Comparing Portable Belief Systems
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: What did the portable belief systems that emerged or spread in this period share in common?
Belief systems are a set of principles or ideals that guide people in interpreting their place within the world. Religions are one prominent type of belief system, but not all belief systems are religions. As beliefs systems spread along trade routes, many did not require a person to be in a local area to take part in the rituals and practices. We call these “portable” beliefs systems, and some later transformed into universal systems, or what we now call world religions. In this lesson, you’ll evaluate the similarities and differences among the major portable belief systems of this period.
- Understand and evaluate belief systems and how some of these systems transformed into world religions.
- Evaluate why belief systems spread during this era and how these beliefs influenced human communities and the formation of societies and empires.
- Use the historical thinking practice of comparison to examine the similarities and differences between portable belief systems.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What is a belief system?
- How is a belief system different from a religion
- How did the development of the state, hierarchies, and specialization contribute to the development of religions?
- What does it mean to state that a religion is portable?
- What does it mean to state that a religion is universal?
- How did systems of belief change people’s behaviors?
Evaluate
- How would you explain a belief system as a network? How would you explain a belief system as a community? What is the value of looking at belief systems through both frames?
Jigsaw the articles included with this comparison activity to identify the similarities and differences between belief systems.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What is the Jewish diaspora, and how did it influence Judaism in the period from 1200 to 1450?
- What effect did the development of Hinduism have on societies in South Asia?
- What allowed for the rapid spread of Buddhism? Where did it spread?
- How did interaction with the Roman Empire change the development of early Christianity?
- What are the five pillars of Islam?
Evaluate
- The communities frame narrative for this course asserts that human communities generally grow larger and more complex over time. Belief systems are one form of human community, and this article covers several millennia of time. How does this article help you support, extend, or challenge this narrative?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What was the period like in which Confucius developed his ethic and shared it with others?
- How did Confucius argue that order could be restored?
- What were the principle ideas of Confucian social order?
- What does it mean that Confucianism was a belief system that was political?
Evaluate
- The community frame refers to both belief systems and states as communities. What does this reading suggest about the relationship between the two in China during this period?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What is the core belief of Buddhism, and how was this a challenge to Vedic beliefs?
- What are the Four Noble Truths?
- Who could follow the Eightfold Path easily, and why? How did Mahayana Buddhism change this?
- How did Buddhism change when it entered China?
Evaluate
- Buddhism adapted to local ideas in China and other parts of the world. Yet we generally argue that it remained Buddhism in all of these different places. Why do you think we consider it a single belief system, even if it is adapting and changing to local conditions?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What is the Torah?
- What was the Covenant the Hebrews believed they had with Yahweh?
- How did life for the Hebrews change as they shifted from pastoral to settled farming?
- How did the Hebrews rule themselves following the defeat of the Philistines?
- How did the Hebrews maintain cohesion after their exile from Canaan?
Evaluate
- Judaism created both a large community and an extensive network of believers. What do you think was new or different about Judaism as a community? What about as a network?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What was Judea like under Roman rule during the life of Jesus?
- How were the teachings of Jesus similar to and different from those of Judaism?
- How were the teachings of Jesus recorded and spread?
- What was the role of women in early Christianity?
- How did Christianity become the official religion of the Roman Empire?
Evaluate
- How did the rise of Christianity both disrupt and create communities in its first few centuries of existence? Does this support or challenge the communities frame?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How did Hinduism emerge in South Asia?
- How do Hindus believe that a person’s status is determined?
- Why did Hinduism spread? What made it appealing to people?
- How was the social hierarchy organized under Hinduism?
Evaluate
- You’ve read about Judaism, which spread all around the world, but did not spread to large numbers of people. You’ve also read about Christianity, which spread all around the world to become the world’s largest religion. Hinduism, by contrast, spread to many people but was only widely adopted in South Asia. Can you think of any reasons for this? What role might networks and communities have played in Hinduism’s expansion (and lack of expansion)?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Why were Muhammad and his successors so successful at spreading Islam?
- What are the Five Pillars of Islam?
- How did the umma split in Islam’s history?
- What were the central practices of Sufism?
- How did early Islamic society view women?
Evaluate
- You have read about many different portable belief systems. Islam is the youngest of these belief systems, by several centuries. Is the Islamic concept of umma something new in the history of communities? Why or why not?
- Like Christianity, Islam has spread all over the world to billions of people. What role do you think networks played in this spread? Do you think Islam would have spread as far and as fast if it had emerged centuries earlier?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What is the core concept of Daoism?
- Daoism and Confucianism seem to have emerged about the same time. How did they differ?
- Confucianism became very important in governance and highly adopted among the powerful in this era. What about Daoism?
- Confucianism tended to have a gender hierarchy in which men were more respected and powerful. How did Daoism treat gender?
Evaluate
- How do you think a community (such as China) could hold both the Daoist and the Confucian belief systems at the same time? What might that tell you about that society in this era?
- What do you think a state would look like if it adopted Daoism as its governing belief system?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How was Legalism a response to conditions in Chinese society during the Warring States Period?
- How is Legalism different from Confucianism?
- What were some important contributions of Legalism?
- How do the excerpts from Han Feizi’s writing show Legalist thought?
Evaluate
- Consider a society that has elements of Legalism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. How can these belief systems work together? What can each belief system contribute to a society to make it healthier, more stable, and better for people?
- Does the society you live in have many different belief systems? What are they?