Fifth Edition

World
Religions
Western Traditions
Edited by

Amir Hussain
Roy C. Amore
Willard G. Oxtoby

Oxford New York

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hussain, Amir, 1965- editor. I Amore, Roy C., 1942- editor. I Oxtoby,
Willard Gurdon, editor.
World religions . Western traditions I edited by Amir Hussain, Roy C.
Amore, Willard G. Oxtoby.
Fifth edition. I New York : Oxford University Press, 2018. I
Includes index.
LCCN 20 18005599 (print) I LCCN 2018015785 (ebook) I
ISBN 9780190877125 (Ebook) I ISBN 9780190877064 (pbk.)
LCSH: Religions.
LCC BL80.3 (ebook) I LCC BL80.3 .W66 2018 (print) I DDC
200- dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018005599

98765 4 3 21
Printed by LSC Communications, United States of America
Contributors xm
Preface x1v

' ..

Michael Desrochers
Amir Hussain & Roy C. Amore

Michele Murray Wendy L. Fletcher

Amir Hussain Ken Derry

Roy C. Amore Amir Hussain & Roy C. Amore

Credits 450
Index 451
Contributors xi
Preface xii

Basic Human Religion: Looking Both Ways from Stonehenge 4

Looking Back from Stonehenge 4
Looking Forward from Stonehenge 7
What Is Religion7 19
Why Study Religion7 19

2 I Religions of Antiquity 24
Introduction 26
Terminology 27
Prehistory 30
Common Features of the Religions of Antiquity 33
Mesopotamian Tradition 48
Egyptian Tradition 53
Greek Tradition 58
Roman Tradition 63
Iranian Tradition (Zoroastrianism) 68
Manichaean Tradition 72
The End of Paganism 74
Recent Developments 75
Summary 75

3 I jewish Traditions 80
jewish Identity as Ethnicity and Religion 82
Earliest jewish History: The Biblical Story 85
Contents

The Second Temple Period (515 BCE-70 CE) 98

Enter the Romans (63 BCE) 104
jewish Life Under Islam: Seventh to Twelfth Century 112
jews in the Christian World: Seventh to Fifteenth Century 116
The Modern Period 122
The Holocaust {1933-1945) 134
Life-Cycle Events 144
Recent Developments 151
Summary 154

Origins 163
Relations Between Church and Society 170
Authority in the Early Church 172
The Development of Orthodoxy 176
Practice 182
Eastern Orthodoxy 187
Medieval Christianity 191
The Early Modern Era 203
The Modern Era 213
Recent Developments 229
Summary 235

5 I Muslim Traditions 242

Beginnings 247
Foundations 252
Practice 258
Variations 272
The Spread of Islam 282
Cultural Expressions 290
Toward the Modern World 293
Recent Developments 297
Summary 308
 Contents vii

6 I Indigenous Traditions 312

First Thoughts 315
"Indigenous Religion" 315
Transmission 325
Practice 335
Cultural Expressions 339
Colonialism 348
Recent Developments 361
Summary 376

7 I New Religions and Movements 384

Defining New Religions. Sects. and Cults 386
New Religions from the East 388
Religions Arising from the Abrahamic lineage 395
Religions Inspired by Other Forms of Spirituality 409
The New Age Movement 418
Summary 422

Religion and Politics 428

Fundamentalism 432
Bioethics 435
The Environment 437
Gender and Sexuality 440
Religious Diversity 443

Credits 450
Index 451
viii Contents

Document Boxes
Studying Western Religions The Qur'an: On the Day of Judgment 256
The Sacnfice ll Rabi'a al-'Adaw1yah 276
Ruual Sacnfice m the Hebrew B1ble 12 Farid ai-Dm 'Attar 277
Avatar Gods 16 Jalal al-Dm Rum1 279
The Word of God l7 Jalal al-Dm Rum1 , Diwan 280
~!aria Rosa ~lenocal on ConvJ\'tncw 285
2 Religions of Antiquity
A Tavern-keeper's Adv1ce to G1lgamesh 46 6 Indigenous Traditions
The Instructions for Menhare 55 Vine Deloria, Jr. (Oglala S•oux), Custer Died
Hymn to Zeus 62 for Your Sins 321
Australian Aborigine, "Love Mag1c" 331
3 jewish Traditions Anishinaubae, "Red Willows" 333
The Tanakh 86 Yoruba Verse 337
The Story of L•luh 88 Navajo, Night way Prayer 349
The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) 93 Chi nua Achebe (lgbo), Things Fall
Psalm 137:1-6 97 Apart 358
josephus on jewish Sects 101 Chief Ar vol Looki ng Horse (Lakota),
Maimonicles, Guide of the Perplexed: On Image Statement on the Sweat Deaths in
(tzclem) and Likeness (demut) 115 Arizona 361
Wclcommg the "Sabbath Queen" 119 Keri Hulme (Maori), TI1e Bone People 375
A Rabb1 for a Day 121
The Shema 129 7 New Religions and Movements
The Kadd1sh Prayer 147 Swami Prabhupada 392
Book of Mormon 397
4 Christian Traditions Baha'i Prayer 401
The Ep1stles of Paul 167 Kabbalah: Thoughts on God 405
The l\1cene Creed 177 Yang Xiangbm , The \\'ord Appea1·s
The Desert Fathers and Mothers 186 in the Flesh 408
Juhan of Norw1ch, Showmgs 197
Mechth1ld of Magdeburg. ·or the Nme Choirs 8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
and How The)' Smg" 201 The Common Ground Between Buddhism
Teresa of Avila and john of the Cross 209 and Science 439
Reza Asian and Hasan MmhaJ. "An Open
S Muslim Traditions Letter to American Muslims m Support of
A Had1th (Saymg) of the Prophet Same-Sex Marriage" 441
Muhammad 245 Rabbi David Saperstein, Statement on Reform
The Qur'an: Abraham Destroys Judaism and LGBTIQ Teens 442
the Idols 253
Focus Boxes
Studying Western Religions 4 Christian Traditions
A }.lodern Scholar's Rcflccuon Christian Sacraments 169
on Bunal and Rehgton 6 Christianity m Egypt, Ethtopta,
and Armenta 178
2 Religions of Antiquity Black Elk (1863- 1950) 218
The Eptc of Gtlgamesh 37 Christianity tn Nazt Germany 219
The lltad 58 Secularism 221
The Magna Mater (Cybele) 63 Aimee Semple McPherson
(1890- 1944) 222
3 jewish Traditions Global Pentecostalism 223
Passover 90 The Catholic Worker Movement
CircumctstOn 92 a nd Dorothy Day (1897-1980) 224
Shavuot 94 lnd igenization of Christian Liturgy 229
Sukkot 95
Samaritans 96 S Muslim Traditions
The Septuagin t 98 Islamic Dates 250
Hanukkah JOO Begin ning the Fast 261
Purim 102 A Muslim Ritual: The Call to Prayer 261
Monotheism 105 The Twetrth Imam 270
Mtshnah and Gemarah: The Talmud 110 Mohamed Zakanya 292
The Jewtsh Calendar 112
Ashkenaztm, Sephardtm, and Mizrahim 114 6 Indigenous Traditions
Dtetary Laws 125 The Potlatch 355
Kosher Cola 126 Jndigenizing Teachmg and Learnmg 372
The Htgh Hohdars 128
Holocaust Memonal Day 137 8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
Stolptrsume 139 ~lissionarr Reltgtons 444
The Mezuzah 150
Converston tojudatsm 151

3 jewish Traditions S Muslim Traditions

Rabbi Shlomo Btstritzky, Chief Rabbi of Dr. Ami nah Beverly (McCloud) AI-Decn,
Hamburg, Germany 138 African Ame rican Muslim Scholar and
Activ ist 306
4 Christian Traditions
Three "Millennials" on Christian ity 233 6 Indigenous Traditions
Cat Criger, Traditional Elder for the
University of Toronto Mtssissauga 370
 Contents

Sites Boxes
Studying Western Religions Karbala, Iraq 274
Tell Megiddo, Israel 14 Cordoba, Spain 286
Istanbul, Turkey 287
2 Religions of Antiquity Haram al-Sharif, Israel 294
Ha rran, Mesopotamia 52
Akhetaten (Mode rn Amarna), Egypt 56 6 Indigenous Traditions
Dodona, Greece 59 Bandiagara Escarpment,
Rome, Italy 66 Western Africa 328
Uluru, Central Australia 330
3 jewish Traditions Bighorn Medicine Wheel, United States 335
The Western Wall, Israel 107 He, Nigeria 341
The Great Synagogue of Aleppo, Syria 141 Nibutani, japan 354
Jerusalem 142 Tiwanaku, Bolivia 356
The Old Jewish Cemete ry of Prague 146 Kanehsatake, Canada 357
Saut d'Eau, Haiti 363
4 Christian Traditions Tanna, Vanuatu 364
Jerusalem 168 Blue lake, New Mexico 367
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome 174
Wiuenberg, Germany 204 7 New Religions and Movements
New Vrindaban, West Virginia 393
S Muslim Traditions
Mecca, Saudi Arabia 248 8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
Medina, Saudi Arabia 251 Ayodhya, India 429
Al-Azhar Un iversity, Egypt 264

IWomen i~ tire Ttiadiilons Boxes~ ,(

2 Religions of Antiquity S Muslim Traditions
Women in the Trad itions of Antiquity 67 Women's Rights in the Muslim
Trad ition 304
3 jewish Traditions
Two !nOuential j ewish leade rs 153 6 Indigenous Traditions
Missing and Mu rde red Indigenous Women
4 Christian Traditions and Girls 352
The Mothers' Union 226
Roy C. Amore is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor
in O nta rio, where he teaches in the a reas of religion and politics. His extensive research in
the areas of comparative religion a nd Asia has enabled him to author Religion and Politics in the
World~ Hot Spots; and Two Masters, One Message, a book comparing the lives and teachings of
Christ a nd Buddha , as well as to co-author Lustful Maidens and Ascetic Kings: Buddhist and Hindu
Stories of Life, among other works.

Ken Derry is Associate Professor of Religion, Teaching Stream, in the Department of HistOr-
ical Studies at the Unive rsity of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). His teach ing and research focus
on t he ways in which modern cultu ral products relate to more "traditional" religious beliefs
a nd practices. He is particularly interested in the connections between rel igion and violence
in Indigenous literature a nd film, as well as in popula r cu lture. He received his Ph .D. from the
Un iversity of Toronto and is the recipie nt of the 2013 UTM Teach ing Excellence Award.

Michael Desrochers is Adj unct Professor of History at Cali forn ia State University, Dominguez
Hills, and received h is Ph.D. from UCLA in the history of Mesopotamia. He is cur rently at work
on two book-length projects: an overview of the religions of antiquity and an examination of
historical irony.

Wendy L. Fletcher is President and Vice-Chancellor of Ren ison Unive rsity College at the
Un iversity of Waterloo, where she is also Professor of Religious Studies and Social Work. She
has published extensively on the relationship between religion and culture in the mode rn era,
a nd most recently in the area of studies in race and racism in Canadian soc iety, including the
impact of colon ization on Indigenous peoples.

Amir Hussain is Professor in the Depa rtment of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount
Un iversity (LMU) in Los Angeles, where he teaches cou rses on Islam a nd world religions.
A dual citizen of Canada and the Un ited States, h is most recent book is Muslims and the Making
of America. From 2011 to 2015 he was the editor of the journal of the American Academy of Re-
ligion. He has published over 60 book chapters or schola rly a rticles about religion , and he was
twice selected by LMU students as Professor o f the Year.

Michele Murray is Dean of Arts and Scie nce at Bishop's Un iversity, where she is also Professor
in t he Department of Religion a nd holds the William and Nancy Tu rner Cha ir in Christia nity.
She obta ined he r M.A. from Hebrew Unive rsity of jerusalem in jewish history of the Second
Temple period, a nd her Ph.D. in religion from the Un iversity of Toronto. Her research a reas
include jewish- Ch ristian relations in the ancient world and interaction among eastern Med i-
terranean rel igions in late antiquity.

The late Willard G. Oxtoby, the origi nal editor of this work , was Professor Emeritus at the Univer-
sity of Toronto, where he launched the graduate program in the study of religion. His books include
Experiencing India: European Descriptions and Impn'SSions and The Meaning of Other Faiths.
I first met Will Oxwby in 1987, as a SLUdent in h is undergraduate cou rse on world religions
at the Un iversity of ToronLO that he taught with joe O'Connell and julia Ching. Eventually, I
became one of the many teaching assistants for that course. I also wok numerous othe r courses
with Will, and he supe rvised my M.A. as well as my Ph.D. dissertation. Whereas I came from
a working-class background (both my parents we re factory workers), Will had a consum mate
acade mic pedigree. The son and g randson of schola rs, he held degrees from Sta nford and
Princewn and teach ing appoi ntments at McGill, Harvard, Yale, and the Un iversity of Toronto.
He was also an outstand ing resea rche r. But ! th ink that Will's true excellence was as a teacher.
It is no coi ncidence that the publication for which he will be best remembered is a textbook.
Will wrote and edited several chapte rs of the original World Religions: Eastern Traditions
and World Religions: Western Traditions. The work was first used in draft fo rm for students in
his world religions class in 1994- 1995. After some fine-tuning, it was published in 1996 and
then rev ised for subsequent editions. The project was W ill's gi ft to those who d id not have the
priv ilege of studying with h im.
Will believed that only those who loved classroom teach ing should write textbooks, and
the refore eve ry author he recruited had to be an excellent teacher. He also made su re that his
fellow authors were not just academ ic authorities but sympathetic observe rs, if not members,
of the traditions about which they were writing.
Together, Roy C. Amore and I have tried LO stay true to h is vision. In his o rigi nal foreword,
W ill wrote that people often used tO ask him why he would waste h is life on something as
unimportant as religion, but that after the Islamic Revolution in Iran no one eve r asked that
question agai n. I have had the same experience: since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, not a single
student has raised the issue of relevance. On the contrary, the study of world religions is more
important today than ever before.

~ New to This Edition

Th is fifth ed ition of the Weste rn Traditions volume , like the new Eastern volume edited by
Roy C. Amore, continues the color features and extensive use of Focus boxes a nd Site boxes so
appreciated by readers of the fou rth edition, while addi ng two new features: Interv iew boxes
and Women in the Traditions boxes. The Interview boxes report on a short interview with
an important or influential member of one of the trad itions discussed in each chapter. The
Wome n in the Traditions boxes expand the coverage found in the chapte rs by exam in ing an
issue relati ng to women's practice or women's lives within a tradition.
 Preface xiii

The introductory chapter has been enhanced in several ways. In the fou nh ed ition the
introductory chapter, "About Religion," was shared by both Easte rn and Western volu mes.
For this fi fth ed ition the introductory chapter, now titled "Studying Western Religions," has
been newly written to incorporate several goals. It foc uses more exclusively on Western
traditions, a nd it g ives more attention to theories about religion and methods fo r the study
of religion.
The "Cu rrent Issues in Weste rn Traditions" chapte r has been extensively updated to in-
clude imponant new developments such as those in the Middle East and Myanmar, as well as
expanded treatment of marriage equality and religion.

"' Features and Pedagogy

In this book, we have prov ided students with a variety of ways to engage with religion in a
readable manner. They include the following:

• Traditions at a Glance Boxes, which give readers a sum mary of the basics at the stan
o f each chapter
• Timelines, wh ich help to place religious developme nts in historical context
• Maps, which provide useful refe rence points
• Art Program, wh ich highlights practitioners' lived experie nces
• Sacred/Foundational Texts Tables, wh ich give students a convenie nt summary of the
most imponant texts in each tradition, how and when they were composed, a nd the
uses made of them
• Sites Boxes, which draw auention to locations of special sign ificance to each
trad ition
• Document Boxes, which prov ide a gene rous selection of excerpts from scripture a nd
other important writings
• Focus Boxes, which offer add itional information on selected subjects
• Interview Boxes, which offer replies to inte rview questions by an important or inter-
esti ng adherent of a religious tradition discussed in the chapte r
• Women in the Traditions boxes, which provide .examination of some issue relating
especially to women or women's issues within a tradition d iscussed in the chapter
• End-of-Chapter Discussion Questions, which enhance students' critical understand-
ing of key concepts
• Glossaries, which explain key te rms
• Further Readings and Recommended Websites, wh ich provide excellent starLi ng
poi nts for funher research

"' Student and Instructor Resources

A rich set of supplemental resou rces is available to support teaching and learning in this
cou rse. These supplements include an Instructor's Manual, Computerized Test Bank, Pow-
erPoint lecture outlines, and Student Resources on the Oxford University Press Ancillary
Resource Center (ARC) and learning Management System Cartridges with Instructor a nd
Student Resou rces.
Preface

The Ox ford University Press Ancilla r y Resource Center (ARC) at oup -arc.com houses the
following Instructor Resources:

• A Computerized Test Bank, including multiple-choice, true/false, short answer, and

essay questions
• An InstructOr's Manual, includ ing
o A "pencil and paper" version of the Computerized Test Bank
o Chapter Summaries
o Chapter l ea rning Objectives
o Key Concepts
o lecture Outlines
o Discussion Questions
o Web links to sites of furthe r inte rest
o Suggestions for further reading
• Powe rPoint lecture outlines
• Powe rPoint art database

The Student Resources on the ARC contain the following:

• Self-Assessment Qu izzes
• Chapte r l ea rning Objectives
• Key Te rms
• Study and Renection Questions
• Research Paper Topics
• Additional resources

l earn ing Ma nage ment System Cartridges are also available for World Religions: Westem
Traditions, Fifth Ed ition. For more information on this, please contact your OUP representative
or call 1-800-280-0280

"' Acknowledgments
At Oxford University Press Canada, 1 would like to thank Katherine Skene, Meg Pauerson, and
Amy Gordon for their help and encouragement. With our shift to the OUP office in the United
States for this edition, 1 would like to thank Robert Miller, Alyssa Palazzo, Meg Boueon, and
Sydney Keen for thei r developmental guidance, and Sarah Vogelsong, lisa Ball, lesl ie Anglin,
and Ken Hassman for thei r hands-on editOrial work. 1also need to thank Roy C. Amore for all his
help in making this volume a reality and a tribute to W ill's legacy. Of course, my thanks to Ken
Derry, Michael Desrochers, Wendy Fletcher, and Michele Mu rray for thei r fine contributions.
With Roy C. Amore, I am also grateful to the following reviewe rs and those rev iewers who
wish to remain anonymous, whose comments helped to shape th is volume:

Peter Frick, St. Paul's Un iversity College

Matthew Hill, Spring Arbor Un iversity
Forough Jahanbakhsh, Queen's Un iversity
 Preface

Ernest P. Ja nzen, The Un iversity of Wi nnipeg

Ti m Labron , Concord ia Unive rsity of Edmonton
Colin James Law, Unive rsity of Georgia
Sandy Dwayne Martin , Un ive rsity of Georgia

We h ave lost a lot of a rtists, write rs, musicia ns, teachers, and friends ove r the past five years.
Th is ed ition is in memory of all of those who have "gone alee" to the place whe re "the re's a
better song."

Am ir Hussain
Ja nuary 2019
Loyola Marymoum Un iversity
Los Angeles
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World Religions: Western Traditions
In this chapter you will learn about:
• Some basic characte ristics of human religion
from ancie nt times
• A numbe r of patterns that can be obse rved in
mo re than one religious trad ition
• Various theories of why humans a re religio us
• Various methods used for studying religions
• Some reasons for study ing religion
"' Basic Human Religion:
Looking Both Ways from
Stonehenge
Sta ndi ng on the west side of Stonehenge , we watch
the sun rise through the circle of massive stand-
ing stones. With in the outer ci rcle is a g roupi ng of
paired stones capped by lintels and a rranged in a
horseshoe pattern, open ing toward the risi ng sun.
At the cente r of the horseshoe lies a Oat stone that
was once thought to have served as an altar for sac-
rifices. Today, howeve r, it is believed that the center
stone originally stood upright, marking the spot
where an obse rver would stand to watch the move-
ments of the su n and stars.
The Stonehenge we know today is what remains
of a structure erected between 3,500 and 4,000
yea rs ago. However, the site had already bee n used
as a burial ground for ce nturies before that time:
researchers believe that the remains of as many as
240 people, probably from a single ruling family or
clan, we re interred the re between rough ly 3000 a nd
2500 BCE' The structure itself is gene rally believed
to have bee n used for ceremonial purposes, and its
o rientation- toward the point where the su n rises
on the summe r solstice- has led many to th in k
it might have been designed to serve as a kind of
astronom ical obse rvatory. Another recent theory,
based on excavations of a nearby Neolith ic village,
Durrington Walls, with a sim ilar ci rcula r a rrange-
ment of timber posts, suggests that the two s ites
represented the living and the dead, respectively,
with Stonehenge se rving as the permanent dwelling
-< Birds over Stonehenge (Tore joha nnesen/Getty Images)
place o f the ancestors. If so, parallels can be found
in othe r ancient cultures 2
Ignoring the crowd of tourists , we position our-
selves behind the central stone to note the position
of the rising sun in relation to the "heel stone" on
the horizon more than 200 feet away. Today, on the
morning o f the summer solstice, the sun rises in the
northeast, j ust to the left of the heel stone. It's easy
to imagine that th is day- the longest o f the year and
the only one on which the sun rises to the north side
of the heel stone- would have been the occasion for
some kind of ceremony in ancient times, that the
entire community would have gathered at dawn to
watch as someone with spec ial authority- perhaps
a priest, perhaps the local chief o r ruler- confi rmed
the position of the rising su n. It's also easy to imag-
ine the sense of order in the universe that such
people would have fe lt as a result of knowing exactly
when and where the sun would change cou rse.
Tomorrow the sun will rise behind the heel stone
and continue its (apparent) journey towa rd the south
for the next s ix months. Then, in late December, on
the winter solstice, the sun will appear to reve rse
cou rse and begin traveli ng northward again. Many
centu ries after people fi rst gathered at Stonehenge,
the Roma ns would celebrate th is day as marking
the annual "rebirth" of the su n- the high point of
the festival they called Saturnalia. And in the fourth
centu ry CE, the Christians in Rome would choose
the same time of year to celebrate the birth of thei r
rise n god. Thei r chosen day, Christmas, would
combi ne the un restrained revelry of the Roman
midwinter festival , marked by feasti ng, gift-giv ing,
and gene ral merriment, with the celebration of the
comi ng to earth of a deity incarnate.
"' Looki ng Back from
Stonehenge
There are a few concepts, shared by vi rtually all human
cultures, that seem fundamental to what we call rel i-
gion: powerful gods, sac red places, a life of some kind
afte r death, and the presence in the physical world
of spi rits that interact with huma ns in various ways.

