Christendom

I thought Christianity would be the religion that I would know the most about of all the worlds major religions, but it turns out that I am wrong again. The more I read about the Christendom the more I am amazed at what I did not know. The fact that Christianity developed from Judaism and was not tolerated for several years in Rome. Until the Edict of Milan, which announced that the Roman Empire would be tolerant of other religions. Constantine and Licinius, the emperors of the western and eastern parts of the empire, signed edict at a wedding in Milan. It stated that the Christians were to have their confiscated property returned. The Edict of Milan was signed in 313CE, the next revolution for Christendom after that was the First Council of Nicaea, in 325. This was important because it was the first meeting of all the bishops of the church, also the Creed of Nicaea was created here. In 392 Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, and the old pagan religion was outlawed. Once the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, the churches in the western half were no longer connected with emperor and changed as a result. The eastern half of the empire became known as the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire was then ruled by Constantine the Great until 337, when he died. He is known for helping Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire. At this point Christianity became more complex, creating different branches and denominations; there was the Catholic church, Eastern Orthodox church, Protestant. Overtime the Christendom has grown from a small Jewish sect to one of the world’s largest religions with billions of followers.

Muhammad

With all the different types of religions and practices it is hard to remember what’s what and the differences and similarities. One thing all religions have in common is they all have a leader of some sort, Christianity has Jesus, Buddhism has Buddha, and Islam has Muhammad. Muhammad is considered the founder of Islam and was a prophet and messenger to God. He grew up an orphan and lived with many different families, when he was older he became a merchant, traveling between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. He later married a much older wealthy widow named Khadija, but also had 12 other wives later. He had seven children, most of which died, and only one carried on his name. In 610 the angel Gabriel appeared to him, while he was meditating in a cave outside of Mecca. Gabriel told Muhammad that he was messenger to God; Muhammad only told close friends and family at first. Then he started preaching and gaining followers. During the years following Muhammad had many supporters, but he also had many opponents, most of which were gained when he condemned the worshiping of idols. Also, many people were not happy that he was preaching monotheism and there were many attempts to take his life. Around this time Muhammad and his followers moved from Mecca to Medina; Medina means “city of the prophet” and became the first Muslim settlement. Soon after Muhammad left Mecca, war broke out between the two. After the war ended from a treaty, Muhammad made a pilgrimage to Mecca. Three months later he died from an illness; he was burned where he died and is housed in a mosque in Medina. He word lives on through the Qur'an and the Islamic religion.

Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/timeline_html.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad

Innovation and tragedy

When we first started learning about Islamic influences I had no idea just how far they stretched and how much of my day-to-day life has its beginnings in Islam. Everyday I use medicine, paper, complex mathmatetics and textiles. It has always been an assumption of mine that these goods and ideas were created by those who lived in the more Western regions of Europe and China.

I again stand corrected. I thought I had a good grasp on the past and where certain things came from but some everyday things just didn’t occur to me to ask whom, how and when they were made. It was quite interesting to watch the movie on Islam in class and to learn about the beginnings of so many things. When the video began I was in awe of all the developments that came from Islam and especially from Baghdad and the House of Wisdom. I had previously never learned any Islam history and all I knew about it was that they were Muslim. The scientific discoveries of that time, as I said before affect me everyday. The innovation that came with the far-reaching trade routes and systems allowed for trade of goods across the entire continent and merging of culture, goods, ideas, and religion. I thought that only good had come from this until I learned of the Crusades. I had only briefly heard about the Crusades, which now seems impossible to me that I had not learned more about these events before. I guess that comes from growing up in a Catholic home.

The video, with its cheesy remake and dramatic voice-overs really changed what I knew about history. The movie depicted the events in a way that the book could not, as a violent and totally unnecessary massacre. The events during the Crusades parallel what is going on now and I just can’t help but think that we will never learn what we need to from history, and we will always be bound to repeat events. Who knows what kinds of further innovations could have been created from some of the great minds in Islam if they had not been killed in Jerusalem. Now a days we can see some more great minds coming out of Islam, just like in the past there was soap, spices, fine goods, and knowledge, today we can credit them with further medical innovations, engine technology, and popular iPhone applications, which shows that the influence of Islam can be seen in the past, present, and the future.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=islamic+inventions&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Five Pillars of Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam laid out the structure in which the Muslim way of life was formed. In class we discussed the five different pillars briefly, so I choose to examine each Pillar a little more in depth.

