Tang's provinces. — **Figure 4-2:** Tang Dynasty, Tang’s Provinces, and Border Powers by 742 CE by Yug is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 .

The major religious influences on Chinese culture were in place by the time of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) but there were more to come. The second emperor, Taizong (626–649 CE), was a Buddhist who believed in toleration of other faiths and allowed Manichaeism, Christianity, and others to set up communities of faith in China. His successor, Wu Zeitian (690–704 CE), elevated Buddhism and presented herself as a Maitreya (a future Buddha) while her successor, Xuanzong (712–756 CE), rejected Buddhism as divisive and made Taoism the state religion.

Although Xuanzong allowed and encouraged all faiths to practice in the country, by 817 CE Buddhism was condemned as a dividing force, which undermined traditional values. Between 842–845 CE Buddhist nuns and priests were persecuted and murdered and temples were closed. Any religion other than Taoism was prohibited, and persecutions affected communities of Jews, Christians, and any other faith. The emperor Xuanzong II (846–859 CE) ended these persecutions and restored religious tolerance. The dynasties, which followed the Tang up to the present day all had their own experiences with the development of religion and the benefits and drawbacks which come with it, but the basic form of what they dealt with was in place by the end of the Tang Dynasty. ⁽²⁴⁾

Rise of the Song Dynasty

The chaos and political void caused by the collapse of the Tang Dynasty led to the break-up of China into five dynasties and ten kingdoms, but one warlord would, as had happened so often before, rise to the challenge and collect at least some of the various states back into a resemblance of a unified China.

The Song Dynasty was, thus, founded. Although the Song Dynasty were able to govern over a united China after a significant period of division, their reign was beset by the problems of a new political and intellectual climate which questioned imperial authority and sought to explain where it had gone wrong in the final years of the Tang dynasty. A symptom of this new thinking was the revival of the ideals of Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism as it came to be called, which emphasized the improvement of the self within a more rational metaphysical framework. This new approach to Confucianism, with its metaphysical add-on, now allowed for a reversal of the prominence the Tang had given to Buddhism, seen by many intellectuals as a non-Chinese religion. ⁽⁵⁵⁾

Foundation of Chinese Culture

Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and the early folk religion combined to form the basis of Chinese culture. Other religions have added their own influences but these four belief structures had the most impact on the country and the culture. Religious beliefs have always been very important to the Chinese people even though the People’s Republic of China originally outlawed religion when it took power in 1949 CE. The People’s Republic saw religion as unnecessary and divisive, and during the Cultural Revolution temples were destroyed, churches burned, or converted to secular uses. In the 1970’s CE the People’s Republic relaxed its stand on religion and since then has worked to encourage organized religion as “psychologically hygienic” and a stabilizing influence in the lives of its citizens. ⁽²⁴⁾

Key Takeaways

During the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE), Shi Huangti banned religion and burned philosophical and religious works. Legalism became the official philosophy of the Qin government and the people were subject to harsh penalties for breaking even minor laws.
The Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE) at first continued the policy of Legalism but abandoned it under Emperor Wu. Confucianism became the state religion and grew more and more popular
In the 1st century CE, Buddhism arrived in China via trade through the Silk Road. Buddhism was welcomed in China and took its place alongside Confucianism, Taoism, and the blended folk religion as a major influence on the spiritual lives of the people. Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and the early folk religion combined to form the basis of Chinese culture.

Confucianism

Confucianism: An Overview

Confucius (or Kongzi) was a Chinese philosopher who lived in the 6th century BCE and whose thoughts, expressed in the philosophy of Confucianism , have influenced Chinese culture right up to the present day. Confucius has become a larger than life figure and it is difficult to separate the reality from the myth. He is considered the first teacher and his teachings are usually expressed in short phrases, which are open to various interpretations. Chief among his philosophical ideas is the importance of a virtuous life, filial piety and ancestor worship. Also emphasized is the necessity for benevolent and frugal rulers, the importance of inner moral harmony and its direct connection with harmony in the physical world and that rulers and teachers are important role models for wider society.

Life of Confucius

Confucius is believed to have lived from c. 551 to c. 479 BCE in the state of Lu (now Shandong or Shantung). However, the earliest written record of him dates from some four hundred years after his death in the Historical Records of Sima Qian (or Si-ma Ts‘ien). Raised in the city of Qufu (or K‘u-fou), Confucius worked for the Prince of Lu in various capacities, notably as the Director of Public Works in 503 BCE and then the Director of the Justice Department in 501 BCE. Later, he travelled widely in China and met with several minor adventures, including imprisonment for five days due to a case of mistaken identity. Confucius met the incident with typical restraint and was said to have calmly played his lute until the error was discovered. Eventually, Confucius returned to his hometown where he established his own school in order to provide students with the teachings of the ancients. Confucius did not consider himself a ‘creator’ but rather a ‘transmitter’ of these ancient moral traditions. Confucius’ school was also open to all classes, rich and poor.

It was whilst he was teaching in his school that Confucius started to write. Two collections of poetry were the BOOK OF ODES (Shijing or Shi king) and the BOOK OF DOCUMENTS (Shujing or Shu king). The SPRING AND AUTUMN ANNALS (Lin Jing or Lin King), which told the history of Lu, and the BOOK OF CHANGES (Yi Jing or Yi king) was a collection of treatises on divination.

Unfortunately for posterity, none of these works outlined Confucius’ philosophy. Confucianism, therefore, had to be created from second-hand accounts and the most reliable documentation of the ideas of Confucius is considered to be theAnalects , although even here there is no absolute evidence that the sayings and short stories were actually said by him and often the lack of context and clarity leave many of his teachings open to individual interpretation.

The other three major sources of Confucian thought are Mencius , Great Learning , and Mean . With Analects , these works constitute the Four Books of Confucianism , otherwise referred to as, the Confucian Classics . Through these texts, Confucianism became the official state religion of China from the second century BCE. ⁽²⁶⁾

Confucian Philosophy

The Confucian system looks less like a religion than a philosophy or way of life. This may be because it focuses on earthly relationships and duty and not on deities or the divine. Confucianism teaches that the gentleman-scholar is the highest calling. Confucius believed that the gentleman, or junzi , is a role model and the highest calling for a person. The gentleman holds fast to high principles regardless of life’s hardships. The gentleman does not remove himself from the world but fulfills his capacity for goodness. He does so by a commitment to virtue developed through moral formation.

Though ritual is quite important, there is not much concern with an afterlife or eschatology. Whereas a religion like Hinduism devotes much of its doctrine to accomplishing spiritual fulfillment, Confucianism is concerned with social fulfillment. Unlike Buddhism, there are no monks. There are no priests or religious leaders. It does not have many of the conventions of a religion.

Confucius did not give his followers a god or gods to be worshipped. Confucianism is not against worship, but teaches that social duties are more important. The focus is on ethical behavior and good government and social responsibility. ⁽²⁶⁾

Relationships

Relationships are important in Confucianism. Order begins with the family. Children are to respect their parents. A son ought to study his father’s wishes as long as the father lives; and after the father is dead, he should study his life, and respect his memory (Confucius 102).

A person needs to respect the position that s/he has in all relationships. Due honor must be given to those people above and below oneself. This makes for good social order. The respect is typified through the idea of Li . Li is the term used to describe Chinese proprietary rites and good manners. These include ritual, etiquette, and other facets that support good social order. The belief is that when Li is observed, everything runs smoothly and is in its right place.

Relationships are important for a healthy social order and harmony. The relationships in Li are

Father over son
Older brother over younger
Husband over wife
Ruler over subject
Friend is equal to Friend

Each of these relationships is important for balance in a person’s life. There are five main relationship principles : hsiao ,chung , yi , xin , and jen .

Hsiao is love within the family. Examples include love of parents for their children and of children for their parents. Respect in the family is demonstrated through Li and Hsiao.
Chung is loyalty to the state. This element is closely tied to the five relationships of Li. Chung is also basic to the Confucian political philosophy. An important note is that Confucius thought that the political institutions of his day were broken. He attributed this to unworthy people being in positions of power. He believed rulers were expected to learn self-discipline and lead through example.
Yi is righteousness or duty in an ordered society. It is an element of social relationships in Confucianism. Yi can be thought of as internalized Li.
Xin is honesty and trustworthiness. It is part of the Confucian social philosophy. Confucius believed that people were responsible for their actions and treatment of other people. Jen and Xin are closely connected.
Jen is benevolence and humaneness towards others. It is the highest Confucian virtue and can also be translated as love. This is the goal for which individuals should strive.

Together, these principles balance people and society. A balanced, harmonious life requires attention to one’s social position.

For Confucius, correct relationships establish a well-ordered hierarchy in which each individual fulfills her/his duty. ⁽¹⁾

Confucian Rituals

Birth rituals center on T’ai-shen or the spirit of the fetus. These rituals are designed to protect an expectant mother. A special procedure is prescribed for disposal of placenta. The mother is given a special diet and is allowed rest for a month after delivery. The mother’s family supplies all the items required by the baby on the first, fourth and twelfth monthly anniversaries of the birth. Maturity is no longer being celebrated, except in traditional families. A ceremony in which a group meal is served celebrates a young adult who is coming of age; s/he is served chicken.

Marriage rituals are very important. They are conducted in six stages. At the proposal stage, the couple exchanges eight Chinese characters. These characters are the year, month, day, and hour of each of their births. If anything unfavorable happens within the bride-to-be’s family during the next three days, the proposal is considered to have been rejected. The engagement stage occurs after the wedding day is selected. The bride may announce the wedding with invitations and a gift of cookies made in the shape of the moon. This is the formal announcement. The dowry is the third stage. The bride’s family carries it to the groom’s home in a procession. The bride-price is then sent to the bride by the groom’s parents. Gifts by the groom to the bride, equal in value to the dowry, are sent to her. Procession is the fourth stage. It is brief but important. The groom visits the bride’s home and brings her back to his house. The procession is accompanied by a great deal of singing and drum beating. The marriage ceremony and reception is the stage in which the couple recite their vows, toast each other with wine, and then take center stage at a banquet. The morning after the ceremony is the final stage. The bride serves breakfast to the groom’s parents, who then reciprocate. This completes the marriage.

Death rituals seem elaborate to many Westerners. At the time of death, the relatives cry loudly. This is a way of informing the neighbors. The family begins mourning. They dress in clothes made of rough material. The corpse is washed and placed in a coffin. Mourners bring incense and money to offset the cost of the funeral. Food and significant objects of the deceased are placed in the coffin. A Buddhist, Christian, or Taoist priest performs the burial ceremony. Liturgies are performed on the seventh, ninth, and forty-ninth days after the burial. On the first and third anniversaries of the death, friends, and family follow the coffin to the cemetery. They carry a willow branch which symbolizes the soul of the person who has died. The branch is carried back to the family altar where it is used to “install” the spirit of the deceased.

Legacy

Following his death in 479 BCE, Confucius was buried in his family’s tomb in Qufu (in Shandong) and, over the following centuries, his stature grew so that he became the subject of worship in schools during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) and temples were established in his name at all administrative capitals during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). Throughout the imperial period an extensive knowledge of the fundamental texts of Confucianism was a necessity in order to pass the civil service selection examinations. Educated people often had a tablet of Confucius’ writings prominently displayed in their houses and sometimes also statues, most often seated and dressed in imperial costume to symbolize his status as ‘the king without a throne’. Portrait prints were also popular, especially those taken from the lost original attributed to Wu Daozi (or Wu Taoutsi) and made in the 8th century CE. Unfortunately, no contemporary portrait of Confucius survives but he is most often portrayed as a wise old man with long grey hair and moustaches, sometimes carrying scrolls.

The teachings of Confucius and his followers have, then, been an integral part of Chinese education for centuries and the influence of Confucianism is still visible today in contemporary Chinese culture with its continued emphasis on family relationships and respect, the importance of rituals, the value given to restraint and ceremonies, and the strong belief in the power and benefits of education. ⁽²⁶⁾

Key Takeaways

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher who lived in the 6th century BCE and whose thoughts were expressed in the philosophy of Confucianism. His philosophical ideas included the importance of a virtuous life, filial piety and ancestor worship, necessity for benevolent and frugal rulers, the importance of inner moral harmony and its direct connection with harmony in the physical world and that rulers and teachers are important role models for wider society.
The teachings of Confucius and his followers have, then, been an integral part of Chinese education for centuries and the influence of Confucianism is still visible today in contemporary Chinese culture

Judaism

Judaism is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is a monotheistic religion originating in the Hebrew Bible (also known as the Tanakh ) and explored in later texts, such as the Talmud . Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God established with the Children of Israel.

Judaism claims a historical continuity spanning more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a structured religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Of the major world religions, Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions. The Hebrews / Israelites were already referred to as “Jews” in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title “Children of Israel”. Judaism’s texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam and the Baha’i Faith. Many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law.

Jews are an ethnoreligious group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2010, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.4 million, or roughly 0.2&percnt; of the total world population. About 42&percnt; of all Jews reside in Israel and about 42% reside in the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe. The largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. ⁽³⁵⁾

History

Origins

At its core, the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is an account of the Israelites’ relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 535 BCE). Abraham is hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. As a reward for his act of faith in one God, he was promised that Isaac , his second son, would inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan). Later, Jacob and his children were enslaved in Egypt, and God commanded Moses to lead the Exodus from Egypt.

