Rome’s hierarchy system was very strict and it was based on how much money a family or person had. (Doc D) The Emperor was at the top, then it was his court which was made up of the wealthy and prestigious, then at the bottom the commoners, and people rarely moved between classes. (Doc D) Romans believed that the only way to a peaceful existence was through violence, victory, and no one opposing their rule. (Doc E) Christianity believed that you could have peace through nonviolence, justice, and when all was fair. (Doc E) Pliny the Younger, who was a Roman judge sentenced a group of Christians who would not buy sacrificial items for Roman gods to execution. (Doc G) Romans believed that there was an afterlife but there were two afterworlds that were for heros and commoners that people would be sent to after being judged on what they did in their lives. (Doc C) Christians to believed in an afterlife in which people who followed the laws of Christianity would be free of illnesses, poverty, and isolation, in their afterlife everyone was equal. (Doc C) The evidence above shows why Christianity took hold in the ancient world. Christianity gave an escape from the Roman hierarchy and let people of all backgrounds come together. Christianity also gave people a way of thinking so that they did not have to follow the Roman way to
As Documents 1 and 2 discuss, one response to the spread of Buddhism was large acceptance. Document 1 explains ‘The Four Noble Truths’ and their significance to the Buddhist way. The main idea is that through ‘The Four Noble Truths’ one can put a stop to their suffering. At this particular time, that was referenced as the Period of Disorder, Buddhism gained a lot of popularity, especially with the commoners at first, then caught on with the
The challenges Buddhism faced as it arrived in China were mainly linguistic challenges, different philosophical context, diverse conceptions of the ideal perfect being, and the core differences in social values. In order to overcome these challenges, there were translations made, and efforts put into searching for links between Buddhist and Chinese beliefs at that time. Moreover, there were cultural differences between the North and the South, which lead to a different process of Buddhism’s arrival within China.
After reading this article, “Attitudes toward Women and the Feminine in Early Buddhism” by Alan Sponberg, I understand that the attitude toward women in the early Buddhism was deeply ambivalent. The Buddha himself belief that women are able to attain enlightenment, become an arhats, and liberated from the suffering. However, the Buddha was worried that bringing women in to the monastic order and ordaining them as a nun could hasten the decline of his teaching. This due to the fact that all of the monks are male and the female just a follower, who are not allow to ordain and stay with the monk. According to Sponberg, he said that there were four attitudes toward women in the early Buddhism. The first attitude is soteriological inclusiveness, this show that gender is not a factor important in attaining enlightenment in Buddhism. Any one and any sentient being can attain enlightenment. The second attitude is institutional
Even though Christians were persecuted on and off during the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished. In the early Roman Empire, when Claudius, Nero, Domitian, and Trajan were emperors, Christianity was banned and Christians were persecuted. Nevertheless, Christians found ways to spread Christianity, and many people converted. As trials occurred and the Empire lost good leaders, the people took security in Christianity and other religions. Christianity grew during the Roman Empire because Constantine helped create the Edict of Milan, Constantine had imperial favor toward The Church, and there was trade routes to spread Christianity to different areas.
During the early Pax Romana, Christianity, emerged and it spread rapidly in the Roman Empire. The founder of Christianity was Jesus who used parables with moral lessons to communicate his ideas. Jesus emphasized mercy, sympathy for the poor and helpless, morality, forgiveness, and service to others. Christianity eventually became the official religion of Rome because of its unifying force and the fact that it appealed to all classes in society. The humble, poor and oppressed found comfort in his message of love, equality, human dignity, and promise for a better life. It can be seen that Christianity had the most significant changes in Roman society compared to the other religions. Christianity improved the social, cultural and political way
Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece were very powerful and influential forces around the time that Christianity had began to spread. In Rome’s society, people followed under an emperor, who had strict rules about religion and the type of beliefs one should have. At the time, Rome’s official religion was pagan, but later converted to Christian. Ancient Greece had different religious beliefs than those that Christianity consisted of, but these countries were both powerful and helpful in spreading this new religion. Greece and Rome were impactful on Christian doctrine as well as helping this religion thrive and continue to expand to new areas. With these type of factors in mind, this paper will answer the question “How did Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome impact Christianity?”.
When viewing humanity and the universe and how it comes into existence, in Buddhism, they believe “in the Universe rather than for any creator being or personal God” (Weider & Gutierrez, 2014. pg. 63). Unlike Christians, Buddhist do not teach nor believe that God is the creator of the universe. Christians look to God, Buddhist look to Buddha for direction and purpose. Buddhist also believe in evolution, which goes against the beliefs of Christians, who believe God is the creator of all. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, KJV).