The First Pillar was that there may be no god worshipped but the God and His messenger Muhammad. Muslims would often say, la ilaha illa Llah, which translated from Arabic means, 'There is no god except God.' This is the Muslims way of declaring their devotion to their only God.

The second Pillar was focused around prayer. They were expected to pray at least five times a day. Salat is the name of the prayer they preformed five times throughout the day; it was concerned as a direct link between the individual and God. Not only do they have requirements about the number of times they pray these prayers also have to be said at certain times: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall. This sequence order helped keep order to their daily activities. One of their prayers translated into English goes as follows...

"God is most great. God is most great.God is most great. God is most great.I testify that there is no god except God.I testify that there is no god except God.I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.Come to prayer! Come to prayer!Come to success (in this life and the Hereafter)!Come to success!God is most great. God is most great.There is no god except God."

The third Pillar's purpose was to give people's "things" and wealth to God. Muslims must set aside a portion of their resources to those in greater need. There is a certain calculation the Muslims must do to determine the amount they must give to charity and that is known as their 'Zakat.' This is meant to keep money and other resources evenly throughout the country.

The fourth Pillar was fasting. During the month of Ramadan each year the Muslim must fast. This fasting includes more than just the absence of food; they are also required to stop drinking and all sexual relations during this month. The purpose of this is to maintain good health and proper self purification.

The fifth Pillar is only for those that are able to perform: both financially and physically. There is an annual pilgrimage to Makkah. About two million people from all different countries attend each year. Here they perform the rites of Hajj. The people must circle the famous Ka'ba seven times, and go between the mountains of Safa and Marwa, as did Hagar while searching for water, seven times. The end of this likely struggle is followed by a festival, Eid al-Adha. Here is a picture of people circling the Ka'ba.

Each of these Pillars keep the Muslims in order and keep their thoughts focused on God. Without these certain requirements their religion may not be as strong as it is today. Even though to us some of these Pillars may seem extreme and difficult to accomplish they were proud and likely to do them all without shame.

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/pillars.shtml

Striking Similarites: Christianity and Islam

How many of us can explain either of the world's vast religions? From our own society in this part of the world, it is likely most know a bit about the Christian religion. Maybe if you follow another specific religion, you can surely tell all about your own. However, do you know any of the elements of another? Have you ever examined anything beyond your own personal beliefs? I admit, before learning about Islam, I never realized its origins or connections it has with another main religion, Christianity. To illustrate, here is a list of fundamental concepts that both Islam and Christianity share. This will surely enlighten you on both of these major world religions that have existed for several hundreds of years.

Monotheism: One God, recognized as the Creator.
God is omnipotent, omniscient, immanent within His creation yet transcendent.
At the end of the world, God will judge humans based on their actions in compliance with a moral code, specified in the Covenant which God makes with us.
This judgment will determine one's eternal abode, heaven or hell
Human beings have a soul which is eternal, continuing its existence after our physical death
Humans have the ability (free will) to choose between good and evil
Angels exist who are the servants, and sometimes messengers of God
Satan exists, as well as evil spirits who follow him; they are the enemies of humanity
Miracles occur on occasion.
If a person errs or transgresses, God may forgive them, if they sincerely repent.
Prophets brought spiritual instruction.
Jesus Christ was born to the virgin Mary.
At the time of the end of the world, Jesus Christ will come again.
Prayer is a means of communicating with God; God hears prayers and sometimes grants requests.
Charity and relieving the suffering of others carries spiritual rewards.
Certain standard prayers exist.

This long list of very significant items shows how similar these two religions are. It is quite curious to consider the members of each of these religions and their own understanding of the other. Are they aware? Would they be shocked to see this list of similarities?

Islam: Qur’an

A couple weeks ago, I discussed the importance of sacred texts and intentionally focused on Buddhism and Christianity. This week, coming back to the idea of sacred texts, I explored the religion of Islam and its holy text, the Qur’an.

In my opinion, holy texts offer a reference to answers in life. These answers include how to live life, the purpose of life, and after life. For the Islamic faith, the answers lie in the Qur’an.