At Mount Sinai they received the Torah — the five books of Moses . These books, together with Nevi’im and Ketuvim are known as Tanakh, as opposed to the Oral Torah, which refers to the Mishna and the Talmud.

Eventually, God led them to the land of Israel where the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years to rally the nation against attacking enemies. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle. The people of Israel then told the prophet Samuel that they needed to be governed by a permanent king, and Samuel appointed Saul to be their King. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead.

Antiquity

The United Monarchy was established under Saul and continued under King David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem. After Solomon’s reign the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and theKingdom of Judah (in the south).

The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Sargon II in the late 8th century BCE, with many people from the capital Samaria being taken captive to Media and the Khabur River valley.

The Kingdom of Judah continued as an independent state until it was conquered by a Babylonian army in the early 6th century BCE, destroying the First Temple that was at the center of ancient Jewish worship. The Judean elite were exiled to Babylonia and this is regarded as the First Jewish Diaspora . Later many of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the Persians seventy years later, a period known as the Babylonian Captivity. A new Second Temple was constructed, and old religious practices were resumed.

During the early years of the Second Temple , the highest religious authority was a council known as the Great Assembly, led by Ezra of the Book of Ezra. Among other accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the last books of the Bible were written at this time and the canon sealed. Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE. After the Great Revolt (66–73 CE), the Romans destroyed the Temple. Hadrian built a pagan idol on the Temple grounds and prohibited circumcision; these acts of ethnocide provoked the Bar Kokhba revolt 132–136 CE after which the Romans banned the study of the Torah and the celebration of Jewish holidays, and forcibly removed virtually all Jews from Judea. This became known as the Second Jewish Diaspora . In 200 CE, however, Jews were granted Roman citizenship and Judaism was recognized as a religio licita (“legitimate religion”), until the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity in the fourth century.

Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around the community (represented by a minimum of ten adult men) and the establishment of the authority of rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities.

Historical Jewish Groupings (to 1700)

Around the 1st century CE there were several small Jewish sects: the Pharisees , Sadducees , Zealots , Essenes , and Christians . After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these sects vanished.

Christianity survived, but by breaking with Judaism and becoming a separate religion.
The Pharisees survived but in the form of Rabbinic Judaism (today, known simply as “Judaism”).
The Sadducees rejected the divine inspiration of the Prophets and the Writings, relying only on the Torah as divinely inspired. Consequently, a number of other core tenets of the Pharisees’ belief system (which became the basis for modern Judaism), were also dismissed by the Sadducees.
The Samaritans practiced a similar religion, which is traditionally considered separate from Judaism.

Like the Sadducees who relied only on the Torah, some Jews in the 8th and 9th centuries rejected the authority and divine inspiration of the oral law as recorded in the Mishnah (and developed by later rabbis in the two Talmuds), relying instead only upon the Tanakh.

Map highlights a rough geographic correspondence to Jewish ethnic divisions. Largest populations of distinct ethnic groups are identified in text. — **Figure 6-1** : Geographic Correspondence to Jewish Ethnic Divisions by BedrockPerson is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 .

Over a long time, Jews formed distinct ethnic groups in several different geographic areas — amongst others, the Ashkenazi Jews (of central and Eastern Europe), the Sephardi Jews (of Spain, Portugal, and North Africa), the Beta Israel of Ethiopia , and the Yemenite Jews from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Many of these groups have developed differences in their prayers, traditions and accepted canons; however these distinctions are mainly the result of their being formed at some cultural distance from normative (rabbinic) Judaism, rather than based on any doctrinal dispute.

Persecutions

Antisemitism arose during the Middle Ages, in the form of persecutions, pogroms, forced conversion, expulsions, social restrictions and ghettoization. This was different in quality to any repressions of Jews in ancient times. Ancient repression was politically motivated and Jews were treated no differently than any other ethnic group would have been. With the rise of the Churches, attacks on Jews became motivated instead by theological considerations specifically deriving from Christian views about Jews and Judaism. ⁽

Early Christian Religion and Culture

Life of Jesus

The life of Jesus began in north and central Palestine, a region between the Dead Sea and the Jordan River in the east and the Eastern Mediterranean in the west. This region was under Roman control since the 1st century BCE, initially as a tributary kingdom. The Roman campaigns, coupled with internal revolts and the incursion of the Parthians, made the region very unstable and chaotic up until 37 BCE, when Herod the Great (c.73 BCEâ€“4 BCE) became king. The region gradually gained political stability and became prosperous. Although Jewish in religion, Herod was a vassal king who served the interests of the Roman Empire.

Jesus was born towards the end of the reign of Herod the Great (died 4 BCE) and brought up in Nazareth, Galilee. He was named Jesus (Yeshu’a in Aramaic, Yehoshua or Joshua in Hebrew, Iesous in Greek, Iesus in Roman) and was conceived between the engagement and marriage of his parents whose names were Mary (Miriam in Hebrew and Mariam in Aramaic) and Joseph (Yossef in Hebrew, Yosep in Aramaic). In Matthew 13.55 it is said that his father was a carpenter, and Mark 6.3 says that this was also Jesus’ profession. It was a common practice during that time that sons would follow their father’s occupation, so it would be safe to believe that Jesus was a carpenter. Although not certain, it is probable that Jesus’ education included a detailed study of the Hebrew Scriptures, a very common practice among the devout poor in Israel.

His public ministry began after being baptized by John the Baptist. According to the gospel of Luke, this was when Jesus was about 30 years of age. According to Mark (11.27â€“33), Jesus saw John the Baptist as an authority and possibly a source of inspiration. It seems that he performed baptisms parallel to John the Baptist (John 3.22). After the arrest of John the Baptist (Mark 1.14), Jesus began a new kind of ministry, spreading the message of the kingdom of God approaching and stressing the importance of repentance by the people of Israel.

The oldest known icon depicting Jesus Christ (6th century) in Saint Catherine's Monastery, Egypt. In this image, Jesus grasps a New Testament in his left arm while making a symbol for peace with two right fingers. Also notable here is that Jesus eyes are of different color, with his brown iris dominating far more of his left eye than his right eye. — Figure 6-8: Jesus Christ by Hardscarf is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Jesus was heavily influenced by the prophet Isaiah, who considered the coming of the reign of God a central topic (Isa. 52.7). Many of Jesus’ teachings have allusions to Isaiah, and he also quotes him on many occasions. Jesus is presented as an eschatological prophet announcing the definitive coming of God, its salvation, and the end of time.

Jesus gradually gained popularity and thousands of followers are mentioned in the gospels. He shared some attributes with the Pharisees and the Essenes, two of the Jewish sects at that time. Like the Pharisees, his teaching methods included the expression of thoughts about the human condition in the form of aphorisms and parables, and he also shared the belief in the genuine authority of Hebrew sacred scriptures. Unlike the Pharisaic teachers, Jesus believed that outward compliance with the law was not of utmost importance and that values such as the love for enemies were more important.

Moreover, Jesus summed up his ethical views in the double command concerning love: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mark 12.28â€“31; Matthew 22.35â€“40 and Luke 10.25â€“28). The Essenes had a very simple way of life, a pacifist spirit, common ownership of property, common meals, they practiced exorcisms, and they stressed the love for each other, all practices seen in the ministry of Jesus.

At some point towards the end of his career, Jesus moved to Jerusalem in Judea, reaching the climax of his public life. Here he engaged in different disputes with his many adversaries. At the same time, some religious authorities were seeking to entrap him into self-incrimination by raising controversial topics, mostly of a theological nature. The gospels offer different reasons as to why the Sanhedrin (the Jewish court) was interested in executing Jesus, but only John (11.47â€“53) seems convincing enough: Jesus was seen as a trouble-maker who threatened public harmony.

A Roman intervention to restore order, thus breaking the fine balance between Jewish and Roman power, did not interest the Sanhedrin. An arresting party finally took Jesus to the Sanhedrin, where he was judged, found guilty of blasphemy, and condemned to death. However, the execution order had to be issued by a Roman authority; the Jewish court did not have such power at that time. Therefore, Jesus was brought to the procurator of Rome who ordered Jesus’ execution. Because Jesus never denied the charges, he should have been convicted and not executed, as the Roman law required in case of confession for such a penalty. On a hill outside Jerusalem, Jesus was finally crucified and killed, which was not a Jewish form of punishment but a common Roman practice. ⁽⁸¹⁾

The Early Christian Movement

Following Jesus’ death, the Christian religion continued to flourish. This was in large part to missionaries like the apostle Paul who successfully reshaped the religion, making it more Greco-Roman in orientation than Jewish. Indeed, playing down the importance of circumcision and pork abstinence, Paul was able to make the budding faith more palatable to a Gentile audience. Emphasizing themes such as life-after-death and personal redemption, Paul promoted Christianity in terms not unlike those promoted by the various mystery religions of the day. As such, Christianity became a competitor for converts within a very crowded religious marketplace.

Stone etching of St. Peter and St. Paul. Some attempt at realism is present here. Indeed, the illustrator has endeavored to distinguish the two bearded men from one another by figuring their heads differently. Peter possess a round shape head while Paul's head is more oval in orientation. — Figure 6-9: Saints Peter and Paul, from a catacomb etching by Anonymous is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

From the Roman point of view, they initially identified Christianity as a sect of the Jewish religion. As Christian believers became increasingly Gentile in orientation, however, practitioners of the faith became a problem for Roman rulers. Around the year 98, Nerva decreed that Christians — unlike the Jews — would no longer be able to pay a tax in order to absolve themselves from demonstrating devotion to the Roman gods. This opened the way to the persecutions of Christians for disobedience to the emperor, as many refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods and the emperor. Thus, members of the Early Christian movement often became political targets and scapegoats for the social ills and political tensions of specific rulers and turbulent periods during the first three centuries, CE; however, this persecution was sporadic and rarely Empire-wide, but it was devastating, nonetheless.

The so-called Great Persecution — during the reign of Diocletian — was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. This lasted from 302â€“311 CE. By this point, however, the Emperor’s sweeping endeavor to wipe out the religion proved an impossibility as Christians comprised upwards of ten percent of the Roman population. In the end, the persecution failed to check the rise of the church. By 324, Constantine was sole ruler of the empire, and Christianity had become his favored religion. ^(82)(83)(84)

Constantine’s Relationship with Christianity

While the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great reigned (306â€“337 CE), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Historians remain uncertain about Constantine’s reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have argued about which form of Early Christianity he subscribed to. There is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted his mother Helena’s Christianity in his youth, or (as claimed by Eusebius of Caesarea) encouraged her to convert to the faith himself. Some scholars question the extent to which he should be considered a Christian emperor: “Constantine saw himself as an ’emperor of the Christian people.’ If this made him a Christian is the subject of debate,” although he allegedly received a baptism shortly before his death.

Constantine’s decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church, or the Constantinian Shift. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, decriminalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church, and the notion of orthodoxy, Christendom, ecumenical councils, and the state church of the Roman Empire, declared by edict in 380. He is revered as a saint and is an apostle in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church for his example as a “Christian monarch.” ⁽⁸⁵⁾

Christianity After Constantine

After Constantine, the Christianization of the Roman Empire would continue apace. Under Theodosius I (r. 378â€“395), Christianity became the state religion. By the 5 ^thcentury, Christianity was the empire’s predominant faith, and filled the same role paganism had at the end of the 3rd century. Because of the persecution, however, a number of Christian communities were driven between those who had complied with imperial authorities (traditores) and those who had refused. In Africa, the Donatists, who protested the election of the alleged traditor, Caecilian, to the bishopric of Carthage, continued to resist the authority of the central church until after 411. The Melitians in Egypt left the Egyptian Church similarly divided. ⁽⁸²⁾

Early Christian Art

Early Christian, or Paleochristian, art was produced by Christians or under Christian patronage from the earliest period of Christianity to, depending on the definition used, between 260 and 525. In practice identifiably Christian art only survives from the second century onwards. After 550, Christian art is classified as Byzantine, or of some other regional type.

It is difficult to know when distinctly Christian art began. Prior to 100, Christians may have been constrained by their position as a persecuted group from producing durable works of art. Since Christianity was largely a religion of the lower classes in this period, the lack of surviving art may reflect a lack of funds for patronage or a small numbers of followers. The Old Testament restrictions against the production of graven images (an idol or fetish carved in wood or stone) might have also constrained Christians from producing art. Christians could have made or purchased art with pagan iconography but given it Christian meanings. If this happened, “Christian” art would not be immediately recognizable as such.

Early Christians used the same artistic media as the surrounding pagan culture. These media included fresco, mosaics, sculpture, and manuscript illumination. Early Christian art not only used Roman forms, it also used Roman styles. Late Classical art included a proportional portrayal of the human body and impressionistic presentation of space. The Late Classical style is seen in early Christian frescos, such as those in the Catacombs of Rome, which include most examples of the earliest Christian art.

Early Christian art is generally divided into two periods by scholars: before and after the Edict of Milan of 313. The end of the period of Early Christian art, which is typically defined by art historians as being in the fifth through seventh centuries, is thus a good deal later than the end of the period of Early Christianity as typically defined by theologians and church historians, which is more often considered to end under Constantine, between 313 and 325.⁽⁸³⁾

Early Christian Painting

In a move of strategic syncretism, Early Christians adapted Roman motifs and gave new meanings to what had been pagan symbols. Among the motifs adopted were the peacock, grapevines, and the “Good Shepherd.” Early Christians also developed their own iconography. Such symbols as the fish (ikhthus), were not borrowed from pagan iconography.