These concepts are so old and so widespread that no
one can say where or when they first emerged.
Three Worlds
Historically, it seems that huma ns around the
globe have imagi ned the world to consist of three
levels- sky, ea rth, and underworld. The uppe r-
most level, the sky, h as typically been considered
the home of the greatest deities. Exactly how this
concept developed is impossible tO know, but we
can guess that the awesome power of storms was
one contributing factor. The apparent movement
of the sun, the sta rs, and the planets across the
sky was ve ry likely another. Obse rving the vary-
ing patterns could well have led ea rly humans tO
believe that the heavenly bodies were living enti-
ties animated by their own individual spirits- in
effec t, gods and goddesses.
The very h ighest level, located in the heavens
above the clouds and sta rs, was thought to be the
home of the h ighest deity, typically referred to by
a name such as Sky Father, Creator, or King of
Heaven. This deity- invariably male- was the fore-
runner of the god of the monotheistic religions.
Under the earth the spi rits of se rpents (su rviving
as the cobras, o r nagas, in the religions of India) or
reptilian monsters (surv iving in dragon lore) were
thought to dwell; perhaps because they we re asso-
ciated with dark and hidden places, they were usu-
ally imagined as evil. Finally, between the sky and
the underworld lay the earth: the intermediate level
where humans lived.
Sacred Places
Around the world, there are certain types of places
where humans tend to feel they are in the presence
of some unusual energy o r power. Such places are re-
ga rded as set apart from the everyday world and a re
treated with spec ial respect. Among those places,
often described as "sac red," meaning "set aside," are
mountains and hilltops- the places closest to the
sky-dwell ing deities. In the ancient Middle East,
for insta nce, worsh ip was often conducted at ritual
I Studying Western Religions
centers know n simply as high places. People gath -
ered at these sites to win the favor of the deities by
offering them food, d rink, praise, and prayer. One
widely know n example is the altar a rea on the cliff
above the anc ient city of Petra in jordan (familia r to
many people from the Indiana jones films).
Great rive rs and waterfalls are often regarded as
sacred as well. And in Japan virtually every feature
of the natural landscape- from great mountains a nd
waterfalls to trees and stones- was traditionally be-
lieved to be animated by its own god or spi rit (kami).
Animal Spirits
Another common and long-standing human ten-
dency has been to attribute spirits to animals , eithe r
ind ividually or as members of a family with a kind
of collective guardian spirit. For th is reason, tra-
dit ional hunting societies have typically sought to
ens ure that the animals they kill for food are treated
with the proper respect, lest other members of those
species be frighte ned away or refuse to let them-
se lves be caught.
In add ition, body parts from the most impressive
animals- such as bulls, bears, lions, or eagles- have
often been used as "power objects" to help humans
make contact with the spi rits of these animals. People
in many cultures have attributed magical properties
to objects such as bear claws or eagle feathers, wear-
ing them as amulets or hangi ng them in the door-
ways of thei r homes as protection agai nst evil spi rits.
Death and Burial
From ancient times, humans have taken great care
with the burial of thei r dead. The body might be
positioned with the head facing east, the "first d i-
rection; where the sun rises, or placed in the fetal
position, suggesting a hope fo r rebirth into a dif-
ferent realm. These burial positions in themselves
would not be enough to prove a belief in an after-
life; however, most such graves have also contained,
along with the remai ns of the dead, "grave goods"
of va rious kinds. Some of these provisions for the
afte rlife likely belonged to the person in life, while
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
A Modern Scholar's Reflection on Burial and Religion
Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1916- 2000), the g reat
Canadian scholar of religion, wrote about prehistoric
burials:
Some yea rs ago I had the privilege of sta nd -
ing in the Rockefeller Museum in jerusalem
before a case in which the plaster was still
wet, setting the skeleton of Palaeoanthropos
palestiniensis or "Mount Carmel man," dating
somewhe re from a hundred LO two hundred
thousand years BCE. It had been found
u nde r a noor in a distinct excavated cyst,
quite clearly buried. This is the earliest in-
stance we have of human activity o f a kind
that today we call religious. Wh ile there is no
way of know ing what went on in the minds
or hearts of th is man's commun ity who took
some appear to be specially made replicas, and some
are rare, presumably costly items such as precious
stones. Apparently the living were willing to sacrifice
important resources to help the dead in the afterlife.
The belief that deceased ancestors can play a
role in guid ing the living members of the ir fam i-
lies appears to be especially widespread . Traditio ns
such as the japanese Obon , the Mex ican Day of
the Dead, and the Ch ristian All Saints Day and
Hallowe'en all reOect the belief that the souls of the
dead return to earth once a year to sha re a ritual
meal with the living.
Why Are Humans Religious?
The reasons beh ind human religiosity a re complex
and varied. All we can say with any ce rtainty is
that religion seems to g row out of human expe-
riences: out of the fea r of death, wh ich religion
transforms into the hope for a good afterlife, and
the trouble to bury him carefully, this much
we can say: that present religious practices of
humankind can be traced back for at least a
thousa nd centuries in a continuous trad ition.
[PI reh istoric burial shows that men
a nd women from the very earliest traces of
their beginn ings have recognized that there
is more to human life than meets the eye, that
ou r total significance is not exhausted within
the six feet of space or sixty years of time
whereby we each play our part on the stage of
earth . The sober obse rvation of the historian
now agrees with the insight of the philosopher,
and the faith of the saint, that huma n beings
a re not human until they have recognized that
the proper response to death is poetry, not
prose. (Sm ith 1998: 33- 34)
out of the unce rtai nty su rrounding natu ral eve nts,
which becomes a se nse of control over nature
through the intervention o f a priest capable of p re-
dicting the change of seasons and the movement
of the planets. Religion eme rges th rough the ex-
pe rience of good o r bad powe rs that a re sensed in
dreams, in sac red spaces, and in certa in humans
and animals.
Religion has many emotional dimens ions, in-
cluding fear, awe, love, and h ate. But it also has
intellectual d imensions, including curiosity about
what causes things to happen, the recogn ition of a
sense of order in the un iverse that suggests the pres-
ence of a creator, and the drive to make sense out of
human experience.
The nature of religious belief and practice has
changed th rough the centuries, so we must be ca re-
ful not to take the religion of any particular time
and place as the norm. What we can safely say is
that religion is such an ancient aspect of human

expe rience that it has become part of human
nature. For this reason some scholars have give n
ou r species, Homo sapiens, a second name: Homo
religiosus.
~ Looking Forward
from Stonehenge
Looking forward from ancie nt Stonehe nge, we ca n
see a number of patterns eme rge in different parts
of the world, some of them almost si multa neously.
Si nce most of the chapters in this book focus on
individual religious traditions, it may be useful to
begin with a broader perspective. What follows is a
brief overview of some of the major developments in
the histo ry of what the late Canad ian scholar Wil-
fred Cantwell Smith called "religion in the si ngu-
lar," mea ning the h istory of human religiosity in the
most general sense.
Shamanism
One ve ry early patte rn of human religiosity involves
a ritual spec ialist- in essence, a kind of priest- that
we know today as a s haman. The word "shaman"
comes from a spec ific central Asian culture, but it
has become the gene ric te rm for a person who acts
as an inte rmed iary betwee n humans and the spi rit
world . Other terms include "medicine man," "soul
doctor," and "witchdoctor."
Shamans are still active in a numbe r of cultures
today. The way they ope rate va ries, but certai n pat-
terns see m to be almost un iversal, which in itself
suggests that the way of the shaman is very a ncient.
Sometimes the child of a shaman will follow in the
pa rent's footsteps, but more often a shaman will be
"called" to the role by his or her psych ic abilities, as
manifested in some extraordinary vision or revela-
tion, or perhaps a near-death experience.
Ca ndidates for the role of shaman face a lo ng
a nd rigorous app renticeship that often incl udes a
vision quest, in the course of wh ich they a re likely
to confront ter rifyi ng apparitions. Typ ically the
quester will acquire a guidi ng spirit, sometimes
I Studying Western Religions
the spi rit of a part icula r a nimal (perhaps a bear o r
a n eagle, whose claws o r feathe rs the sh ama n may
wear to draw strength fro m its special powe rs)
a nd sometimes a more hu manlike spi rit (a god
o r goddess). That spirit will then ofte n conti nue
to se rve as a guide a nd protec to r th roughout the
shaman's life.
To commun icate with the spi rit world, the
shaman ente rs a trance State (often induced by
rhyth mic cha nting or drumming). According to
Mi rcea Eliade in Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of
Ecslasy, contact is then made in one o f two ways.
In the first, described as "ecstatic" (from a Greek
root meaning "to stand outside"), the shaman's soul
leaves his or he r body (wh ich may appear lifeless)
and travels to the realm whe re the spirits live. In the
second, the shaman calls the spirit into h is or he r
ow n body and is possessed by it; in such cases the
shaman may take on the voice and personality of
the spirit or mimic its way of movi ng.
In either case, a fte r regain ing normal consc ious-
ness the shaman announces what he o r she has
learned about the proble m at ha nd and what should
be done about it. Typically, the problem is traced
to the anger of a particular spirit; the shaman then
explains the reason for that anger and what must
be done to appease the spi rit. In most cases the ap -
pro priate response is to perform a ritual sac rifice of
some kind.
Hunting Rituals
Ma ny a nc ient cave draw ings depict hunting scenes
in which a human figure seems to be performing
a dance of some kind . Based on what we know of
later hunting societies, we can guess that the figu re
is a sha man performing a ritual eithe r to ensure a
successful hunt or tO appease the spirits of the an i-
mals killed.
It's not h ard to imagi ne why such societies
would have sought ways to influence the outcome
of a hunt. Indeed, it seems that the more dange r-
ous the endeavor, the more likely humans were
to surround it with rituals. As the a nth ropologist
Bronislaw Malinowski pointed out in his book
World Religions: Western Traditions
Animal images from t he Chauvet cave in southern France. dated c. 30.000 BCE.
Magic, Science and Religion, the Trobriand Islanders
he studied d id not perform any special ceremonies
before fishing in the lagoon, but they never failed
to pe rform rituals before setting out to fish in the
open ocean. Th is suggests that religious behavior
is, at least in pa n , a way of copi ng with da nge ro us
situations.
In addition, though, early hu mans believed that
the spi rits of the animals they hunted had to be a p-
peased. Thus a special ritual might be pe rformed to
mark the first goose kill of the season, in the hope
that other geese would not be frightened away from
the hu nting grounds.
Such rituals reflect humans' conce rn ove r the
future food supply, but they also reveal someth ing
about the nature of human belief in spirits. From
very anc ient ti mes, it seems, humans have believed
that the spirit- whether of an a nimal killed for food
or of a human bei ng- survives death and can com-
municate with othe rs o f its kind .
Coping with Unfriendly Spirits
The spi rits associated with natural phenomena-
whether animals or storms, mountains or rivers-
have typically bee n thought to beh ave towa rd
humans in the same ways that humans behave
towa rd one another. Strategies for dealing with un-
friendly spirits have therefore usually been based on
what has wo rked with humans.
Many cu ltures have believed wild, u ninhabited
a reas to be guarded by resident spi rits. In some
cases, these spirits have taken the form of monsters
or mythical beasts; in othe rs, such as the fol klore of
Scandinav ia, they have assumed the guise of "little
people" such as trolls.

In ea rlier times, un friend ly spirits were of partic-
ular concern to those who ventured into the forest as
hunters or gathe rers, but they were not confined to
the wilderness. Pai n and disease of all kinds- from
toothache to appendic itis to mental illness- were
also attributed to possession by malevolent spi r-
its or demons. In Sri lanka, those suffering from
ce rtain illnesses were advised to have a shama n
sacrifice a ch icken as an offe ring to the "g raveyard
demon," effectively bribing him to go away; in such
cases a second chicken, still alive, would be give n
to the shaman who performed the ritua l. Another
approach was to frighten the demon away, either
by th reaten ing to invoke another, Stronge r spi ritual
powe r, such as the spirit gu ide of the shaman , to
drive h im off, or by making th reate ning gestures or
loud noises. The fi rec rackers sti ll used in some East
Asian rituals are examples of the latter approach.
Connecting to the Cosmos
A second pattern that eme rged as religion devel-
oped across the globe is the one that inspired the
build ing of structures like Stonehenge. People of the
Neolith ic ("new rock") era went to extraordi na ry
le ngths to create sac red a reas by assembli ng huge
stones in complex pauerns. In some cases the mo-
tivation may have been political: perhaps a leade r
wanted to demonstrate his powe r over the people
under h is command. In others, however, the main
reason undoubtedly had someth ing to do with reli-
gion, such as the need for a public space where the
rituals essential to the society- weddings, puberty
rites, fune rals- could be performed.
Discerning the Cosmic Cycles
Ritual cente rs such as Stonehenge may also have
served purposes that we might today think of as
sc ientific or tech nical, but that their builders would
have associated with religion. One ve ry important
function of priests was to track the seasons a nd de-
termi ne the best time for seasonal activities such as
planting. In addition to tracking the north- south
movements of the sun, the people of the Neolithic
I Studying Western Religions
era paid ca reful attention to the phases of the moon
and the positions of ce rtain constellations at thei r
risi ng. The hori zon was d ivided into segments
named after the planet or constellation assoc iated
with that section. 'vVhat we now call astrology
developed as a way of understanding the cycle of
the seasons and how humans fit into it, collectively
and ind ividually. In anc ient times no important
decision would have been made without consulti ng
an expert in the movements of the sun, moon, planetS,
and constellations. Even in modern times, many people,
includ ing political leade rs, will consult an astrologe r
be£ore making a m~or decision.
Hilltop Tombs
We suggested earlier that two powerful motivators
of h uman religion are the fear of death a nd the idea
of an afte rlife. Ancient cultures a rou nd the world
appear to have favored h igh places as burial sites.
Where there were no hills, artificial ones were some-
times built, at least for the most important members
of the soc iety. The py ramids of Egypt and the stupas
of Asia a re both examples of this practice. In the
pyramids, shafts exte nd ing from the burial cham-
bers towa rd important sta rs connected the deceased
with the cosmos. Similarly, in Buddhist stupas,
a wooden pole- later replaced by a ve rtical stone
Structure- extended above the burial mound to
con nect the earth with the heavens. Scholars refer
to th is ki nd of symbolic link between earth and sky
as an axis mundi ("world axis").
Associating Animals and Gods
Another common feature of Neolithic religion was
a tendency to associate certain animals with spe-
cifnc deities. One very ea rly example comes from the
anc ient (c. 7000- 5000 BCE) city of Catalhoyuk
("forked mound"), near Konya in modern Turkey,
where a small sc ulpture of a woman flanked by two
large felines was found. james Mellaart , the archae-
ologist who fi rst excavated the site in the 1960s,
believed she represented a mother goddess seated
on a throne. Although th is interpretation has been
World Religions: Western Traditions
disputed, we know that the ancient Egy ptians h ad
a cat goddess named Bast who was reve red as a
symbol of both mothe rliness and hunting prowess.
A si milar pattern of association linked the most
powe rfu l male deities of Neolithic soc ieties with the
Strength and viril ity o f the bull. In Greek myth ol-
ogy, the great god Zeus took the form of a wh ite bull
when he abducted the Phoen ician princess Europa.
A c reature know n as the minotau r- half man, half
bull- was said to have been kept in a labyrinth be-
neath the ancie nt palace of Knossos, on the is la nd
o f Crete, where frescos show people leaping ove r the
horns o f a bull. Greek temples often displayed bull
horns nea r thei r alta rs. And in India a bull named
Nand i is the sacred mount o f the great god Shiva.
The assoc iation o f the bull with the creator god
can be see n eve n in Judais m, which strictly forbids
the use of any image to represent its inv isible deity.
In the Hebrew Bible, when Moses retu rns from the
mountain where he encounte rs God and fi nds that
his b rother Aa ron, the first h igh priest, has allowed
the people to worsh ip an image of a golde n calf
o r bullock, he denounces th is practice as idolatry.
Centuries later, one of Solomon's sons is seve r.ely
chastised for installing bull images in the temples
he has built.
Temple Religion
A th ird patte rn that emerged as religions spread
featu red the construction of la rger temples, the
c reation of more elaborate sacrificial rituals, a nd
the development o f a priestly class endowed with
unusual powe r, p restige, and wealth. This pattern ,
begi nning at least 3,000 yea rs ago, played a n enor-
mous role in shaping many traditions, including
Judaism, Ch inese religion, a nd Hi ndu ism.
Indo-European Priests
"Indo-Eu ropean" is a mode rn term refe rring to a
language fam ily a nd cultural syste m that eventually
stretched from Ind ia all the way th rough Eu rope;
it does not designate any pa rticula r eth n ic g roup.
The Indo-Eu ropean (IE) cultu ral system has been
one of the most important in human histOry. It may
have origi nated in the region a round the Black Sea,
but that is only one o f many theories that scholars
have proposed. From the vocabula ry of "prow-IE,"
as reconstructed by li nguists, it is clear that the IE
people hu nted, practiced metallu rgy, rode horses,
drove cha riots, and waged war, among other activ-
ities. Fa rming, howeve r, appears not to have been
pa rt of the ir cul ture: the fact that the IE vocabu-
lary related tO agriculture di ffers from one place
to another suggests that when it came tO farming
the Indo-Europeans simply adopted existing local
practices.
Everywhere the IE warriors conq uered, they
set up a soc ial system with fou r basic d ivisions,
the top th ree o f which consisted of priests, wa r-
riors, and midd le-class commoners. In Ind ia these
g roups are known respectively as the brahmin$,
hshatriyas, and vaishyas. In a ncient ti mes each of
these groups had a spec ial clothing color; thus,
today in Ind ia varna ("color") is still the sta nda rd
te rm fo r "class." The priests performed rituals,
kept the calenda r, taught the young, and advised
the kings; with in the warrior class, the top clans
were the rulers; a nd the middle-class "com mon-
e rs" earned thei r liv ing as merch ants or farme rs.
Fi nally, all people o f local origin, no matte r how
wealthy or accomplished, were relegated tO the
servant (sh udra) class.
The four-level social system was given myth ic
status in the Rig Veda, accord ing to which the world
came into being th rough the sac ri fice of a "cosmic
person" (Purusha). Out of his mouth came the brah-
min priests, whose job was to chant the sac red
hym ns and syllables. The warriors came from h is
a rms , the middle class from his thighs, and the ser-
vants from his feet. Even today, th is anc ient hymn
continues to buttress the social structure o f Ind ia.
Over a period of about a thousand years, begin-
ning around 2500 BCE, the Indo-Europeans took
control of the te rritories that a re now Afghanistan,
northwest Ind ia, Pakista n, Tu rkey, Greece, Rome,
central Europe, and, for a while, even Egy pt. Thei r
religious cultu re was similar to those embraced by
most of their contemporaries 4,000 tO 5,000 years

Document
The Sacrifice
When they div ided the Man IPurusha, the
primal Pe rson sacrificed by the gods to create
the world], into how many pans did they
dispe rse h im? Wh at became of his mout h ,
what of h is arms , what were his two th ighs
and h is t wo feet called? His mouth was the
b rahm in, his arms we re made into the nobles,
h is two thighs were the populace, and from
h is feet the se rvants were born. (Don iger
O 'Flahe rty 1975: 26)
ago, with many deities, including a "sky fathe r"
(a name that survives in the Greek Zeus Pater, the
Latin j upiter, and the Sanskrit Dyaus Pita r) and a
storm god (l nd ra in India, Thor in Scand inavia).
They also sang hymns to female deities, s uch as the
goddess of daw n, and had a heredita ry priesthood
to offe r sacri fices to t he gods.
Although the IE people did not necessa rily
invent t he system of hereditary priesthood, they
ce rtainly contributed to its spread. In addition tO
Hindu brah m ins, ancient Roman priests and Celtic
Druids inherited t hei r p riestly status. These priests
enjoyed great power and prestige, and someti mes
were resented by non-priests. (One anc ient Indian
text includes a pa rody in wh ich dogs, acting li ke
priests, dance around a fi re chanting, "Om let us eat,
om let us drink." 3)
Priests and Temples Elsewhere
vVe know when the fi rst jewish temple was built. After
Dav id had been chosen as king of both the north-
ern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom
of Judah , he captured the jebusite city now known
as jerusalem. He transformed the city into a proper
capital, complete with a grand palace for himself and
'
I
I Studying Western Religions II
Three times a year all your males shall appea r
before the Lord you r God at the place wh ich
he will choose: at the feast of unleavened
bread, at the feast of wee ks, and at the feast of
booths. They shall not appear before the Lo rd
empty-ha nded: All shall give as they are able,
accordi ng to t he blessing of the Lord your
God that he has give n you. (From Moses's
instructions to the people of Israe l; Deute ron-
omy 16:16- 17)
an organized priesthood. His son Solomon took the
next step, building the fi rst temple in the mid-tenth
century BCE. The priests attached tO the temple soon
made it the only site where sacrificial rituals could be
performed.
The jewish priesthood was heredita ry. All
those who served in t he tem ple as assistants to the
priests we re required to be Lev ites (me mbe rs o f t he
tribe o f Levi), and p riests themselves had to be not
only Levites but direct desce ndants of Aaron , t he
bro ther o f Moses, who was the o riginal high priest.
Priests became a powerful soc ial class in many
oth er pa rts of the world as well, includ ing Africa,
Asia, and the Americas. In some cultures they
we re a hereditary class, and in others they were re-
c ru ited. Typically, the role of priest was rese rved for
ma les, fe males being considered impu re because of
the me nstrual cycle; the Vestal Vi rgins of ancient
Rome , who tended the sacred fi res and performed
rituals, were among the very few exceptions to the
general rule.
Prophetic Religion
By 700 BCE o r eve n earlier, several new religious
traditions had begun to form unde r the leadersh ip
World Religions: Western Traditions
of a g reat prophet or sage- a fou n h pau ern in the
development of religiosity. The word "prophet"
derives from Greek and has two related mean-
ings, one referring to a pe rson who speaks on
behalf of a deity and one referring to a person
who fore sees or predicts the futu re. The terms are
often connated because prophets delivering mes-
sages from the de ity often warned of disasters to
come if God's will was not obeyed. The site of the
temple at Delphi, Greece, whe re a virgin priestess
said to be under the inspiration of Apollo deliv-
ered prophecies, must have seemed a natural spot
for making contact with the div ine and receiving
sac red knowledge: high up a mountainside, close
Document
Ritual Sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible
Long before the establishment of the temple in jerusalem,
where priests would perform ritual sacrifices, God com-
manded the Hebrew patriarch Abraham to sacrifice
several animals to mark the covenant that was about to
be made between them.
Then IGodl said to !Abram], "I am the lord
who b rought you from Ur of the Chaldeans,
to give you this land to possess." But he
sa id, "0 Lord God, how am I to know that I
shall possess it?" He said to him, "Bring me
a he ifer th ree years old, a female goat th ree
years old , a ram th ree years old, a turtle-
dove, and a young pigeon." He brought him
all these and cut them in two, lay ing each
half over against the othe r; but he did not
cut the bi rds in two. And when birds of prey
came down on the carcasses, Abram drove
them away.
As the su n was goi ng down, a deep sleep
fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifyi ng
darkness desce nded upon him. The n the
to the gods, with a natural cave that resembled the
entrance to a womb (delphys in Greek, representing
the myste rious female energy) and a stand ing stone
or omphalos (navel of the earth) representing the
male ene rgy and the connection bet ween heaven
and earth.
This sac red site dates back at least 3,000 yea rs,
to a time before the rise of classical Greece, when
the oracle was believed to be inspired not by
Apollo but by the ea rth goddess Gaia. Eventually
males took control of the sac red site, but even in
classical times the virgin priestesses would prepare
themselves to rece ive Apollo's message by bath ing
in an artesian sp ring and breathing intoxicating
lord said to Abram, "Know th is for certai n,
that you r offsp ring shall be aliens in a land
that is not the irs, a nd shall be slaves the re,
a nd they shall be oppressed for fou r hu n-
d red yea rs; but I will bring j udgment on
the nation that they serve, and afterwa rd
they shall come out with g reat possessions.
As for yourself, you shall go to you r ances-
tors in peace; you shall be buried in a good
o ld age.
When the sun had gone down and it
was dark, a smoking fi re pot and a nam-
ing to rch passed between these pieces !the
halved carcasses!. On that day the Lo rd
made a cove nant with Ab ram, sayi ng, "To
your descendants I give this land, from the
rive r o f Egypt to the g reat river, the river
Euphrates, the land o f the Kenites, the
Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the HiLLites,
the Pe rizzites, the Rephaim , the Amorites,
the Canaanites, the Girgash ites, and the
j ebusites." (Genesis 15:7- 21)