Originally written in Arabic text, the Qur’an offers guidance and direction for mankind. The Islamic faith rose to existence as the angel Gabriel spoke to Muhammad while he resided in the mountains. Muhammad soon gathered followers to memorize and recite the word of Gabriel. These teachings did not become documented right away, like many other religions. Instead, Islam continued orally, and eventually, individuals began recording the Qur’an on tablets and other surfaces. Individuals pooled together the tablets and other surfaces with the holy text to produce the completed version of the Qur’an after Muhammad’s death.

The text consists of one hundred fourteen chapters each of varying length. Interestingly, the text does not seem to have a beginning, middle, and end. Also, the Qur’an mentions stories of people and events found in the Jewish and Christian religion, some including Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and John the Baptist.

One of the principles of the Islamic faith consists of prayer. Prayer, typically, involves reciting segments of Qur’an. For this reason, many Muslims end up memorizing much of the Qur’an.

Originally written in Arabic text, printed on large tablets, the Qur’an appeared to be an inconvenience. However, in today’s society, an individual can access the Qur’an in different languages, fonts, and sizes. With improving technology in the past decade, individuals have uploaded the Qur’an to the internet for anyone to access.

In my opinion...

When the topic of Christianity came up in class I had thought I knew everything I wanted to know about the subject, which was not much at all, I stand corrected. When the topic started I had no idea where the religion originated from, much less that it had a similar developmental frame as Buddhism, a religion that is regarded today as so different from Christianity. The term salvation religion had been foreign to me, and seems like something lost in the past when looking at how religion is today and the amount of money that goes through churches. Churches in my hometown seem to compete to have the nicest buildings and the largest congregations. I can relate this now to the time when Constantine announced that he had converted to Christianity and money from the empire went into building great structures devoted to Christianity and spreading the word and the belief of the religion.

I feel that for some, in our times and in the time of Constantine and the formation of Christianity and other Universal religions, the true sense was somewhat lost. People felt more inclined to be part of a group then they felt a spiritual connection to the religion. I have noticed this in some, I am not saying all, people in Michigan who go to church and are motivated by an outside source. I feel that in the beginning they had it right, fighting for what they want and for what they believe in, no matter what beliefs. The closest I feel that we have come to the type of religious persecution in individuals in my generation would be political differences involving voting. Religious uprisings are present everyday in countries all over the world, causing wars and death, however it is sad to look at the US and see how this goes relatively unnoticed. I feel that people of my generation, the 20 something’s of the world in the US need to start believing in something if we ever hope to understand where the foundations of our society, religion, and culture come from.

Living in a Christian World

Last week my blog discussed how St. Paul spread the Christian beliefs, this week I am going to discuss what happened after many people begun believing and following St. Paul's ideas on Christianity. "Christendom" was the term used to identify the group of Christians that had faith in Christ and followed the ways of the bible. After time this group grew to be very large, and it is categorized into three different time periods: The early Christendom, middle Christendom, and the late Christendom.

The early Christendom period was when Christianity was first introduced to the Western world during the second century. Christianity was a different belief system and many felt unsure about the ideas it contained, so therefore many were prosecuted for believing these ideas.

The middle Christendom was during the Renaissance period. During this period Christianity was brought into more aspects of everyday life, economics, social life and especially politics. The church was now considered an institution and the Byzantium Empire was becoming a member of the "Christendom". Many would unsure if the Christian beliefs of the political leaders were something that would continue into more recent generation, or if it was only popular because Christianity was still new to the world. The Byzantium empire eventually lost control over the Islam and Muslim territories, resulting in a major decline of the Byzantium empire. This event ended the middle Christendom.

During the late Christendom the Western church had control over the majority of European Christians. A true pope was identified by the splitting of the Western world into the complete control by three men that were chosen by politics. Each of these men were claiming to be the true pope. This crisis caused each state to operate on an independent level. The Western world was no longer depending on other states. These changes caused centralized monarchies to form and also the Hundred Years' War to increase in process. At the end of the war enough money was raised from taxation of the public to officially establish the English Church.

The Christendom period had several of changes, and each change led the Western world a little closer to the development of the English Church. Without these doubts and wars fought about Christianity, it would not be as strong as a religion as it is to this day. Here is a video of the artifacts, artwork, and famous cathedrals during the rise of Christianity. I find the song to also have meaning to the rise of Christianity. Many truly did view Jesus as the sun, because it was a fresh idea and the results of following Christianity were appealing and bright!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom

Constantine (the Great?)

