What’s the Significance?
Legalism, 169
Confucianism, 169–72
Ban Zhao, 171
Daoism, 172–74
Vedas, 174–75
Upanishads, 175
Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), 176–77
Theravada/Mahayana, 178–79
Bhagavad Gita, 179–80
Zoroastrianism, 181–82
Judaism, 182–83
Greek rationalism, 183
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, 183–86
Jesus of Nazareth, 187–88
Saint Paul, 188–89
Church of the East, 190
Perpetua, 192–93
Big Picture Questions
Next Steps: For Further Study
Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation (2006). A comparative and historical study of the major religions by a well-known scholar.
Robert N. Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (2011). An impressive but controversial account of the origins of religion in general and those of second-wave civilizations in particular.
Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom (2003). A history of the first 1,000 years of Christianity, cast in a global framework.
Huston Smith, An Illustrated World’s Religions (1994). A sympathetic account of major world religions, beautifully illustrated, by a prominent scholar of comparative religion.
Arthur Waley, Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China (1983). A classic work, first published more than half a century ago, about the major philosophies of old China.
Jonathan S. Walters, Finding Buddhists in Global History (1998). A brief account that situates Buddhism in a world history framework.
BBC, “Religions,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/. A succinct introduction to the history, beliefs, and practices of many of the world’s religious traditions.