fu mes emitted from a fissure in the earth- with
both wate r a nd fumes believed to issue from Gaia,
the ea rth.
Those wishi ng to consult the oracle had to
climb the mountain, make know n thei r request,
pay a fee, and sac rifice a black goat before thei r
q uestion could be put to the oracle. The priestess
would ta ke her place ove r the fissure and, in a n
ecstatic tra nce, delive r Apollo's message, wh ich
was typically u nintell igible and had to be trans-
lated into ordi nary language by a male priest. In-
terpreting the real-world signi ficance of a prophecy
was not so simple , howeve r. In one famous case, a
Greek leader who asked what would happe n if he
went to wa r with anothe r state was tOld that a great
country wou ld fall; accordingly, he went to war-
but the country that fell was h is ow n. Simila rly, in
the Oedipus myth, the oracle's p rophecy that the
infant would grow up to kill h is father and ma rry
his mother was fulfilled in spite o f the measu res
taken to avoid that fate.
Abrahamic Prophetic Traditions
In 586 BCE the people o f Israel we re forcibly re-
moved from their homeland a nd exiled to Babylon.
The centuries th at followed the "Babylon ian cap-
tivity" we re the defin ing pe riod for the concept of
prophecy as it developed in the th ree monothe istic
traditions that trace thei r origins to the Prophet
Abraham. Ofte n, the j ew ish prophets' messages
were di rected toward the people of Israel as a whole,
warning of the disasters that loomed if they did
not follow God 's dema nds. Ch ristianity saw j esus
a nd certai n events surrounding h is life as the ful-
fillme nt of Hebrew prophec ies. And Islam in turn
recogn ized the Heb rew prophets, beginning with
Abraham a nd includi ng jesus, as the foreru nne rs of
the Prophet Muham mad, the last and g reatest o f all
prophets, the messenge r (rasul) who received God's
fi nal revelations. Muslims u nderstand Muham mad
to have been the "seal of the prophets": no othe r
prophet will follow h im, si nce he h as delivered the
message of God in its entirety. As in earlier prophetic
traditions, the Day of j udgment (or Day of Doom)
'
I
I Studying Western Religions 13
and the concepts o f heaven and hell are central to
Islam.
Za.rathustra, Prophet of the Wise Lord
Zarathustra (or Zoroaster) was a prophet figure
wh o lived more tha n 2,500 years ago, probably in
the region o f easte rn Ira n o r Afghan istan. Although
we know little about h is life, he left behind a col-
lection o f poems devoted to a "wise lord " called
Ah u ra Mazda. The religion that developed a round
his teachings, which came to be know n as Zoroas-
tria nism, played an important part in the develop-
ment of monotheism. The concepts of heaven a nd
hell also owe a lot to the Zoroastrians, who believed
that evildoe rs would be condemned to hell at thei r
death, but that eventually a g reat day of judgment
would come when the souls of all the dead would
be made to pass through a fiery wall. Those who
had been vi rtuous in li fe would pass th rough the
fi re without pain, while the rest would be cleansed
of t hei r remain ing sin and pe rmitted to ente r para-
dise (a term believed to de rive from a Pe rsian word
meaning ga rden). The threat of hell and the prom-
ise of heaven were powe rful tools for any prophet
seeking to persuade people to behave as he or she
believed the deity dema nded.
The First Principle:
Greek Philosophy Before Socrates
Around 2 ,500 years ago the Greek-spea king philos-
ophers of Ionia (now southwestern Tu rkey) began
to ask the followi ng question: W hat is the first
principle, the first cause, the sou rce from wh ich all
else comes? Starting from the science of the day,
they tried to determine wh ich o f the four primal
elements- ea rth , ai r, fire, and wate r- ca me fi rst.
Although thei r methods we re those of philosophy
rathe r than scientific experimentation, the ir at-
tempt to unde rstand the causal principle under-
ly ing all th ings- without bringi ng in a god as the
final cause- ma rked a maj or advance toward the
development of the scientific worldv iew.
World Religions: Western Traditions

Sites
Tell Megiddo. Israel
Tell Meg1ddo IS an archaeolog1cal mound in
Israel, southeast of the modern Cll)' of Haifa. The
anc1ent City of Meg1ddo was strategically located
near a pass used by the trade route connect-
mg Egypt and Assyna. The sue of a battle with
Eg)' Pt m the SIXteenth century BCE, Har ("Mount")
~egiddo IS menuoned numerous umes m the
Hebrew B1ble and IS referred to by the Greek
version of ItS name, Armageddon, tn Revelauon
16:16- a passage that some Chnsuans mterpret
to mean that a final battle w11l be fought there at
the end of u me.

The remains of Har Megiddo. the site known to Christians as Armageddon . The circular rock structure is thought to
have been an altar.

Mystery Religion
"Mystery religion," a sixth pauern that emerges in
the h istory of religiosity, refers to a type of Greek and
Roman tradition in which the core teach ings and
rituals were kept secret from outSiders and were re-
vealed only to those who were prepared to undergo
initiation in the hope o f securing blessings during
th is life and a heavenly paradise in the afterlife.
Such religions became so popular during the Roman
pe riod that they presented a threat tO the power and
inOuence of the official Roman priesthood (not to be
con fused with the Roman Catholic priesthood).
The Eleusin ian myste ry t radition may be the
oldest of t hese religions. Named for an ancient
Gree k LOwn called Eleusis, it grew out of the myth
o f the you ng Persephone, or Kore ("girl"), who is
abducted by the god of the dead, Hades, and taken
down into the underworld. W ith the d isappearance
o f th is young girl- a potent symbol of g rowth and
fertility- eve rything on earth begins to d ie. This im-
pe rils not only humans but also the gods themselves,
who depend on humans to feed them through sac ri-
fices. The gi rl's mother, Demeter, is therefore allowed
to descend into t he underworld and bring he r back.
Scholars understand the Persephone myth to be
based on the seasonal cycles of stagnation du ring the
winter and renewal in the spring. Members of her
cult believed that by identifying themselves with the
dying and risi ng goddess t hrough the celebration of
seasonal rituals, they too would triumph over death.
Initiates into the mysteries associated with the
god Dionysus also followed a very ancie nt tradition.
Through rituals that included the drinking o f wine,
ecstatic dancing, a nd perhaps the eati ng of mind-
altering plants, pa rticipants were able to ente r into
ecstatic states of consciousness in which they be-
lieved that thei r god would ensu re a pleasant after-
life. Another popular mystery cult , dedicated to the
goddess Isis, had Egyptian origins.
Theistic Mysticism
European religious thought included a m inority po-
sition that was theistic in that its adherents believed
'
I
I Studying Western Religions IS
in god but was out of the mainst ream because they
conce ived of god as a cosmic force rathe r than as a
pe rson-like mastermind. For their ow n safety they
often needed to keep the ir views and practices se-
c retive, a nd so they were cons idered mystics by
oth ers. Ch ristian, Jewish, and Muslim mystics all
believed in a god beyond the reaches of human
understanding. Ch ristian mystics such as Jacob
BOh me (1575- 1624) would use te rms such as Ungr-
und (" ung rounded") o r Urgrund ("original grou nd")
to refer to the d ivine as the primal cause.
Many scholars have suggested that mystery
cults such as these may have inOuenced the devel -
opme nt of Ch r istian ity. The early Christians we re
initiated into the new cult by undergoing baptism.
They the n joined an inne r ci rcle of people whose
faith cente red on t he death and resur rection of
Jesus and who hoped that by following Ch rist they
would secure blessings du ring t his life and a place
in h eaven after death. Although Ch ristianity devel -
oped out o f Judaism, its theological structure does
seem to have bee n inOuenced, however indirectly,
by mystery religion.
Avatar: God on Earth
Long before anyone thought of an "avata r" as eithe r
a blue-ski nned mov ie humanoid or an on-screen
image representing a player in a compute r game,
avatar(a) was a Sanskrit theological te rm for the
"coming dow n" to earth of a god. By t he first century
of t he Com mon Era, the idea of a god born in human
form had taken root in many pa n s of the world . In
the ea rlier stages o f the development of religion the re
we re many sto ries of gods and goddesses who came
down LO earth , but the re are two major d ifferences
between these accounts and the avatar stories.
First, whereas t he anc ient gods came down LO
earth as gods, the avata r is a god in a truly human
form- as a later Ch ristian creed put it, "fully God
and fully man." For example, in the ancient Indian
story of Pri ncess Dhamayanti, her father holds a party
to which he invites all the marriageable princes from
vm:ious kingdoms. Fou r gods also auend the party,
howeve r, all d isguised as the handsome prince NaJa,
World Religions: Western Traditions
Document
Avatar Gods
For the protection of the good,
For the destruction of ev ildoers,
For the setting up of righteousness,
I come into being, age after age.
(Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita; Zaeh ner
1966: 267)
whom the princess al ready plans to choose. At first
she is disturbed to see five look-alikes, but finally
she finds that she can d istinguish the fou r div ine
imposters because they do not sweat and are Ooati ng
slightly above the ground. She marries the human
prince, and they live happily ever after.
Unlike the gods at Dhamayanti's party, the ava tar
gods walk on the ground, sweat, get hungry, sleep,
and are in every way human. They are incarnated in
a human womb, are born, grow up, teach , save the
world from ev il, and eventually die. As a Christian
layman once explained, "You have to understand
that we Christians worship a god in d iapers." H is
choice of words was unus ual , but h is theology was
solid, and it leads us to the second maj or innovation
that came with the concept of the avatar god.
This second innovation is the idea that the ava tar
god is a savior figure in at least two ways. Not only
does he save the world from some evil power, such
as Satan or a demonic king, but he also saves from
hell those who put their faith in h im and secures
them a place in heaven. In avatar religions, the
ritual of sacrifice is replaced by the ritual of placi ng
faith in the sav ior god.
The biography of the savior god follows a well-
known pattern. Typically, the avatar god has a special,
nonsexual conception. His mother is chosen to bear
him because she is exceptionally pure, and an angel or
Have this mind among you rselves, which you
have in Christ jesus, who, though he was in
the form of God , did not count equality with
God a thing to be grasped, but emptied h im-
self, taking the form of a servant, being born
in the likeness of men. And being found in
human form he humbled h imself. (St. Paul to
the Ch ristians of Philippi; Philippians 2:6- 7)
prophet announces to her that the child she is carrying
has a special destiny. The savior's birth, usually in a
rustic setting, is surrounded by miracles, which often
include a fortuitous star or constellation pattern in the
night sky. Wise persons foresee the child's greatness.
An evil king tries to kill the baby but kills another
baby, or other babies, instead. The child has special
powers and as an adult is able to work miracles. He
typically marries and has a child before embarking on
his religious mission. His death represents a triumph
over evil, and the cosmos responds with earthquakes
and other natural signs. Upon dying, he returns to
the heavens to preside over a paradise in which his
followers hope to join him after they die.
The avatar concept took root in Asia and the
Middle East at least 2,000 years ago. Among Hindus
its impact was reOected in the worship of Krishna;
among Buddhists in the veneration of Am itabha
Buddha (the figure who would become Am ida
in Japan); and among some j ews in the rise of
Christianity.
jesus the Christ: God Come Down
The Christian doctrine of the trinity affirms that the
one God exists in three persons: those of the father, the
son, and the holy spi rit. In formulating this doctrine,
the Ch ristians departed radically from the theology

proclaimed by Abraham and Moses. There is no room
in jewish thought for an avata r god, but that was the
direction in wh ich Christian thought developed. The
prologue tO the Gospel of john identifies j esus with
the divine logos- the word of God that was pres-
em before creation. The New Testament says that
jesus "emptied himself of divinity" and came down
for the salvation of the world after being conceived in
the womb of a vi rgi n by the spi rit of God. An angel
announces the pregnancy and its significance to h is
mother. The birth is associated with a spec ial star.
Accord ing to the Gospel of luke, shepherds overhear
the angels rejoici ng and come to revere the in fant. In
Matthew's Gospel, magi (wise men) from the East
follow a special star and bring gifts to the child.
For Ch ristians, j esus became the ultimate god,
one who d ied on the cross on behalf of h is followe rs
a nd rose on the third day after h is death. By par-
ticipating in the sac red rituals- the sacraments of
baptism and the eucha rist (i n wh ich consec rated
bread and wine are consumed in commemoration
of the last Supper)- and placing their trust in j esus
as lord, Christians hope tO secure a place in heave n
afte r their death.
In this way Ch ristianity started with the Hebrew
sc riptu res and the monotheism of Moses and in-
corporated into them the avata r patte rn, along with
elements of the mystery trad itions, to form a new
religion. Most jews resisted these changes, but some
accepted them in the belief that God had in fact of-
fered the world a new dispensation.
Document
The Word of God
We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an, in
order that you may learn wisdom. (Qur'an 12:2)
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God. All
'
I
I Studying Western Religions 17
Scriptural Religion
The beginning of scriptural religion, a pattern seen
in the development of religion worldwide, is hard tO
date. The ea rliest sc riptures we have are the Zoro-
astrian Avesta of Persia, the Hindu Vedas, and the
Torah of judaism, all of which LOok shape approxi-
mately 3,000 years ago. Religions based primarily on
sc ripture came much later, however, when different
groups began to insist that thei r particular scriptures
were the literal words of God, and to make adherence
to those scriptu res the focus of their religious life.
Scripturalism manifested itself in rabbin ic juda-
ism in the ce nturies that followed the destruction of
the second jerusalem temple in 70 CE. It emerged in
full force with the rise of Islam, destined to become
one of the two most inOuemial rel igions of all time,
in the seventh century. It also played a large role
in Protesta nt Christianity, starting in the sixteenth
century, in which the authority of scripture replaced
that of trad ition and the papacy.
Living by Torah
During the jews' exi le in Babylon the priests we re
not able to pe rform the traditional temple rituals,
and so the jews turned to the rabbis- scholars of
the Torah with special expertise in jewish law a nd
ritual. In th is way sc riptu re began to play a more
important role in j ewish life, a role that became even
more important after the destruction of the second
th ings were made by him, and without h im
was not any th ing made that was made. Uohn
1:1- 3, King j ames Ve rsion IKJVI)
And the Word was made Oesh and dwelt
a mong us. Uohn 1:14, KJV)
World Religions: Western Traditions
temple in 70 CE. Since that time, jew ish religio us
life has centered on the interpretation of scripture.
The Word of God
The Gospels were not wriuen umiltwo or three gener-
ations after the death ofjesus, and the Christian canon
did not take final shape until well into the third cen-
tury CE. But once the books of the canon were fixed,
the church came to emphasize scripture as a divinely
inspi red source of faith and practice. The Bible became
as central to ChriStianity as the Torah was to judaism.
Ch ristians commonly refer to their scriptures as the
word of God, and some believe that the Bible was liter-
ally d ictated by God to its human authors.
God's Final Prophet
The sc riptural app roach to religion reached its
g reatest height in Islam. The surahs that make up
Schoolchildren in Dhaka. Bangladesh. learning to read the Arabic of the Qur'an.
the Qu r'an are believed to be the sacred words of
God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by an
angel, recorded by sc ribes, and compiled as a col-
lection afte r h is death. In its essence, therefore, the
Qur'an is considered to be an oral text, meant to be
recited- always in the original Arabic- rathe r than
read. Nevertheless, the wriuen Qur'an is treated
with great re spect. No other book is to be placed on
top of the Qur'an, and before opening the book , the
reader is expected to be in the same state o f ritual
purity requi red to perform the daily prayers.
Creation Through the Word of God
A number of scriptural traditions have maintained
that their scriptures were in existence before the
world was created. The medieval book of jewish
mysticism known as the Zohar, for example, teaches
that the Torah played a role in the creation. The pro-
logue to the Gospel of j ohn in the New Testament

talks about creation th rough the Word (Logos in
Greek). And Islam understands the Qur'an tO have
existed in the mind of God before the world itself
was brought into existence.
This idea has ve ry old roots. In anc ient Israel,
Egypt, India, and elsewhere, it was assumed that the
deities would not have performed the physical work
of creation themselves, as ordi na ry humans would
have done; rathe r, like kings, they would have com-
manded that the work be done: "let the re be light."
Thus the d ivine word wok on a special role in later
theologies. In traditional Hi ndu thought, the god-
dess of speech, Vac, played this role. How could the
scriptu res- the actual words of the Torah, Bible, or
Qur'an- be present in the mind of God at the time
of creation, thousa nds of years before the histo ri-
cal events they describe? The answer for believers is
that God knows the future. Outs iders might a rgue
that th is calls into question the concept of free will:
If the deity knows everything in advance, how ca n
humans be free to choose? W hat use is it to try to
pe rsuade people tO do the right th ing if the deity
has al ready determ ined what each of them will do?
Such questions have led to lively theological debates
in many religious traditions.
Some branches of scriptural religions place such
total authority in their sc riptures that outside rs have
branded them fundamentalists. As discussed in
Chapter 8, the te rm "fundamentalism" was fi rst used
in the ea rly twentieth century to refe r to a variety of
American Protestantism characte rized by a fe rvent
belief in the absolute, literal truth of the Bible. Simi-
lar movementS exist within most religious traditions.
~What Is Religion?
Many scholars trace the derivation of the word
"religion" to the latin verb religare, "to bind." Othe rs
a rgue that the root is relegere, "to go ove r again."
From the begin ning, then, there has been no un i-
versal defin ition of religion. We can desc ribe re-
ligion as being concerned with the div ine , but
even that ra ises questions. Is there one god that is
worshiped, or many gods- or even no gods, as in
athe is m? Most of us would probably not think of
athe ism as a religion, but what about Theravada
'
I
I Studying Western Religions 19
Budd hism, wh ich is clearly a religion but has noth-
ing to do with an Abrahamic-style god? The same
problem a rises with religious texts. Is there one text
or a set o f texts that is pa rticularly authoritative for
a pa rticu lar trad ition? Is that set a dosed "canon," or
can new materials be added tO it? W hat are the d is -
tinctions between established religions and newe r
ones (sometimes referred tO pej oratively as "cults")?
We may accept, for example, the validity of a man
(Moses) receiv ing revelations from God on Mount
Sirnai 3,200 yea rs ago or another man (Muhammad)
rece iving si milar revelations in Mecca 1,400 years
ago but reject the idea of a th ird man Ooseph Smith)
rece iving revelations in upstate New York 200 years
ago. There is some truth in the saying "wday's cult,
tomorrow's religion." Although th is te xt focuses
mainly on established traditions, several newer reli-
gious movements are d iscussed in Chapter 7.
Another way of looking at religion is in terms
of its functions. For example, a simple functional
defin ition might be that relig ion is a way of c reati ng
community. For some people, "church " has less to do
with piety o r Sunday worsh ip than with a commu-
ni! y that offers a sense of belonging a nd activ ities to
pa rticipate in. Karl Marx defined religion in terms of
economics; Sigmund Freud, in terms of interior psy-
chological states. Othe r scholars have approached
the question from the perspective of soc iology or
anthropology, looking at religion as a social phe-
nomenon or a cultural product. The academic study
of ~eligion is usually a secular, non-confessional en-
terp rise, undertaken without a particular faith com-
mitment. One of the key scholars in this area was
j onatha n Z. Smith (1938- 2017) of the University
of Chicago. His work on the h istory of religions has
had a profound impact on scholarly understanding
of k ey terms such as "myth " and "ritual," as well as
the way comparisons are made both within a single
rehgious trad ition and across diffe rent trad itions.
~Why Study Religion?
The first and most obvious reason to study religion
is that it exists. Not all humans might lay clai m to
rehgious beliefs, but humans in gene ral have been
rehgious from time immemorial.
World Religions: Western Traditions
jonathan Z. Smith.
A closely related reason is that religion has played
such a n important role in human a ffairs. People or-
ganize thei r commu nities arou nd religious identi-
ties, go to wa r ove r religious beliefs, make g reat an
in the se rvice of religion, and seek to change social
norms or prevent change out of religious conviction.
In short, religion so pervades the hu ma n world that
it dema nds ou r attention rega rdless o f whethe~: it
plays a direct role in our ow n lives.
It is also common tO study religion for more pe r-
sonal reasons. You may want to know more about
the tradition you , or someone close tO you , g rew up
in. You may want to study othe r religions in o rde r
to u nderstand othe r people's beliefs, o r to look at
your own beliefs from a d iffere nt pe rspective. You
may also want to a rm yourself with knowledge in
o rde r to bring others around to you r way of think-
ing, o r to defend you r beliefs aga inst the argu ments
o f those who might tr y to conve rt you to thei rs.
Insider Versus Outsider
Most people learn about their own religion from
their pa rents, thei r teache rs at religious schools, or
othe r membe rs of the same religious commun ity.
Naturally, we te nd to accept the teach ings of ou r
ow n religion as true and assu me that the teach ings
of other religions are false, o r at least less true. As
"insiders," we may find it distu rbing when "outs id -
ers" challenge ou r beliefs or suggest that the h istory
of "ou r religion" may not be exactly as we have been
taught. In h is 1962 book The Meaning and End of
Religion, W ilfred Cantwell Smith famously wrote:
"Normally persons talk about othe r people's reli-
gions as they are, and about their own as it ought to
be" (Smith 1962 49).
One of the advantages of a book such as this is that
it helps us appreciate our own traditions from both in-
sider and outSider points of view. When approaching
an unfamiliar religious tradition, outsiders need to be
sensitive tO the ways in wh ich it se rves the needs of its
followers. For their part, insiders need to understand
how their own tradition looks from the outSide.
The inside r- outs ider matte r is more complex
than we might imagi ne, for there are many ki nds of
ins iders. Is your Muslim friend a Su nni or a Sh i' i)
If a Sh i'i, does she belong to the Twelve r branch or
one of the Sevene r branches? Wh ich variety of Bud-
dh ism does your classmate practice- Theravada,
Mahaya na , or Vajrayana) If Mahayana, wh ich
school? Is your Ch ristian ne ighbo r Protesta nt ,
Catholic, o r Orthodox) A Protestant may well be
an outsider to othe r Protestant g roups, let alone to
Catholic Ch ristian ity. A Zen Buddh ist could have
trouble seei ng any connection between h is practice
and a n elaborate Vaj rayana ritual. Because each re-
ligion has many subdivisions , we will speak of tra-
d itions in the plural. We hope ou r readers will keep
in mind the dive rsity behind the monolith ic labels.
Methods for the Study of Religion
The re a re many different ways in wh ich religion is
studied in highe r education . The American Acad-
emy of Religion is the la rgest scholarly organization
in the world for the study of religion. It recommends