A Roman emperor by the name of Constantine I stopped the persecutions of Christians started by his predecessor, Diocletian. During Diocletian’s rule, Christians were not allowed to practice their religion; instead, they were required to follow the Roman gods. In order to enforce this, Diocletian persecuted those who were Christians. In 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan which allowed citizens to practice any religion without being punished.
Why did Constantine create the Edict of Milan and convert to Christianity?
Constantine led the Romans to many military victories including the Battle of Milvian Bridge. However, this battle differed from his other battles. Constantine faced Maxentius, a rebellious Caesar, making this a civil war. During this war, Constantine claims that he saw a symbol (The Labarum) which changed his views of Christians from that point on. Constantine believed that the symbol and Christianity helped him win the Battle of Milvian Bridge, so he converted to Christianity. Constantine created the Edict of Milan, supported the Church financially, built basilicas, granted privileges to clergy, and promoted Christians to high office positions.
Constantine earned “the Great” from Christian historians, but should he have deserved this title because he was a Christian? Constantine could have claimed the title through his military achievements as well.
In 337, Constantine fell ill. At this point in his life, he decided to be baptized in the Jordan River (where Jesus himself was baptized). Why did he put off baptism until the last days of his life? Some thought Constantine did this to be forgiven for as much of his sin as possible. However, all sin is forgiven as long as an individual confesses them and attempts to live life according to God. For this reason, I do not believe Constantine to be a good Christian. This is much like Christians today who claim to be Christian because they attend church, but they do not live the way God intends them to live. In both cases, I think hypocritical describes the situations, and for this reason I believe that Constantine does not deserve the title of “the Great.”
However, without Constantine, Christianity could be non-existent today. Constantine’s work of making Christianity popular and ceasing the persecution of Christians helped the religion stay alive and spreading. Today in America, Christianity is the most popular religion, and without Constantine, many Americans, including myself, would follow some other religion. For this reason, I think Constantine deserves the title of “the Great.”

First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicaea is a significant historical event in Christendom. It was a council called by Emperor Constantine I in 325 CE. Its purpose was to basically organize Christianity and set the movement straight. It did this by determining the debates of this early time, for example, when Christ's resurrection should be celebrated.
An important outcome of this event was the first agreed upon doctrine of Christianity. It is known as the Nicene Creed and was stated as follows:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (ὁμοούσιον) with the Father; by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
And in the Holy Ghost.
[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]

As we can see from this, the council engaged heavily in technical Christology for the first time. Clarifying the divinity of Jesus was vital for the religion as it is the key to Christianity, even today. Along with this Creed, the council developed roughly twenty decrees.
The significance of this one event is incontrovertible as it has had lasting effects for hundreds and hundreds of years. It was the first time that numerous representatives of the Church agreed upon a specific doctoral statement. Along with this, it was the first time the Emperor played a large role in calling members of the Church under his power. Overall, this council remains a major event in the history of Christianity.

Constantine and Christianity

In class this week we learned about the beginnings of Christianity. Christianity started out with a very small cult following just like all of the religions that have appeared throughout history. St. Paul spread the word about Christianity to as many people as he could and made it available to all those who wanted to embrace it. Although St. Paul did great work kin promoting Christianity, the real acceptance of the religion came when Constantine the Great converted. St. Paul was instrumental in the first promotion and spread of Christianity but I have to wonder if the religion would have gained the same popularity and become so successful without Constantine the Great.

There is no question that Christianity could not exist without St. Paul and everything he did to promote the religion that he loved. Although this is true, I cannot help but wonder if Christianity would have gained the same status if it had not been adopted by Constantine. At the time, Constantine was such an influential person that people followed his example without question and his move to Christianity encouraged others to follow. When Constantine converted to Christianity he became the biggest supporter of the new religion. He donated a great amount of money for the building of churches and other holy needs and he also made Christians exempt from paying Roman taxes. He did everything he could to promote Christianity because he truly believed in it and he wanted to make sure that it reached as many people as possible. When his people saw how devoted he was to Christianity, they to accepted and adopted the religion.

Today Christianity is one of the most common religions in the world and this never could have happened without the work of St. Paul and the promotion from Constantine the Great.

