Pre-AP 3 - Major Classical Era Religions 3 PDF

Pre-AP Notebook Page 1 Major Classical Religions AP World History: Modern – Unit 0 © Morgan AP  Hinduism in The Indian Subcontinent In India, Indo-Aryan invaders from the Eurasia steppe chased out the Indus civilizations, bringing their soc...

Pre-AP Notebook Page 1 Major Classical Religions AP World History: Modern – Unit 0 © Morgan AP  Hinduism in The Indian Subcontinent In India, Indo-Aryan invaders from the Eurasia steppe chased out the Indus civilizations, bringing their social and religious systems through the Vedic religions between 2000 and 1500 BCE These oral beliefs were eventually codified into writing known as the Vedas by 700 BCE, and the ensuing belief system would become known as Hinduism—possibly the oldest organized religion in the world Hinduism essentially believes in a cycle of rebirth and reincarnation with the overall goal of transcending human life and uniting with Brahma—the universe To do this, one would live their life fulfilling their caste task, even if they were bad at it; the fulfillment of their caste duty was referred to as dharma If they fulfilled their task throughout their lifetime, they received good karma and were reborn in the next life as a higher caste until finally unifying with Brahma As a consequence of these beliefs, a rigid socio-religious system emerged in the Indian subcontinent that would later become known as the caste system  © Morgan AP Teaching Buddhism and the Maurya Empire While providing a stable model for society, many were unhappy with the rigid caste system that offered no lifetime opportunity for caste advancement or equality As a response to the rigid and fixed castes of Hinduism in which one was locked hierarchically, Siddartha Gautama in northeast India formulated a rival belief system known today as Buddhism In Buddhism, life is defined by one’s suffering; to Buddhists, we suffer due to our desire and greed for material wealth and social advancement, thus causing us anxiety and pain As a remedy, Buddhism suggests ridding yourself of such desires by leading a simple, meditated life in which any person could achieve nirvana—transcendence from greed and material desires, and an ending of suffering in the cycle of rebirth Buddhism was unappealing to most rulers as it taught against their lifestyles and power, however, it would spread throughout South, Central, Southeast, and eventually East Asia in the coming centuries While short-lived in India itself, it was able to gain prominence and spread under the centralized Mauryan Empire (322 BC – 185 BC) once its beliefs had been adopted by the Maura Emperor Ashoka the Great Ashoka encouraged its spread through state policy, the building of Buddhist stupa, and the support of Buddhist missionaries, monks, and merchants throughout the region  © Morgan AP Teaching Zoroastrianism Throughout most of human history, religions had been polytheistic—predicated on the existence of multiple gods With roots as far back as perhaps the 2nd millennia BCE, the teachings of the Iranian-speaking Zoroaster enter written history in the 5th-century BCE Known as Zoroastrianism, the religion that came to dominate Persia for more than 1200 years was a monotheistic religion-one that believed in a single, all-powerful deity Zoroastrianism would set several world-first precedents for later large-scale, organized religions in the region, including the following themes and ideals: Monotheism (Ahura Mazda as the supreme creator) The concept of a universal ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’ A universal battle between the forces of Good and Evil Human free will and the ability to orient towards Good or Evil The coming of a future messiah to tip the universal fight in the favor of the ‘Good’ Zoroaster taught that humans should pursue a life oriented towards being ‘good’ for the sake of Good, spiritual gender equality & duty, and charity The religion itself was profoundly influential on Persian emperors throughout the centuries, and is largely attributed to Persian pursuits of bettering their Empire and its services for the sake of all peoples within it  © Morgan AP Teaching Second-Temple Judaism Zoroastrianism would profoundly influence the previously-existent Hebrew religion known as Judaism With oral roots dating back further, Judaism itself has written roots dating back to the 6th-century BCE, and whose beliefs are codified today in the Tanakh Prior to its exposure to the Persian Empire and Zoroastrianism, Judaism contained elements of polytheism, and other regional religious characteristics of the Mesopotamian region Following their exile to Babylon and return to their traditional kingdom of Israel and Judah at the hands of the Persian Empire, Judaism shifted to a more Zoroastrian model Known as Second-Temple Judaism (named for its shift in theology following Cyrus the Great’s funding of a second temple in Jerusalem), the Jewish faith more or less adopted the following features: Monotheism (the emphasis on Yahweh as the supreme creator) An eternal battle between Good and Evil The ability or free will to choose to live oriented towards Good or Evil The promise of a future messiah to tip the battle in the favor of the Good  © Morgan AP Teaching Christianity While still a major religion with more than 14 million worldwide adherents, Judaism laid the foundation of another influential world religion: Christianity The teachings of Christianity began around 20-33 CE when disciples in Israel began cataloging & following the miracles and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth According to Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth was the incarnation of the messiah promised in the Jewish faith (although most had hoped he was a military savior) The promise of a messiah was particularly appealing to many of the Jewish people at the time who were currently occupied by the Roman Empire Noting the popular appeal of Jesus of Nazareth as a messiah, and a possible figure to lead a revolt, the Roman Empire quickly opposed Christianity and its adherents While Rome attempted to stop Christianity, missionaries such as Paul of Tarsus engaged in extensive missionary work and traveling to keep the religion alive despite Roman persecution As such, missionaries and merchants continued to spread the young religion throughout the Roman empire into the Middle East, Northern Africa, Central Asia, and Europe  © Morgan AP Teaching Confucianism Among the list of philosophies and ideals suppressed by the short-lived Qin Dynasty was the increasingly-popular teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE) In response to the chaos of China Confucius worked to develop a solution to the disorder from the warring states and promote unity under the state; this philosophy is known today as Confucianism Codified in a series of writings known as the Analects, Confucianism laid out three fundamental levels to maintain social harmony that transitioned first from the individual, to the family, and finally to the state Individually, Confucianism expects that people pursue education, honesty, integrity, morality, and, perhaps most importantly, remain loyal to their duties and hierarchical superiors With these personal guidelines, they were to unquestionably adhere to the rigid patriarchal family; the [male] leaders were then, in tern, expected to respect, protect, and support their family members These individual and family models were intended to emulate and prime members of society to maintain social harmony, and honor the patriarchal authority of the emperor and his administration