the religious s tudies or study of re ligion approach ,
which is defined as follows:
A religious studies app roach prov ides stu-
dents with tools to analyze religion from
an academic perspective. There are many
different methods that can fall under the
category of t he academic study of religion
(e.g., anth ropological, soc iological, textual ,
historical, etc.), but religious studies schol-
a rs sha re the following five ove rarching
asse rtions about religion:
l. There is distinction between the
devotional expression of a religious
belief and the study of diverse devo-
tional expressions.
2. Religions are internally diverse.
3. Religions are always evolving and
changing.
4. Religions are en meshed in virtually
all di mens ions of human agency and
expression.
5. Religions are historically embedded.
A religious studies approach gives students the
ability to d iscern and analyze the intersections of
religion with personal, social, political, and cultural
life. Other methods for the study of religion are faith-
based, interfaith , and experiential. Faith-based teach-
ing about religion promotes an explicit belief in and/or
practice of religion. Faith-based approaches can often
be found on college campuses in either chaplaincy
or campus ministry programs, or in some classes of-
fe red in religiously affiliated schools. The faith-based
approach advances understand ing of particular in-
terpretations of faith and trad ition. It also responds
to the religious and spiritual needs of studentS. The
faith-based approach differs from the academic study
of rel igion described above by promoting a specific
religious perspective. The central assumption of an
interfaith approach is that people of di ffe ring religious
trad itions (within and among traditions) can commu-
nicate important elements of their faith experience to
others through story and other forms of mutual ex-
ploration and sharing. Th is approach can include a
'
I
I Studying Western Religions 21
decision to embrace a religious studies content focus,
but the framework of exploration emerges from one's
own experience and understanding of faith and con-
versations with others about their faith. The experi-
ential approach focuses on introducing studentS to
religious traditions and expressions through encoun-
ters with religious leaders, practitioners, and/or signi f-
icant physical sites such as places of worship or other
locations designated as holy. The educational purpose
of this approach is to provide students with experien-
tial learni ng encounters that can ground their studies
in the lives of real people and places. This approach
can be compatible with a religious studies approach
when these encounters are framed within the context
of eth nographic research. Without this framework ,
howeve r, this approach can be problematic, since in-
dividual practitioners and specific religious setti ngs
always represent particular interpretations of a tradi-
tion , and h ighlighting them through an experiential
encounter privileges them in unintentional but never-
theless concrete ways.
There are other issues, of cou rse, in the academic
study of religion. O ne of the important contemporary
scholars in this area is Russell T. McCutcheon of the
University of Alabama. He makes an important dis-
tinction between the study of rel igion and t heology:
The academic study of religion is fundamen-
tally an anthropological enterprise. That is, it
is primarily concerned with Studying people
(anthropos is an ancient Greek term meaning
"human bei ng"; logos means "word" or a "ra-
tional, systematic d iscourse"), their beliefs,
behaviors, and institutions, rather than as-
sessing "the t ruth" or "truths" of their various
beliefs or behaviors. An anth ropological ap-
proach to the Study of religion (which is not
to say that the study of religion is simply a
sub-field of anth ropology) is distinguished
from a confessional, religious, or theologi-
cal approach (theos is an ancient Greek term
for "deity" or "god") which is generally con-
cerned with determining the nature, will, or
wishes of a god or the gods. Traditionally, the
term "theology" refers to specifically Chris-
tian discourses on God, though the term
 World Religions: Western Traditions

now generally applies either to any religion's
own articulate self-study or to its study of
another religion (e.g., evangelism or religious
pluralism are equally theological pursuitS).•
Some Practical Matters
The East- West division of our two volumes is qu ite
conventional, but it's problematic for several reasons.
For one thing, the so-called Western religions arose in
what we now term the Middle East: they are Western
only in the sense that they have been widely adopted
in the West. A related problem is that there is no clear
dividing line between East and West. As the late Will
Ox toby pointed out in an earlier edition of this text,
Well into the twentieth century, the East
was everything to the east of Europe. The
O rient began where the O rient Express
ran: Istanbul. For some purposes, it even
included North Africa and began at Mo-
rocco. A century ago, Islam was thought
to be an Easte rn religion, and Westerne rs
who stud ied it were called orientalists.
For those of us living in the twenty-first century,
the biggest problem with the East- West division
is that all the religions discussed in these volumes
may be found anywhere in the world. In any event,
ou r Eastern volume focuses on traditions that devel -
oped in the East and are still centered there, while
its Western counterpart focuses ma inly on trad i-
tions that developed in the Middle East and now
predominate in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and
the Americas.
For dates we use BCE ("before the Common Era")
rather than BC (" before Christ") and CE ("Common
Era") rather than AD ("Anno Domini," Latin for " in
the year of our Lord"). For dates that a re obv iously
in the Common Era, the "CE" will be implied.
Finally, it is di fficult to decide whether a book like
this should use d iacritical marks on foreign words.
Scholars of religion writing for other scholars typi-
cally use diacritics for precision in transl iterating for-
eign terms into English. Since this is an introductory
text, we have chosen not to use d iacritics because
studentS often find them more confusing than help-
ful. Anyone who wishes to do more research on a re-
ligious tradition will soon encounter them, however.
Whether or not you are religious yourself, we
inv ite you to delve into the study of several religious
trad itions that have played central roles both in the
lives of individual humans and in the civil izations
they have bu ilt around the world.

Discussion Questions
l. What are some concepts that are fundamental to what we call religion?
2. What are some of the major developments or patterns in the h istory of human religiosity)
3. What is an avatar? Give an example from both an Eastern and a Western tradition to illustrate
your answer.
4. What are some of the ways to study or approach religions)

Glossary
All Saints Day A Christian festival
honoring all the departed saints, held
in the West on November 1.
Day of the Dead A Mexican festival
honoring the dead.
fundamentalists Persons who as- Hallowe'en A holiday originally cele-
cribe total authority to their scriptures brated as the "Eve" of All Saints Day
or doctrines, rejecting any conflicting and now a popular secular celebration
secular or religious alternatives. held on October 31.
 Studying Western Religions 23

high places Sacred areas located on
hills or mountaintops; such places
existed throughout the ancient Near
East.
naga A mythical cobra living in the
underworld, often associated with
water and fertility in Indian religions.
Obon A japanese festival honoring
ancestors.
religious studies, or study of religion
An academic, rather than confessional
or doctrinal, approach to describing
religions and their personal, social,
political, and cultural roles.
shaman A type of priest, widespread
among humer-gatherer societies, who
communicates with the spirit world on
behalf of his or her people.
Stonehenge One of several ancient
rock structures thought to have been
constructed for ritual purposes.

References
Doniger O'Fiaherty, Wendy. 1975. Hindu Myth.<: A Source Book. Trans-
lated from the Sanskrit. Harmondswonh , UK: Pengum Classics.
Eliade, Mucea. (1951) 1964. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ec.<Lasy.
Translated by Willard R. Trask. Princeton , NJ: Princeton
University Press.
f>.<falinowski , Bronislaw. 1948. Magic. Science and Religion . Boston:
Beacon Press.
Smnh, Wilfred Cantwell. 1962. The Meaning and End of Religion.
New York: MacMillan.
Smnh, Wilfred Cantwell. 1998. Pauem< of Faith Around lhe World.
Oxford: Oneworld.
Zaehner, R.C., ed. 1966. Hindu Scriptures. London: Everyman's
Library.

Further Reading
Braun, \\illi, a nd Russell T. McCutcheon, eds. 2000. Guide to
dte St•dJ oj Religion. l\ew York: Cassell. An excellent Intro-
duction to terms thaL occur in the study o£ religion.
Juschka, Darlene M, ed. 2001. Femiroi<m in the SrudJ oj Religion:
A Reader. !'Jew York: Continuum. A collecuon of essays aboUL
feminism and the sLUdy of religion.
Miles, Jack, ed. 2014. I he J\orron Antholo!!J oj \\'01id Religions.
i\e" York: \\'.\\. l\orton. An anthology of pnmary texts from
the world's rehgtons.
Orsi, Robert A. 2005. Beh\-CCn flea\'tn and Earth. Princeton,
i\lj: Princeton Lnh·ersity Press. A study of Catholic devotion
to vanous figures. as well as an exammation of how scholars
straddle the hne between faith and scholarsh1p.
Smirh, Jonarhan Z. 1978. Mar> I< />.'or Ten·irory: Srudics in the
History of Religion<. Leiden: l:.J. Brill. A key volume by one of
the most important theonsts for the study of religion.
Sn1irh. Jonathan Z. 1987. fo fake Place: fo•.ard lltctH) in Rirual.
Chicago: Llniversity of Chicago Press. A key text for the study
of ntual in the study of religion.
Srone, Jon R., ed. 2000. I he Crajt oj Religious Studies. New York:
Palgrave. Essays from nored scholars on the study of religion.
r--eed, lhomas A . 2006. Cro«ing and DII'CIIing: A lheOrJ of
Rdigion. Cambridge, MA: Han'ard Lniversity Press. Another
key theonst for the study of religion offers a transnauonal model
ofrehg•on.

Recommended Websites
www.aarweb.org www.pluraJism.org
The website for the largest professional orgamzation for the study The website for the Plurahsm Project at Harvard Universuy. whtch
ofrelig•on. looks at rehgtous diversny in the United States and around the
world.
www.re lig io usstudiesproject.com
A podcast for the study of religion.

Notes
I. Marc Kaufman, "Researchers Say Stonehenge Was a Family 3.
Burial Ground," Washingron Post, May 30, 2008, AI.
2. Mike Parker Pearson, Stonehenge: Exploring the Gr<arest Stone
Age Mystery (London: S1mon and Shusrer, 201 2).
Chm1dogya Upm1ishad I, xi1, in Zaehner 1966: 84.
4. Taken from Russell McCutcheon's website, https://rehgion
.ua.edulllnks/the-students-desk/what-ls-the-academlc-study-
of-religion
World Religions: Western Traditions
Traditions at a Glance
"Antiquity" refe rs to the gene ral region of the Nea r
East (Iran, Mesopotamia, and Egypt) and the Med-
ite rranean (Greece and Rome) as it existed from the
late fourth millennium BCE to the mid-fi rst mi l-
lennium CE. In that time many religious traditions
eme rged and evolved, sometimes independently
and sometimes inte rsecting with one another.
founders alld Principal leaders
Zoroastrianism anributed its found ing to ZarathusLra/
Zoroaster, while Manichaeism was founded by Man i.
Names of the Deity
Most traditions recogn ized hundreds of deities,
many of wh ich also had mu ltiple aspects, ex-
pressed using va rious epithets . Zoroastrianism and
Man ichaeism acknowledged several divinities, but
Zoroastrianism focused on Ahura Mazda and Man-
ichaeism on the Father of Greatness.
In this chapter you will learn about:
• The commonalities and special emphases of
six religious traditions
• The natu re and pu rposes of myth and ritual
• Shared and conOicting interpretations of the
div ine
• Various ways anc ient peoples expressed thei r
religiosity
• Reasons for the longevity and ultimate col-
lapse of the ancient traditions.
"' Introduction
Let's consider this volume's title: World Religions:
Western Traditions. The word "religion" derives from
the Latin religio, a term that originally designated a sense
of obligation within a relationship, whether a commu-
nal bond among humans or one between humans
and divinities. The bond's proof was demonstrated in
performance. Religious performance enta iled a ritual
-< The Acropolis. Athens(© Scott Ba rbour/Getty Images)
Authoritative Texts
Certain texts were essential components of these
cultures' canon ic traditions: the Epic of Gilgamesh
for Mesopotamia, Home r's Iliad for Greece, and
Ve rgil's Aeneid for Rome. Zoroastrianism had sev-
era l important scriptu res: Yasna, Yashts, Vendidad,
Denkard, and Bundahishn. Man i composed seve ral
works, wh ich survive only in fragmentary late r
translations .
Noteworthy Doctnnes
All ancient traditions we re originally polythe istic,
worshiping multiple gods, and they all promoted
moral/eth ical behavior. In practice, they placed
equal or greater emphasis on ritual of various types.
Man ichaeism and Zoroastrian ism stressed dualism,
a ph ilosophy based on the conOict between good
and evil.
act. A Roman synonym for religio was traditio, the
root of our modern te rm "tradition ," expressing the
idea that every ritual performance of the obligation
preserved the p ractices unde rtaken, and bonds se-
cured, by previous generations.
Two of the religious traditions exam ined in this
chapter- Zoroastrianism and Man ichae ism- fit
the designation of "world" religions, with thei r in-
Ouence stretchi ng at some point from the western
Mediterranean to China. Such a broad diffusion,
which could later be seen in j udaism, Ch ristian ity,
and Islam, only occurred with the appea rance of
empi res, as noted by the Christian author Origen:
jesus was born during the reign of Augus-
tus, the one who reduced to uni formity .
the many kingdoms on earth so that he
had a single empire. It would have hin-
dered jesus' teaching from being spread
through the whole world if there had been
many kingdoms. (Fowden 2013 70)

Before that development, though, certain trad itions
(e.g., Mesopotamian) and behaviors (e.g., sac rifices
and offerings) were d istinctly widespread. "World" can
also connote that such religions have survived to the
present. Manichaeism did not; Zoroastrianism has.
"Western" is problematic. If half of the contempo-
rary world's Muslims live in Asia, what makes Islam
a Western religion? Is th is designation due to its place
of origi n, in the Arabian Peninsula, dose to the birth-
place of both Judaism and Ch ristianity as well? Two
terms identi fy this broad area: "Fertile Crescent" for
prehistory and "ancient Near East" for the historical
era. Agriculture first developed in the highlands of the
Fertile Crescent and then spread both eastward and
westward . Religions similarly spread outward from
the ancient Near East. Judaism arose in a region fi rst
dominated by ancient Nea r Eastern powers and later
by the Greek and Roman empires. Just as Jews were
first dispersed du ring the Assyrian and Babylonian
empi res and Christianity spread under the rule of the
Roman Empire, so Islam appeared on the borders of
two rival empires, the Byzantine to the northwest and
Sasanian to the northeast, and quickly conquered large
portions of them. Manichaeism emerged in southern
Mesopotamia in the third century CE, long after the
advance of Zoroastrianism in the Persian Empi re.
Mesopotamia was for a millennium a borde rland be-
tween Western (Greek and Roman) and Eastern Ora-
nian) empi res. The ancient Near East, including both
Mesopotamia and Iran, was neither West nor East,
but rather the center from which religions radiated to
both the West and the East via imperial routes.
Concerning the chapter title, "Religions of An-
tiquity," can antiqu ity be dated? In particular, can
it be assigned an end date? Or were there multiple
end dates, with different dates for different trad i-
tions, one from the Ch ristian perspective and an-
other from the Islam ic? Rather than a time period,
antiquity can also be pe rceived as a tradition , the
Greco-Roman pre-Ch ristian tradition, for it was
fourth-century CE Christian authors who used the
term antiquitas to disparage that tradition , which
they condemned as "the mother of all evils." Those
same Ch ristian authors labeled that tradition's
pa rtic ipants as "pagans ," a term that suggested
2 Religions of Antiquity
un sophisticated ignorance, in the same way early
Muslim scholars would refer to the pre-Islamic pop -
ulation as jahiliyya, ba rbarians ignorant of the truth
contained in thei r new trad ition. "Pagans" had been
blithely ignorant that they were pagans o r could be
identified by any particular designation. They we re
simply following thei r respective traditions.
A principal characte ristic of the three religions
of t he Abrahamic tradition is that they are "religions
of the book." Both Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism
we re also based on sacred books, but the other reli-
gions of antiquity were not scripture-d irected. They
we re, however, text-based, d rawi ng from a host of
dirferent types of texts that offer insights into both
the continuities and alterations of thei r religious
sensibilities, behaviors, and unde rstanding ove r
time. These texts served as the ca rrie rs of traditions,
se,,e ral of which lasted for well ove r 2,000 years.
Those "living texts" were passed down in copies that
ofte ntimes challe nged or rev ised earlier trad itions, a
ten dency that reOects the dual meaning of the latin
traditio: not only to hand down, but also to betray.
~Term in ol ogy
Do today's monotheistic faith ful understand religion
as d id the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Mesopo-
ta mians, all of whom lacked a single-word equiv-
alent of "religion"? Even the Romans disagreed on
wh at religio meant. Some assoc iated it with the verb
religare (" to bi nd "), an unbreakable bond between
humans and gods; others, with relegere ("to go ove r
again"), the meticulous repetition of a sac red ritual.
The two notions were complementa ry. The com-
munity sought continuing support from its gods by
faithfully ad hering to ancestral customs, a relation-
ship that Romans called pax deorum , "harmony with
the gods." Each commun ity was permitted to pre-
se r ve its own religious tradition, and hence its own
religio, as long as it pa rticipated in what the Roman
philosophe r Cicero (106- 43 BCE) called "the pious
cult of the gods"- "cult" being defined as ritual wor-
ship and "piety" as "giv ing the gods their d ue." So
important was piety to the Romans' self-definition
that they worshiped the concept as a goddess.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Minted in 138 CE. this coin of the Roman em-
peror Anton inus Pius depicts the goddess Pietas
demonstrating the very nature of piety as she
offers incense over a flaming altar.
The ancient Greeks distinguished betwee n public
expressions of piety (to hosion) and privately felt rev-
erence (eusebia), and spoke of "honoring the gods
by panicipating in trad itional practices" in the same
way that Romans spoke o f practicing religio. The
Greek priest Euthyph ro, in Plato's d ialogue of that
name, defined eusebia as the care humans tender t he
gods, which he fu rthe r elucidated as pleasing gods
in word and deed , t hrough prayer and sac rifice. The
Greek root -seb denoted a threat; hence, reverence
was based initially on fear of the gods. A compa ra-
ble Mesopotam ian phrase t ra nslates as "fear of god ,"
an attitude o f reve rence for the gods manifested in
cu ltic obse rvances. An early Mesopota mian word
for prayer consisted o f a cuneiform sign for "gra in"
inside the sign for "cal f." Prayer and sac rifice we re
inseparable. Anyone who prayed and sac rificed to
the gods was both "pious" and "wise."
Accord ing tO Cice ro's expanded defi nition from
On the Nature of the Gods:
The enti rety of the religio o f the Roman
people is div ided into rites and auspices,
to wh ich is added a th ird t hing, namely
whatever wa rnings the inte rprete rs o f the
Sibylline books or ha ruspices issue for
the sake of foreknowledge on the basis of
portents and d reams. I hold that none of
these religiones should ever be neglected.
(Ando 2008: 3)
The passage makes three important points . Fi rst,
Roman religion consisted of th ree practices: cult ,
div ination, and prophecy. Second, each practice
was itself a separate rel igion- hence the plu ral reli-
giones. Plu rality, or "polyreligiousness," outweighed
singula rity. Third, th is religion ignored belief.
This last poi nt has led some scholars to suggest
that the religions of antiqu ity we re lim ited exclu-
sively tO ritual and/or cult. Such a position seems
shortsighted. Ancients knew that the gods existed,
that d ivi ne in Oue nce was ever-p resent, that gods
interacted with h umans. Practice was based on
belief in or unde rstand ing of a rite's efficacy, the
confide nce that it could reach and affect the gods.
Otherwise, why would anc ient soc ieties have per-
petuated those practices for m illen nia? The ancient
Greeks had an expression "to believe in the gods."
The word translated as "believe" meant to ac knowl-
edge the gods th rough some appropriate act.
A thirteenth-century BCE version o f The Bool1
of the Dead elucidated what was expected of pious
Egyptians: they would "propitiate the gods with the
breath of their mouths , give proper offer ings to the
gods and rende r supplication offerings tO the dead ."
Egyptian rel igion also included ethics- treating
othe r humans justly. In addition to requiring the
proper respect for gods and dead ancestors, the
Book of the Dead emphasized t ruth in human rela-
tionsh ips: the t ruly religious "judge poor and rich,"
"live on truth and feast on t ruth, (their! hean s do not
lie, (they] detest falsehood" (von Dassow 1994: 116;
R. Faulkne r, trans.).
The t ruth to which this passage alludes is
honesty. In Mesopotamia n and Egyptian courts, the
truth of any lawsuit required verification. Mesopo-
ta mians even demanded that their gods be t ruth ful.
The location whe re Mesopotam ian div ine rs sought
div ine j udgments was called t he "place of t ruth."
That original meaning of truth as honesty bled into
the notion of t ruth as accepted ce rtitude , what we
might label " faith ," and what for the Mesopotam ians
was a conviction t hat the gods would neve r deceive.
Humans had faith that the gods would be faithful
to them, just as humans we re faith ful to t he gods. If
neither doct rinal nor dogmatic, th is understa ndi ng
 2 Religions of Antiquity

Timeline
Mesopotamia Egypt Greece Rome Iran
.1
3000 Sumerian Era
2700 Old Kingdom
Pyramid Age
2300 Sargon Pyramid Texts
2000 Midd le Kingdom
Coffin Texts
Merikare
1800 Hammurabi
Gilgamesh
1300 New Kingdom
Akhenaten
Book of the Dead
Enuma Elish
1000
Omen collections
Assyrian Empire
700 BCE Homer Zoroaster'
Hesiod Avesta'
Nabonidus
SOO BCE Xenophanes Roman Darius
Heracl itus Republic
400 BCE Plato
l ate Period
300 BCE Alexander
100 BCE Roman conquest
BC/CE
Cicero
Roman
Empire
Augustus
Ovid
Vergil
100 CE
200 CE
Mani Sasanian Dynasty
300 CE
Diocletian

.J,.
400CE
SOO CE
World Religions: Western Traditions
Map 2.1 Classical World of Greece and Rome
Mediterranean
100 200
was neve rtheless faith. The Roman Stoic Epictetus
captured th is notion:
In piety towards the gods . . . the ch ief el-
eme nt is . .. to have right opin ions about
them- as existi ng and ad ministe ring the
unive rse well and justly- and tO have set
yourself to obey the m and tO submit tO
everything that happens, a nd tO follow it
volunta rily, in the belief that it is being ful-
filled by the h ighest intelligence. (Ullucci
2011: 40)
Such faith was rooted in a patte rn of reciprocity.
It is not coi ncidental that many gods of antiqui ty
oversaw contracts. Reciprocity required an under-
stand ing that each pa rty tO a contract would abide
by set conditions. The conditional was based on an
Se a
"if- then" association. If a human or god undertook act
x, then a god or human would respond in manner y.
~ Prehistory
The religious roots o f antiquity reach deep into
prehistory. In the absence o f doc umenta ry evi-
dence we must rely on mate rial remains; thus,
inte rpretations of prehisto ry will always be con-
jectural. AnatOmically modern huma ns fi rst ap -
pea red a round 200,000 years ago. Some scholars
contend that human symbolic be havior, s uch as
the assoc iation o f red ocher with bu ria ls- the ve ry
o rigins o f relig ion- can be traced to a n equally
dista nt time, making religion inhe rent tO ou r spe-
cies. In a cave in South Africa, arch aeologis ts dis-
covered an infa nt burial d ated to 100,000 years
ago; the child 's bones we re sta ined with ocher,

Map 2.2 Ancient Near East
a nd a pie rced shell, a pendant, had been placed
atop h im. Awe -inspired, a nd awe-inspi ring, cave
pai ntings c reated over a span of 25 millennia-
from roughly 35,000 tO 10,000 BCE- also include
many symbolic ele ments associated with religion,
eve n if there is no conse nsus o n how they should
be inte rpreted.
If the cave paintings that stretched from the Ibe-
rian Pen insula and southern France as far as the
Ural Mountains of Russia can be taken as the ve ry
fi rst religious trad ition, a second identifiable trad i-
tion appeared in the northwestern section of the
Fertile Crescent, an area rough ly cove ring south-
easte rn Turkey and northern Israel, from 13,000 tO
5000 BCE, a pe riod of transition from hunting and
gathe ring to agriculture. There a re four significant
components tO this tradition: sh rines, symbolis m,
female figurines, and burials.
..
2 Religions of Antiquity 3,1,
Gobekli Tepe
The most famous early shrine is Gobekli Tepe in
southeaste rn Turkey. Dating from 9500 to 8000 BCE,
Gobekli Tepe consisted o f a series of rings or circles,
edged by benches that connected massive T-shaped
pillars, the sides of which resembled human arms.
It is the oldest known example of monumental ar-
chitecture, and if its excavator is correct in claiming
that Gobekli was a temple complex, it is also the
oldest known religious structure. Correspondi ng
fea tures have been found at several nearby sites.
The builders of these sites were pre-agricultural
forage rs. Given the limited ev idence that a nyone
lived there, the complexes must have se rved as a
central meeting place for social functions, includi ng
feasts and ce remonies. One inte resting hypothesis
suggests that the necessity of feeding large numbers
World Religions: Western Traditions
of workers and pilgrims served as the catalyst for
the development of agriculture; the earliest evidence
for the domestication of wheat, dated to 9000 BCE,
was found at a site barely 20 miles from Gobekli. If
th is hypothesis is valid, it reverses the long-held po-
sition that organ ized religion began in response to
the needs of settled agricultural life. Religion, in th is
new view, may have been the inspiration for agric ul-
ture and, ultimately, the beginnings of "civilization."
Catalhoyuk
Located sl ightly outside the Fertile Crescent, 300
miles west of Gobekli, Catalhoyuk was an early agri-
cultural town, inhabited from 7400 to 6000 BCE. Its
growth seems tO have coinc ided with the desertion
A reconstructed room at Catalhoyuk. wit h numerous skulls of aurochs or bulls.
of other nearby seulements, and its unusual layout
may reOect a new approach to social integration,
prompted by the need to absorb d isparate groups of
people. Catalhoyuk's structures are clearly residen-
tial , divided into two distinct zones: a d rab domestic
space and a "sacred" area with platforms superim-
posed over burial sites and walls painted with scenes
of humans baiting wild animals and adorned with
bulls' heads. Burial sites, platforms, thresholds, and
plaster-covered bulls' skulls were all painted with
red ocher, presumably a symbol of vitality.
Catalhoyuk was as much a ritual center as it was
a place of production, and as much a cemetery as a
seulement. Many of the homes contain evidence of
both numerous burials and frequent rebuild ing. To
date, 350 burials have been uncovered at Catalhoyuk.