The Battle of Thermopylae and Spartan Warfare

The Infantry

The Greek infantry man was known as a hoplite. While most hoplites were citizens and had jobs, the Spartan hoplites only job was to be a soldier. A hoplites’ armor weighed 50 pounds and it was made out of bronze. There typically was a breastplate, helmet and graves. They carried a round shield known as a hoplon, that was made from wood and coated in bronze. The hoplon was one meter in diameter and would be supported on the shoulder of the hoplite and protect him from chin to knees. The hoplon weighed around 20 to 30 pounds. The main weapon of the hoplite was the doru, or spear. The doru was between seven and nine feet long, and held in one hand while the other held the shield. The tip of the doru was a curved leaf shape and the butt of it a spike known as a “lizard crusher.” The butt end was used as a weapon if the spear was snapped in half. If the doru was used underarm, the thrusts would have been under control but less powerful. If the thrusts were over arm, they would be more powerful but less under control. The secondary weapon of the hoplite was a short sward called a xiphos. The hoplites would use this as their last resort if their spear broke or if the phalanx broke ranks. If the enemies retreated the hoplites would drop their shields and spears and chase after them, with their xiphos. Hoplites did not use bows and arrows because they thought it to be cowardly.

The key to the hoplites success was the phalanx. The phalanx was a Greek rectangular military formation. The hoplites would get in close formation so each hoplites’ shield protected the person to their right. The first few rows of hoplites would project their spears over the top of the first row of soldiers. That meant that more than one row of soldiers could be active at once. Phalanxes would also have pushing matches, where the whole formation would push against the enemy trying to break their ranks. A typical phalanx was eight men across and sixteen men deep. The most dangerous spot was on the far right of the phalanx because you were not protected by your neighbors shield. The phalanx required a lot of trust and teamwork. You had to put the individual aside and work for the team, which Spartans excelled at. Even though this went against human nature of self preservation, the Spartans were more afraid of the law then dying.

The Battle

The Battle of Thermopylae occurred in August of 480 B.C. The Persians were trying to advance onto central Greece via the Thermopylae pass, the only road known to them. Leonidas and his Spartans tried to hold the pass long enough so Xerxes would be forced to leave for more food and supplies. But, Xerxes was not going to let a couple Spartans stand in his way of taking over the world. Plus, he had over two million soldiers with him, what did he have to fear, but a couple thousand Greeks. Xerxes built a bridge across Hellespont, which was made up of over 700 galleys and triremes, to cross into Greece. Leonidas picked 300 of his best soldiers, all with sons to carry on their family name, to meet Xerxes at Thermopylae. Along the way he was joined by 4,500 or so other Greek soldiers.

On the first day of the battle the Spartans did very well. The experienced Spartans would go forward and trick the Persian army into many traps. It is said the Xerxes leapt to his feet three times that day thinking his army was defeated. The next day was more of the same except the different Greek troops took turns defending the pass, giving the Spartans a break. Then Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks be telling Xerxes about the Anopaia path. Logically that night Xerxes sent a group of soldiers to attack the Greeks from behind. Luckily, Leonidas had sent a small amount of Greeks to defend the path; the Persians killed most of them though. When Leonidas was warned about the advancing Persians he sent all the Greeks away, except for the Spartans, Thespians, and Thebans. On the third day the Spartans moved forward into the widest part of the pass. Leonidas knew they were all going to die so he wanted to kill as many Persians as possible. Once Leonidas was killed the Greeks did everything they could to protect the body. After rushing the Greeks four times, the Persians finally controlled Leonidas’ body. After that the Persians from the Anopaia path descended on the remaining Greeks from the rear, they were surrounded. The Persians managed to kill all 300 Spartans and a thousand Greeks, while over 20,000 Persians were killed by the Greeks.

Links:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Ancient-Sparta---The-True-History-of-Leonidas-and-Thermopylae&id=1520920

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/271570/hoplite

A Viking Way of Life

This week, I have decided to take a look at a people who lived long ago, and still remain well-known today. Over one thousand years ago, the Vikings encompassed a very remarkable culture that included many unique elements. What were their beliefs? What kinds of things did they value? What specific skills did they posses? How did these items develop? All of this made for an amazing culture; the Viking way of life.

