Belief systems

Religious ideas and practices change over time. These changes may be due to changes within the religious group, changes to the population of believers, and interactions with other belief systems. This article is going to focus on large changes in a few widely practiced religions around the world.

While some elements of religions changed quite dramatically, others stayed the same. Indeed, religions keep certain features over long periods of time more than most other human institutions, like governments. Still, change and continuity happen in more regional belief systems.

Judaism

In the first millennium BCE, ideas that had been handed down orally were written down for the first time in many places. Among these texts are those created by the Hebrews. They were a group of people who briefly established two small kingdoms in lands around the Mediterranean Sea. These stories and laws formed the basis of Judaism. Judaism is a monotheistic faith, meaning people believe in one God, and the faith is based on the concept of an agreement between the people and God.

The early Hebrews were sheep and goat herders that moved around often and were organized into tribes. The shared faith of Judaism was one way for these tribes to work together and unify.

The Hebrews—now Jews—lived in a region that was frequently attacked. Although they managed to unify in the first millennium BCE, their small states were conquered. As a result, the Jews were scattered widely in a diaspora (or dispersal) across the Mediterranean regions of Asia, Europe, and North Africa. In the period 1200 to 1450 CE, Jews mostly lived in states ruled by others, in particular the Islamic states of Spain and North Africa and the Catholic states of Europe. Partly because they were so dispersed, Jewish communities didn’t have a centralized priesthood. Each community had a rabbi.

Jewish communities were sometimes treated harshly by Christian and Muslim rulers. In both cases, they were considered to not be part of the normal social order—for example, the system of lords, knights, and serfs in much of Europe. Many Jews protected themselves by serving rulers as bankers and scribes. Some became assimilated, or even converted to other faiths. Most Jews remained a minority population with rabbis as community leaders.

Hinduism

Hinduism arose in northern India between 1500 and 500 BCE. People created a body of sacred works and ritual texts known as the Vedas. Their belief system recognized numerous gods and goddesses and a powerful priestly class, the Brahmins. Through ritual, the Brahmins assisted people in achieving union with the source of the universe. Around 300 BCE, these ideas developed into the faith of Hinduism. Hinduism allowed people to show devotion to the gods without priests (although priests remained important).

Over time, Hindu philosophy deepened. A set of texts known as the Upanishads explained how a repeating cycle of reincarnation slowly allowed people to unite with the universe. Social division among Hindus deepened. People were born into a social class associated with the jobs of their parents and could only rarely change into a different social class.

Hinduism had spread throughout South Asia and Southeast Asia by the year 1200 CE. Hinduism incorporated ideas from some of the local faiths and practices of these regions. Hinduism was not so centralized that everyone agreed on anything more than its core ideas and stories. Hindu rulers recognized the diversity of beliefs in their kingdoms, and were often tolerant. In much of India, conflict between Hinduism and Islam became intense in the 1000s and 1100s CE. Religious leaders tried to unify Hindu thought.

Buddhism

Buddhism grew from similar roots as Hinduism, also in North India. In the years 500 to 600 BCE, it began to move more dramatically away from the dominance of a priestly class to a more equal structure. Most of Buddhism’s main ideas are attributed to Prince Siddhartha Gautama (563–483 BCE). Gautama gave up his privilege and tried to live a disciplined life of study and enlightenment. Known as Buddha, Gautama pioneered the “Four Noble Truths”:p>

1. Life is suffering.
2. Suffering comes from desire.
3. If you can limit desire, you can limit suffering.
4. You can do this by following the “Eightfold Path” of righteous action, effort, and more.

Buddhism gave people a roadmap to enlightenment and ending their suffering through action and devotion. Different pathways developed by which people could make this journey. Some of these called for people to join monasteries, while other thinkers emphasized everyday activities.

Buddhism spread, and as it reached new areas it took on new practices. It was not a centralized faith with priests, so it could adapt to new places. China became an important Buddhist center in around the years between 600 and 700, and then it spread rapidly throughout East Asia. During the 1000s through the 1200s, the Chan school of Buddhism became increasingly important. Chan Buddhism emphasized meditation and a focus on natural ways of reaching personal enlightenment. It existed alongside many other schools of Buddhism.

Christianity

Christianity appeared in the early Roman Empire. There was a great mixing of cultures and traditions in the Empire, and Christianity began among the Jewish population.

The preacher Jesus of Nazareth (c. 3 BCE–29 CE) came, and according to Christian Scripture he was born to deeply religious Jewish parents. Oral accounts of his sayings were written down by a community of his followers in the century after his life.

Jesus’ followers had different beliefs, but they agreed that Jesus preached of a kingdom of eternal happiness in a life after death. Devotion to God and love of others were critically important. His teachings were based on Hebrew Scripture and reflected a conception of God and morality that came from Jewish tradition. He said that he was the Son of God and the Messiah who had come to establish a spiritual kingdom. He declared that he would return to save the righteous.

The Christian faith developed around groups of priests. It quickly became quite hierarchical, following the model of the Roman Empire in which it was based. Splits developed early, as followers in different regions applied Greek, Ethiopian, and Roman theological ideas. The support of later Roman Emperors meant that a large and centralized church could be built.

The decline of the Roman Empire left a vacuum in Europe after the sixth century. As state power fragmented, the Christian church and its leaders provided a unifying set of beliefs and practices. However, there was a great break in 1054 CE between the Catholic Church in Rome and the Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople. These two churches disagreed over some practices, but they also reflected disagreements between states.

Islam

Islam was founded by religious reformer and prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632 CE), who lived in Arabia and was heavily influenced by Jewish and Christian ideas. Muhammad was about forty when he began to experience visions instructing him to preach. Muhammad described his revelations in stylized prose as his Qur’an, or “recitation.” His followers memorized his words, and after his death these materials were collected into an official written version. Muslims regard the Qur’an as the direct words of God to his Prophet Muhammad.

Muhammad gathered followers and brought the entire Arabian Peninsula under Muslim authority. Core elements of the faith were established. All Muslims had the obligation of jihad (“self-exertion”). This meant submitting to God, spreading God’s rule, and leading a virtuous life. Five practices constitute the Five Pillars of Islam. They included faith in God and in Muhammad as God’s prophet, regular prayer, fasting during the sacred month of Ramadan, giving alms to the poor, and a pilgrimage to Mecca if possible.

After Muhammad’s death, Islam continued to spread through conquest and conversion. It also experienced splits between groups. Mystical movements arose in many areas that combined Islamic thought with local ideas, and often included worship of local saints.

The Islamic political system had fractured, but Islam provided a bridge between many states. It became the chief religion of the Mongols in Central Asia and other powerful states.

Conclusion

Religions have their own histories of continuity and change. Religious thinkers developed new ideas, responded to changing populations, and engaged with each other. The history of religion is an important part of an integrated look at the global past.