Eighteen had thei r heads removed, typically one year
afte r the original burial. In one such burial, a woman's
skull, which was plastered and painted red on at least
four occasions, was nestled in the arms of a newly in-
terred woman. These "h istory houses; so named by
the excavators, were effectively vi rtual archives, their
symbolic textS taking the form of bones and such
material objects as obsidian and crystals, thereby pre-
serving transgenerational memory and bringing an-
cestors temporarily back tO li fe with each rebuildi ng.
The signature item found at Catalhoyuk was the
seated figure of a large-breasted female about to give
birth , flanked by two leopards. Seve ral si milar figu-
rines have been found at sites throughout the region,
with one such find dating from the early tenth mil-
le nnium BCE. Even more important than this sym-
bolic figure of fertility was the more common a nd
more prom inent represe ntation of the bull, which
later became the paradigmatic sacrificial animal of
the Medite rranean region. The majority of the 450
individuals buried at the nea rby site of <;:ayonu were
deposited, along with dozens of bulls' skulls, in a
complex named the "Skull Buildi ng."
Catalhoyuk exemplifies many features of re-
ligious sign ificance: religion's role as an integra-
tor of both famil ies and com munities, bou ndaries
between the mundane and the sacred, rituals a nd
memorialization, and a repertoire of symbols a nd
figu rines used in the region for several millen nia.
Nabta Playa
Nabta Playa, in the western desert of southern Egypt,
was a meeting place for Saharan cattle herders, who
erected there a series of significant monuments be-
tween the late seventh and mid-fourth millennia BCE.
One part of the complex, labeled the Valley of Sacri-
fices, held several burials, including the remains of
entire cattle; one even contained a life-sized sculpture
of a cow. Next tO the Valley of Sacrifices were several
megalithic complexes, including standing stones with
anthropomorphic (human-shaped) shoulders (similar
to those seen at Gobekli) oriented to the brightest stars
of the northern sky. There was also a "calendar circle"
used to predict the summer solstice, when life-giving
rains arrived. Abandoned around 3400 BCE, Nabta
2 Religions of Antiquity
was foundational for much of what would become cen-
tral to Egyptian civilization, including its religion, for
the next several millennia. Egypt's most widely adored
deity would become the goddess Hathor: depicted as a
cow, she was considered the patron of rulers. Later, the
royal pyramids, the best-known Egyptian burial sites,
were designed with a series of internal passageways
that opened to the outSide and were oriented to the
very same stars as the stones at Nabta, stars that were
understood to be the homes of the gods and the ulti-
mate destination of deceased pharaohs.
a. Common Features of
the Religions of Antiquity
The people of antiquity accepted as fact that there
was another world besides their own. That supernat-
ural realm both existed on itS own level and inter-
acted with t he natural world, of which human society
was the principal part. The human quest to explain
the supernatural world and supernatural creatu res
started with humans themselves and was then ex-
tended to supernatural entities, the gods, by means
of a nalogy. Gods were personified, made to look and
act like humans. Besides resembling humans phys-
ically (anthropomorph ism), they received human
form as statues; lived in their own houses, temples;
and had the same bodily needs as humans, especially
nourishment. Gods were members of families, some
quite normal, others (especially in Greece) h ighly dys-
functional. They ruled over cou rtS, made laws, acted
as judges, and assigned punishment just li ke earthly
rul.ers. Some sat on committees; some served their su-
periors. They were craftSmen, warriors, messengers.
Whatever humans d id, gods d id. At other ti mes, gods
were identified with nature: some personified force
had to be responsible for the regular path of the sun,
the cycle of the seasons, life and death, violent floods
and storms, and famine-inducing droughts.
O ne type of analogy used in antiquity was met-
aphor, as in the following anc ient Near Eastern pas-
sages. The first is an incantation agai nst sorcery:
"You (the specific affi iction) shall depart before the
voice [prayer] of the priest, like smoke th rough a
chimney, like a snake up a pillar, like goats to a
World Religions: Western Traditions
height, like lions to a lair" (Hallo 1980: 301). With
regard to sacrifice , the "Instructions to Temple Of-
ficials" inquired if humans and gods differed: "No!
Their minds are exactly ali ke. When a servant is to
stand before his master, he is bathed and clothed in
clean garments; he either gives him h is food, or he
gives him his beverage" (Pritchard 1969 207b). An-
other text, in which a child suffering from an evil/
illness (mr) could only be cured if someone offered
incense myrrh (mr) to the gods, captured a popu lar
form of analogy: homophony.
Particular gods could perfo rm numerous func-
tions; certain functions, such as creation, were the
responsibility of several different gods. Myths of-
fered multiple, competing explanations of natural
phenomena. Variability and nuid ity were the norm.
What a lead ing schola r wrote of Greek religion- "The
attempt to con fer logical coherence on polytheism is
a hopeless ente rprise. But the incoherence made it
all the more nexible a tOol for coping with the d iver-
sity of experience" (Parker 2011: 98)- applies to all
the religions of antiquity.
Deities
Nothing so cha racterized antiquity as divine omn i-
presence. Antiquity was, in the words of the sixt h-
century BCE Greek philosophe r Thales, a "world full
of gods," a polytheistic wo rld. The best-known of
these gods are the major Greek deities and thei r
Roman counterparts: Zeus - Jup ite r, Hera- J uno,
Aphrod ite- Venus, Ares- Mars, Athena- Mine rva,
Poseidon- Neptune, Artemis-Diana, Hermes-Mercury,
Hephaestus- Vukan, De meter-Ceres, Apollo, and
Dionysus. These we re the 12 great gods who inhab-
ited Mount Olympus. Still, 12 hardly compares to
the hund reds and even thousands of gods invoked
by other ancient civilizations. The Babylonian cre-
ation epic Enuma Elish describes the city of Babylon
as the meeting place of 300 gods from "on high" and
300 more from "below," Egyptian texts and monu-
ments name at least 1,500 deities, one early Sume-
rian text refers to 3,600 gods (3,600 being a symbolic
number signi fying totality), and in Rome there was a
spec ific "little god" for almost every aspect of li fe.
The cune iform sign for god , dingir, demonstrated
the nuid natu re of d ivinity. Besides representing
gods, it was used to denote ancestors, heroes, rulers,
temples, statues, cultic materials, heavenly objects,
and even separate body parts of gods. Not all dei-
ties were equally godlike. Divinity was a continuum
along wh ich great gods, secondary gods, minor
gods, dem igods such as heroes, pe rson ified ab-
stractions, and special groups such as nymphs, the
dead , and d ivinized emperors all occupied d iffer-
ent locations. Even among the great gods- the 12
Olympians, for instance, or the "seven great gods"
of Mesopotamia- one was always supreme: Olym-
pian Zeus, Mesopotamian Enlil (later supplanted by
Marduk), Egyptian Amun-Ra , or Roman Jupiter.
Early Gods
The earliest gods corresponded to natural phenom-
ena: sun, moon, planets , sky, grain, fresh water,
storms. Mesopotamia's Enlil was "Lord Wind." The
Sume rian goddess lnanna, depicted in the fourth
millenn ium BCE as a reed gatepost. guarded the
storehouses on wh ich a community's survival de-
pended. The oldest Sumerian sign for "god" was
an eight-sided star. As the Tigris- Euph rates nood-
plain became u rban ized in the late fourth millen-
nium BCE, the deified elements of natu re acquired
social and political functions. Each city had its own
patron deity, typically accompanied by a spouse and
counselors. Over time the gods of several cities or
districts were connected to one another th rough
complex family relationships, leading to the devel-
opment of a pantheon ("totality of gods").
The early patron gods we re the equ ivalent of
petty rulers, but as the more successful cities came
to dominate entire regions, their gods we re elevated
accord ingly. For instance, the status of Ma rduk,
the previously unimportant patron god o f Baby-
lon, received an important boost under Hammu-
rabi (r. 1792- 1750 BCE) and thereafte r continued
to rise in significance until, in the Babylonian cre-
ation epic (composed toward the end of the second
millenn ium BCE), he became the supreme ruler of
the Mesopotamian pantheon. Egypt's New Kingdom

rulers similarly elevated Amun, the patron of their
home city of Thebes, linking h im with the sun deity
Ra, the dom inant god of the Old Kingdom , in the
new form of Amun-Ra.
Power
The defi ning characte ristic of gods in antiquity was
their power; the more important the god , the greater
the power. The Akkadian word for god was ilum, the
root of which had to do with powe r. Heb rew el
(ohim) and Arabic Allah de rived from ilum. The great-
est power was associated with the fiercest forces of
nature- in particular, storms. Enlil and Zeus were
storm gods. Si nce the most powerful humans were
rulers, the supreme gods also ruled. The status of
Zeus, rule r of the Olympian gods, depended on h is
preemine nt com mand of violence and force, man-
ifested in h is thunderbolt. Secondary gods played
supporti ng roles, acting as judges d ispens ing jus-
tice to humans or as advisors to the sove reign god
A cylinder seal depicting lnanna/lshta(s prowess as she tames a lion.
2 Religions of Antiquity
seeking to conta in h is "stormy" power. Minor gods
se rved as staff, ca rrying out unpleasant tasks for
the more powerful deities. In Greece these daimones
we re understood to be agents of calamity and pun-
ishment. like subordinate ad ministrators servi ng
the ruler, numerous deities- each with a different
local base and area of respons ibil ity, directed by the
one supreme leader and assisted by nume rous div ine
se r vants- collectively ensured soc ietal order. Mul-
tiplicity secured un ity, of both cosmos and society.
Divine Light
Jnui nsic to Mesopota mian deities was "div ine splen-
dor" (melammu; literally, "luminous powe r"), an
awesome and fearsome supe rnatu ral brilliance em-
anati ng from the gods, o ften portrayed as a halo sur-
rou nding their heads. At Marduk's bi rth , the "auras
of the gods" we re said to have clothed his body and
encircled his head. The na rrator of the Roman poet
Ov id 's Fasti, wh ile praying to the goddess Vesta ,
World Religions: Western Traditions
"felt the in fluence of celestial divi nity, and the glad
earth gleamed with a pu rple ligh t" (Feeney 1998:
99). A compa rable Egyptian term was akhu, "radiant
powe r." "How great is your [Amun's] power! ... You
have surrounded me with your radiance," decla red
one prayer (Assmann 2001: 117). The Greek word
for god, theos, likely originally meant "bright"; thus,
Greek gods we re "the sh in ing ones."
Omniscience
A third majo r characteristic of gods was their supe-
rior knowledge. Accord ing to a second-millenniu m
BCE Mesopotamian work known as the Babylonian
Theodicy, "The divine mind, like the cente r of heaven ,
is remote. Knowledge of it is di ffic ult; huma ns do
not know it" (Lambe rt 1960: 87). A character in the
Symposium of the Gree k h istoria n Xe nophon (430-
354 BCE) notes that "the gods, whose knowledge
and power are absolute, a re such friends to me th at,
because they care fo r me, they notice all my doings
both day and night" (Pa rker 2011: 6). In h is ninth
Py thian ode the Greek poet Pindar (518- 438 BCE)
praises Apollo:
You know the appointed end
of each th ing and the ways they are brought
to pass;
. . . ; and th ings tO be
and whence they shall come to pass. All
this you know. (Lattimore 1947: 82- 83)
Immortality
A fina l maj or divine trait- some would a rgue the
de fining tra it- distinguishi ng gods from huma ns
was thei r immortality. Some immortals, however,
could d ie. Gilgamesh, o ffspring o f a human fathe r
a nd a divi ne mother, was destined to d ie, like the
Greek he ro Heracles. Succession my ths recou nt
the death o f gods; howeve r, death d id not cons ti-
tute complete a nn ih ilation. Such death s simply
relegated those gods to an inferior position or
transformed thei r flesh and blood into huma n flesh
a nd blood.
Appropriation of Gods
Th ird -millennium BCE Sumerians orga nized their
thousands o f gods in lists, typically with two col-
umns: names in the left colu mn and descriptions in
the right. Late r, bilingual lists correlated Sumerian
gods with the ir Semitic counte rpa rts in the same
way that the Romans linked their gods with those
of the Greeks: the Sumerian goddess lnan na , for in-
sta nce, was identified with the Semitic ls hta r, the
Sume rian sun god Utu with the Se mitic Sha mash ,
and the Sumerian Enki with the Semitic Ea.
Eventually, Mesopotamians produced multilingual
listS, record ing multiple names for the same god. As
political boundaries expanded and contact among dif-
ferent peoples increased, correlations among the gods
of d ifferent cultures became increasingly frequent.
Berossus, a third-century BCE Babylonian priest,
wrote that the Persian r uler An axerxes II erected a
Statue of Aphrodite Anaitis (the Greek version of the
Persian Anah ita) in Babylon and encouraged her wor-
sh ip throughout h is empire. Herodotus had al ready
equated certain Egyptian gods with their closest coun-
ter pa rtS in the Greek pantheon. Especially after Alex-
ander's conquests in the fourth century BCE, Greeks
identified foreign gods with their own: Amun and
Marduk with Zeus, lshtar with Aph rodite, the Egyp-
tian deities Isis and Thoth with Demeter and Hermes.
Some scholars see this trend as marking a fusion of
rel igious trad itions termed "syncretism"; others inter-
pret it simply as a reflection of the need for different
cultural trad itions to communicate with one another.
Gods and Goddesses
In antiqu ity, there we re household gods, such as
the Roman Penates and Lares; the re were gods of
the countryside , such as Pan in Greece; there were
patron gods assigned to the cities, such as Apollo in
Miletus or Marduk in Babylon; and there were state
gods advanced by d ifferent political regi mes, such
as Amun-Ra, promoted by Egypt's New Ki ngdom
rulers. All these were male deities, but there were as
many goddesses as gods. The two most important
fe male deities in Egy pt were Isis and Hathor.

Focus
The Epic of Gilgamesh
There was an actual thi rd-millenn ium BCE Sume rian
king named Gilgamesh. Proclaimed a god shortly
afte r h is reign, he became the subject of several sep-
a rate tales. Du ring the Old Babylonian period the
stories were reorganized into a single composition
that was later recast and then spread throughout the
anc ient Near East. Unfortunately, no complete ver-
sion o f the Epic of Gilgamesh has survived, but the
two main versions- the Old Babylonian and the
first-millennium BCE Standard Version- are suf-
ficiently complete to permit reconstruction of the
plot. The story opens with Uruk's citizens appealing
to the gods for relief from their king's oppression.
The gods then create Enkidu to counteract Gil-
gamesh's misuse of power. Qu ick to become friends,
however, Gilgamesh and Enkidu decide to gain
lasting fame by killing the Guard ian of the Cedar
Forest. Fame comes in an act of murder, for they slay
the creature as it begs for its life. Their actions cap-
tu re the attention of lshtar, goddess of Jove. When
Gilgamesh rejects her amorous advances, she shows
her other, destructive side, th reatening to open the
gates to the underworld and unleash the restive
spi rits there on the world unless her father sends
the Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh and his city.
First worsh iped in Egypt during the Old King-
dom , Isis became so popular that in time her wor-
sh ip spread throughout the Greek and Roman
worlds. One reason for her popula rity was her role
as a nurturing mother, captured in numerous Stat-
ues showing her nursing her son, Horus. That ma-
ternal role led to he r assimilation into Hathor, who
represented beauty, love, and motherhood. In her
guise as the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet, Hathor
also represented violent destruction, although she
was normally depicted as either a cow or a woman
wearing a crown with a sun disk between cow
2 Religions of Antiquity
He:r father does so, and Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay
the bull, but so impressed with themselves are they
that Enkidu hurls its thighbone at the gods rather
than piously offe r it to them as a sacrifice. For such
sacrilege, Enkidu has to die. Enkidu's death trans-
forms Gilgamesh, as it forces him to confront his
own mortality, something th is son of a goddess and
a human father has not previously conside red. He
sets off on a journey to d iscover the secret of immor-
tality. Along the way seve ral characters advise h im
that his quest is hopeless. Undaunted, he reaches
the island of Dilmun, home of Utnapishtim and his
wife, the survivors of an annihilating Oood sent by
the god Enlil in h is rage against humans. The basic
message that Gilgamesh learns is that immortality
only came to Utnapishtim as a gift of the gods. It
is unavailable to Gilgamesh. In parting, Gilgamesh
receives from Utnapishtim the gift of a plant named
"Old Man Grown Young," an early version of the
fountain of youth, but Gilgamesh loses even that
consolation prize when a snake steals it from him as
he rests near a pool. In the end Gilgamesh returns
home, chastened, wiser, and resigned to being the
best possible ruler, husband , and father for the rest
of his life.
horns. One schola r has suggested that the most sig-
nificant feature of Mesopotamian religion was its
many powerful goddesses. Some were nurturers,
such as Ni nsun, lite rally the "mistress of wild cows,"
who was the mother of Gilgamesh; Ninhu rsaga,
described as the wet-nurse of kings; and the more
prominent lnanna- Ishtar, who like Hathor was si-
multaneously a goddess of love and war and who
like Isis and Hathor sustained kingship. The most
popula r Greek goddesses were "child-nou rishing."
To the common people, Hera (also symbolized by
a c:ow) was not the nagging scold depicted in epic
World Religions: Western Traditions
poetry but, like Demeter and Artemis, a solicitous
guardian of women. The male deity most favored
by Greek women was Asclepius, because of h is
assistance in the most critical issues in a woman's
life- fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth. An Egyp-
tian "child-nourishing" goddess named Taweret, es-
pecially popular among commoners, was depicted
as a hippopotamus, a species whose females were
known for their fe rocity in protecting the ir young.
The Greek geographer Strabo (64 BCE- 21 CE)
aptly remarked: "All agree that women are the chief
founders of religion; it is women who encou rage
men to more attentive worsh ip of the gods" (Con-
nelly 2007: 166- 167)
Myth
The people most interested in understanding the
cosmos were antiquity's intellectuals. The earliest
of them were tellers of oral tales; a literate elite,
typically anonymous in Mesopotamia and Egypt
but including many familiar Greek and Roman
names, produced the later works. The ir mode of
explanation was myth. In addition to explain ing,
myth ente rta ined, moralized, legiti mated , inspired,
and even mocked. It offered insights into human
nature, social and political relations, and cosmic
operations. It even attempted to translate into
human terms the seemingly untranslatable. Myth
touched on the eve ryday even as it addressed the
ultimate human questions: how the world origi-
nated (cosmogony), how it was structured (cosmol-
ogy), how the gods came into being (theogony), the
nature of the gods (theology), how humans came
into existence (anthropogony), the conditions of
human life (anthropology), the relationsh ip be-
tween fate and free will, how the gods could be
viewed as just when they allowed ev il to exist (the-
odicy), and the end of life and what came next (es-
chatOlogy). Myth offered no s ingle explanation for
any of these concerns: it was open-ended, comfort-
able with several possibilities. Eventually, however,
the poets' mythic accounts of the world were chal-
lenged by rational accounts proposed by a rival set
of intellectuals- philosophers.
Cosmogony: How the World Originated
Antiquity's mythmakers addressed several "big"
questions, especially those concern ing origins and
identity. The re was no creation ex nihilo (out of
noth ing). Creation represented the transformation
of shapeless preexistence ("before two things had
developed") into substantial existence, of potential-
ity into actuality. Creation gave shape to the amor-
phous, which Egyptians and Mesopotamians alike
envisioned as primeval waters. To explain how that
transformation came about, both civ ilizations used
two analogical models.
Nature
The first analogical model for creation was nature, as
in the daily circuit of the sun or the annual changes
of the seasons. Since life in Egypt depended on
the annual Oood ing of the Ni le to irrigate the land,
one Egyptian creation story envisioned an earthen
mound with a lotus plant emerging from the reced-
ing primeval waters. The sanctuary of every Egyp -
tian temple replicated that primeval mound , while
tomb chambers, shrines, and even mummy wrap -
pings were decorated with scenes of the sun god's
journey across the heavens. If sun and river we re
grand , the dung beetle, or scarab, was decidedly
not, yet its behavior of lay ing eggs in a ball of dung
from which new beetles hatched came tO represent
self-creation. The scarab, "the one who comes into
being," became Egypt's principal symbol of rebirth.
Human Behavior
The second analogical model for creation was
human behavior: sexual intercourse, the spoken
word, labor. One Egyptian creation myth person i-
fied the und iffe rentiated waters as the primeval god
Atum, whose name meant both "nonexistent" and
"completed." Yet he was far from complete: awa re
of h is lone0i)ness, he ejaculated onto his (female)
hand , thereby impregnating himself, and gave birth
to tw in gods, a male named Shu ("air") and a female
named Tefnut (" moisture"), also known, respectively,
as Ankh ("life") and Ma'at ("orde r") And rogynous
Atum passed on to his sexually dimorph ic offspring