During the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire, Christian art was necessarily and deliberately furtive and ambiguous, using imagery that was shared with pagan culture but had a special meaning for Christians. The earliest surviving Christian art comes from the late second to early fourth centuries on the walls of Christian tombs in the catacombs of Rome. From literary evidence, there might have been panel icons which have disappeared.

Fresco illustrating a grey-scale fish with loaves of bread a top it. — Figure 6-10: Eucharistic bread and fish by Leinad-Z~commonswiki is licensed under Public Domain

Initially Jesus was represented indirectly by pictogram symbols such as the Ichthys, the peacock, the Lamb of God, or an anchor. Later, personified symbols were used, including Jonah, whose three days in the belly of the whale prefigured the interval between the death and resurrection of Jesus, Daniel in the lion’s den, or Orpheus charming the animals. However, the depiction of Jesus was well-developed by the end of the pre-Constantinian period. He was typically shown in narrative scenes, with a preference for New Testament miracles, and few of scenes from his Passion.

A variety of different types of appearance were used, including the thin long-faced figure with long centrally-parted hair that was later to become the norm. But in the earliest images as many show a stocky and short-haired beardless figure in a short tunic, who can only be identified by his context. In many images of miracles Jesus carries a stick or wand, which he points at the subject of the miracle rather like a modern stage magician (though the wand is significantly larger).

Fresco of a woman reaching for the bottom of Jesus's robe while Jesus turns around to acknowledge her presence. — Figure 6-11: Healing of a bleeding women by unknown from Wikimedia is licensed under Public Domain

The image of The Good Shepherd, a beardless youth in pastoral scenes collecting sheep, was the most common of these images and was probably not understood as a portrait of the historical Jesus. These images bear some resemblance to depictions of kouroi figures in Greco-Roman art.

A painting of the The Good Shepherd painting. The shepherd has a lamb rape on his shoulders and lambs sitting around his feet. — Figure 6-12: Good shepherd by Leinad-Z~commonswiki is licensed under Public Domain

Catacomb fresco of the The Good Shepherd. The shepherd has a lamb rape on his shoulders and lambs sitting around his feet. — Figure 6-13: Good shepherd from Wikimedia is licensed under Public Domain

The almost total absence from Christian paintings during the persecution period of the cross, except in the disguised form of the anchor, is notable. The cross, symbolizing Jesus’s crucifixion, was not represented explicitly for several centuries, possibly because crucifixion was a punishment meted out to common criminals, but also because literary sources noted that it was a symbol recognized as specifically Christian, as the sign of the cross was made by Christians from the earliest days of the religion. ⁽⁸³⁾

House Church at Dura-Europos

The house church at Dura-Europos is the oldest known house church. One of the walls within the structure was inscribed with a date that was interpreted as 231. It was preserved when it was filled with earth to strengthen the city’s fortifications against an attack by the Sassanians in 256 CE. Despite the larger atmosphere of persecution, the artifacts found in the house church provide evidence of localized Roman tolerance for a Christian presence. This location housed frescos of biblical scenes including a figure of Jesus healing the sick.

When Christianity emerged in the Late Antique world, Christian ceremony and worship were secretive. Before Christianity was legalized in the fourth century, Christians suffered intermittent periods of persecution at the hands of the Romans. Therefore, Christian worship was purposefully kept as inconspicuous as possible. Rather than building prominent new structures for express religious use, Christians in the Late Antique world took advantage of pre-existing, private structures — houses.

Picture of the remains of House Church at Dura-Europos. What the viewer sees here are partially standing sandstone walls as well as the remains of several rooms situated beyond the remains of the Church's entryway. — Figure 6-14: House Church at Dura-Europos by Heretiq (assumed) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5

The house church in general was known as the domus ecclesiae, Latin for house and assembly. Domi ecclesiae emerged in third-century Rome and are closely tied to domestic Roman architecture of this period, specifically to the peristyle house in which the rooms were arranged around a central courtyard. These rooms were often adjoined to create a larger gathering space that could accommodate small crowds of around fifty people.

Other rooms were used for different religious and ceremonial purpose, including education, the celebration of the Eucharist, the baptism of Christian converts, storage of charitable items, and private prayer and mass. The plan of the house church at Dura-Europos illustrates how house churches elsewhere were designed.

Diagram of the House Church at Dura-Europos. At the bottom of the diagram sits the entryway. The entryway leas to a columned hallway that opens into a courtyard. On three sides of the courtyard lay the inner chambers of the Church. — Figure 6-15: Plan of the house with church of Dura Europos by Udimu is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

When Christianity was legalized in the fourth century, Christians were no longer forced to use pre-existing homes for their churches and meeting houses. Instead, they began to build churches of their own. Even then, Christian churches often purposefully featured unassuming—even plain—exteriors. They tended to be much larger as the rise in the popularity of the Christian faith meant that churches needed to accommodate an increasing volume of people. ⁽⁸³⁾

The Growth and Spread of Early Christianity

Map shows density of early Christian population (first century A.D.) and outlines the boundaries of the Empire during the time of Augustus. — **Figure 7-3:** The Early Days of Christianity by Frederick C. Grant resides in the Public Domain .

Persecution of Christians

Members of the Early Christian movement often became political targets and scapegoats for the social ills and political tensions of specific rulers and turbulent periods during the first three centuries, CE; however, this persecution was sporadic and rarely Empire-wide. ⁽⁴¹⁾

The first recorded official persecution of Christians on behalf of the Roman Empire was in 64 CE, when, as reported by the Roman historian Tacitus, Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome. According to Church tradition, it was during the reign of Nero that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. However, modern historians debate whether the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva’s modification of the Fiscus Judaicus in 96, from which point practicing Jews paid the tax and Christians did not.

The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, which lasted from 302–311 CE. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding the legal rights of Christians and demanding that they comply with traditional Roman religious practices.

Later edicts targeted the clergy and ordered all inhabitants to sacrifice to the Roman gods (a policy known as universal sacrifice). The persecution varied in intensity across the empire—it was weakest in Gaul and Britain, where only the first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern provinces.

During the Great Persecution, Diocletian ordered Christian buildings and the homes of Christians torn down, and their sacred books collected and burned during the Great Persecution. Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and condemned to gladiatorial contests to amuse spectators. The Great Persecution officially ended in April of 311, when Galerius, senior emperor of the Tetrarchy, issued an edict of toleration which granted Christians the right to practice their religion, though it did not restore any property to them. Constantine, Caesar in the western empire, and Licinius, Caesar in the east, also were signatories to the edict of toleration. ⁽⁴²⁾

Edict of Milan

In 313, Constantine and Licinius announced in the Edict of Milan “ that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best, ” thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity.

The Edict of Milan went a step further than the earlier Edict of Toleration by Galerius in 311, and returned confiscated Church property. This edict made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions illegal, nor made Christianity the state religion (as did the later Edict of Thessalonica in 380 CE). The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within the empire, and it reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state. (42)

The Nicene Creed

In 325 CE Constantine invited clerics from across the empire to a conference at Nicaea where he made a plea for unity. ⁽⁵⁴⁾Under the supervision of Emperor Constantine I, the Nicene Creed (325 CE) was composed by an ecumenical council , which was and is accepted as authoritative by most Christian groups, but not by the Eastern Orthodox Church (at least, the second version in 381 CE is rejected for adding in the Filioque Clause—”And the Son”).

The Nicene Creed describes the pre-existence of Jesus Christ, his role in the future judgment of humanity, how Jesus is “homoousis” — of the same substance with God, how and why the Holy Spirit is to be worshipped as part of the holy family, discusses the requirement of baptism, and minimizes the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, interestingly. ⁽⁴¹⁾

The Athanasian Creed

Although there are others, the Athanasian Creed (328 CE) also proved important in pushing back against the heresies of the day, namely Docetism and Arianism . ⁽⁴¹⁾

Docetism held that Jesus’ humanity was merely an illusion, thus denying the incarnation (Deity becoming human).
Arianism held that Jesus, while not merely mortal, was not eternally divine and was, therefore, of lesser status than the Father. ⁽⁴⁴⁾

Christianity: State Religion of Roman Empire

By the 5th century CE, Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire, leading to a dramatic change in how the faith played out in greater society. This caused a shift in Christianity from private to public worship; from a distinctly Jewish character to one more aligned with the Gentiles; from an individual matter to more of a community affair; from a seeker-driven faith to an exclusively chosen body of believers; from a looser, more informal structure to that of distinct strata of operation and authority; and from gender empowering to more specific gender-specific limitations. Additionally, Christian leaders had to figure out how Christianity integrated with Roman law and government, dealt with barbarian peoples, and still maintained the essence of Jesus’ teachings and missions for his followers. ⁽⁴¹⁾

Christianity in the Early Middle Ages

With the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the west, the papacy became a political player, first visible in Pope Leo’s diplomatic dealings with Huns and Vandals. The church also entered into a long period of missionary activity and expansion among the various tribes. Catholicism spread among the Germanic peoples, the Celtic and Slavic peoples, the Hungarians, and the Baltic peoples. Christianity has been an important part of the shaping of Western civilization, at least since the 4 ^thcentury. ⁽⁴³⁾

Around 500, St. Benedict set out his Monastic Rule , establishing a system of regulations for the foundation and running of monasteries. Monasticism became a powerful force throughout Europe, and gave rise to many early centers of learning, most famously in Ireland, Scotland and Gaul, contributing to the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9 ^thcentury.

Mural of St. Benedict delivering in writing his rule to the Monks of his Order. Details described in text. — **Figure 7-4:** St. Benedict delivering his rule to the Monks of his Order resides in the Public Domain .

In the 7 ^thcentury Muslims conquered Syria (including Jerusalem), North Africa and Spain. Part of the Muslims’ success was due to the exhaustion of the Byzantine Empire in its decades long conflict with Persia. Beginning in the 8 ^thcentury, with the rise of Carolingian leaders, the papacy began to find greater political support in the Frankish Kingdom.

The Middle Ages brought about major changes within the church. Pope Gregory the Great dramatically reformed ecclesiastical structure and administration. In the early 8 ^thcentury, iconoclasm—the destruction of religious icons—became a divisive issue, when it was sponsored by the Byzantine emperors. The Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (787) finally pronounced in favor of icons. In the early 10 ^thcentury, Western Christian monasticism was further rejuvenated through the leadership of the great Benedictine Monastery of Cluny. ⁽⁴³⁾

Christianity in the High and Late Middle Ages

In the west, from the 11th century onward, older cathedral schools developed into universities (see University of Oxford, University of Paris, and University of Bologna). The traditional medieval universities — evolved from Catholic and Protestant church schools — then established specialized academic structures for properly educating greater numbers of students as professionals. Prior to the establishment of universities, European higher education took place for hundreds of years in Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools, in which monks and nuns taught classes; evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the 6 ^thcentury AD.

Accompanying the rise of the “new towns” throughout Europe, mendicant orders were founded, bringing the consecrated religious life out of the monastery and into the new urban setting. The two principal mendicant movements were the Franciscans and the Dominicans founded by St. Francis and St. Dominic respectively. Both orders made significant contributions to the development of the great universities of Europe. Another new order was the Cistercians , whose large isolated monasteries spearheaded the settlement of former wilderness areas. In this period, church building and ecclesiastical architecture reached new heights, culminating in the orders of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and the building of the great European cathedrals.

The Crusades

From 1095 under the pontificate of Urban II, the Crusades were launched. These were a series of military campaigns in the Holy Land and elsewhere, initiated in response to pleas from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I for aid against Turkish expansion. The Crusades ultimately failed to stifle Islamic aggression and even contributed to Christian enmity with the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.

Over a period stretching from the 7 ^thto the 13 ^thcentury, the Christian Church underwent gradual alienation. This resulted in the Great Schism in 1054, dividing the Church into the so-called Latin or Western Christian branch, the Roman Catholic Church , and an Eastern, largely Greek, branch, the Orthodox Church .

These two churches disagree on a number of administrative, liturgical, and doctrinal issues, most notably papal primacy of jurisdiction. The Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439) attempted to reunite the churches, but in both cases the Eastern Orthodox refused to implement the decisions and the two principal churches remain in schism to the present day. However, the Roman Catholic Church has achieved union with various smaller eastern churches.

Beginning around 1184, following the crusade against the Cathar heresy, various institutions, broadly referred to as the Inquisition , were established with the aim of suppressing heresy and securing religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through conversion and prosecution. ⁽⁴³⁾

“The Church” and Christian Theology

“The Church”

On 11 October 1962, Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council, the 21st Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church . The council was “pastoral” in nature, emphasizing and clarifying already defined dogma, revising liturgical practices, and providing guidance for articulating traditional Church teachings in contemporary times. The council is perhaps best known for its instructions that the Mass may be celebrated in the vernacular, as well as in Latin.

Over the last century, a number of moves have also been made to reconcile the schism between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Although progress has been made, concerns over papal primacy and the independence of the smaller Orthodox churches have blocked a final resolution of the schism.

