KEY IDEAh 89CHAPTER
9 Origins of World Belief Systems
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: The period from 8000 B.C.E. to 600 C.E. saw the beginnings of
many of the world’s major belief systems. Both Hinduism and Buddhism
originated in India. The philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism pro-
foundly affected traditional Chinese culture. In the Middle East, the Hebrew
faith gave the world the concept of monotheism. Christianity emerged from
the Hebrew belief in a Messiah, or a savior from sin. Followers of Jesus as
the Messiah spread their faith throughout the Roman world.Key Terms
Analects Messiah
animism* moksha*
bodhisattvas* New Testament*
Brahmin* nirvana*
dharma* pope*
disciple reincarnation*
Edict of Milan* shamanism*
fi lial piety* yin and yang*
karma*Polytheism
Both nomadic and early agricultural peoples often held to a belief in many gods or god-
desses, or polytheism. The ancient river valley civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere, as
well as the early civilizations in the Americas, believed in numerous gods and goddesses
representing spirits or objects of nature. The Greeks and Romans also believed in an array
of deities who represented natural phenomena but at the same time took on humanlikehttp://www.ebook3000.com