his "li fe force" (ka), wh ich they in tu rn implanted
in thei r child ren Geb ("ea rth") and Nut ("sky"). In
th is way singularity became duality became plural-
ity, wh ich in time became complexity and diversity,
includ ing deadly competition. Indeed , it was the ri-
valry among the fourth-generation children of Geb
and Nut- Os iris and Seth, with their sister-consorts
Isis and Nephthys- that formed the basis of Egypt's
most pe rvasive myth, in which Osiris, murdered by
Seth, was tempora rily resurrected by Isis, who con-
ceived their son Horus before Osiris returned forever
to the unde rworld; when Horus was grow n, he as-
sumed the struggle with Seth. Eventually Atu m was
further d ifferentiated into Ra, the sun god whose
daily passage represented eternal recurrence; Heka,
the embodiment of the transformational power; Sia,
representing the imagination; and Hu, the word that
tu rned image into creature. The creator, "the one
who made himself into millions," initiated the pro-
cesses o f d ifferentiation and multiplication.
Ptah, the patron god of Memph is, was another
Egyptian creato r deity who brought everyth ing into
existence through thought and speech. In the be-
ginn ing was the thought; the n came the word. Cre-
ation stories themselves multipl ied to the poi nt that
every late Egyptian temple had a di fferent story in
which its own god played the role of creator. Isis
was "mistress o f the word in the begin ning." An-
other goddess created the entire world by proclai m-
ing j ust seven magic word s. Word s- the union of
name and objec t- were the basis of identity.
Cosmology: How the World Is Structured
In Greek accounts such as Hesiod 's Theogony, as in
Mesopotamian and Egy ptian counte rparts, the first
o rder of c reation was the d ivine. Cosmogony started
with theogony. Next came cosmology, the o rga-
nization of the unive rse. Egyptians, Greeks, a nd
Mesopota mians all envisioned a tripa rtite cosmos:
heaven, earth, and some kind of netherworld. Ac-
cording to a Mesopota mian text known as Atrahasis,
the process of o rgan ization began with a lottery in
which Anu won heaven, Enlil the ea rth, and Ea the
underground waters.
2 Religions of Antiquity
Cosmic orde r was the goal, but con flict was the
norm. So threatening was Tiamat (a goddess who
gave birth tO a brood of sea monsters) that Marduk
killed her and fash ioned the unive rse out o f her car-
cass. In Greece, Zeus led h is generation of gods in
overth rowing the olde r Titans, headed by h is fathe r
Cronus, who in h is time had unseated h is own pro -
gen itor, Uranus. In Egy pt, Ma'at ("order") waged an
unending struggle against lsfet ("chaos"). Ra, the
sun god whose light represented life, descended
into the nethe rworld eve ry night to do battle with
the ev il serpent monster Apophis, who th reatened
the source of life itself.
In a wo rld whe re order was so tenuous, it was
esse ntial to establish institutions, protOcols, a nd
respons ibilities for the gods. One Sume rian myth
listed 9 4 components o f the cosmic state, includi ng
ki ngsh ip, power, knowledge, triumph, rebell ion,
god hood, priesthood, sanctua ry, truth, slander,
righteousness, d ishonesty, a nd justice (i.e., political
and religious institutions and eth ical standards).
With in th is cosmic state, every god was assigned
a spec ific responsibility. The goddess Ninti, whose
name literally meant "Lady (nin) rib (ti)," had the
single duty of nursi ng the sore rib of Enki , the
Sumerian god o f wisdom. One god was assigned to
se rve as the d iv ine inspector of canals, another as
the d iv ine a rch itect, and yet another as the guard -
ian of boundaries. Such appointments were made
pe rmanent whe n they were inscribed on the Tablet
of Desti nies, wh ich played a role in seve ral myths.
In one, the cosm ic state ceased operating when the
tablet was h idden. Accordi ng to Enuma Elish, once
Marduk had defeated the forces of chaos, he secured
the tablet, thereby legitimizing both his claim tO
ki ngsh ip over the gods and h is decrees for reorga-
niz ing the cosmos.
In cloudless Egypt, the most visible manifestation
of o rde r was the sun's daily course across the sky. As
Ra's earthly represe ntative, the ki ng was responsible
for ens uring o rder. Thus, each day h is regimen re-
enacted the s un's routine. Egypt's temples we re not
only the homes of particular god s but models o f the
cosmos itself. Thei r enclosure walls separated order
from chaos; processional passageways replicated
World Religions: Western Traditions
the course of the sun; d im inner sanctums cor re-
sponded to the primeval darkness from which li fe
and order emerged. In maintaining their k ingdom's
temples, Egyptian rulers secured ma'at, the continu-
ing order of the cosmos.
Socrates (Gorgias) observed, "Wise men say that
heaven and earth and gods and men are bound to-
gether by communion and friendship, orderliness,
tempe rance, and justice, and it is for this reason that
they call this whole a cosmos" (F. Rochberg, in Sn ell
2005: 339). The speaker may have been Greek, but
his ideas captured the "wisdom" of Mesopotamian
and Egyptian myth.
Anthropogony: How Humans Came
to Exist
In Mesopotamia, the important gods might have
enjoyed their existence, but the lesser gods en-
dured unrelieved drudgery on the ir behalf. Even-
tually the latter rebelled , forc ing the m~or gods
to find substitutes. Thus humans were created,
formed of clay lubricated with the blood of a rebel
leader. Humans (awilum) were partly d ivine (ilum),
but they were flawed from the sta rt because their
progen itor had challenged the cosm ic order. just
as their life-source was put to death for his "or ig-
inal sin ," humans would one day die and become
spirit (etemmu). At the same time, because humans
had inherited the mind (temu) of their dead ances-
tor, they knew that they were created tO se rve the
gods, to tOil daily on thei r behal f. Name and ances-
try defined human nature; d ivine will determined
human function.
The creation of humans was not a major theme
in ancient Egypt. Among the few references to the
subject were two Coffin Texts (spells inscribed on
Middle Kingdom coffins tO assist the deceased in
the a fterlife). Coffin Text 1130, a speech by the sun
god Ra, includes a play on words: "I created gods
from my sweat while humans [rmt] are the tears
[rmwt] of my eye" (Assmann 2001 177) Coffin Text
7 14 explains that the creator wept because the other
gods were angry at h im. Tears streaming, he became
temporarily blind, unable to see what his tears had
produced. Humans were thus the imperfect prod-
ucts of blind anger and self-pity- quintessential
"human" qualities.
Classical myth also regarded humanity as flawed
from the beginning. One tradition , recounted in
Ovid's Metamorphoses, traced human ancestry to the
Titans, representatives of brute force, barbaris m, and
chaos who were defeated by the Olympians, propo-
nents of law, order, and civilization. Thus humans
were variously described as sprouting from soil irri-
gated by the Titans' blood, materializing out of their
inc inerated remains, or being formed from their
flesh and blood and brought to life by the lightning
bolt of Zeus. Ovid reproved humans for being- like
the Titans- "contemptuous of the gods."
Another set of traditions associated human be-
ginnings with an "original offense" of some kind.
When Prometheus ("Forethought") swle fi re for
humans, he gave them the ability tO offer sacrifices
to the gods, but t hat ability was tainted inasmuch as
it was the result of a transgression. Similarly, Pan-
dora ("Allgi ft") was entrusted with a "box" (actually
a jar) by Hermes, who instructed her never to open
it, but she d isobeyed, opened the jar, and let loose
all the evils that would forever affl ict humans. So
dismal was Hesiod's view of humanity that in his
Works and Days he laments the contrast between the
humans of his time, the "Iron Race," condemned to
toi l and mise ry, and those of the first "Golden Race,"
who ne ither w iled nor aged but feasted and lived
like gods. Decl ine was thus inherent in the human
condition.
Anthropology: The Conditions
of Human Life
Greek authors confronted the fundamental flaws that
humans could not ove rcome. In myth, epic, tragedy,
and h istory, Greeks examined the truth of Zeus's
remark tO Athena, near the beginning of Homer's
Odyssey, that greed and folly doubled the suffering
that was the lot of humans. Humans always wanted
more than they had and consistently overrated their
own intelligence. Their arrogant pride (" hubris") led
them to ignore divine warnings, assume they could

deceive the gods, and refuse to accept the lim its
imposed on them. Greek authors deli neated those
limits and demonstrated the tragic consequences of
ignoring them. An example of this theme appears
in the tale of Daedalus and Icarus, made famous by
Ovid in h is Metamorphoses. To escape from Crete,
Daedalus constructed feather-and -wax wings for
himself and h is son. As they departed , he warned
Icarus to •ny a middle cou rse. If you're too low, sea
Spray may damp you r wings; a nd if you ny tOO h igh,
the heat is scorch ing" (Mandelbau m 1993 255).
Disobeying his father, hubristic Icarus soared h igher
and highe r umil the sun's fiery rays melted the wax
and he plunged to his death in the sea.
Mesopotamian myths renected a similar view of
human nature. Accordi ng tO Atrahasis, for instance,
the first huma ns did not recognize any lim it on pro-
creation, and their numbers multiplied so rapidly
that they disturbed the d ivi ne rest of Enlil. He the n
sem a great nood LO drown them all but rele nted-
allowing the hero Atrahasis and h is family tO
su rvive- when Ea offered two solutions to the pop-
ulation problem: miscarriage and death. (Th is story
is echoed in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which describes
the hero encounteri ng Utnapishti m, another nood
su rvivor who owed h is life to the intercession of Ea.)
The same pattern can be seen in Greece, where the
Olympian gods were said to have sent a "liquidat-
ing" nood in reta liation for a deceitful sacrifice. The
su rvivors, Deucalion and Py rrha, revived humanity
(laos) by tossi ng stones (laas) ove r thei r shoulde rs.
Accordi ng to Egyptian myth, humans and gods
o rigi nally lived togethe r until some humans rebelled
against their subserv ient status. Ange red, Ra de-
cided to wipe out the entire species but was advised
by othe r gods to ta rget only the rebels. Accordi ngly,
Ra dispatched the goddess Hathor to punish the of-
fenders, but she became uncontrollably furious and
began kill ing humans indisc riminately. To prevem
the complete ann ih ilation of humans, Ra tricked
Hathor by mixing ocher imo beer until it resembled
blood. Bloodthi rsty Hathor consumed the bee r and
became inebriated, losing her focus and fe rocity.
The surviving humans were thus spared, but before
long they again exasperated Ra. This time, instead
2 Religions of Antiquity
of p unishing them, Ra dec ided on separation, aban-
don ing earth and moving all the gods tO heave n.
like the biblical story of "paradise lost," th is
myth explai ned human ity's separation from the
divine as the consequence of the deity's d ispleasu re
with human behavior, although in th is case, instead
of expelli ng the huma ns, the gods removed them-
selves. At the same time, the myth confronted the
connict between j ustice and power. Si milarly, the
Epic of Gilgamesh reports that Enlil thundered when
he learned that humans had su rvived h is nood. But
the other gods, upset because human offerings had
ceased du ring the nood , chastised h im: "How could
you so lack judgmem as to inundate [all humansP
Pu n ish [only[ transgressors; punish [only[ wrong-
doers." Cosm ic justice was necessary to lim it oth-
erwise un limited cosmic power. But the criticism
directed at Enlil also applied to Gilgamesh, who
had abused h is powers as the earth ly ruler of Uruk .
Divine justice and human justice were equally es-
sential to prevem abuses of human power.
Legitimation
If the Gilgamesh myth sought, on one level, to tempe r
power, powe r also used myth for its own purposes.
Noth ing so effectively legitimized rule rs as associa-
tion with the gods. Royally sponso red mythmakers
asserted that ki ngsh ip "came down from heaven"
and that rulers conseque ntly functioned either as
divine agents o r as gods themselves. Egyptian rulers
had clai med a direct relationsh ip with the gods
since the inception of historical kingsh ip; accord-
ing to Egyptian myth, Atum, depicted wearing the
double c rown of kingsh ip, created the orde red po-
litical system as well as the ordered cosmos. As early
as the fi fth dynasty (c 2400 BCE), pha raohs we re
referring to the mselves as "sons of Ra," and even
before that time one ki ng's self-description was "the
pe rfect god." A later royal myth attributed the con-
ception o f Amenhotep Ill directly to the god Amun.
Accord ing to th is account, the god, attracted to the
queen, entered he r bedchamber. She awake ned and
exclaimed, "Your sweet fragrance stiffens all my
limbs." After impregnating he r, Amun announced:
World Religions: Western Traditions
"Amenhotep -ruler-of-Thebes is the name of the
child I have placed in your womb.. . . He shall ex-
ercise potent kingship in th is entire land. He
shall rule the Two lands [Egypt] like Ra foreve r"
(Wilkinson 2010: 250). The boy was then fashioned
in Amun's image by the pouer god Khnum, a nd
a fte r his birth (atte nded by de ities) he was raised
among the gods until he was ready to be presented
to the Egyptia ns as thei r new ki ng. Centuries later,
Alexande r the Great- who was identified as the son
of Zeus- Amun when he ente red Egypt- circulated
a si milar story, claiming that a god had visited h is
mother at h is conception. The Alexandrian model
made its way to Rome under Augustus Caesar.
Households
In antiquity, the common people did not generate
myth, but they were familiar with it, typically lea rn-
ing the stories through reenactments at public festi-
vals or the theate r. Myth also had a didactic value,
as emphasized by Strabo:
In the case of child ren we employ pleasi ng
myths to spur them on and fea r-inspi ring
myths to dete r them. . . . [They] a re incited
to emulation by myths that a re pleasing,
when they hear the poets narrate mythical
deeds of heroism .. . or hear of honors be-
stowed by gods... ; but they a re deterred
from ev il courses when . they learn of
div ine punishments, te rrors, and threats.
(Watts 2015 230)
Myth also entered homes in tangible form. A
common Egyptian item was a carved hand, a re p-
resentation of the hand of god- more specifically,
the hand into which the primeval god Atum "spat"
(a euphemism for "masturbated") to conceive Shu
and Tefnut. The hand sy mbolized the femi nine wle
in creation. By the New Kingdom period, inO uential
women bore the title "hand of god," and ivory hands
depicting Hathor were used in dances honoring her:
a dance r would hold the ivory hand above her head
so that it was renected in a mirror (anothe r symbol
associated with Hathor) held in her othe r ha nd . Nu-
merous Hathor-handled mirrors have been uncov-
ered in Egyptian homes.
Since mothers and ch ildren were envisioned
as renections of Isis and Horus , numerous spells
sought Isis's protection for huma n child ren. Some
spells were recited ove r an amulet worn by the
child. Figu rines depicti ng Isis as a "madon na" cra-
dling the in fant Horus in one a rm spread from he r
Egyptian homeland throughout the ancient world,
where she epitomized mothe rhood. One memorable
scene in Egyptian myth had Isis , upon finding the
child Horus dyi ng, accuse Ra of imperious disregard
of suffering and death. Stu ng by her attack, Ra re-
stored Horus to health. Isis's life-sav ing inte rcession
figured prominently on a type of small stela called
a cippus. Found in homes and tombs, cippi we re
typically engraved with images of the ch ild Horus
combating da ngerous animals that th reatened both
cosmic o rder and family tranquil ity. Mothers who
gave thei r children water poured over a cippus could
safeguard them just as Isis had preserved Horus.
Finally, Egyptian homes were filled with the scent
of incense- a romatic substances that were burned
both to please the se nses and (as the Egyptian te rm
for "incense" ind icated) "to make div ine."
Services to the Gods
In a world full of gods, humans could encounter the
divine anywhere; some places, however, were more
likely venues for contact, such as caves, springs,
groves, mountaintops, and crossroads. Such places
were sac red, sacer in latin and hieros in Greek. Hieros
likely derived from a root meaning "powe rful ," sacer
from one alluding to a place where contracts we re
made. Egyptians used an identical word for both
"sac red" and "set apart." Wh ile the gods could be
worshiped anywhere, the prefe rred place of homage
was a sa nctuary, where, accord ing to the Greek ph i-
losopher Theophrastus, humans worsh iped the gods
"to give them honor, or to render thanks, or to ask
for someth ing that we need." Socrates would have
added "to rende r them gratitude" as well. Sanctuar-
ies were powerful places demarcated by boundaries.

Everyth ing with in sanctuaries- alta rs, temples,
o fferings, d ivi ne images- was also seen as sacred.
By extens ion , so tOO we re participants in any cult
that transpi red there, whether priests , sac rifices, or
ritual assistants.
Temples
A god-filled world was a sanctuary- filled world.
Mesopota mian and Egyptian te mples appeared as
early as the fifth and fou rth millenn ia BCE, respec-
tively. Gree k temples, based on Egyptian models,
materialized in the eighth century BCE. Rome's
would follow two centuries late r. There were home
sanctuaries, countryside sanctuaries, neighborhood
sanctuaries, and city sanctuaries, with major tem-
ples concentrated in city ce nters. Some cities, such
as Babylon, Rome, and Akhetaten , we re themselves
sanctuaries. Others, such as Olympia and Delphi,
The Temple of Hephaestus is the best-preserved ancient temple in Greece. It was later converted into a
Christian church.
2 Religions of Antiquity
we re regional shrines. By late antiquity, the numbe r
of functioning temples was staggering. A catalogue
of b uildi ngs in fourth-century CE Alexandria listed
2,500 te mples, or one sh rine for every 20 houses,
wh ile a small Egy ptian village typically had more
than a dozen te mples. Taken togethe r, all the te m-
ples ac ross the Roman Empi re surely held seve ral
million statues, images, and votive o fferings.
Ritual
The ancie nts knew that sa fe nav igation of their un-
var-yi ngly dangerous world requ ired div ine assis-
tarnce. "Pious" humans therefore fed, clothed, and
shelte red thei r deities; bestowed gifts on the m; and
glorified a nd obeyed them in excha nge for crops,
proge ny, economic security, health , and safety-
practical benefits in a world where subsiste nce was
hard and people we re lucky tO reach the age o f 30.
World Religions: Western Traditions
The means th rough wh ich humans performed thei r
pa n in th is exchange, a contract with the gods,
was ritual: "the th ings done" in Su merian, "what
is c ustomary" or "public duties" in Greek, cultus in
Latin. Temples provided places for gods tO spend
their time on ea rth. In Mesopotam ia and Egy pt,
gods dwelt in thei r temples as living statues, wh ich
became d ivine th rough "Open ing of the Mouth" rit-
uals. One word for "god" in Egyptia n derived from a
term for "image." Priests began each day by greeti ng
and worsh ipi ng the d ivine statue in its in ner sanc-
tum and then anoi nting and d ressi ng it; in Egy pt
the cloth ing rite alone requi red 45 separate steps.
In the most important of alithe daily rituals, the
statue was offered the first of two (i n Mesopotam ia)
o r three (in Egypt) daily meals, wh ich myste riou sly
nourished the gods eve n though they were not con-
su med. So close was the association betwee n ritu al
and mystery that the Egy ptians refe rred to ritu al
itself as shetau, "myste ry." Most rituals we re p er-
formed in secret, away from public sc rutiny, and re-
qui red the meticulous pe rformance of a sequence of
steps that simultaneously imitated the cosmic orde r
and helped to secure it by pleasi ng the gods.
Sacrifice
The foremost ritual act was sac rifice (from the La tin
meaning "to make sacred"; the Mesopota mian
equivalent mea nt "gi ft," while the Greek meant "to
make smoke"). Sac rifice transformed profane ob-
jects into holy ones. Sac rificial offerings ranged from
simple foods (fruits, vegetables, honeyed ba rley
cakes) and libations (wine, milk, or oil) to an ima ls,
ritually slaughtered by priests and then cooked a nd
eate n by priests or devotees. One Egyptian temple
staff had 150 priests, who were paid with the daily
food o fferings, wh ich included 250 baskets o f gra in,
100 baskets of fruit and vegetables, and other food
items. Someti mes the re was meat. In one special
sacrifice priests detached the leg of a calf (the h iero -
glyph form of wh ich meant "to have power"), wh ich
was offered to the cult statue. Animal sac rifice was
also the central ritual, the highlight of public fes-
tivals , in Greece and Rome. The alta rs on wh ich
sac rifices were performed we re as important as
temples to Greeks and Romans. Si nce the sacrificial
smoke had to rise to heaven to reach the gods, altars
were left open tO the elements. Offe rings destined
for the gods o f the unde rworld we re poured on the
ground. Greek and Roman temples a lso served as
treasu ries housing the gifts offered to the gods by
their devotees, eithe r in tha nks for favors granted or
in fulfillme nt of vows ("votive" g ifts).
Festivals
Festivals ty pically began with a procession in which
the god's statue was displayed to the public, followed
by hymns to the deity, a sac rificial ritual , games or
competitions wh ile the sac rificial animals cooked,
and a communal banquet. The first three stages were
solemn, wh ile the last two we re celebratory. During
these events humans reveled in one another's com-
pany, confirmed communal bonds, reestablished
connections with the gods, and acknowledged the
preeminence of the d ivine. The Greek philosopher
Democritus pronounced that a life without festivals
was a long road without inns. Athens' religious calen-
dar set aside 170 festival days every year. The Roman
calenda r distinguished between Fasti, days of the
month for conducting public business, and Nefasti,
"sacred" days set aside for religious festivals. A Roman
calendar for the year 354 CE listed 177 festival days,
du ring which there we re public celebrations honoring
33 gods and goddesses. Attendance lists noted that
workmen in Egyptian royal nec ropolises wok time
off to attend family festivals, in addition to celebrating
two major public festivals and at least 65 lesser ones.
Priests
Except during public festivals, ritual was the ex-
clusive prerogative o f priests. In Mesopota mia and
Egypt, priests were originally private citizens ap-
pointed for limited periods of service, but eventually
priesthood became a full-time profession. Priests
we re scrupulous in the performa nce of their d uties,
wh ich included ensuring the absolute integrity of
sanctuaries. Egy ptian priests , know n as "pure ones,"

