TIMELINE & TRADITIONSRise & Spread of Belief Systems in the

Second-Wave Era

What was happening in the society that encouraged the development of these religious beliefs?

■There were large social changes that were occurring including new technologies which made for more deadly warfare, and more wealth in society which made for more defined hierarchies, greater power held by states and rulers, and new interactions with people due to trade. An increasingly literate society led philosophers/thinkers to question the moral and political underpinnings of societies.

What later legacy would these faiths have as they left their points of origin?

■ In Persia, Greece, India, China and the Mediterranean region these faiths emerged independently and then spread out.

– Saint Paul spread Christianity to Syria, Persia, North Africa, Ethiopia and eventually it spread to Europe.

– The contrast to earlier faiths proved difficult as a monotheistic god for example ran counter to the polytheism of the Roman Empire.

■ Gautama spread Buddhism throughout India and eventually missionaries would spread it to China and Southeast Asia.

– Acceptance here too was challenged by Hinduism.– Differences in practice arose as these faiths were adopted at home and abroad.

■ Despite many Greeks remaining true to the pantheon of Greek gods, the Greek legacy of rationalism later would influence the development of Western science.

What global processes existed that led to the spread of belief systems?■Trade networks as well as pilgrimages

helped to spread these belief systems via the Silk Roads, the trans-Saharan trade routes, and through the Indian Ocean.

What else do you think should be included in the timeline? What more do you need to know about in order to explain the global historical context?

■ Include the Chinese dynasties (ex. Qin Dynasty to illustrate Legalism)

■ Include political features including the Indian empires.

■ Questions:– Why was Christianity accepted in the Roman Empire?– What caused the shift from Legalism to Confucianism and Daoism to

Buddhism and then back to Confucianism?– What did non-elites think about the spread of new faiths?