Their religion is known as Northmen's Mythology. Similar to Greek mythology, the Vikings new numerous gods all pertaining to different aspects of creation and life. They fell into two groups; the Aesir which were gods of war and the Vanir, which were gods associated with love. Let's take a look at some specific viking gods.
Odin was the wisest god of the Aesir group. He was one-eyed and accompanied by two ravens that would inform him of the doings of the gods, giants, dwarfs, and men. It was said that he lost an eye in exchange for a drink from a sacred well full of knowledge.
Another being was Freya who was born a member of the Vanir gods. However, she married into the Aesirs by becoming Odin's wife. Accordingly, she became the goddess of love and fertility and of war and wealth. She possessed a famous necklace named Brisingamen which she received from the dwarfs by sleeping with them. She also had a cloak that allowed her to transform into a a bird, and a chariot that was driven by large cats.
From all of this, it is easy to see how the manner of Viking religion was exciting, like a thrilling story. However, the Vikings encountered a new religion, one that was spreading rapidly throughout the world.
Many Vikings had converted to Christianity by 1000CE. Very soon after, it was safe to consider any Viking as a Christian.

The language of the Vikings can still be seen in several languages today. For example, here are some words we find very familiar: anger, band, sky, happy, steak, and give. This is from Old Norse being closely related to Old English. It is fascinating to know that our cultures are linked in this way.
The ability to write for the Vikings was considered a very special skill. They believed their writing, known as runes, came directly from the gods. They did not write on paper with ink, rather they carved into wood or stone by means of knives and chisels. This influenced the letters to only be made using straight lines, giving them a distinct look.

Picture a Viking in your head. It is likely that we imagine a specific and unique object. In fact, the outward appearance of a viking today often includes them wearing a horned-helmet. However, this is the most famous misconception we have of their clothing and weapons. In reality, their close-quarters style of fighting would have made horned-helmets cumbersome and hazardous to their own comrades. Vikings used weapons such as a spear, scramseax, axe, and sword, the sword being the most prized.

These elements of Viking culture depict them as a stong and fascinating people. This is clearly the case as they were able to expand across the north Atlantic, even reaching the North American coast. Overall, they are certainly among the most extraordinary and adventurous culture in world history.

St. Paul and The Spread of Christianity

During class we discussed the beginning of Christianity. St. Paul was responsible for much of the spread of this religion throughout the eastern Mediterranean. But today, Christianity is one of the most practiced religions. The start of St. Paul's journey begun when a fellow friend introduced him to Jesus and invited him to work at his side. St. Paul then went around the area and taught others one primate phrase, "The Lord is our God, one Lord." By this saying it gave the people around him a completely different approach to Christianity. The Romans at this time were mad because people were beginning to believe this phrase and were no longer praising their gods. Paul was very determined and knew that God was calling out to all people. It was unlikely that Paul really knew Jesus but his teachings were mostly focused on the fact that Jesus was resurrected and would soon return.

If it was not for St. Paul the world would not know about Jesus or Christianity. Today Christianity is the number one religion practiced, followed by Islam. St. Paul also wrote more than half of the New Testament. His hard work and teachings had a major impact on the world even today. His ideas and preachings gave the society a whole different approach to religion. Today in some churches St. Paul is prayed to and still being praised for his work. This website is one of the prayers for St. Paul.

Buddhism Today

As we talked about in class, Buddhism is an ancient and well known religion that was created around 528 BC by Gautama Siddhartha, or “The Buddha” as a way to deviate from Hinduism. Buddhism at the creation was based on Buddhist Dharma that appealed to low class citizens and merchants, and it was an opportunity for anyone to achieve enlightenment. The Buddhist Dharma was based on 4 noble truths, and 8-fold path, and the ultimate stage of nirvana. Buddhism grew from it’s humble roots into a universal religion or salvation religion on the same ranks as Christianity.

Today however Buddhism has a different approach and different followers. With the fast paced world, high demands, and for some, no hope of salvation, many people have chosen to turn to Buddhism, or a form of Buddhism in order to achieve a sense of enlightenment and spiritual connection. Today there are many types of Buddhism, such as the authentic Buddhism, which is rare, religious Buddhism, which offers religion, Buddhism was not started as a religion but now has become one, philosophical Buddhism, in which Buddhist teaching are put into a philosophical context, and externalized Buddhism, which is a large deviation from the formal teachings that brings with it’s teaching ill intentions.