were circumcised , dressed in white, and observed
food taboos; to remove physical pollution and re-
store spi ritual purity, they washed themselves sev-
eral times daily, often in basins located at temple
entrances. Mesopotamians, too, ritually removed
surface and internal impurities in "bathing houses"
before entering temple grounds. Such ritual cleansing
was referred to as "making holy" and was reinforced
with the burning of pleasant-smelling incense.
Anyone entering sacred ground had to be morally
and physically pure. The Greek physician Hippo-
crates wrote, "We ourselves mark out the precincts
of the temples so that no one should enter without
purify ing h imself; as we go in, we sprinkle our-
selves with holy water" (Chadw ick and Mann 1950:
240). A North African benefactor who ded icated a
local shrine during the early Roman Empire set the
following conditions: "Whoever wishes to ascend
into the sh rine, let him abstain from women, pork,
bean, barber, and publ ic bath for three days; do not
enter the enclosure wearing shoes" (Rives 2007:
102). A first-century BCE inscription posted outside
a temple in Ephesus prohibited entry to anyone who
had murdered , robbed, withheld knowledge of a
crime, comm iued adultery, or used a contraceptive
or abortion-inducing d rug or charm. An inscription
at an Egyptian temple at Ed fu warned: "Whoever
enters by th is door must beware of entering im-
purely, for god loves purity more than millions of
rituals." Inside the temple were further inj unctions:
"Do not utter falsehood in his house, do not covet
th ings, do not slander, do not accept bribes, do not
be partial between a poor man and a great, .. . do
not reveal what you have seen in the mysteries of the
temple" (H. te Ve lde, in Sasson 1995 1733).
Auached to late Egyptian temples were two
"Houses": a House of life and a House of Books, in
which priestS transm iued thei r knowledge to neo-
phytes and preserved the sacred writings, inscribed in
hieroglyphs (Greek for "holy writing," from the Egyp-
tian "words of god"). Each temple library contained
42 indispensable books-42 being the number of
Egyptian provinces and hence symbolic of perfection
or totality. Among them were books explaining how
to inscribe texts on temple walls. The priests engaged
2 Religions of Antiquity
in cod ifying their cultic tradition were transforming
the "words of god" into holy scripture.
Female Priests
Sirnce the re were as many goddesses in the ancient
world as there were gods, it is unsurprising that
women had significant roles and responsibilities
in cultic life. Women were particularly devoted to
goddesses associated with marriage, pregnancy,
and birth. Greek and Roman women served female
deities, with maidens attending vi rgin goddesses
and matrons auending mothe r goddesses such as
Demeter, and they celebrated their own festivals.
Sumerian women held h igh priestly office. The
highest-ranking priestess was literally described as
the "lady goddess." Sargon, a th ird-millennium BCE
ru ler, installed his daughte r as h igh priestess of the
moon god of Ur. So integral were women to the ir re-
ligion that Mesopotamians dism issed as uncivilized
any people whose god knew no priestess.
The best-known Roman priestesses were the six
Vestals, who were chosen as young girls to serve for
30 years. They performed three functions consid-
ered essential to the city's su rvival: preparing the
obj ects used in public sacrifices, guarding Rome's
symbolic storehouse, and, above all , preserving the
sac red fire. Greek priestesses kept the keys to tem-
ples, groomed cult statues, led prayers, and even
took part in sacrifices.
Afterlife
Antiquity sought to transcend the material world
in two basic respects: by ove rcoming death and
by overcoming mauer itsel f. Some traditions, es-
pecially that of the Mesopotamians, viewed death
as an ending, wh ile others, particularly that of the
Egyptians, saw death as a transition, a passage into
another world. Overcoming the fear of death was
important to certa in groups in the Greco-Roman
world. Inspired by Plato's dualism of material body
and immaterial spi rit, Stoics and Neoplatonists at-
tempted to liberate pure spirit from its imprison-
ment in matter.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Death as an Ending
One o f the main topics in the Epic of Gilgameslt is
death. The story's central event occu rs after Gil-
gamesh and Enkid u rescue Uruk from the th re at
o f the Bull o f Heave n. Upon killing the beast, they
cut o ff its th ighbone; instead of offering it to the
gods, however, Enkidu tosses it heave nward in an
act o f defiance (h ubris) against the gods. Fo r such
impiety, the gods dete rmine that Enkid u has to die.
Enkidu's death throws Gilgamesh into emotional
tu rmoil: he experie nces the full range of disbelief,
rage, and g rief before he can accept it. He orders
c raftsmen tO fash ion a statue of Enkidu, has va lu-
able items from his own treasury inte rred with h is
friend so Enk idu ca n impress the nethe rworld gods,
a nd holds a fu neral that includes a sac ri fice of an i-
mals for a banquet at wh ich Gilgamesh orders fu r-
the r offerings to the gods.
Ancie nt funeral rites institutionalized the se-
q uence of emotional responses to death illustrated
in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Greek rites, for instance,
included seve ral phases. In the "layi ng out" phase,
women washed, anointed, a nd d ressed the body;
wrapped it in cloth; a nd placed in its mouth o r
hand a coin to pay Ch aron for fer rying it across
the rive r Styx to the la nd of the dead; then they
positioned the body on a bie r ove r wh ich fa mily
Document
A Tavern-keeper's Advice to Gilgamesh
In this Old Babylonian version of the tale, Siduri advises
Gilgamesh to "seize the day" ("car pe diem" in Latin) .
You'll neve r fi nd the life you seek.
Whe n the gods created humank ind,
they assigned them death ,
retaining immortality for themselves.
me mbe rs pa id their final respects. The follow ing
night, accompanied by mourners, a fam ily proces-
sion tra nsported the deceased to the burial site,
whe re the body was cre mated and then inte rred
with offerings o f food , wine, a nd othe r items
dee med useful in the a fterli fe. The family then re-
tu rned home for a fune ra l banquet that ty pically
included an imal sac rifices.
Fa milies showed their respect for the dead by
mai ntaining their gravesites and ma king offerings
on the annive rsaries of thei r death s. These fam ily
"cults of the dead" were complemented by com mu-
nity obse rvances such as the Athe nian festivals of
Genesia and Anthesteria and the Roman festivals
know n as the Parentalia and lemuria (with the
latter ded icated specifically to those who had not
received proper burial).
Mesopotam ians, like other peoples of the ancient
world, believed that the spirits of the dead lived on ,
but their depictions of the a fte rli fe we re so consis-
tently gloomy that no one looked forwa rd to it. Most
Greeks and Romans shared that view. In Book ll
of the Odyssey, the spirit of the dead Ach illes tells
Odysseus that he would rather toil as a h ired hand
on someone else's di rt than r ule the underworld.
Surviving funera ry insc riptions s uggest that most
Greeks d id not envision any mea ningful existence
a fter death.
Gilgamesh , fill your belly,
enjoy you rself day and night!
Savo r eve ry d ay,
dance mer rily day and night!
Wear clean clothes, anoint your head, bathe in wate rl
Dote on the child who holds you r hand;
tende r your wife lovi ng embraces.

Death as a Passage
In Mesopotamian th inking, th is world mattered
more than the next, so life should be lived tO its full-
est. The Egyptians also enjoyed th is world , so much
so that they never wanted it to end. During the Old
Kingdom period the possibil ity of neve r-end ing life
extended only to the rulers a nd their immed iate
cou rt circles. Tomb scenes emphasi zed the presen-
tation of offerings, both life's necessities (bread and
beer) and elite status symbols (fu rniture and jew-
el ry). If the actual g rave offe rings ever ran out, the
offerings painted on the tomb walls wou ld come tO
life. The Old Kingdom's Pyra mid Texts, Egypt's
oldest religious literature, include prayers, spells,
a nd hym ns tO assist the deceased ruler on his after-
life journey to the cosmic realm of the gods.
The Middle Kingdom initiated major changes to
th is system. No longer was afterlife divinity restricted
to rule rs: any membe r of the elite could ach ieve that
Status. With th is "democ ratization of the afterlife,"
the main focus of mortuary religion sh ifted from
Ra to Osiris , ruler of the underworld. To facilitate
the treacherous journey from the Land of Life to the
The New Kingdom version of the judgment of the dead. in which the heart is weighed on the scales of truth
before Osiris.
2 Religions of Antiquity
Field of Offering, the deceased had two aids: 1,200
spells known as the Coffin Texts and maps o f the
underworld sketched on thei r coffins. Last, the de-
ceased had to prove their worthiness to enter the
realm of Osi ris by vindicating themselves before a
div ine tribunal. These beliefs continued to be held
for the remainde r of ancient Egyptian histo ry.
Mastering Death
Not eve ryone feared death. The Greek philosophe r
Epicu rus wrote, "The most terrify ing of evils, death,
is n oth ing to us, since when we exist, death does
noL But when death is present, the n we do not
exist." A favorite epitaph in Roman times consisted
of a si mple sequence of verbs: "! was not; I am not;
I care noL" The Stoic philosopher Seneca left th is
epig ram: "Death is eithe r an end or a transition"-
hence not to be feared (Segal 2004 222- 223).
Seneca was know n as a moralist, someone who
sought to transform the inner life th rough moral
endeavor. For these indiv iduals, "salvation" entailed
the triumph of the human spi rit ove r ignorance and
moral mala ise.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Plato's Phaedrus describes souls after they have
separated themselves from thei r bodies:
They could see beauty sh ining, when with
the div ine chorus they beheld the blessed
sight a nd vision- we following after Zeus
and others a fte r other gods- and we went
th rough the initiations wh ich it is right to
call the most blessed , which we celeb rated
in complete whole ness . . . seeing, as in i-
tiates (mystai), entire and whole and calm
and happy visions of pure light. (Bowden
2010 205)
Plato's words captu re the experience of participants
in the "mystery religions" assoc iated with deities
such as Demeter, Dionysus, and Isis. Unlike most
Greek ritual trad itions, these cults were nonexclu-
sive, equally accepting of males and females, slaves
and free citizens.
Three notable features of mystery cults we re se-
crecy, specialized knowledge, and d irect expe rience
o f the div ine. Initiates were required to swear oaths
o f sec recy (as we re priests in Egypt and Mesopo-
ta mia). At some point (as also in Egypt) the initi-
ates would be given directions on gold-leaf tablets
for navigating the "Sac red Way" o f the underworld.
They would encou nter the d ivi ne twice: immed i-
ately in the brilliant light desc ribed by Plato a nd
ultimately at the end of their underworld journey.
~
Mesopotamian Tradition
Among the oldest Mesopotamian documents a re
records of food offerings to gods, the human side
o f an ongoi ng reciprocal relationsh ip between gods
and humans. While that relationship was expected
to be nefit humans, suffering was also recogn izably
pa rt of the h uman condition. The Sume rians at-
tempted to expla in that inconsistency. One answer
lay in the nature o f gods. A Sumeria n myth sug-
gested that Enki, the god of wisdom, had assigned
to lnanna, goddess of love and war, ambivalence
as her u niversal role, in contrast to the singu lar
functions of most other gods. Another god who
disconcerted humans was Enlil, who assuaged his
div ine anger by in fl icting various disaste rs, includ-
ing demons such as Namta r ("Fate"), on hu man-
ki nd. A second response lay in the Mesopota mian
understanding of fate, wh ich held that an indiv id -
ual's destiny was dete rmined at birth , whe n it was
insc ribed on the Tablets of Existence. Thus, life's
delights and vicissitudes were preordained- to an
extent. Gods granted humans occasional glimpses
of their destiny and even permitted the use of that
knowledge to alter a negative prognostication. These
beliefs fo rmed the basis o f the Mesopotamian prac-
tice of d ivi nation.
Th ird -millennium BCE documents mention
divi ners, whose actual practices, howeve r, remai ned
within the bounds of an oral rather than written tra-
d ition. Mesopotamian d iviners traced their genealogy
back to a mythical sage-king named Enmeduranki,
"Lord of the Powers o f the Bond o f Heaven and
Earth." Cities and temples functioned as the phys-
ical loci where cosmic bonds, analogically iden-
tified as mooring ropes, connected heaven and
earth. An early Mesopotamian cente r of the world
was Nippu r, later replaced by Babylon/Babili m,
li terally "the gate(way) oflto the gods," whe re late r
Nee-Babylon ian rulers built a ziggurat (the in-
spiration for the biblical Tower of Babel) named
Etemenan ki, "temple of the foundation of heaven
and earth."
Since, according to a n ea rly text known as the
Sumerian King List, kingship desce nded from heaven,
the person analogically holdi ng the mooring rope
was the ruler, a respons ibil ity that lasted to the
final days of Mesopotam ia's independe nt h istory.
The god most closely associated with kingsh ip was
lnan na- lsh ta r. Rulers depe nded on thei r female rel-
atives in various ways: royal wives led processions
to cities th roughout the realm or commissioned new
temples; daughters served as priestesses. O ne queen
dedicated a spec ia l o ffering to lnan na to protect he r
son and future king of Ur. Sargon's appoi ntment of
his daughter as h igh priestess of Ur was emulated
for the next 500 yea rs, since that position sym-
bolized dy nastic hegemony in Babylonia. Anothe r
important goddess was Ni nhursag, represented as

nursing ki ngs at her breast and the reby bindi ng
mortal rulers with immortal gods.
$argon's grandson Naram-Sin became the first
Mesopota mian ruler to claim actual div ine status.
His famous Victory Stele depicted h im wea ring the
horned crow n of d ivin ity, and he erected a statue of
himself inscribed with the claim that h is subjects re-
q uested heave n's permission to worship Naram-Sin
as a god to honor his valor. Self-deification by kings
continued du ring the Ur Ill Dy nasty (twenty-second
to twe nty-fi rst centuries BCE), when rule rs, seeki ng
legitimation, circulated movable sh rines containing
their divi ne images th roughout the land.
The Old Babylonian period (approxi mately
1900- 1600 BCE), an era of rampant warfa re, saw
a sh ift in the seat of political powe r from southern
to central Mesopotamia a nd a concom ita nt refor-
mulation of earlier traditions. Div ination became
textual- appropriately so, since div ination was
based on readi ng signs. The Ak kadian term for
"sign" was ittu, related to Hebrew 'oth and Arabic
aya. All entries in the numerous Mesopotamia n
omen collections were identified as ittu , messages
from the gods, just as all Qur'anic verses are referred
to as aya, messages from Allah .
Mesopota mians recorded two types of omen:
d iagnostic and predictive. Diagnostic omens we re
based on physical or behavioral characteristics: a
mole on the right thigh, for instance, might indicate
prospe rity, while a gene rous pe rson could expect
to be treated generously. Pred ictive omens, by con-
trast, hinted at one's fate or shimtu ("that which has
been decreed"). Sometimes such omens we re unpro-
voked, d iscove red th rough obse rvation of natural
phenomena: movements of the sta rs, unusual bi rths,
thunder on cloudless days, the sudden appearance
o f birds. Predictive omens could also be solicited by
various means. Divination was highly formal. After
a preparatory ritual , the diviner would request the
god Sham ash to establish the "truth " (kittum) of the
reading, which would then take place. Pouring oil on
water was a common , inexpensive method: "If I pour
oil on water and the oil sinks, surfaces, and cove rs
the wate r: lthenl for the campaign , disaste r; for the
sick person, the hand of god is heavy lhe will die]."
2 Religions of Antiquity
Examination o f a sacrific ial sheep's liver was the
most com mon method of div ination in Mesopotam ia
(an d eventually in the Roman world), but the most
inO uential and enduring was astrology, the practice
of t ranslating the "heave nly writing" of the gods.
Rule rs availed themselves of celestial signs to
"prove" thei r legitimacy. One such ruler was Ham-
murabi (r. 1792- 1750 BCE), who in itiated a refor-
mu lation o f tradition. His famous "Code of laws"
pa ralleled contemporaneous omen compend iums.
Both laws and omens had the same goal and as-
sumed the same format: "If x, then y." Ham murabi's
282 "laws" comprised the ce ntral section of a n in-
sc ribed stela, framed by an extensive prologue and
an equally le ngthy epilogue. In this text Hammurabi
portrayed h imself as an exe mpla ry and just king,
decla ring: "May he Ia wronged man] say: Hammu-
rabi provided just ways (kittum) for the land ." The
Mesopota mian concept of kittwn is compa rable to
Egy pt's ma'at, the truth- justice that ensured soc ial,
economic, political, and cosmic orde r. As in Egypt,
Mesopota mian rule rs received the tools of justice
from the gods. Hammurabi's stela showed the king,
in the traditional pose of a worshiper, receivi ng
those instruments from Shamash, the god o fjustice,
wearing the horned c row n o f divi nity.
Hammurabi commissioned scholars to organize
Babylon's prior literary tradition , in particula r to
c ra ft a single story out of the d is pa rate tales about
Gilgamesh. The Old Babylonia n ve rsion focused
on the he ro's q uest for immortality, a quest that
Sha mash and other cha racters d isparaged as fruit-
less since the gods had assigned death tO humans.
Th is outlook coi ncided with Old Babylon ian rule rs'
abandonment o f the claim to be gods. As Hammu-
rabi positioned Babylon to supplant Nippu r as the
site of the bond of heaven and earth , he elevated
Mard uk, the patron god of Babylon , to a lofty posi-
tion within the pantheon, where he would challenge
En Iii for kingship of the gods.
Towa rd the end o f the second millenn ium BCE
the Old Babylonian ve rsion of Gilgamesh was mod-
ified into a Sta nda rd Ve rsion, the opening line of
wh ich, "He who saw the Deep," places this work
within the wisdom genre. Most relevant is Book XI,
World Religions: Western Traditions
Top or stela containing Code or Hammurabi.
in wh ich, still pursuing h is mission of becomi ng
an immortal god , Gilgamesh encou nters Utnapish-
tim, the survivor o f the flood. As the scene open s,
Utnapishtim advises his wi fe that, human natu re
bei ng inhe rently deceitful, Gilgamesh will attempt
to deceive them. Gilgamesh lies to them, but th ey
tu rn the lie agai nst him. Utnapishtim the n coun-
sels Gilgamesh. First, he contrasts kings with thei r
diametrical opposites, fools. Gilgamesh , a king, is
foolish for wa nde ring the wilde rness in the skin of
a lion and eating raw meat. Next, in relating the
story o f the flood, Utnapishtim o ffers fu rthe r knowl-
edge: a king's most important duty is tO help those
least able to help themselves. When Enlil, fu rio us
at the d in caused by hu mans , decided to an nih ilate
humankind , Ea , god of wisdom , secretly warned Ut-
napishtim about the forthcom ing flood and how to
su rvive it. Whe n the wate rs subsided, Utnapishtim's
first act was to offer a sac rifice o f thanksgiving to
the gods, who, having gone without food offerings
for 4 0 days, tu rned thei r frustration tOwa rd Enlil for
attempting to destroy their sustainers. The criticism
di rected at Enlil, Utnapishtim says, also applies to
Gilgamesh, who ea rlier in the story had abused his
powers as the earth ly ru ler of Ur uk. Finally, Utnap -
ishtim reiterates the impossibility of immortality.
Tablet XII ide ntifies Gilgamesh as the deified rule r
and judge of the underworld shades. Ironically, the
hero who had failed to become a god during his li fe-
time became one in death.
Th ree other late-second-millennium BCE works
ponde r the ambivalence of the hum.an- d ivi ne rela-
tionship. Enuma E!ish , also called the Epic of Creation,
was likely composed to celebrate the return of Mar-
duk's statue from lengthy captivity in enemy territory.
The piece is a paean to Marduk, who defeated the
monsters Tiamat and Kingu in an epic battle, was ac-
claimed ruler of the gods by his peers, and then used
the carcass of Tiamat to organ ize the cosmos and a
mixtu re of Kingu's blood and soil to create humans.
Humanity was thus born from a violent rebel.
The Epic of Erra explores the consequences of
a god 's abandonment. Accord ing to th is account ,
Marduk, appalled at human society's abandonment
of self-restraint to engage in uncont rolled violence
tOward one another and impiety toward the gods,
departs to the netherworld. Atroci ties continue un-
abated, fu rther instigated by Erra, the god of violence,
and Babylon itself is plunde red. Erra's final tablet,
in which Ma rduk's return curtails the mayhem and
rescues Babylon, was shaped into an amulet to be
hung on house walls. The conclusion of the compo-
sition pledges: "To the house in wh ich th is tablet is
placed . . . the sword of destruction shall not come
nea r; salvation shall alight on it" (Cagni 1977: 14).
The narratorofErra is named Kabti-ilani-Marduk ,
"Marduk , most honored of the gods." Othe r personal
names establish pious bonds with gods: Usuh -bilti-
Marduk ("Marduk , remove my bu rden"), Bel-hiti-ul-
idi ("Lord, I do not know my si n"), Ana-il ia-atka\ ("I

trusted in my god"). Such miniature praye rs share
sentiments with the ge nre of laments, prayers that
solicit god's forgiveness for some transgression. The
an xiety caused by a personal god's abandonment
was viewed as an illness requ iring treatment by a
professional exorcist.
The sensibilities expressed in those names and
laments a re reflected in the third composition, Ludlul
Bel Nemeqi ("I Will Praise the l ord of Wisdom"), also
called the Poem of Lhe Righteous Sufferer All-powerful
and inscrutable, even to the gods, Marduk is por-
trayed as simultaneously wrathful ("whose ange r is
the deluge") and merciful ("whose relenting is that of
a me rciful fathe r"). Ma rduk d irects h is wrath at the
narrator, a Babylonian version of job who is afflicted
with social alienation and physical ailments. Whe n
his own lament fails to move Marduk, the righteous
su fferer consults va rious spec ialists: an exorcist to
recite a spec ial ("wrathful-god") prayer; a d iviner
to undertake an extispicy; a d ream interprete r to
counte ract an ominous vision with incense; a per-
sonal deity to inte rcede. None of their efforts sway
Marduk. At issue is theod icy: how humans are ex-
pected to react when gods cause human suffering for
no obv ious reason. The answer, according to ludlul,
lies in the sufferer's behavior. No matte r the tribula-
tion and no mauer the failed rituals, he never repud i-
ates Marduk. His salvation inheres in his patience, a
conv inced faith that Marduk will ultimately be mer-
ciful. Ludlul's author was likely an exorcist whose
formal/ritual duties included expelling demons, re-
moving malign effects of evil omens, and placating
angry gods. Exorcists' effectiveness depended, how-
ever, on Marduk, without whose assent the exorcist
could not heal the afflicted. Seen from a d iffe rent
angle, Mardu k could d ispense mercy tO troubled
humans indirectly through priestly intermediaries.
Whe n the writers of Enwna E!ish and Ludlul ex-
tolled Marduk as exceed ingly superior to all other
gods, they were rein forcing a sh ift in Mesopota mia's
polytheistic theology in the direction of a single un i-
versal god:
Si n is your divinity, Anu your sovereignty,
Dagan is your lordship, Enlil your kingship,
2 Religions of Antiquity
Adad is your might, wise Ea your
perception,
Nabu, holde r of the tablet stylus, is your
skilL
You r leadersh ip in battle is Ni nuna, your
might Nergal,
You r counsel is Nusku .
You r judgeship is radiant Shamash .
You r eminent name is Marduk, sage
of the gods. (Foster 2005: 692)
All other gods had become mere aspects of Ma rduk .
Soon, however, all of these gods became aspects
of Assur, for Assyrian empe rors coopted Enwna
Elish to suit thei r imperial ambitions, with thei r
national god Assur supplanting Marduk as hero
of the story and king of the gods. When Babylon ia
rebelled agai nst Assy rian dominance, Sennacherib
(r. 705- 681 BCE) destroyed Babylon, including the
temple o f Marduk. Sennache rib's assassination by
two of h is sons conv inced his hei r, Esarhaddon (r.
681- 669 BCE), that the murder was divi ne retribu-
tion for Sennacherib's sacrilegious treatment of Bab-
ylo n, for which Esarhaddon atoned by rebuildi ng
Babylon and the temple of Marduk and privilegi ng
the priesthood of Marduk.
Assu rbanipal (r. 668- 639 BCE), the last major
ruler of the Assyrian Empire, in a n act of cultu ral
imperialism, sought to collect in one place the
entirety of available knowledge. He stripped the
m~or Babylonian temples of their a rch ives, which
were henceforth StOred in his library in Nineveh.
He furthe r assigned teams of scholars to p repare a
canon of essential texts. A substa ntial number of the
30,000 tablets in Assurbanipal's library were omen
collections. like othe r Assy rian rulers, Assurbani-
pal included diviners in h is in ner ci rcle of adv isors
on State policies. At one time he employed seven
sc ribes (to interpret unprovoked ome ns), nine ex-
orcists, five haruspices (to conduct extispicies), six
lamentation singers, th ree augurs (to explain bi rd
ome ns), and th ree Egyptian experts . In addition, he
depended on reports from astrologers and astron-
ome rs dispe rsed throughout h is entire realm. One
sig nificant omen collection was Enuma Anu Enlil,
World Religions: Western Traditions
a series of nea rly 7,000 celestial omens. Tablet 14,
wh ich contains mathematical formulas conce rn-
ing lunar visibility and length o f the n ight, cou ld
never have been used tO make accu rate predictio ns
o f celestial phenome na. Ins tead, the "predictions"
were based on the organ ization of time established
by Mard uk in Book VI of Enwna Elish. If the wo rld
functioned according to that text's ideal construc-
tion, all was good; if it dive rged from that te mplate,
mis fortune wou ld result. Thus, 30-day months, as
determi ned by Marduk, were auspicious; all oth er
months we re di re.
Enuma Elish also played a role in the 10-day
Akitu, or New Year Festival, the most s ign ificant
celebration of Babylon's cult(u re). The first days of
the festiva l we re preparatOry, with rites conducted
in sec recy by the priests of Ma rduk . Day four was
devoted tO a readi ng of Enuma Elish The h ighlight
came toward the end. At that time the r ule r laid
dow n his scepter before Ma rduk 's statue, follow i ng
which a priest slapped the ki ng, who then pros-
trated h imself before Ma rduk . The priest slapped
the king a second time; if tears came tO the k ing's
eyes, the ens uing year would be favorable. Mar-
d uk's statue was next pa raded th rough rich ly dec-
o rated streets en route tO his festival house outside
the city's walls. The festival concluded with the
retu rn of Ma rduk tO h is temple, entering the city
via the lsh ta r Gate and then followi ng the Proces-
sional Way, faced with glazed b ricks decorated
with 120 roaring lions.
Sites
Harran , Mesopotamia
An important trade center in northern Mesopotamia for
four millennia, Harran was a major site for the worship
of the moon god Sin, thereby linking Harran to Si n's
southern Mesopotamian home in Ur, an association
A decade-long refusal by Nabonidus, the last
Babylonian king (r 556- 539 BCE), tO participate
in the festival cost h im the th rone and Babylon its
empi re. l nOuenced by h is mother, a native of Ha rran
who left a remarkable memorial inscription, Na-
bonidus sought to replace Marduk with the moon
god Sin. He restored temples to Sin in Harra n and
Ur, rev ived the practice o f appointing a daughter as
high priestess of the moon god, and appropriated
seve ral Marduk temples for his favo rite. Nabonidus's
reforms aroused such deep hostility that when the
Pe rsian ru ler Cy rus ar rived at the gates o f Babylon ,
the priests of Marduk welcomed h im into the ir city
as their liberator
While Babylonia's star was fading, progressively
more people we re turning to the sta rs. Celestial
div ination, o riginally limited to matte rs of state,
was attracting an increasi ng number of common-
ers by the fi fth century BCE. The majority of texts
dating to the last centuries o f cuneiform writi ng
were astronomical-astrological. In the fi nal ce ntu-
ries before the begin ning o f the Com mon Era, as
the Helle nistic and Roman imperial states became
more powerful and more dista nt , individuals sought
a measure of personal cont rol in astrology; horo-
scopes, in pa rticular, became increasi ngly popular.
Babylon lay in ruins by the first centu ry CE,
but pilg rims still visited Mardu k's temple well into
the th ird century CE. A ce ntury later a Roma n his-
torian still professed adm iration for Babylonian
divi nation. In the late si xth centu ry CE, a Gree k
mirrored in the biblical story of Abraham. A later god-
dess named Allat (Arabic for "goddess") was worshiped
there. Harran's "pagan" worship continued several cen-
turies after the city came under Islamic dominion.

