Chapter 4: Culture and Religion in Eurasia/North
Africa (500 B.C.E.–500 C.E.) |
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I. |
China
and the Search for Order |
|
A. |
The Legalist
Answer |
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1. |
High rewards, heavy punishments |
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2. |
Qin Shihuangdi |
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B. |
The Confucian
Answer |
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|
1. |
Confucius, Analects, &
Confucianism |
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|
2. |
Moral example of superiors |
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3. |
Unequal relationships governed by ren |
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|
4. |
Education and state bureaucracy |
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5. |
Filial piety and gender expectations |
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6. |
Secular |
|
C. |
The Daoist Answer |
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|
1. |
Laozi’s Daodejing and Zhuangzi |
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|
2. |
Withdrawal into nature |
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3. |
Spontaneous natural behavior not rigid
education |
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4. |
Dao (“The Way”) |
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5. |
Contradict or complement Confucianism? |
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II. |
Cultural Traditions of Classical
India |
|
A. |
South Asian
Religion: From Ritual Sacrifice to Philosophical Speculation |
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|
1. |
Vedas (1500–600 B.C.E.), Brahmins, and rituals |
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|
2. |
Upanishads (800–400 B.C.E.) |
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|
3. |
Atman and Brahman |
|
B. |
The Buddhist
Challenge |
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|
1. |
Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 566–ca. 486 B.C.E.) |
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|
2. |
The Buddha’s teachings and nirvana |
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3. |
Relationship to Hinduism |
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|
4. |
Restrictions and opportunities for women |
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5. |
Popular appeal |
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6. |
Theravada |
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7. |
Mahayana’s bodhisattvas |
|
C. |
Hinduism as a
Religion of Duty and Devotion |
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|
1. |
Mahabharata, Bhagavad-Gita, and Ramayana |
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|
2. |
Bhakti |
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|
3. |
Buddhism absorbed back into Hinduism |
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III. |
Toward
Monotheism: The Search for God in the
Middle East |
|
A. |
Zoroastrianism |
|
|
1. |
Zarathustra (seventh to sixth century B.C.E.) |
|
|
2. |
Persian state support, Achaemenid Dynasty
(558–330 B.C.E.) |
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|
3. |
Ahura Mazda versus Angra Mainyu |
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|
4. |
Human free will, struggle of good versus
evil, a savior, and judgment day |
|
B. |
Judaism |
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|
1. |
Migrations and exiles of a small Hebrew
community |
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|
2. |
One exclusive and jealous god |
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|
3. |
Loyalty to Yahweh and obedience to his laws |
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V. |
The Birth of Christianity… with Buddhist Comparisons |
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A. |
The Lives of the Founders |
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1. |
Encounter with a higher level of reality |
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2. |
Messages of love |
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|
3. |
Jesus’ miracles and dangerous social critique |
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B. |
The Spread of New Religions |
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1. |
New religions after their deaths |
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2. |
Paul (10–65 C.E.) |
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3. |
Lower social classes and women |
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4. |
Non-European Christianity |
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5. |
Christianity as a Roman religion |
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C. |
Institutions, Controversies,
and Divisions |
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|
1. |
The exclusion of women from leadership |
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|
2. |
Debates over doctrine and texts |
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3. |
Council orthodoxy and expulsion |
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4. |
Roman and Greek cultural traditions |
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5. |
Diversity in the Buddhist world |