Transcript Document 7150848

Spread of World Religions
From the Axial Age to the end of the
First Millennium
Forced Conversion
 Islamic World
 jihad=striving
 internal struggle versus evil
 external war against enemies of faith
 initially against Muhammad’s enemies
 after death against “apostates”
 then Byzantium and Sasanid
 enemies allowed to convert
 or pay tax
 or go to war
Islamic Expansion
Forced Conversion cont.
 The Christian World – Christendom
 Charlemagne 700’s
 Saxons given choice of baptism or death
 Alfred the Great
 Celts convert for peace
 Olaf of Norway
 torture or conversion
 Buddhism
 Asoka
 Kaniska of Peshawar
 Anuruddha took Buddhism to Burma
Charlemagne’s Empire
Charlemagne
Alfred the Great of Wessex
King Olaf of Norway
Spread by Trade
 Silk Road for Buddhism (dominate)
 Chinese monks built temples
 endowed by merchants
 Uighurs
 steppe people serving as mercenary caravan
guards
 picked up Manichaeism
 derivative of Zoroastrianism
 sparked temple building
 eventually replaced by Buddhism
Spread by Trade cont.
 Christianity
 only moderately successful on Silk Road
 few Christians engaged in long-range trade
 Armenians kept to selves
 Nestorians = human Jesus vs. divine Jesus
 some patches of temple building
 Islam
 expanded via sea routes
 mosques in merchant communities
 China
 E. Africa
 Saharan trade routes took Islam West
Conversion of Kings
 start at top and watch religion trickle down
 Early Christianity
 social outcasts
 Religion of “slaves and women”
 initially hostile to wealth
 religion grew as women evangelized
 husbands
 children
 minority religion until 4th century
Conversion of Kings cont.
 Constantine 312 AD converts to Christianity
at battle of Milvian Bridge
 converted to gain political backing for bid for
Empire
 mixed pagan “unconquered sun” with Christian
ideas
 “Lord of Hosts” not “God of Love”
 Christianity no longer persecuted
 Eventually Christianity official religion of Roman
Empire
 Loses traditional pacifism
Conversion of Constantine
Conversion of Kings cont.
 King Ezana of Ethiopia converts to
Christianity in the 340’s
 Believed to be son of Ethiopian war god
 At end of his life converted and waged war
under the banner of “Lord of Hosts”
 built churches
 King Trdat of Armenia converts in 314 AD
 converted to gain alliance with Rome and
Constantine
King Ezana
King Trdat
Diplomatic Conversions
 Small kingdoms between Rome and
Persia shifted religions with alliances
 Christian
 Zoroastrian
 Muslim
Buddhism and Politics
 China
 Often used by new monarchs to
legitimize rule
 Buddhism never wholly dominant
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

traditional rituals
Confucianism
Chinese distrust of foreigners
periodically persecuted
 820s-840s AD thousands monasteries dissolved
Buddhism and Politics cont.
 Korea approximately 500 AD
 Buddhism brought to Koguryo by refugees from
China
 quickly reconciled with traditional Korean religion
 Slow to spread beyond
 Japan approximately 600 AD
 diplomacy with Korea
 refugees from China
 reconcile with Shintoism
 government and religion same word
 animism
 Japanese Buddhism distinctive mix
Buddhism and Politics cont.
 Tibet
 slow monastic colonization
 chose Theraveda over Mahayana Buddhism
 didn’t adopt until late 800’s
 India
 Buddhism unsuccessful as state religion
 Huns seen as proof of Buddhism failure
 driven back to traditional gods
 Codified with caste system into Hinduism
The Russians and Christianity
 Converted on Constantinian model
 Vladimir of Kiev
 History of paganism
 Needed to break power of priesthood to set up
kingdom
 Searched for religion
 Discovers Muslims (no good)
 Visits Hagia Sophia and is impressed
 Convert to Orthodox Christianity and
marries Byzantine princess (Anna
Porphyrogenita)
 Required services in Slavic language
(beginning of Russian orthodoxy)
Vladimir of Kiev
Hagia Sophia
Kiev, capital of modern Ukraine
Islam and the Turks
 Turks warlike central Asian people
 Karakhanids – first Turks to be Islamic
 Brought new manpower and warriors to
Islam
 Seljuk Turks convert in 985 AD and
descendants would come to rule empire
Turkish Warriors
Monasticism and Religion
 Christian Monasticism
 Upheld Roman tradition of learning
 Different types of monks
 Benedictine (founded by Benedict 542 AD)
 Changed pagan shrines to St. shrines
 Sought to instate paradise on earth
 Isolation and contemplation
 Various other orders
Benedictine Monks
Monasticism in other Religions
 Monasticism more important in
Buddhism than in Christianity
 Withdrawal from world to find religion
 Preserver of learning
 Islamic Sufism
 Muhammad was against asceticism
 Christian monastic roots too deeply
engraved
 Mystics – fasting and meditation
Buddhist Monks
Women in Religions
 Guardians of religious tradition
 Nuns – prayer and scholarship
What makes a World Religion
 FLEXIBILITY
 ADAPTABILITY