Ecumenical movements within Protestantism have focused on determining a list of doctrines and practices essential to being Christian and thus extending to all groups which fulfil these basic criteria a (more or less) co-equal status, with perhaps one’s own group still retaining a ” first among equal ” standing. This process involved a redefinition of the idea of “the Church ” from traditional theology. This ecclesiology , known as denominationalism , contends that each group (which fulfils the essential criteria of ” being Christian “) is a sub-group of a greater “Christian Church,” itself a purely abstract concept with no direct representation, i.e., no group, or “denomination,” claims to be “the Church.” This ecclesiology is at variance with other groups that indeed consider themselves to be “the Church.” The ” essential criteria ” generally consist of belief in the Trinity, belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to have forgiveness and eternal life, and that He died and rose again bodily. ⁽⁴⁴

Christian Theology

The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus’ coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept.

The core Christian belief is: through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.

While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the earliest centuries of Christian history, Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate and ” true God and true man ” (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin. As fully God, he rose to life again. According to the Bible, ” God raised him from the dead, ” he ascended to heaven, is ” seated at the right hand of the Father ” and will ultimately return [Acts 1:9–11] to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy, such as the Resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and final establishment of the Kingdom of God.

According to the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Little of Jesus’ childhood is recorded in the canonical Gospels, however infancy Gospels were popular in antiquity. In comparison, his adulthood, especially the week before his death, is well documented in the Gospels contained within the New Testament. The Biblical accounts of Jesus’ ministry include: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.

Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith (see 1 Corinthians 15) and the most important event in human history. Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two core events on which much of Christian doctrine and theology is based. According to the New Testament Jesus was crucified, died a physical death, was buried within a tomb, and rose from the dead three days later [Jn. 19:30 31] and [Mk. 16:1, 16]. The New Testament mentions several resurrection appearances of Jesus on different occasions to his twelve apostles and disciples, including “more than five hundred brethren at once,” [1Cor. 15:6] before Jesus’ Ascension to heaven. Jesus’ death and resurrection are commemorated by Christians in all worship services, with special emphasis during Holy Week, which includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

The death and resurrection of Jesus are usually considered the most important events in Christian theology, partly because they demonstrate that Jesus has power over life and death and therefore has the authority and power to give people eternal life.

Christian churches accept and teach the New Testament account of the resurrection of Jesus with very few exceptions. Some modern scholars use the belief of Jesus’ followers in the resurrection as a point of departure for establishing the continuity of the historical Jesus and the proclamation of the early church. Some liberal Christians do not accept a literal bodily resurrection, seeing the story as richly symbolic and spiritually nourishing myth. Arguments over death and resurrection claims occur at many religious debates and interfaith dialogues. Paul the Apostle, an early Christian convert and missionary, wrote, ” If Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. ” [1Cor. 15:14]

Salvation

Paul of Tarsus, like Jews and Roman pagans of his time, believed that sacrifice can bring about new kinship ties, purity, and eternal life. For Paul the necessary sacrifice was the death of Jesus: Gentiles who are ” Christ’s ” are, like Israel, descendants of Abraham and ” heirs according to the promise ” [Gal. 3:29]. The God who raised Jesus from the dead would also give new life to the ” mortal bodies ” of Gentile Christians, who had become with Israel the ” children of God ” and were therefore no longer ” in the flesh ” [Rom. 8:9,11,16].

Modern Christian churches tend to be much more concerned with how humanity can be saved from a universal condition of sin and death than the question of how both Jews and Gentiles can be in God’s family. According to both Catholic and Protestant doctrine, salvation comes by Jesus’ substitutionary death and resurrection. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation does not occur without faithfulness on the part of Christians; converts must live in accordance with principles of love and ordinarily must be baptized. Martin Luther taught that baptism was necessary for salvation, but modern Lutherans and other Protestants tend to teach that salvation is a gift that comes to an individual by God’s grace, sometimes defined as ” unmerited favor ” even apart from baptism.

Christians differ in their views on the extent to which individuals’ salvation is pre-ordained by God. Reformed theology places distinctive emphasis on grace by teaching that individuals are completely incapable of self-redemption, but that sanctifying grace is irresistible. In contrast Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Arminian Protestants believe that the exercise of ” free will ” is necessary to have faith in Jesus.

Trinity

Trinity refers to the teaching that the one God comprises three distinct, eternally co-existing persons: the Father , the Son(incarnate in Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit . Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead, although there is no single term in use in Scripture to denote the unified Godhead. In the words of the Athanasian Creed, an early statement of Christian belief, ” the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God “. They are distinct from another: the Father has no source, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father . Though distinct, the three persons cannot be divided from one another in being or in operation.

The Trinity is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity. ” Father, Son and Holy Spirit ” represents both the immanence and transcendence of God. God is believed to be infinite and God’s presence may be perceived through the actions of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. ⁽⁴³⁾

Islamic (https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/evcphil070/chapter/islam/)

Islam is an Arabic word which comes from the words for both “peace” and “submit,” and most closely means “peace through submission.” Islam is described as being a way of living one’s life that is centered around submitting to God’s will and plan. A Muslim is one who attempts to live their life according to the ideas that God has made plain in the Qur’an, the revelation from God to Muhammad, the final prophet. The Arabic word for God is Allah, and Muslim people in all cultures and of all languages still use the Arabic to identify and call on their divine.

Like the other Abrahamic traditions, Christianity and Judaism, Islam originated in the Middle East but is now a global faith. There are more than one billion Muslims living all over the globe and the constitute the second largest religious community in the world. According to Muslims, Allah’s final prophet and messenger was Muhammad, and Allah’s final word the Qur’an. Since the time of the Prophet Muhammad, communities of Muslims been following the path of Islam in many cultural contexts.

Key Takeaways

Jesus began a new kind of ministry, spreading the message of the kingdom of God approaching and stressing the importance of repentance by the people of Israel.
The core Christian belief is: through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.
Practitioners of the faith became a problem for Roman rulers. Around the year 98, Nerva decreed that Christians could no longer pay a tax to absolve themselves from demonstrating devotion to the Roman gods. This opened the way to the persecutions of Christians for disobedience to the emperor.
During the persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire, Christian art was necessarily and deliberately furtive and ambiguous, using imagery that was shared with pagan culture but had a special meaning for Christians

Try this!

Take this quiz from the Pew Research Center and test your knowledge of Islam. Once you have taken it, it will give you statistics comparing you to others in the US:

Muslims and Islam

**The beginnings Note missing title “Islam”?**

Born in the city of Mecca on the Arabian peninsula, a man named Muhammad was born in 570 CE to a powerful tribe of merchants, the Quraish. He was raised an orphan in his uncle’s house. He married an older woman, the widow Khadijah, for whom he had worked in the caravan trade as a merchant. Muhammad performed devotional retreats each year in a cave in Mount Hira, outside of Mecca. When he was 40 years old, he began a series of visions that would change his life, and change the world.

One year, Muhammad reported having a strange encounter during his retreat. The angle Gabriel, ((Jibra’il in Arabic)) commanded him, “Recite!” Twice Muhammad asked, “Recite what?” After he had asked this three times, the angel replied: “Read! In the name of your Lord who created: He created man from a clinging form. Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One who taught by [means of] the pen, who taught man what he did not know.” (Qur’an, 96:1-5).

Muhammad felt “as though the words were written on [his] heart.” He ran down the mountain, but he heard a voice from the sky: “Muhammad, you are the Messenger of God, and I am Gabriel.”

From about 610CE until his death in 632CE, the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations first in Mecca and subsequently in the city of Medina, to where he had emigrated in 622CE. The messages that he received foretold of divine judgment and an invitation to return to the ways of the earlier prophets, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus. As he gained more followers, these revelations challenged his society. His community was predominantly polytheistic at the time, and the revelations to Muhammad spoke of the unity and oneness of the divine being. Meccan merchants were afraid that trade, which centered around devotional offering to the statues of pagan gods, would suffer if polytheism was destroyed. Tribal feuds were a common part of the social structure, but the Prophet spoke of a universal community, or ummah. The revelation Muhammad received demanded social justice and reform: one should not only perform regular prayers, but also care for the poor and the weak.

As his message gained followers, Muhammad was threatened in Mecca. For a time, the influence and status of his wife, Khadijah, and his uncle, Abu Talib, the chief of the clan, protected Muhammad. After they died, however, Muhammad’s situation in Mecca changed.

The early Muslims encountered increasingly harsh persecution. In a forced flight in 622 CE, the Prophet and his followers emigrated north from Mecca to Medina. This event became known as the hijrah. The Prophet became the actual leader of all of Medina, establishing order and unity in the town. In 630 CE, after a series of military battles and negotiations with enemies in Mecca, Muhammad returned to the city with most of his followers. Many Meccans then embraced Islam, and the Prophet dedicated the Ka’bah, which had been a

place of pilgrimage even before the beginning of Islam, to the worship of the one God. By the time of the Prophet’s death in 632 CE, much of the Arabian peninsula had embraced Islam.

When Muhammad died he had not named a successor to lead the Muslims as they expanded across Arabia and into Africa. One faction, the Shi’a, believed that only individuals directly descended from the Prophet could lead the Muslim community righteously. They thought that ‘Ali, Muhammad’s nephew and closest surviving blood male relative, should be their next leader. The other faction, the Sunnis, believed that the Prophet’s successor should be determined by a consensus of the followers, and so they successively elected three of his most trusted companions, commonly referred to as the Rightly Guided Caliphs (Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman), as leaders of the Muslim community; ‘Ali succeeded them as the fourth caliph.

Today Islam remains divided, largely, into Sunni and Shi’a branches. Sunnis revere all four caliphs, while Shi’as regard ‘Ali as the first caliph. The division between these two groups, based on their ideas about proper leadership for the people of Islam, has resulted in differences in worship as well as varied political and religious views. Sunnis are in the majority and occupy most of the Muslim world such as Syria, Egypt, Yemen and large majorities in southeast Asia, while Shi’a populations are concentrated in Iran and Iraq, with large numbers in Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Key Takeaway

To quote Harvard’s Pluralism Project: “Most Muslims are careful to insist, however, that “Muhammad is no more than a messenger” (Qur’an 3:144), and not a divine being. When Muslims refer to the Prophet Muhammad, to show reverence, his name is often followed by the phrase “salla llahu alayhi wa sallam” meaning “May the prayers and peace of God be upon him.” In writing, this may be abbreviated as (sa), SAW, or PBUH meaning “peace be upon him,” while in other cases the calligraphic Arabic form is written.”

5 Pillars of Islam

The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam:

Profession of Faith (shahadah) The belief that “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God” is central to Islam. Saying this once, with sincere conviction, is what makes one a Muslim. The shahadah is also recited during the daily prayers.
Prayer (salat) Formal prayers happen at least 5 times a day and specified times. This can be literally anywhere, as the belief is that holy space is created wherever one prays. These prayers happen at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark. Prayer includes a recitation of the opening chapter (surah) of the Qur’an, and is sometimes performed on a small rug or mat used expressly for this purpose. The prayers are a practice in regular God-consciousness and mindfulness throughout the day.
Alms (zakat) A fixed percentage of one’s savings must be given to the poor and needy. This can be done in a variety of ways and for a variety of causes, ranging from feeding the poor to building a library. The rate of zakat is generally 2.5 percent of annual accumulated wealth, including savings and nonessential property. The zakat is a social welfare system, and also an encouragement to put wealth the beneficial use rather than hoarding.
Fasting (sawm) Fasting happens during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan. This includes abstaining from food, drink, and sex. During Ramadan they share the hunger and thirst of the needy as a reminder of the religious duty to help those less fortunate, and as a practice in self-control over one’s bodily desires.
Pilgrimage (hajj) At least once in the life of each Muslim whose health and finances permit, one is required to go to Mecca on hajj. The kaaba, a large black cubical structure believed by Muslims to have been built by Abraham and his son, Ishmael, as the first house of worship of God, is located in Mecca. The hajj includes rituals that mimic the story of Abraham, and both symbolizes the universal equality of humans and is a reminder of one’s own mortality.

Exercise: watch a clip from National Geographic about the Hajj

Beliefs

Diverse traditions within Islam have different interpretations of the Qur’an, the Hadith (teachings of Prophet Muhammad), and views on designating leadership within Islam. The main branches of the tradition are: Sunni, Shi’a, and one that connects at times with both, the Sufi movement. However, all agree on the core beliefs.

1. The Oneness of God

The most fundamental teaching of Islam is to believe in the Oneness of God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc. But this belief is not enough. Many of the idolaters knew and believed that only the Supreme God could do all this and yet they associated other gods with Him. Therefore, one must acknowledge the fact that it is God alone who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstain from worshipping any other thing or being. Likewise, Muslims believe that God has no father or mother, no son or daughter. None is equal to Him. He is God of all humankind, not of a special tribe or race.

2. Belief in Angels

Angels, “malaikah” in Arabic, are beings made of light who make plain God’s commands and plan for humanity. Islam claims a function for a number of angels, including Mika’il, (known in the West as Michael), who is believed to guard places of worship and reward people’s good deeds. As the Angel of Mercy, he asks Allah to forgive people’s sins. It is believed that both the Angel Jibril and the Angel Mika’il will be present on the Day of Judgment. Another angel is Izra’il, also known as the Angel of Death, who takes the souls at the time of death,. Raqib and ‘Atid record the deeds of every person, both good and bad, and Munkar and Nakir will question the soul after death. The most important function however, is that of the archangel Jibril, (also known as Gabriel in the West), who conveyed God’s revelations to divinely chosen persons known as prophets.