It is most common today however to see people using a lighter form of Buddhism, without formal teaching and readings as way to achieve their own version of inner peace. This practice could include meditation, yoga and breathing exercises as a way to connect to your inner being. Buddhist study groups can be found all over the world today along with meditation retreats in which individuals receive special training to guide them to self-empowerment. Overall the purpose of Buddhism has remained true to the spirit of the religion, yet it has been altered to work with the current hussel and bussel of life in the present.

http://www.amtb.org.tw/E-BUD/releases/4kinds.htm

Overview of Sacred Texts

The past few weeks I have focused mainly on discussing religions. Continuing the pattern, I thought it would interesting to learn more about what is truly behind some of these religions. If a person is religious, he mostly likely follows and reads a sacred text. The sacred texts contain the central idea(s) of each religion. As a religious person myself, I think without a text there is no solid ground for a religion to build off of, so there is not a reason for religions to exist. For this reason, I find it interesting to discover the history behind these texts.

Some of the oldest known religious texts, Pyramid texts found in Ancient Egypt, date back to 2400 BCE. Another text that dates back to about 2000 BCE is the Epic of Gilgamesh written by Gilgamesh for Sumarians.

The more popular religions in today’s society, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, have their own sacred texts as well.

Buddhism originated in India and spread throughout Asia and much of the current world. In fact, Buddhism was my ancestors’ religion, and to this very day it influences me to some degree. Buddhist texts include the Buddhavacana and other texts with aspects from the Sutras or Sanskrit, a former text. The main aspect of this sacred text discusses what Buddha thought a life consists of. Buddha argues that an individual’s spirit is in an endless cycle of life and death (reincarnation). In order to end this cycle, one must simply follow Buddha’s teachings and follow the path that he laid out. First, one must meditate, understand the Four Noble Truths , and follow the Noble Eightfold Path that Buddha presented. Eventually, when the individual accomplishes this task, they will be in a stage known as nirvana (no suffering). The sacred texts describe and aid individuals in this process to reach nirvana.

Christianity and its relatives affect United States citizens the most because it is the most popular form of religion. More specifically, being a student from a West Michigan school, Christianity shaped me to be the person I am. Through the Bible , Christians learn what it means to be alive, how to live life on earth, and what afterlife consists of. The Bible consists of two sections, the New Testament and Old Testament. The Old Testament originated from Hebrew scripture and is a collection of books written prior to the life of Jesus. The main difference between the two is organization and division of material. The life and teachings of Jesus, found in the New Testament, drives the religion and discusses the Christian life. Within the New Testament, the life of Jesus Christ and his teachings strikes individuals, making them believers. Lessons vary in difficulty, some as easy as not lying and others having multiple and deeper meanings. Those who dedicate their lives in following the word of Christ enjoy an afterlife in Heaven.

These are not the only sacred texts. For more information on the previously mentioned texts and other texts, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_text.

The Silk Road

The Silk Road was a series of land and also sea routes that connected Central Asia to East Asia. These routes were localized meaning many trades took place throughout the entire road, it was rare for one to travel the entire length of the Silk Road because it was also very dangerous. The Silk Road is a prime example of cross-cultural contact in our world's history. Cental Asia and East Asia both had their own cultural tradiations and own beliefs but because of the Silk Road much of these cultral beliefs were spread throughout the entire region. Products, realgions, trades, and ideas arouse from the use of the Silk Road. The picture below shows the path of the Silk Road along with certain ideas, and products that were traded between cultures.

I feel that even today each society, encluding America, has their own "Silk Road." Meaning that countries have their own way of spreading different ideas and trends throughout the country. For example, California is usually the first one to adpot new styles and eventually it migrates east and in time the majority of the country has now adapted this new style. Although, America does not have a distinct pathway for these trends it just seems to travel east with word of mouth.

http://www29.homepage.villanova.edu/christopher.haas/SilkRoad-map.jpg

Traveling The Silk Road

It seems like everyone today is talking about the global economy, and how we are all connected by the products that we consume. When did this global economy come about though? The first roots of it can be traced back over 2,000 years, to the silk road. 2,000 years ago there weren't things such as email, telephone, and large commercial cargo ships. Then how could it be possible to transport good from Asia across Europe and vise versa? Well, first of all merchants didn't travel the whole length of the road. They had their small trade routes and through trading with other merchants goods would eventually end up across the continent.