The Magna Carta was created in 1215. It was an unsuccessful attempt to bring peace back early to England civilization. King John ruled during this time period. The first baron war forced him to create the Magna Carter. It eventually became known as the Great Charters of liberties. The Great Charters bound the ruling King of England to numerous laws that restricted his power over the kingdom. One example of the Magna Cart, holding the King accountable through the new laws is in Chapter 39: "+ (39) No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land." (Magna Carta) This law stops the King from being able to seize or imprison
Christianity is arguably one of the the most influential and important aspects that originated in western civilization. The religion started out as a small sect of Judaism and a man named Jesus spreading his word with a few followers. For centuries, Christians in Rome endured persecution and secret worship. With the appeal of eternal salvation and the hierarchy of the church, Christianity gradually spread, began to rise, and eventually became the prominent religion in Rome. Today, Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world.
Zong Mi, a leading Buddhist scholar defends Buddhism by praising it as it was established “according to the demands of the age and the needs of various beings” during a time of need. (Doc 5) Also, in Zong Mi’s defense of Buddhism he is careful not to criticize Confucianism or Daoism as to avoid angering Emperor Wu after his revival of the imperial structure, instead he calls the founder’s of these religions “perfect sages.” (Doc 5) On the other hand, the Buddha simply lays out the basic principles of how to achieve nirvana in the Buddhist tradition of “The Four Noble Truths.” These traditions come straight from the Buddha’s sacred texts, so it suggests that all followers of the Buddha would share these same beliefs. In addition, this document does not explicitly encourage the spread of Buddhism or advise against its opposing religion of Confucianism. In fact, these two documents remain pretty indifferent towards Buddhism’s spread into China, only defending it when
The religion of Buddhism first appeared in India during the sixth century B.C.E and its teachings migrated to China by the first century C.E., gradually winning over the Chinese people following the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220 C.E. Buddhist influence continued its expansion in China for several centuries. Throughout Chinese history, China reacted to the spread of Buddhism within its empire in several ways: some valued its policies for their implications in Chinese culture, others condemned Buddhist ideals for not being original to the empire, while many remained indifferent towards Buddhism and its spread.
The introduction of Buddhism to China started off well, most openly accepted the foreign religion and it continued to thrive for centuries. Until the lack of an empire and laws plagued individuals minds. Other religions with a strong imperial structure, such as Confucianism, rose to support the growing number of negative minds. Buddhism was spread by Buddhist missionaries from India into China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). It was, at first, confined to only the higher status individuals, like aristocrats and Chinese royalty. Other religions such as Islam and Confucianism were flourishing around this time as well. Buddhism arriving in China resulted in various responses, some were positive and accepted the religion, but after a while
Buddhism gained the endorsement of a series of emperor, plus the Buddhist mentality and response to negativity allowed Buddhism to spread in Chinese society. A great examples of how monks would react was when a monk was asked why Buddha was not mentioned in the great Confucian classic and so the monk answered All written works need not necessarily be the words of Confucius. To compare the sages to Buddha would be like comparing deer to a unicorn..(Doc 4) here you can clearly see the tone of relaxation and understanding that the monk uses to respectfully answer the question of the Confucian scholar with utmost respect, at no moment does the monk feels hate because his faith is being questioned and at no moment does he demonstrate hate in his response toward the scholar. The Buddhist peaceful and humble nature on top of teaching that promised happiness and prosperity made it so Buddhist were not disliked by everybody in China. To a point that some of their teaches made it alongside of those of the other perfect mages , Confucius,Laozi and the Buddha were perfect sages...they differ in their approach...they Encouraged the perfection of good deeds...punish The wicked ones, and reward the good ones (Doc 6) and this happened under the Tang dynasty that simultaneously at times sponsored and suppressed Buddhism. It was under Emperor Gaozong in the late 600CE that temples of Buddha like the carvings at
The Buddhist religion consists of a set of rules that are to be followed by all Buddhist adherents. These rules guide Buddhists onto the path of enlightenment and they tell adherents how to follow the teachings seen through sacred texts and how to act in the Buddhist community. There are various branches of Buddhism that teach similar beliefs to each other, however many Buddhists look to the same significant people in the Buddhist religion, such as the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama spreads teachings throughout the Buddhist community and sets an example of what Buddhist adherents must do to reach Nirvana, which is the ultimate goal of all Buddhist's. It is believed that for Nirvana to be reached, one must practice for a long time and must truly detach