The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], ‘We make no distinctions between any of His messengers.’ And they say, ‘We hear and obey. [We seek] your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination.’ (Qur’an 2:285)

3. Divine Revelation

Negel Quran, 4th century AH, Negel village, Hawraman-Kurdistan — Negel Quran, 4th century Anno Hegirae, Negel village, Hawraman-Kurdistan

Allah is beyond being directly perceived by humans, so over time angels have conveyed the commands and desires of Allah to all of the prophets, and these prophets spread theses ideas and commands to the rest of humanity. Muslims believe that while Muhammad was given the Qur’an by Jibril, previous prophets were also given revelations from God: the Scrolls to Abraham, the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David, and the Gospel to Jesus. However, since the Qur’an is considered the final scripture and final words for all of humanity, it supersedes all previous revelations and writings until the Day of Resurrection. Memorizing parts or the entirety of the Qur’an is an activity that is encouraged and is common for most Muslims. Hafiz is a title in Islam, which is used for someone who has completely memorized the Qur’an.

4. Prophets and Messengers

Indigo colored leaf glided tile. Painted over glaze, Takht-e Soleyman, 1270-1275. National Iran Museum, Tehran.

Prophets are people who lived in many different centuries and were required to deliver God’s messages and commands to humanity. Muslims believe the prophets should be respected but never worshipped. There are twenty-five prophets explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an. These include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims believe that while prophets are sinless human beings, they do not believe that any prophet share any aspect of divinity. Prophets are examples of how to put Allah’s teachings into practice. Muhammad is considered the final prophet, and it is held that he was sent to all of humanity for all times and places, and with him all revelation is complete.

5. Day of Judgement

According to Islam, every prophet came to warn their people about the impending Day of Judgment: the time in which a person’s deeds will be judged and they will be sent either to Paradise (jannah) or to Hell (jahannam). Hell is described as physical and spiritual suffering, while Paradise gives joy, comfort, and bliss. Entrance into Paradise earned by following the word given by prophets and living a pious and devout life, while an afterlife in Hell is warranted by rejecting Allah’s revelations and prophets, and living an immoral life. Paradise is ultimately given to human individuals based on Allah’s mercy – a person’s sins can be forgiven Allah decrees this, and no one enters Paradise except by Allah’s mercy . Forgiveness is key to this set of beliefs, and Muslims are encouraged to repent and ask for forgiveness for their sins.

6. Divine Decree

English: Dimensions of Written Surface: 15.4 (w) x 15.5 (h) cm Script: naskh from Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.071 This Qur'anic fragment contains the first chapter of the Qur'an entitled al-Fatihah (The Opening). Recited at the very beginning of the Qur'an, this surah proclaims God as Gracious and Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment, and the Leader of the straight path. — from Library of Congress http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.amed/ascs.071 The first chapter of the Qur’an entitled al-Fatihah (The Opening). Recited at the very beginning of the Qur’an, this surah proclaims God as Gracious and Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment, and the Leader of the straight path.

Judgement Day is based on a key belief that all people have been given free will. This is consistent with the idea that Allah is all-knowing, including knowing each person’s destiny in the afterlife, because Allah’s knowledge of one’s destiny does not imply that Allah forced one’s choices. Allah is believed to be just in all judgment and will do what is considered right for each person at the time of judgment. Each person will be judged according to the free choices they have made. Allah will know all the choices a person might make, however. This belief in both free will and in stating that Allah knows and predicts all is reflected in the phrases like “insha-Allah” (God-willing), and “masha-Allah” (God willed it).

“The Lord has created and balanced all things and has fixed their destinies and guided them”. (Qur’an 87:2)

While Shi’a Muslims generally agree with Sunnis in the aforementioned beliefs, they differ primarily by the inclusion of the doctrine of Imamate.

Imamate

Though the Prophet Muhammad died, Shi’as do not believe this means humans were left without a guide or leadership after his death. The Imams, a group of individuals descended from the Prophet Muhammad’s family, are those leaders. They show how to live Allah’s teachings. There were 12 Imams in sequence after the death of Muhammad. Although the twelfth Imam died long ago, it is believed that he still guides people and will come again at the End of Times to restore peace and justice to the world. For Zaydi Shi’as, these were five individuals, not twelve, and their leadership has continued with successive rulers. For Isma’ili Shi’as, the Nizari branch holds that the Imams have continued up until the present, with the current Imam referred to as the “Imam of the Time”. Beliefs about the character, role and functions of the Imams change with the various branches of the Shi’as.

14th century Qur'an — A 14th century Mamluk Qur’an, held at the British Library

The Qur’an

Islam’s main sacred text is the Qur’an. According to Muslim tradition, the Qur’an is the actual word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the Arabic language through the intermediary of the Archangel Jibril (Gabriel).

The Qur’an consists of 114 surahs, or chapters. The text is traditionally read aloud, as Muhammad was instructed in the first revelation he received: ‘Recite in the name of your Lord’ (Surah 96. 1). The word Qur’an comes from the Arabic verb meaning ‘to read’ or ‘to recite.’

After Muhammad’s death, his secretary, Zayd ibn Thabit, compiled the revelation into a book, and the text was later collated and definitively codified by order of Caliph ‘Uthman in 651CE . This is the text used in all Qur’an manuscripts, although the styles of calligraphy and illumination depend on the place and date of production.

The Qur’an, the central scripture of Islam, begins with al-Fatihah, literally “the Opening”:

In the name of God, The Lord of Mercy, The Giver of Mercy!
Praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds,
The Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy,
Master of the Day of Judgment.
It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help.
Guide us to the straight path:
The path of those You have blessed
those who incur no anger
and who have not gone astray.

With help from Mustafa Shah^[1], we consider the Qur’an in more detail:

Preserved in the language of Arabic, the Qur’an is Islam’s sacred text. It is believed that the Qur’an enshrines the literal word of God. With its unique composition and style, the Qur’an is also considered the pre-eminent literary masterpiece of the Arabic language and one of the earliest extant Arabic literary sources. Its contents, which focus on the theme of God’s unity of being and His transcendence, provide the foundations of the beliefs of Islam. Emphasizing the theme of continuation, the Qur’an does not present its teachings as representing a new religion, but rather the revivification of an ancient monotheistic tradition of faith which shares the same spiritual legacy with Judaism and Christianity.

The Islamic literary sources intimate that at the age of forty, while secluded in a cave on the outskirts of Mecca, the very first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to Muhammad by the Archangel Gabriel, thus marking the beginning of his call to prophethood.

Recite in the Name of your Lord who created;
Created man from a congealed clot of blood;
Recite and indeed your Lord is most merciful;
He who taught by the pen;
Taught man what he knew not.

According to Muslim literary sources, when the Prophet passed away in 632 CE the Qur’an did not formally exist as a fixed text but was ‘written down on palm-leaf stalks, scattered parchments, shoulder blades, limestone and memorized in the hearts of men’. During the rule of one of Muhammad’s later successors, the caliph Uthman (r. 644–656 CE), a standardized copy of the Qur’an was compiled and distributed to the main centers of the Islamic Empire. Although the caliph’s original codices have not survived, his introduction of a

two pages of the Qur'an — Two pages of the Qur’an by Yaqut al Musta’sim

fixed text is recognized as one of his enduring achievements. One of the oldest copies of the Qur’an, which is dated to the 8th century, is held in the British Library; it includes over two-thirds of the complete text.

The traditional view is that the Qur’an’s contents were revealed piecemeal. Revelation identified with the early Meccan years focused primarily on the accentuation of God’s unity and transcendence. Early Qur’anic revelation includes declarations about the omnipotence and omniscience of God, the resurrection of the dead, the impending Day of Judgement and rewards and punishment in the hereafter. The theme of personal morality and piety is also promoted, while polytheism and idolatry are condemned. The imposition of a detailed system of ritual practices and laws occurs in the post-hijrah period, while the people were in Medina. Set times for prayer, fasting, the giving of alms, and the performance of pilgrimage were made obligatory by the Qur’an at Medina. A range of legal measures was introduced, including rules for inheritance and dietary guidelines, the proscription of usury, laws on marriage and divorce and a penal code.

The requisite practice of committing the whole text to memory has an extended history, and still forms an integral part of the curriculum followed in seminaries throughout the Islamic world. The preservation and study of the Qur’an led to the flourishing of literary traditions of learning, including grammar, philology and even poetry, as scholars used insights from such scholarship to interpret the Qur’an.

Hafiz literally meaning “guardian” or “memorizer”, depending on the context, is a term used by Muslims for someone who has completely memorized the Quran

Definition of hafiz

: a Muslim who knows the Qur’an by heart —used as a title of respect, so “Hafiz ” and then the name.

In the Qur’an, Muhammad is designated as being the final prophet sent to mankind and is hailed as being one of a distinguished line of divinely appointed messengers who were sent to proclaim the message of God’s unity. It states:

Indeed, those who believe, the Jews, the Christians, and the
Sabians – all those who acknowledge God and the Last Day and
perform good works – will be granted their rewards with their Lord.
Fear shall not affect them, nor shall they grieve (Q. 2.62)

Confirming the shared spiritual heritage with Judaism and Christianity, the tribulations and triumphs of biblical personalities are also portrayed in the narratives of the Qur’an. Teachings on Jesus emphasize his human nature, although the Qur’an upholds the notion of his immaculate conception and the miracles he performed. However, it rejects the claim that Jesus was the Son of God and also the concept of the divine Trinity; the Qur’an also denies the Crucifixion. Jesus is lauded as a prophet to the Children of Israel, and his mother Mary is held in great esteem, even having a chapter of the Qur’an named after her. It is significant to note that in deference to the sacred status of their revealed scripture, the Qur’an describes Jews and Christians as being ‘the People of the Book’.

Growth

Over the centuries, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, Islam spread throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa, into Asia, and beyond. Some of the spread was peaceful and associated with trade and scholarship, art and architecture. Some of the spread of Islam came along with the conquering of lands and other tribes.

Muslim rulers, soldiers, traders, mystics, scholars, poets and architects all contributed to the shaping of distinctive Islamic cultures. Across the expanding Islamic world, religious beliefs began to blend with various cultures and traditions to produce local versions of Islam. Not all ritual and practice was the same from place to place, although the stated beliefs carried through. Various dynasties of powerful families rose, and as they converted to Islam, their tribes or countries converted with them. Trade and the travel of scholars had a large influence on the expansion of the faith.

These two brief videos (each about 8 minutes) will give you a map and some indications of where, when, and how the religion spread. Because it was both a spiritual as well as political expansion, you can often see differences in how things happened and how local populations responded to the new Islamic Empire.

Key Takeaway: The Context for the development of Islam–Khan Academy

Key Takeaway: The Spread of Islamic Culture

According to the Harvard Pluralism Project:

Under each of these empires, transregional Islamic culture mixed with local traditions to produce distinctive forms of statecraft, theology, art, architecture, and science. Further, many scholars argue that the European Renaissance would not have been possible without the creativity and myriad achievements of Muslim scholars, thinkers, and civilizations.

“Basic Beliefs of Islam – God.” Basic Beliefs of Islam: God, University of Nottingham, England, 26 Jan. 2016, youtu.be/05b1BwNvqCk.

“Islamic Beliefs.” The Pluralism Project, Harvard University, 2021, pluralism.org/islamic-beliefs.

“Muhammad: The Messenger of God.” The Pluralism Project, Harvard University, 2021, pluralism.org/muhammad-the-messenger-of-god.

Shah, Mustafa. “The Qur’an.” British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts, 2019, www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/the-quran.

“Qur’an: The Word of God.” The Pluralism Project, Harvard University, 2021, pluralism.org/qur%E2%80%99an-the-word-of-god.

“Discovering Sacred Texts: Islam.” Discovering Sacred Texts, British Library, 2 Oct. 2019, youtu.be/2_CDBv6CICc.

“Islam Introduction.” British Library, Discovering Sacred Texts: Islam, 2019, www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/islam-introduction.

“Spread of Islamic CULTURE: World History: Khan Academy.” Khan Academy, 26 Apr. 2017, youtu.be/sDSTgKIQAzE.

“Contextualization–Islam | World History | Khan Academy.” Khan Academy, 16 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB7ya6386iA.

Mustafa Shah is a Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His principal research interests include classical Qurʾanic commentary, ḥadith scholarship, classical theology and Arabic linguistic thought. Among his publications is the collection of articles devoted to Qur’anic exegesis: Tafsīr: Interpreting the Qur’an (Routledge, 2013). He is also joint editor of the Oxford Handbook of Qur’anic Studies (OUP 2019). ↵

The Rise of Muhammad

A man meditating alone in a cave near Mecca received a religious vision. This vision laid the foundations for a new religion. The year was 610 and the man’s name was Muhammad. And the belief system that arose from Muhammad’s ideas became the basis of one of the world’s most widely practiced religions: Islam.

Muhammad was born around 570 in the city of Mecca, located on the Arabian Peninsula. Both of his parents died before Muhammad was six and he was raised by his grandfather and uncle. His family belonged to a poor clan that was active in Mecca politics.

Following the traditions of wealthy families, he spent part of his childhood living with a Bedouin family. Bedouins led fairly isolated lives as nomadic herders in the harsh Arabian desert. Muhammad’s experiences among these people most likely had a strong influence on the development of Islam.

In his twenties, Muhammad began working as a merchant and soon married his employer, a rich woman named Khadijah. Over the next 20 years he became a wealthy and respected trader, traveling throughout the Middle East. He and his wife had six children — two boys (who did not live into adulthood) and four girls. By the time he was 40, he began having religious visions that would change his life.