Traveling along the silk road could be difficult and take a lot of time without vehicles. There were three main modes of transportation back then: by foot, by horse, and by wagon. By wagon was the slowest of all three modes. A wagon could only go about 20 miles in a day but could carry by far the largest amounts of goods. The next fastest was by horse, but it was only fast if the horses were switched every few hours because the horses would be come tired and need to be fed. The fastest mode of transportation was walking; a fast walker could easily cover 25 miles in a day.

To me it seems unimaginable that goods could travel so far back then with the limited transportation and communication technologies. Although these goods were traveling much further than their makers realized, even before the silk road. The silk road just enhanced the capabilities and speed of this travel. The silk road was just the first of many economic advancements to a world economy.

Links:

http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/38697701/Modes-of-Travel

Photo Credits:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/silkroad/silkroad1.gif&imgrefurl=http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/silkroad/&usg=__0HK5FaJqwazOLqe6blmA5O0sduQ=&h=302&w=350&sz=52&hl=en&start=11&um=1&tbnid=3OzLNGdEdosHFM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsilk%2Broad%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Commodity Branding

Commodity branding is widely viewed as a historically distinctive feature of the modern global economy, identifying such things as kinship and class. Commodity branding has been dated back to the Urban Revolution in Mesopotamia during the fourth millennium BC bringing uniqueness and a brand name to cross culturally traded goods. This article, written by David Wengrow looks at commodity branding across time, from ancient history to the present. He talks about how brands signal products and tap into the emotions and desires of the consumer to answer personal needs. I feel that this is true of the present branding methods, when people see a brand symbol, such as golden arches or a swoosh they are reminded of a need or a want. Branding can be seen with the emergence of hieroglyphic writing in Egypt. The growth of long distance trade in history brought about the need for branding products to make the product more individualized. Stone seals were used as a form of setting one product apart from another during the Halaf Period and were discovered across northern Mesopotamia. These distinguishing seals were applied to the clay sealing of mobile containers such as pots, baskets, and sacks. The shapes of the seals vary by region but many of them resemble animal bones and teeth or human body parts. These old forms of sealing and branding can be seen in present forms of advertising and gift-wrapping, take for example current methods of standardizing goods and labors.

The article goes on to talk about the beginning of the fourth millennium and the lowland societies acting as a port of labor and capital. This region drew on other surrounding regions new productive settings of packaging products in an original way. These processes led to the emergence of competing cultural networks across northern and eastern Mesopotamia to be the most productive and original. Production and packaging grew throughout the region and clay stoppers were used as a marking in a distinctive way to distinguish local stamp seals.

Specialization in production can be seen throughout history, such as on the ancient silk road where many cultures set themselves apart by offering unique to their region products and by packaging them in distinct manners that make them distinguishable and for the finer products, highly south after.

This can be seen today as I had mentioned above all across the industrialized world, what makes name brand products better then non-name brand, and what makes one product good and another poor, and did the people of ancient civilizations base their buying and trading practices the same way we do today? Is it just part of being human to want to have the best of the best? And from the most distant land?

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/523676?cookieSet=1

Islam Reaches the East

Buddhism and Islam were the two main religions that spread to China as a result of the Silk Road. The Silk Road, as suggested by its name, was a trade route primarily for silk. However, many other items and ideas were traded along this pathway including items such as metals, spices, tools, and animals. In order for this trading to occur, merchants moved from city to city bringing their items and ideas. Most merchants did not travel great distances because of security purposes which means the items and ideas that traveled great distances must have been passed on through several merchants and travelers.

One of the ideas that traveled great distances was the Islamic faith. Islam, founded by Muhammad, came from Mecca which is located in current day Saudi Arabia. Islam’s fundamental teaching is following God’s word. The five important aspects of this religion include faith, prayer, fasting, sharing, and pilgrimage.

Visit http://gallery.sjsu.edu/silkroad/religion.htm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_china to read more on the Islamic faith and its influence on China. The distance traveled by this religion is great in magnitude and has become great in importance. Today, Islam dominates many parts of China and is one the major religions besides Buddhism.

It is without a doubt that the creation of The Silk Road was an important aspect in history because of its influence on today’s society. Islam and Buddhism might have never reached China without The Silk Road. Without Buddhism and Islam, China might not be the country that it is today.