History of World Religions. The Axial Age. History 145. Jason Suárez History Department El Camino College

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1 History of World Religions The Axial Age History 145 Jason Suárez History Department El Camino College

The rise of new civilizations The civilizations that developed between c. 1000-500 B.C.E. built upon the achievements of the river-valley civilizations.

2 The rise of new civilizations The civilizations that developed between c B.C.E. built upon the achievements of the river-valley civilizations. These new civilizations differed from earlier ones on the following ways: The creation of empires with a larger geographic range The further contact of cultures The expansion of commercial activity This period also witness the application of modes of thought that would serve as the foundation for future civilizations. This flowering of modes of thought developed during a period referred to as the Axial Age ( B.C.E.). The Axial Age also witnessed the development of religious and spiritual traditions that are still with us today.

Defining the Axial Age The Axial Age denotes a series of profound cultural transformations that occurred in some of the major civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Near East, and South and

3 Defining the Axial Age The Axial Age denotes a series of profound cultural transformations that occurred in some of the major civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Near East, and South and East Asia in the centuries around the middle of the first millennium B.C.E. This term and its definition was framed by Karl Jaspers in 1949 in a seminal work entitled The Origins and Goal of History. Most theorists have suggested that the nature of the axial change was cognitive or intellectual. However, some propose a new characterization of the Axial Age based not on a cognitive change but on a behavioral one.

4 What came before Religions prior to the Axial Age... Focused on collective ritual action Religious agents acted on behalf of a community What people asked for when they invoke or placate the gods Attain prosperity, health, long life, fertility Avoid disease, dearth, sterility, premature death The focus was on achieving human flourishing

What changed The Axial Age introduced the following... The discovery or invention of a new standpoint from which the existing order in the cosmos or society can be criticized or denounced.

5 What changed The Axial Age introduced the following... The discovery or invention of a new standpoint from which the existing order in the cosmos or society can be criticized or denounced. A new locus from which critique becomes possible in which the formulae we use to describe or operate in the world themselves come under critical examination. The transcendent being, or the principles of criticism, may be seen as of relevance not just to our society, but to the whole of humanity. A new notion of the philosophical or religious vocation of individuals.

6 What fueled it? Egalitarian ethic Judgments on existing social and political conditions Legitimation Crisis Destabilization Crisis Military factors Widespread use of iron Universalistic nature of religion Integrate ethnically diverse populations Large Scale Empires

which took humans beyond the understanding of human flourishing Alter the current

7 The outcome The major outcomes of the Axial age include... The highest human goal can no longer just be to flourish A new goal of salvation which took humans beyond the understanding of human flourishing Alter the current existing order of things The growth of a new self-understanding of our social existence The primacy of the individual

8 What changed? Pre-Axial Axial Age Axial Age Axial Age Emphasis on importance of ritual and sacrifice in religious behavior Increased emphasis on explaining human existence Increased emphasis on nature of human relationship to the divine Developments in law, ethics, rationalism Preservation of cosmic and social order = flourish The quest for salvation or liberation = primacy of individual Religion Philosophy

9 The great transformation India China Karen Armstrong, A Short History of Myth Hinduism Buddhism Jainism Greece Philosophy Axial Age Confucianism Daoism Middle East Zoroastrianism Judaism They were acutely conscious of the suffering that seemed an inescapable part of the human condition, and all stressed the need for a more spiritualized religion that was not so heavily dependent upon external rituals and practice. They had a new concern about the individual conscience and morality. All the sages recoiled from the violence of their time, and preached an ethic of compassion and justice. They taught their disciples to look within themselves for truth and not to rely on the teachings of priests and other religious experts. Nothing should be taken on trust, everything should be questioned, and old values must be subjected to critical scrutiny.

10 The problem Significant religions with deep roots prior to the axial age and two others with deep roots after it. Zoroastrianism Abrahamic Axial Age ( B.C.E) Christianity Islam

Overview of Eurasian Cultural Traditions. Strayer: Ways of the World Chapter 5

Overview of Eurasian Cultural Traditions Strayer: Ways of the World Chapter 5 China and the Search for Order Three traditions emerged during the Zhou Dynasty: Legalism Confucianism Daoism Legalism Han