While meditating in a cave on Mount Hira, Muhammad had a revelation. He came to believe that he was called on by God to be a prophet and teacher of a new faith, Islam, which means literally “submission.”

This new faith incorporated aspects of Judaism and Christianity. It respected the holy books of these religions and its great leaders and prophets — Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others. Muhammad called Abraham “Khalil” (“God’s friend”) and identified him as Islam’s ancient patriarch. Islam traces its heritage through Abraham’s son Ishmael.

Muhammad believed that he himself was God’s final prophet.

Central to Islamic beliefs are the Five Pillars of Faith, which all followers of Islam — called Muslims — must follow:

Muhammad’s message was especially well received by the poor and slaves. But many people were opposed to his message. This opposition only seemed to make him more determined. After years of publicly promoting his ideas, he became so disliked that some began plotting his murder.

In 622, fearing for his life, Muhammad fled to the town of Medina. This flight from Mecca to Medina became known as the Hegira, Arabic for “flight.” The Muslim calendar begins on this year.

In Medina, the local people welcomed Muhammad and his followers. There, Muhammad built the first mosque, or Islamic temple, and began to work to separate Islam from Judaism and Christianity, which had originally influenced him.

Whereas his followers had originally prayed while facing toward Jerusalem, he now had them face toward Mecca. Muhammad continued to have revelations from Allah. The ideas from these revelations formed the basis of a poetic text called the Koran, which contains the fundamental ideas of Islam.

Muhammad fought a number of battles against the people of Mecca. In 629, Muhammad returned to Mecca with an army of 1500 converts to Islam and entered the city unopposed and without bloodshed. Before his death two years later, he forcefully converted most of the Arabian Peninsula to his new faith and built a small empire. ⁽⁹²⁾

Succession after Muhammad’s Death

With Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, disagreement broke out among his followers over deciding his successor. Muhammad’s prominent companion Umar ibn al-Khattab nominated Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s friend and collaborator. To retain the cohesion of the Islamic state, Abu Bakr divided his Muslim army to force the Arabian tribes into submission. After a series of successful campaigns, Abu Bakr’s general Khalid ibn Walid defeated a competing prophet and the Arabian peninsula was united under the caliphate in Medina. Once the rebellions had been quelled, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest. In just a few short decades, his campaigns led to one of the largest empires in history. Muslim armies conquered most of Arabia by 633, followed by north Africa, Mesopotamia, and Persia, significantly shaping the history of the world through the spread of Islam.

Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor on his deathbed. Umar ibn Khattab, the second caliph, was killed by a Persian named Piruz Nahavandi. Umar’s successor, Uthman Ibn Affan, was elected by a council of electors (Majlis). Uthman was killed by members of a disaffected group. Ali then took control, but was not universally accepted as caliph by the governors of Egypt, and later by some of his own guard. He faced two major rebellions and was assassinated by Abdl-alRahman, a Kharijite. Ali’s tumultuous rule lasted only five years. The followers of Ali later became the Shi’a minority sect of Islam, which rejects the legitimacy of the first three caliphs. The followers of all four Rashidun caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali) became the majority Sunni sect. ⁽⁹³⁾

The Islamic Caliphates

The Umayyad family had first come to power under the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan (r. 644–656), but the Umayyad regime was founded by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, long-time governor of Syria, after the end of the First Muslim Civil War in 661 CE. Syria remained the Umayyads’ main power base thereafter, and Damascus was their capital.

The Umayyad caliphate was marked both by territorial expansion and by the administrative and cultural problems that such expansion created. Despite some notable exceptions, the Umayyads tended to favor the rights of the old Arab families, and in particular their own, over those of newly converted Muslims (mawali). Therefore, they held to a less universalist conception of Islam than did many of their rivals.

During the period of the Umayyads, Arabic became the administrative language, in which state documents and currency were issued. Mass conversions brought a large influx of Muslims to the caliphate. The Umayyads also constructed famous buildings such as the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem and the Umayyad Mosque at Damascus.

According to one common view, the Umayyads transformed the caliphate from a religious institution (during the Rashidun) to a dynastic one. However, the Umayyad caliphs do seem to have understood themselves as the representatives of God on Earth.

Many Muslims criticized the Umayyads for having too many non-Muslim, former Roman administrators in their government. St. John of Damascus was also a high administrator in the Umayyad administration. As the Muslims took over cities, they left the people’s political representatives and the Roman tax collectors and administrators. The people’s political representatives calculated and negotiated taxes. The central government and the local governments got paid respectively for the services they provided. Many Christian cities used some of the taxes to maintain their churches and run their own organizations. Later, the Umayyads were criticized by some Muslims for not reducing the taxes of the people who converted to Islam.

The Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by another family of Meccan origin, the Abbasids, in 750 CE. The Abbasids distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their moral character and administration. In particular, they appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, who remained outside the kinship-based society of the Arabs and were perceived as a lower class within the Umayyad empire. The Abbasid dynasty descended from Muhammad’s youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name.

The Abbasids, who ruled from Baghdad, had an unbroken line of caliphs for over three centuries, consolidating Islamic rule and cultivating great intellectual and cultural developments in the Middle East in the Golden Age of Islam. By 940 CE, however, the power of the caliphate under the Abbasids began waning as non-Arabs gained influence and the various subordinate sultans and emirs became increasingly independent. The political power of the Abbasids largely ended with the rise of the Buyids and the Seljuq Turks in 1258 CE. Though lacking in political power, the dynasty continued to claim authority in religious matters until after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. ^(93)(94)(95)

Islamic Golden Age

From the 8 ^thcentury to the 13 ^thcentury, during which much of the historically Islamic world was ruled by various caliphates, science, economic development, and cultural works flourished. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786–809) with the inauguration of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where scholars from various parts of the world with different cultural backgrounds were mandated to gather and translate all of the world’s classical knowledge into the Arabic language. ⁽¹¹⁾

Islamic Literature

With the introduction of paper, information was democratized and it became possible to make a living from simply writing and selling books. The use of paper spread from China into Muslim regions in the 8 ^thcentury, and then to Spain (and then the rest of Europe) in the 10 ^thcentury. Paper was easier to manufacture than parchment and less likely to crack than papyrus, and could absorb ink, making it difficult to erase and ideal for keeping records. Islamic paper makers devised assembly-line methods of hand-copying manuscripts to turn out editions far larger than any available in Europe for centuries. The best known fiction from the Islamic world is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , which took form in the 10 ^thcentury and reached its final form by the 14 ^thcentury, although the number and type of tales vary.

The Arabs assimilated the scientific knowledge of the civilizations they had conquered, including the ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, and Phoenician civilizations. Scientists recovered the Alexandrian mathematical, geometric, and astronomical knowledge, such as that of Euclid and Claudius Ptolemy.⁽⁹⁶⁾

Islamic Scholarship

Persian scientist Muhammad ibn MÅ«sÄ� al-KhwÄ�rizmÄ« significantly developed algebra in in his landmark text, Kitab al-Jabr wa-l-Muqabala , from which the term “algebra” is derived. The term “algorithm” is derived from the name of the scholar al-Khwarizmi, who was also responsible for introducing the Arabic numerals and Hindu-Arabic numeral system beyond the Indian subcontinent. In calculus, the scholar Alhazen discovered the sum formula for the fourth power, using a method readily generalizable to determine the sum for any integral power. He used this to find the volume of a paraboloid.

Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large and complex medical literature exploring and synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine. Islamic medicine was built on tradition, chiefly the theoretical and practical knowledge developed in India, Greece, Persia, and Rome. Islamic scholars translated their writings from Syriac, Greek, and Sanskrit into Arabic and then produced new medical knowledge based on those texts. In order to make the Greek tradition more accessible, understandable, and teachable, Islamic scholars organized the Greco-Roman medical knowledge into encyclopedias. ⁽⁹⁶⁾

Islamic Art

Ceramics, glass, metalwork, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and woodwork flourished during the Islamic Golden Age. Manuscript illumination became an important and greatly respected art, and portrait miniature painting flourished in Persia. Calligraphy, an essential aspect of written Arabic, developed in manuscripts and architectural decoration.

Islamic art is not restricted to religious art, but instead includes all of the art of the rich and varied cultures of Islamic societies. It frequently includes secular elements and elements that are forbidden by some Islamic theologians. Islamic religious art differs greatly from Christian religious art traditions. Because figural representations are generally considered to be forbidden in Islam, the word takes on religious meaning in art as seen in the tradition of calligraphic inscriptions. Calligraphy and the decoration of manuscript Qu’rans is an important aspect of Islamic art as the word takes on religious and artistic significance. Islamic architecture, such as mosques and palatial gardens of paradise, are also embedded with religious significance.

While examples of Islamic figurative painting do exist, and may cover religious scenes, these examples are typically from secular contexts, such as the walls of palaces or illuminated books of poetry. Other religious art, such as glass mosque lamps, Girih tiles, woodwork, and carpets usually demonstrate the same style and motifs as contemporary secular art, although they exhibit more prominent religious inscriptions.

Islamic art was influenced by Greek, Roman, early Christian, and Byzantine art styles, as well as the Sassanian art of pre-Islamic Persia. Central Asian styles were brought in with various nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences had a formative effect on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles. ^(96)(97)

Themes of Islamic Art

There are repeating elements in Islamic art, such as the use of stylized, geometrical floral or vegetal designs in a repetition known as the arabesque. The arabesque in Islamic art is often used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of God. Some scholars believe that mistakes in repetitions may be intentionally introduced as a show of humility by artists who believe only God can produce perfection.

Picture of a doorway at the Mughal Agra Fort, India. The doorway includes elaborate geometric inlays around the outer edges of the door along with intertwined plant designs. — Figure 7-6: A doorway at the Mughal Agra Fort, India by Hans A. Rosbach is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Typically, though not entirely, Islamic art has focused on the depiction of patterns and Arabic calligraphy, rather than human or animal figures, because it is believed by many Muslims that the depiction of the human form is idolatry and thereby a sin against God, forbidden in the Qur’an. However, depictions of the human form and animals can be found in all eras of Islamic secular art. Depictions of the human form in art intended for the purpose of worship is considered idolatry and is forbidden in Islamic law, known as Sharia law. ⁽⁹⁷⁾

Islamic Calligraphy

In a religion where figural representations are considered to be an act of idolatry, it is no surprise that the word and its artistic representation have become an important aspect in Islamic art. The most important religious text in Islam is the Qur’an, which is believed to be the word of God. There are many examples of calligraphy and calligraphic inscriptions pertaining to verses from the Qur’an in Islamic arts.

Worn section of Qur'an composed in the angular Arabic lettering emblematic of kufic script. — Figure 7-7: A section of the Koran by unknown artist is licensed under Public Domain

The earliest form of Arabic calligraphy is kufic script, which is noted for is angular form. Arabic is read from right to left and only the consonants are written. The black ink in the image above from a 9 ^thcentury Qur’an marks the consonants for the reader. The red dots that are visible on the page note the vowels.

However, calligraphic design is not limited to the book in Islamic art. Calligraphy is found in several different types of art, such as architecture. The interior of the Hagia Sophia, for example, features calligraphic inscriptions within its six interior roundels as well its uppermost dome.

As in Europe in the Middle Ages, religious exhortations such as Qur’anic verses may be also included in secular objects, especially coins, tiles, and metalwork. Calligraphic inscriptions were not exclusive to the Qur’an, but also included verses of poetry or recorded ownership or donation. Calligraphers were highly regarded in Islam, reinforcing the importance on the word and its religious and artistic significance. ⁽⁹⁸⁾

Example of zoological calligraphy. In this case, the artist has interlocked Arabic lettering to form the likeness of a bird. Zoological calligraphy served as one way for Arabic artists to get around Islamic aniconism. — Figure 7-8: Example of zoomorphic arabic calligraphy by YassineMrabet is licensed under Public Domain

Islamic Architecture

Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles. The principal Islamic architectural example is the Mosque. Specifically recognizable Islamic architectural style emerged soon after Muhammad’s time, and incorporated Roman building traditions with the addition of localized adaptations of the former Sassanid and Byzantine models.

The Islamic mosque has historically been both a place of prayer and a community meeting space. The early mosques are believed to be inspired by Muhammad’s home in Medina, which had served as the first mosque. The Great Mosque of Kairouan (in Tunisia) is one of the best preserved and most significant examples of early great mosques. Founded in 670, it contains all of the architectural features that distinguish early mosques: a minaret, a large courtyard surrounded by porticos, and a hypostyle prayer hall. ⁽⁹⁹⁾

Dome of the mihrab that sits atop the Great Mosque of Kairouan, also known as the Mosque of Uqba, in Kairouan, Tunisia. — Figure 7-9: Dome of the mihrab by GIRAUD Patrick is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5

After the Ottoman Conquest, many of the Christian mosaics within the Hagia Sophia were covered over with Islamic calligraphy and only rediscovered in the 20 ^thcentury CE after the secularization of Turkey (Hagia Sophia became a museum in 1935 CE). This includes the mosaic on the main dome which was probably a Christ Pantocrator (All-Powerful) which spanned the whole ceiling and is now covered by remarkable gold calligraphy. On the floor of the nave there is the Omphalion (navel of the earth), a large circular marble slab which is where the Roman and Byzantine Emperors were coronated. One of the final additions the Ottoman Sultans made to finalize the transition from Christian basilica to Islamic mosque was the inclusion of eight massive medallions hung on columns in the nave which have Arabic calligraphy inscribed upon them with the names of Allah, the Prophet, the first four Caliphs, and the Prophet’s two grandsons. The Ottomans also added a mihrab, a minbar, and four enormous minarets in order to complete the transition to a mosque.

Interior picture of the sanctuary apse within the Hagia Sophia. From this vantage, one sees the Arabic roundels at each corner of the edifice's second floor along with the uncovered Christian iconography at the center of the apse. — Figure 7-10: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul by Magnus Manske is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Additionally, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE, the genius of Hagia Sophia’s architects continued to dominate the conquering Ottomans who made use of the designs for their mosques. The Ottomans conquered the city, but the artistic culture of the Byzantines, in a way, conquered the Ottomans. Hagia Sophia, under orders from Mehmed the Conqueror, was converted into a mosque within days of the conquest preserving the Byzantine architectural legacy in a new form and era.

Later Ottoman mosques were equally influenced by Hagia Sophia. The Blue Mosque, for example, preserves a layout inspired by Hagia Sophia that builds upon its innovations of pendentives and semi-domes to create internal space. Additionally, Islam’s use of geometric shapes and patterns, as opposed to Orthodox Christianity’s use of icons, also finds continuity in Greco-Roman-Byzantine’s use of geometry in sacred architecture as mentioned previously. In fact, the very same Sinan who built the Suleymaniye also worked to repair the millennium-old Hagia Sophia during the reign of Selim II. ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾

Picture of the Suleiman Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Sometimes called the Blue Mosque because of its blue hue, the edifice includes a stacked layer of domes with a singular dome at its top. Six large minarets, three on each side, surround the edifice. — Figure 7-11: Suleiman Mosque by Dersaadet is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Key Takeaways

Muhammad’s ideas, visions, and revelations and believed that he was called upon by God to be a prophet and teacher a new faith, Islam. He believed himself to be God’s final Prophet.
Islam’s main sacred text is the Qur’an which is regarded as the actual word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in through the intermediary of the Archangel Gabriel.
The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam along with the belief in the oneness of God, belief in angles, divine revelation, prophets and messengers, day of judgment, and the divine decree.
Calligraphers were highly regarded in Islam, reinforcing the importance on the word and its religious and artistic significance
Today Islam remains divided, largely, into Sunni and Shi’a branches. The division between these two groups is based on their ideas about proper leadership for the people of Islam.

The Beginnings of the Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the Greek-speaking, eastern part of the Mediterranean. Christian in nature, it was perennially at war with the Muslims, Flourishing during the reign of the Macedonian emperors, its demise was the consequence of attacks by Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, and Ottoman Turks.

Byzantium was the name of a small, but important town at the Bosphorus, the strait which connects the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean to the Black Sea, and separates the continents of Europe and Asia. In Greek times the town was at the frontier between the Greek and the Persian world. In the fourth century BCE, Alexander the Great made both worlds part of his Hellenistic universe, and later Byzantium became a town of growing importance within the Roman Empire.

By the third century CE, the Romans had many thousands of miles of border to defend. Growing pressure caused a crisis, especially in the Danube/Balkan area, where the Goths violated the borders. In the East, the Sasanian Persians transgressed the frontiers along the Euphrates and Tigris. The emperor Constantine the Great (reign 306–337 CE) was one of the first to realize the impossibility of managing the empire’s problems from distant Rome. ⁽⁸⁶⁾

Ancient map of the city of Constantinople detailing the city's old fortifications along the Bosphorus strait as well ell as the cathedrals and places of residence within the city. — Figure 7-1: Map of Constantinople by Cristoforo Buondelmonti is licensed under Public Domain

In 330 CE, Constantine decided to make Byzantium, which he had established a couple of years before and named after himself, his new residence. Constantinople lay halfway between the Balkan and the Euphrates, and not too far from the immense wealth and manpower of Asia Minor, the vital part of the empire.

“Byzantium” was to become the name for the East-Roman Empire. After the death of Constantine, in an attempt to overcome the growing military and administrative problem, the Roman Empire was divided into an eastern and a western part. The western part is considered as definitely finished by the year 476 CE, when its last ruler was dethroned and a military leader, Odoacer, took power. ⁽⁸⁶⁾

Byzantine Culture

Since the age of the great historian Edward Gibbon, the Byzantine Empire has a reputation of stagnation, great luxury and corruption. Most surely the emperors in Constantinople held an eastern court. That means court life was ruled by a very formal hierarchy. There were all kinds of political intrigues between factions. However, the image of a luxury-addicted, conspiring, decadent court with treacherous empresses and an inert state system is historically inaccurate. On the contrary: for its age, the Byzantine Empire was quite modern. Its tax system and administration were so efficient that the empire survived more than a thousand years.

The culture of Byzantium was rich and affluent, while science and technology also flourished. Very important for us, nowadays, was the Byzantine tradition of rhetoric and public debate. Philosophical and theological discourses were important in public life, even emperors taking part in them. The debates kept knowledge and admiration for the Greek philosophical and scientific heritage alive. Byzantine intellectuals quoted their classical predecessors with great respect, even though they had not been Christians. And although it was the Byzantine emperor Justinian who closed Plato’s famous Academy of Athens in 529 CE, the Byzantines are also responsible for much of the passing on of the Greek legacy to the Muslims, who later helped Europe to explore this knowledge again and so stood at the beginning of European Renaissance. ⁽⁸⁶⁾

Byzantine Religion

In the course of the fourth century, the Roman world became increasingly Christian, and the Byzantine Empire was certainly a Christian state. It was the first empire in the world to be founded not only on worldly power, but also on the authority of the Church. Paganism, however, stayed an important source of inspiration for many people during the first centuries of the Byzantine Empire.

When Christianity became organized, the Church was led by five patriarchs, who resided in Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome. The Council of Chalcedon (451 CE) decided that the patriarch of Constantinople was to be the second in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Only the pope in Rome was his superior. After the Great Schism of 1054 CE the eastern (Orthodox) church separated from the western (Roman Catholic) church. The center of influence of the orthodox churches later shifted to Moscow. ⁽⁸⁶⁾

Byzantine Iconography

Icon painting, as distinct from other forms of painting, emerged in the Early Byzantine period as an aid to religious devotion. In contrast, earlier Christian art had relied more on allegory and symbolism. For example, earlier art might have featured a lamb or a fish rather than Christ in human form. Before long, religious figures were being depicted in their human form to emphasize their humanity as well as their spirituality. While this issue would be debated and challenged during the later Iconoclastic period, for a time, images of the saints in icon paintings flourished.

After the adoption of Christianity as the only permissible Roman state religion under Theodosius I, Christian art began to change not only in quality and sophistication but also in nature. Paintings of martyrs and their feats began to appear, and early writers commented on their lifelike effect. Statues in the round were avoided as being too close to the principal artistic focus of pagan cult practices, as they have continued to be (with some small-scale exceptions) throughout the history of Eastern Christianity.

Icons were more religious than aesthetic in nature. They were understood to manifest the unique “presence” of the figure depicted by means of a “likeness” to that figure maintained through carefully maintained canons of representation. Therefore, very little room is made for artistic license. Almost every aspect of the subject matter has a symbolic aspect. Christ, the saints, and the angels all have halos. Angels, as well as some depictions of the Holy Trinity, have wings because they are messengers. Figures have consistent facial appearances, hold attributes personal to them, and use a few conventional poses.

Color plays an important role, as well. Gold represents the radiance of Heaven. Red signifies divine life, while blue is the color of human life. White is the Uncreated Light of God, only used for scenes depicting the resurrection and transfiguration of Christ. In icons of Jesus and Mary, Jesus wears a red undergarment with a blue outer garment (God as Human), and Mary wears a blue undergarment with a red outer garment (humanity granted divine gifts). Thus, the doctrine of deification is conveyed by icons. Most icons incorporate some calligraphic text naming the person or event depicted. Because letters also carry symbolic significance, writing is often presented in a stylized manner. ⁽⁸⁷⁾

Justinian

Byzantine history goes from the founding of Constantinople as imperial residence on 11 May 330 CE until Tuesday 29 May 1453 CE, when the Ottoman sultan Memhet II conquered the city. Most times the history of the Empire is divided in three periods.

The first of these, from 330 till 867 CE, saw the creation and survival of a powerful empire. During the reign of Justinian (527–565 CE), a last attempt was made to reunite the whole Roman Empire under one ruler, the one in Constantinople. This plan largely succeeded: the wealthy provinces in Italy and Africa were reconquered, Libya was rejuvenated, and money bought sufficient diplomatic influence in the realms of the Frankish rulers in Gaul and the Visigothic dynasty in Spain. The rediscovered unity was celebrated with the construction of the church of Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia, in Constantinople. The price for the reunion, however, was high. Justinian had to pay off the Sasanian Persians, and had to deal with firm resistance, for instance in Italy.

Under Justinian, the lawyer Tribonian (500–547 CE) created the famous Corpus Iuris. The Code of Justinian, a compilation of all the imperial laws, was published in 529 CE; soon the Institutions (a handbook) and the Digests (fifty books of jurisprudence), were added. The project was completed with some additional laws, the Novellae. The achievement becomes even more impressive when we realize that Tribonian was temporarily relieved of his function during the Nika riots of 532 CE, which in the end weakened the position of patricians and senators in the government, and strengthened the position of the emperor and his wife. ⁽⁸⁶⁾

Justinian I devoted much of his reign (527–565 CE) to reconquering Italy, North Africa, and Spain. During his reign, he sought to revive the empire’s greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the historical Roman Empire. This attempt at restoration included an ambitious building program in Constantinople and elsewhere in the empire, by far the most substantial architectural achievement by one person in history.

One notable structure for which Justinian was responsible was the Hagia Sophia, or Church of Holy Wisdom, built by Isidorus of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, both of whom would oversee most building projects that Justinian ordered within Constantinople. ⁽⁸⁸⁾

The Hagia Sophia

Translated as “Holy Wisdom,” the Hagia Sophia was originally built and dedicated in the fourth century and served as the cathedral, or bishop’s seat, for Constantinople. From its dedication in 360 CE to the Nika Revolt of 532 CE, which proved to be the most violent week of rioting in city’s history, the Hagia Sophia was destroyed twice and rebuilt once, reflecting the symbolic power this religious structure held in its relation not only to Christianity but also to the city of Constantinople.

One of Justinian I’s first building campaigns following the Nika Revolt was to rebuild this cathedral. He turned to scholars Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus to design a revolutionary new church, one that adopted a central plan with extensions to the west and east by half dome apses. The dramatically raised, soaring central dome seems to magically float on light, creating a visually spectacular interior that originally had vibrant mosaic work. Unfortunately, much of the original mosaic work has been destroyed.

Earthquakes in the sixth and ninth centuries, and the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm beginning around 726 CE, significantly damaged the structure and decoration of the Hagia Sophia. In its conversion to a mosque in 1453, when the Ottoman Empire overtook Constantinople, the religious work experienced more degradation, as mosque workers were known to sell individual mosaic tesserae as good luck charms for those who visited the space. ⁽⁸⁹⁾

Image of Jesus found within the Hagia Sophia. Carrying a gold-covered New Testament, Jesus looks forward at the onlooker giving a gesture of blessing with his left hand. On either side of the icon are both halves of the Greek Christogram which together spell Jesus Christ. — Figure 7-4: The Christ Pantocrator of the Deesis mosaic in Hagia Sophia by Myrabella is licensed under Public Domain

Justinian’s Law

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I achieved lasting fame through his judicial reforms, particularly through the complete revision of all Roman law, something that had not previously been attempted. There existed three codices of imperial laws and other individual laws, many of which conflicted or were out of date. The total of Justinian’s legislature is known today as the Corpus juris civilis . It was not in general use during the Early Middle Ages. After the Early Middle Ages, interest in it revived. It was “received” or imitated as private law, and its public law content was quarried for arguments by both secular and ecclesiastical authorities. The revived Roman law, in turn, became the foundation of law in all civil law jurisdictions.

The provisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis also influenced the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church; it was said that ecclesia vivit lege romana — the church lives by Roman law. Its influence on common law legal systems has been much smaller, although some basic concepts from the Corpus have survived through Norman law — such as the contrast, especially in the Institutes, between “law” (statute) and custom. The Corpus continues to have a major influence on public international law. Its four parts thus constitute the foundation documents of the western legal tradition. ⁽⁹⁰⁾

Iconoclast Controversy

This Image comes from a Byzantine manuscript. It depicts a man in red robe preparing to destroy an image of Christ. — Figure 7-5: Byzantine iconoclasm by Chludov 9th century is licensed under Public Domain

Around 726 CE, a period of iconoclasm brought the majority of Byzantine artistic production to a halt. Literally translated as “image breaking,” iconoclasm involved the destruction or desecration of religious imagery for the sake of preventing idolatry, as illustrated in a ninth-century drawing from the Chudlov Psalter. This moment was spurred by ongoing religious debate regarding the function and appropriateness of religious imagery. Those who argued against the use of images feared that worshipers would became too engrossed in the image itself, worshiping the image as an idol rather than focusing on the religious narrative or figures it represents. This controversial issue came to a head under Emperor Leo III, who prohibited the creation of new religious imagery and called for the removal and destruction of extant imagery. During this period, the only acceptable imagery to be included in church interiors was the cross. Following this iconoclastic outbreak, the Middle Byzantine Period (843–1204 CE) began when Empress Theodora reinstated the practice of venerating icons, thereby ushering in a new generation of artistic and architectural production.

The return of the splendor of Byzantine interior decoration can be seen in the Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Venice. Expanding the footprint of the Hagia Sophia to take on a Greek cross shape, Saint Mark’s Cathedral includes five monumental domes, each replete with golden mosaic work (on which work continued until the seventeenth century). While the imagery is no less lavish than earlier examples, imagery has been simplified (e.g., the removal of many superfluous details) since at this point, artists sought to emphasize the primacy of the religious narrative or figure being portrayed.

This is illustrated in a relatively contemporaneous version of Christ Pantocrator in the Church of the Dormition, Daphni, Greece (c. 1080–1100 CE). Located in the central dome of the church, this Christ Pantocrator looms large over worshipers. Holding the New Testament in his left arm and assuming a gesture of blessing with his right, Christ here assumes the traditional posture as Pantocrator, or “ruler of all,” a conventional representation of Christ that became popular during this era. ⁽⁸⁹⁾

The Collapse of the Byzantine Empire

After Justinian, contraction largely defines Byzantine history. The first onset of the Bubonic plague in Europe was one factor that contributed to a weakening of the Byzantine Empire in political and economic ways. As the disease spread throughout the Mediterranean world, the empire’s ability to resist its enemies weakened. By 568 CE, the Lombards successfully invaded northern Italy and defeated the small Byzantine garrison, leading to the fracturing of the Italian peninsula, which remained divided and split until re-unification in the 19^thcentury CE. In the Roman provinces of North Africa and the Near East, the empire was unable to stem the encroachment of Arabs. The decreased size, and the inability of the Byzantine army to resist outside forces, was largely due to its inability to recruit and train new volunteers due to the spread of illness and death. The decrease in the population not only impacted the military and the empire’s defenses, but the economic and administrative structures of the empire began to collapse or disappear.

Decay became inevitable after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 CE after the Byzantine army was bested by the Seljuk Turks in combat. After the battle, the Byzantine Empire lost Antioch, Aleppo, and Manzikert, and within years, the whole of Asia Minor was overrun by the Seljuk Kingdom. The loss of territory and personnel left a power vacuum that western Europeans proved more than willing to fill. The Byzantine Emperor sent a request for help to pope Urban II, who responded by summoning the western world for the Crusades. The western warriors swore loyalty to the emperor, reconquered parts of Anatolia, but kept Antioch, Edessa, and the Holy Land for themselves. For more than half a century, the empire was ruled by monarchs from the West. The Byzantine Empire continued to lose territory, however, until finally the Ottoman Empire under Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453 CE and took over government. ^(91)(86)

Key Takeaways

In the course of the fourth century, the Roman world became increasingly Christian, and the Byzantine Empire was certainly a Christian state. It was the first empire in the world to be founded not only on worldly power, but also on the authority of the Church.
Hagia Sophia was destroyed twice and rebuilt once, reflecting the symbolic power this religious structure held in its relation not only to Christianity but also to the city of Constantinople.

THE YORUBA (https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/evcphil070/chapter/the-yoruba/)

Yoruba mask for King Obalufon II;
circa 1300 CE; copper; height: 29.2 cm;
discovered at Ife; Ife Museum of Antiquities (Ife, Nigeria)

Africa covers around 6% of the earth’s surface and has 54 countries. The approximate population on the continent numbers around 1.3 billion people. There are well over 3000 different ethnic groups in Africa, each with their own history, language and set of beliefs and practices. These frequently co-exist alongside the religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, which also have long histories in various African nations. The relationship between the Abrahamic religions and the native beliefs and practices can be difficult at times, and the more conservative of the branches of those three religions has attempted to eradicate the practices of the Yoruba.

With help from Janet Topp Fargion

History and Belief

Indigenous African beliefs frequently include the worship of various spirits, multiple gods, family and tribal ancestors, and are based on an understanding that the spiritual infuses every aspect of daily life. The concept of a supreme being is not always a part of indigenous tribal life and practice, and the gods, ancestors and spirits are not necessarily thought to be omnipresent, omniscient, or even always good.

The role of ancestors is important within these traditions, indicating a link between the dead and their living descendants. Diviners, priests or community members communicate with the dead in various ways, and this might include prayers, sacrifices, rituals, festivals and ceremonies. In most parts of West Africa, public festivals and masquerades are central to spiritual wellbeing. The masks worn at these events embody gods and spirits who dance, sing or speak in ways that identify them to the participating community.

The Yoruba are one of Africa’s largest ethnic groups with more than twenty-five million living in Nigeria, the Republic in Benin, and Togo. Its pre-modern history is based largely on oral traditions and legends. Ile Ife is the city where the Yoruba believe their civilization began as well as the location where they say that the gods descended to earth. Oral tradition and historical reality do not completely match, but the story is longstanding. Ile Ife came to be a city in about 500 BCE. It is considered to be the origin of all African people by the Yoruba.

The meaning of the word “ife” in Yoruba is “expansion.” “Ile-Ife” is therefore in reference to the myth of origin, “The Land of Expansion.”

‘Yoruba Ibeji figures, representing twins’ . Credit: Wellcome Collection.

The creation story of the Yoruba is seen below.

Besides being central in the history of the Yoruba people, Ife is also famous for its art. From terracotta sculptures to stones and bronze sculptures that can still be found in museums, the art of the Yoruba is becoming world famous.

The Yoruba have hundreds of deities. Yoruba deities are called orisha, and the high god is Olorun. Other important orishas include Eshu, the trickster; Shango, the god of thunder; and Ogun, the god of iron and modern technology.

The Yoruba believe that the ancestors still have real influence among the living. Annual ritual honor is paid to the family or clan ancestors, and this yearly sacrificial activity honors all deceased members of the family. Egungun (maskers) appear at funerals and are believed to embody the spirit of the deceased person.

Location

Yoruba people are concentrated in the southwestern part of the country of Nigeria, in Benin and northern Togo. The Yoruba number more than 35-40 million across Africa. There is a long and rich history of the various people who became the Yoruba. They originally called themselves the Oyo.

The term Yoruba (or Yariba) did not come into use until the nineteenth century, and was originally confined to subjects of the Oyo Empire. The term Yoruba did not always designate an ethnicity and usually described those who spoke the Yoruba language. The first documented use of the term Yoruba as an ethnic description comes from a scholar in the sixteenth century.

The empire of Oyo arose at the end of the 15th century CE. Expansion of the kingdom of the Oyo is usually associated with the people’s increased use of horses. At the end of the 18th century CE civil war took place within the Oyo empire, and the rebels against the old order turned to the Fulani for help. Instead of helping, the Fulani ended up conquering the Oyo empire in the 1830s. In the late 1880s, with the help of a British mediator, a treaty was signed. Yoruba lands were officially colonized by the British in 1901. Nigeria became an official colony in 1914. But on October 1, 1960 Nigeria was declared independent of British rule.

16th century Ivory armlet from the Yoruba peoples.
Owo region in Nigeria. Now in the National
Museum of African Art, Washington DC.

Lifestyle

The Yoruba were historically primarily farmers, growing cassava, maize, cotton, beans and peanuts. The Yoruba are also known for their fine crafts.

Traditionally, they worked at such trades as blacksmithing, leatherworking, weaving, glassmaking, and both ivory and wood carving. Each town has an Oba (leader), and every Oba is considered to be a direct descendant of the founding Oba of that city even if that cannot be proved through written records. A council of chiefs usually assists the Oba.

An excellent and thorough look at Yoruba and Nigerian culture and lifestyle can be found at Yoruba Art and Culture: Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology

Ritual

Performances of an Egungun (representative of ancestral spirits visiting the living),

Epa (symbolic performances variously promoting valor and fertility), and

Ẹyọ, a procession of masked dancers.

“Art has often been inspired by spiritual beliefs. For the Yoruba, art and spirituality are often intertwined. Works of art give visual form to the divine and inspire religious devotion. In turn, they are made powerful by spiritual forces. Aesthetics play an important role in the manifestation of the sacred. As the Yoruba say, art has the power to fa ajú móra (magnetize the eyes), becoming àwòwò–tún–wò (that which compels repeated gaze).”^[7]

In Nigeria there are many gods (òrìṣàs) who are worshipped. Prior to the Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ masquerade festival, members of the community consult priests, who then communicate with the òrìṣàs. The priest throws sets of palm nuts and draws symbols on a board, interpreting the words of the òrìṣàs for the community.

The film below includes extracts from a documentary on the Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ masquerade, performed by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It shows preparations for the masquerade, including people consulting the Ifá priest, who helps to communicate with the spirits and decide which songs will be sung during the ritual. The Gẹ̀lẹ̀dẹ́ is performed to pay tribute to the role women play in the organization and development of Yoruba society. The songs tell of the power of the Great Mother. The film was made by Peggy Harper and Frank Speed in the 1960s.”

In some instances leaders or community members enter a ‘trance-like’ state. Some communities interpret this as possession, believing that a spirit takes control of the person in a trance. It is often interpreted as the practitioner making contact with the spirit or an ancestor and then relaying what is said by one of these spirits or ancestors back to the community.

The Yoruba Gẹlẹdẹ from the Ketu region of the modern Republic of Benin received the honor of being recognized as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Reading Questions

How did the religious beliefs affect daily life and the development of society?
What religious beliefs and practices have you seen as prevalent in society today?
How did the different religions come to be? What are the similarities and differences in their formation?

“YORUBA Creation Myth.” The Big Myth, 25 June 2020, youtu.be/6BMLUdU4gwQ.

Nolte, Insa (2015). ‘Histories of religion and the word’ in West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song edited by Gus Casely-Hayford, Janet Topp Fargion and Marion Wallace. British Library.

“The Yoruba from Prehistory to the Present.” Cambridge University Press, 21 Oct. 2020, youtu.be/fRy92OJCtcY.

“Yoruba – Art & Life in Africa – the University of Iowa Museum of Art.” Art & Life in Africa – The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, 2021, africa.uima.uiowa.edu/peoples/show/Yoruba.

Mullen, Nicole. Yoruba Art and Culture. PHOEBE A. HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY, 2004, hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/TeachingKit_YorubaArtAndCulture.pdf.

Egu, Ken Chiedozie. “Ile IFE, Nigeria (Ca. 500 B.C.E.- ) •.” •Black Past, 16 Dec. 2020, www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/ile-ife-ca-500-b-c-e/.

Fargion, Janet Topp. “African Belief Systems.” British Library, Discovering Sacred Texts, 2021, www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/african-belief-systems.

Boundless World History. Located at: https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/boundless-world-history-textbook/. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

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Introduction to Humanities: From Prehistoric Era to Christendom Copyright © 2023 by Jude Chudi Okpala and Megan Ackatz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Etymology and History of Hinduism

Introduction

Etymology

History

Indus Valley Civilization

Upanishads

Persia

Maurya Empire

India’s Independence

The Hindu Theology of Samsara

How is moksha achieved?

Yogas

Sacred Text: The Vedas

Sacred Text: The Upanishads

Sacred Text: Bhagavad Gita

The Plot of the Gita

Introduction

The Three Jewels

Early Years of the Buddha and the Four Sights

Historical Context

Forming of Two Separate Buddhist Lines

Buddhism Today

Buddhist Theology

The Four Noble Truths

Analogy of Understanding the Four Noble Truths

Truth 1: The Truth of Suffering

Truth 2: The Causes of Suffering

Truth 3: The End of Suffering

Truth 4: The Path that Frees us from Suffering

Karma and Samsara

Dukkha (Suffering)

Introduction to Chinese Religions

An Overview of Chinese Religious History

Chinese Prehistoric Religious Practice

Religious Practice During the Shang Dynasty

Religious Practice During the Zhou Dynasty

Warring States Period

Qin Dynasty

Han Dynasty

Arrival of Buddhism

Religious Practice During the Empire and Beyond

Rise of the Song Dynasty

Foundation of Chinese Culture

Confucianism: An Overview

Life of Confucius

Confucian Philosophy

Relationships

Confucian Rituals

Legacy

Judaism

History

Origins

Antiquity

Historical Jewish Groupings (to 1700)

Persecutions

Early Christian Religion and Culture

Life of Jesus

The Early Christian Movement

Constantine’s Relationship with Christianity

Christianity After Constantine

Early Christian Art

Early Christian Painting

House Church at Dura-Europos

Persecution of Christians

Edict of Milan

The Nicene Creed

The Athanasian Creed

Christianity: State Religion of Roman Empire

Christianity in the Early Middle Ages

Christianity in the High and Late Middle Ages

The Crusades

“The Church”

Christian Theology

Death and Resurrection of Jesus

Salvation

Trinity

Islamic (https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/evcphil070/chapter/islam/)

The beginnings *Note* missing title “Islam”?

5 Pillars of Islam

Beliefs

**The beginnings Note missing title “Islam”?**

Yoruba mask for King Obalufon II;
circa 1300 CE; copper; height: 29.2 cm;
discovered at Ife; Ife Museum of Antiquities (Ife, Nigeria)

16th century Ivory armlet from the Yoruba peoples.
Owo region in Nigeria. Now in the National
Museum of African Art, Washington DC.