Nabonidus worshiping Sin (moon). Shamash
(sun). and lshtar (Venus-star).
philosopher ousted from Athens by the empe ror
j ustinian took up residence in Ctesiphon, the capi-
tal o f the Sasanian Empire erected not fa r from Bab-
ylon's ru ins, whe re he was inspi red to write a book ,
On First Beginnings, wh ich opened with a retelling of
Enuma Elish.
~
Egyptian Tradition
An a ncie nt Egyptian's greatest wish was to be re-
me mbered. The surest way to be remembe red
was by p rese rving one's name and one's body,
the mselves secured within a physical me morial:
a tomb. One's name depended upon adhering to
the Egyptian ethos, expressed by the word ma'at.
Ma'at had seve ral overlapping mean ings- order,
truth , justice- and in esse nce meant an omn i-
present goodness o r rightness. Introduced into
the world by Atum , ma'at was maintained by the
gods, but h umans we re expected to impleme nt it
2 Religions of Antiquity
daily. Egyptians pe rceived the ethical treatment of
oth ers, as requi red by ma'at, as their profou ndest
offering to the gods. The rationale for that outlook
is expounded in Coffin Text 1130, whe rein the sun
god proclaims that he has created every human
like every other hu man , an early intimation of the
"golden rule."
The roots o f ma(JL can be traced to the Old King-
dom , when rulers identified themselves as the "lord
of :mal:ll" and judicial officials bore the title "div ine
priest of ma'at." Thoth , patron god of scribes, was
depicted writing the h ie roglyph ic feathe r sign repre-
se nting ma'at. By the end of the Old Kingdom, Ma'at
had become a goddess, identifiable by her feathe r
headd ress, in pe rpetual struggle against her evil
rival , lsfet.
Old Kingdom elite insc ribed b rief autObiog-
raphies at thei r tomb entrances. One such text
concludes:
I am honored by the king;
I am honored by the great god;
I am a lover of goodness, hater of
crooked ness:
doi ng what is right is what the god loves.
(Lichtheim 1997: 19)
Eth ics was thus integral to what has been te rmed
Egy pt's mortuary religion.
Unas, the last m~ or rule r o f the Old Kingdom
(twenty-fou rth centu ry BCE), initiated the practice
of transforming formerly unadorned tomb cham-
bers into symbolic microcosms of the u nive rse.
Unas's black coffi n represented Egypt's rich alluvial
soil, sustainer of life; h is tomb's ceiling portrayed
the night sky's sta rs, to wh ich the dead ruler would
asce nd. Espec ially noteworthy we re the walls, cov-
ered with texts pai nted blue to evoke the waters
o f creation. Ancient Egy ptians believed that those
Pyramid Texts , spells agai nst ea rth ly th reats and
guides to the a fterlife, would assist Unas to become
one with Ra in the heavens eve n as he also identi-
fied h imself with Osiris. Feared and ve nerated as
the god of the underworld, Osiris's abil ity to ove r-
come death served to inspi re a comparable resu r-
rection for rulers.
World Religions: Western Traditions
The Old Kingdom set the foundation for Egypt's
enduring assoc iation of tomb a nd virtue, of physi<:al
and moral incorruptibility, as expressed in the In-
struction of Ptahhotep:
But that man endures who lives up to maat
W hile the g reedy one has no tomb.
(Assman n 2005: 54- 55)
That relationship continued into the Middle King-
dom , when emphasis shi fted from tomb to cof6 n ,
wh ich became the principal focus of decoration. The
magical spells that cove red these coffi ns, known as
Coffin Texts , were believed to assist the deceased to
reach the afte rli fe. Also, the physical tomb had come
to matte r less than a person's character, as expressed
in the Story of the Eloquent Peasant:
Righteousness is eternal.
It desce nds into the realm of the dead in
the hand of the one who practiced it.
He will be bu ried, and he will join
the ea rth ,
But his name will not be erased on earth ;
He will be remembered because of his
virtue. (Assmann 2005: 55)
Only the vi rtuous could atLain the afterlife , if th ey
proved thei r worth iness. The j udgment o f the dead
before a d ivi ne tribunal, headed by Osiris, became
a central component of fu nerary religion. Afte r
death , a person's heart would be placed on a scale,
to be weighed against the feathe r of truth (ma'at).
W hereas the only body capable of becoming "the
Osi ris" d uring the Old Kingdom had been the
ki ng's, the Middle Kingdom extended such an a f-
terlife possibil ity tO Egypt's social elite. Since Osiris
had become Egypt's principal fune rary deity, h is
cult cente r at Abydos was d ramatically refash ion ed
and subsequently became the most importa nt festi-
val site for the remainder o f Egypt's histo ry.
New Ki ngdom texts continued to emphasize
eth ics. A forceful articulation o f justice appea rs in
chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, wherein the
deceased appears befo re a tribunal cons is ting of
Osi ris and 42 div ine j udges. Faci ng the cou rt, the
deceased makes a public con fession , du ring wh ich
he avows innocence with respect tO 82 command-
ments, eithe r criminal acts, taboos, or professional
improprieties. The n the div ine counc il either puri-
fies the deceased, enabling him to enjoy the afterli fe,
or conde mns him to oblivion.
The Instruction of Amenemope contrasts the two
worst miscreants- the "heated man," a violent
abuse r, and the eve n worse "greedy man ," oppres-
sor of the weak- with the ir righteous counte rparts,
the "silent man" and "decent man." The former will
su ffer, while the latLer will benefit: "The boat of the
greedy is left in the mud, wh ile the bark of the silent
sails with the wind." Amenemope's premise appears
in hundreds of the era's tomb insc riptions, wh ich
boast of worsh ipi ng the gods alongside the trad i-
tional fidelity to the king.
I am truly a righteous man, free of
tra nsgressions ,
who has placed god in h is heart
and is aware of h is power.
I have come to the "city in etern ity"
a fter doing good on earth .
I have not sin ned, I am blameless,
my na me has not been questioned because
of misconduct
or because of inj ustice. (Assmann
2005: 80)
Piety, based on newfound intimacy with the gods,
auached itself tO eth ics.
The bond between piety and intimacy with the
div ine helps us u nde rsta nd the most controve rsial of
Egyptian rule rs. At the begin ningofh is reign,Amen-
hotep IV (r. 1353- 1336 BCE) constructed in Thebes
a monumental complex at the center o f wh ich was a
temple named Gempaaten ("the Aten is found"), its
cou rtyard lined with towering statues of the ki ng
and his wife, Nefe rtiti, wearing d is tinctive c row ns
that identified them as Shu (" light"), the eldest son
of Atum, and Tefnut, the sister of Shu. The build -
ing program anticipated name changes: Amenhotep
("Amu n is content") became Akhenaten ("Effective
for Aten" or "Illuminated Man ifestation of Aten"),
and Nefe rtiti assu med the epithet Nefe rnefe ruaten
 2 Religions of Antiquity

Document
The Instructions for Merikare
The Middle Kingdom Instructions for Merikare, a guide His deeds are set beside him as treasure,
on how to be a good ruler, emphasizes justice. And being yonder lasts forever.

May you be justified before the god

He who reaches them without hav ing
That a man may say in your absence
done wrong
That you punish in accordance with the crime.
Will exist there like a god.

justice comes to the wise man d istilled,

Make your monuments worthy of the god,
Shaped in the sayings of ancestors.
This keeps alive their maker's name.
See, their words endu re in books;
Open, read them, copy their knowledge,
Visit the temple, observe the mysteries,
He who is taught becomes skilled.
Enter the shrine, eat bread in the god's house;
Don't be evil, kindness is good ,
Proffer libations, multiply the loaves,
Make your memorial last through love of you.
Make ample the daily offerings,
It profits h im who does it.
Make people come tO you through your good nature.
A wretch . . . desires the land of his ne ighbor,
Wh ile generation succeeds generation,
A fool . . . covets what others possess.
God who knows characters is hidden;
life on earth passes, it is brief;
One cannot oppose the lord of the hand ]that is, the
Happy is he who is remembered.
sun-god as creator],
He reaches all that the eyes can see.
Do justice, then you endure on earth.
One should revere the god on his path,
Calm the weepe r, don't oppress the widow,
Made of costly stone, fash ioned of bronze Ithat is,
Don't expel a man from h is father's property.
the: processional statue of the god].

The Court that judges the wretched ]evildoer] ,

Make worthy your house of the west (tomb),
You know they a re not lenient
Make firm your Station in the graveyard,
On the day of judging.
By being upright, by doing justice,
Upon which men's hearts rely.
Do not trust in the length of years,
The loaf Iof bread] of the upright is preferred
They view a lifetime in an houri
To the ox of the evildoer. (lichtheim 1973: 99- 104)
When a man remains over after death,

("Beautiful are the beauties of Aten"). More build- disk with rays ending in human hands holding
ing ensued, and a new capital named Akhetaten signs of life and bounty, Aten- light itself- was
(modern A marna) transformed virgin desert into an henceforth to be worshiped in the open rather than
open-air temple 10 Aten. Represented as the sun's in some dark inner sanctuary.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sites
Akhetaten (Modern Amarna). Egypt
Lite rally "the horizon of Ate n," Akhetaten was the
short-lived city created by Akhenaten as h is capi-
tal in the fourteenth century BCE. The "Ama rna
Akhenaten's religious reform has been the su b-
ject of multiple modern interpretations. The stan-
dard view derives from the so-called Restoration
Stela of his successor, Tutankhamun, espec ially the
following passage:
The temples of the gods and goddesses,
from Aabu (Aswa n] down to the marshes
of the Delta, had fallen into decay, their
shrines had become desolate ruins over-
grown with weeds, and their chapels as
though they had never existed. Thei r halls
were used as footpaths. The land was d is-
orderly and the gods turned their back on
it. If anyone abased himsel f before a
god to petition h im, he d id not respond ; if
a prayer was made to a goddess, she d id not
reply (Watte rson 1999: 121)
According tO this position, Akhenaten was a "her-
etic" who overturned Egypt's religious traditions
(dosing temples, ending festivals, forbidd ing wor-
ship of deities othe r than Aten) and even threatened
the security of Egypt itself by alienating the trad i-
tional gods. He was charged with h av ing the names
of othe r gods expunged from monuments (the earli-
est attested act of iconoclasm), forbidd ing personal
names that included elements of other divine names,
and, most astoundingly, ordering the eradication
of any plural form of "god." The reaction agai n st
Akhenaten was dramatic, beginning with a name
change for h is son (from Tutankhaten to Tutankha-
mun), which signaled a return to Egypt's traditional
Lette rs"- some 400 cuneiform tablets discove red
at the site- shed light on Egypt's relations with its
neighbors.
religion, and concluding with a campaign to obliter-
ate any vestige or memory of Akhenaten.
Was Tutankhamun's Restoration Stela fact,
propaganda, or a combination of the two? Akhen-
aten d id make a determined effort tO get rid of
two gods, ordering the removal of the names of
Amun and Mut (Amun's consort) from temple in-
scriptions and the renaming of individuals whose
name s included "Amun" and "Mut." But this com-
ponent of h is reforms was lim ited to the gods
most closely assoc iated with kingship and Thebes.
Moreover, Akhenaten's own inscriptions use the
plural "gods," and almost all the houses excavated
in Amarna have sh rines dedicated tO gods other
than Aten. If there was a component of monothe-
ism tO Akhenaten's reforms, it was restricted to the
official state religion.
At fi rst Akhenaten identified Aten with Atum,
the primeval god who initiated the c reation of the
world. Later, Akhenaten switched Aten's identifica-
tion from Alum tO Ra, another creator god. Akhen-
aten's Great Hymn to Aten emphasizes Aten's role
as creator. Moreover, the way Akhenaten had h im-
self portrayed, with a body that blended male and
female features, symbolized h is role as s usta iner of
Egypt's fertility. The motive behind h is elevation of
Aten, howeve r, remains uncertain. One possibility
is that he d isdained the anthropomorph ic represen-
tation of Amun-Ra and, by focusing attention on the
source of light (and renewal) itself, sought tO purify
the representation of the supreme deity.
A fourth-centu ry BCE Greek visitOr to Egypt
noted the care Egyptians gave to the tombs of the

An intimate portrayal of Akhenaten's royal family enjoying t he beneficence of the sun disk. Aten.
dead , "eve rlasti ng homes ," in contrast to the actual
homes of the living, temporary "inns." Even as
Egypt fell to fore ig n powe rs, the Ptolemies and the
Romans, its people reta ined their heritage. Pas-
sages from the Book of the Dead were reproduced
in Ptolema ic-era tombs, and funerary texts of the
Roman era, modeled on the Book of the Dead, had
such titles as the Book of Passing Through Eternity.
The upheavals of the late first millennium BCE
bred an insecurity that, in turn, led to an intensifi-
cation of piety. Egyptians Oocked tO their temples,
where, in acts of adoration, they left their names
along with short prayers or simply touched the
2 Religions of Antiquity
temple wall. They a lso participated in an increasing
number of festivals, many lasting seve ral days.
The most important celebration was the pan-
Egyptian festival of Khoiak, in which 42 separate
limbs of Osi ris were embalmed, taken on a proces-
sion accompan ied by statues of the patron deities of
Egypt's 42 districtS, and then buried as the onlookers
beat themselves in a d isplay of grief. Mourning gave
way to hope inasmuch as Osi ris would be resu rrected
whole. This festival, both a memorial to the past and
a lament on mistreatment by Roman authorities, who
conside red Egyptians so many "sheep for shearing,"
symbolized Egypt's longing for a restoration of ma'at.
World Religions: Western Traditions
~ Greek Tradition
The Greek h1stonan Herodotus asserted that Hesiod
and Homer were the li rst authors to describe the
b1rth, phys1cal appearance, md1v1dual epithets,
spec11ic powers, and typ1cal behanors of the Greek
gods-the Olymp1an gods. He could have added the
foundation of the1r shnnes as well as such practices
as sacnlice, \"Otlve g1hs. and d1vmauon. Hesiod 's
Theogony, Homer's /had. and the several Homeric
Hymns attnbuted to the latter author were written
in the late eighth or early seventh centuries BCE,
chronologically prox1mate to the traditional date
(776 BCE) of the lirst Olymptc Games.
An ancient Greek traveling from Mount Olym-
pus to Olympia would have passed by dozens of
Greece's cities, each intense ly protective of its in-
depende nce. The route would also have taken one
past the internationa l sanctuaries that staged the
four Pan hellen ic Games: Delphi's Pyth ian Games in
Focus
The Iliad
The Iliad, Homer's etghth-cemury BCE composi-
tion, descnbes the events of several days toward the
end of the 10-year war between the Greeks and the
Tropns, wh1ch ptts not only humans but also gods
ag;unst one another. Hera. Posetdon. and Athena, for
mstance, favor the Greeks. whtle Apollo, Ares, and
Aphrod1te stde With the TroJans. The gods-who
do not have to face death-are deptcted as consid-
erably less noble than the human characters. Lying,
browbeating, carpmg,threatenmg, promiscuous, and
generally petty, the gods are hardly suitable models
for humans to emulate. Thetr dominant characteristic
is their vastly superior power, most evident in Ze us,
who shows no conce rn for human death and anguish.
The human who most resembles the gods is
Achi lles. the almighty Gree k warrior, whose father
was huma n but whose mother was a minor goddess.
honor of Apollo, Corinth's Isthmian Games m honor
of Poseidon, Argos's Nemean Games m honor of
Zeus and Heracles, and , finally, Olympta's games m
honor of both Zeus and Hera (wuh the women-only
Heraean Games staged pnor to the men's e,·ents).
These fiercely mdependent Greek Cities were con-
stantly at war, wh1ch would be temporanl)' sus-
pended for extended sacred truces dunng every
Panhellemc celebrauon. One perspective on anctent
Greece would accentuate tts dualism , mcludmg the
tension between the local and the cosmopolitan.
The principal Olympmn gods bore the same
names across the Greek world, but thetr funcuons
differed from place to place. Function and loca-
tion were typically denoted by epnhets: Phoebus
("Bright") Apollo, god of hght; Apollo Smintheus
("Mouse"), god of plagues; Apollo Apotropaios. the
god who averted plague; Apollo latros ("Healer"),
the god of physicians. Apollo was also associated
with major oracular sites, known as Apollo Pythios
The lliad IS mamfestly hts story, tls lir.;t hne an-
nouncing the theme of "Achilles's wrath." When
aroused , Achtlles prOJects the power of a god, and
in the concludmg chapters he IS truly uncontrolla-
ble. wilhng to meet hts own prophested death once
he unleashes hts deadly fury on as man)' TroJans
and gods as posstble. Even after he ktlls Hector, the
greatest and noblest Tropn hero and the speetfic
target of his "mankilhngs." hts wrath still undlmtn-
ished, Achilles stradd les Hector's corpse, refusmg
to release it for bu rial. His anger still seethes when
Priam, HectOr's aging father, crawls tn terror toward
him to plead for the release of h1s son's body. Re-
minded of his ow n father, Achilles sets aside h is
wrath and g rams Priam's petition. This act of com-
passion tames Achilles's "godlike" a nger and restores
his humanity.

Sites
Dodona. Greece
Dodona was the site of the oldest Greek oracle, origi-
nally associated with a mother goddess but late r ded-
icated to Zeus. Though located in an isolated region
of northwestern Greece, Dodona is mentioned in
or Delph inios through h is association with Delphi
and as Apollo Delios through his link to Delos. A
god with several sanctuaries in the same city, such
as Athens , was known by di ffe rent epithets: Athena
Polias ("of the city") on the Acropolis, Athena Ergane
("Crafts") in the agora (marketplace), and Athena
Soteira ("Savior") in Piraeus (Athens' port). Oracles
frequently enjoined cities tO add a particular god's
cult under a new epithet. Cult was invariably local.
One worsh iped Athena and Apollo in the ir local
rather than the ir generic gu ise.
Greeks patronized various d ivinatory practi-
tioners, rely ing on figures ranging from indiv idual
seers (mantics), favored by such important leaders
as Pericles and Alexande r the Great, to the ubiqui-
tous oracles. One could visit the sanctuary of Zeus
at Dodona in northern Greece, where priests first
gave ear and then voice to wind-blown leaves, or a
southern Greek shri ne where a priestess of Apollo
conducted nocturnal sacrifices during wh ich she
d rank the blood of the victims.
The most famous oracle was located at Delphi
and ope rated from the seventh century BCE to the
late fourth centu ry CE. On "o racle days," petition-
e rs pa id a substantial fee tO queue up with a sac-
rific ial goat, on which a priest sprinkled water; if
the ani mal shook off the water, Apollo would hea r
the inquiry. On entering the temple, the suppli-
cant prese nted a question tO a priest who passed
it on to the Pythia, who, in turn, wok he r seat in
the adyton (the te rm meant "inaccessible"), where
Apollo loxias ("Ambiguous") commu nicated to
2 Religions of Antiquity
both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and it became second
in importance only to Delphi. The earliest o racles
we re obta ined by inte rpreting the rustling of the
leaves of a sacred oak tree or the cooing o f doves.
her. As expressed by the Delph ia n priest Plu tarch
(45- 120 CE), Apollo's communication was in-
ternded neither to conceal nor to reveal, but to
inti mate. One of the th ree maxims placed above
the entrance to Apollo's temple- "know thy-
self"- suggested that the final interpretation of
the oracle rested with the petitioner. One intr igu-
ing irony of the oracles is that the priestesses,
wh ose role was to shed some light on personal and
state concerns, kept eve ryone, both ancients and
mode rn schola rs , in the da rk about the natu re of
their inspiration.
Two other important oracles, both dedicated to
Apollo, we re located in Asia Minor, at Didyma and
Claros. Alexander the Great began work that would
transform Apollo's temple at Didyma into the larg-
est in the Greek world . Whereas Claros typically
rece ived delegations from cities, Didyma welcomed
anxious indiv iduals, whose concerns we re rarely
important political or religious matters: Should I
wed? Will he love me in return~ Should I take the
voyage~ Is it really my child? Plutarch disparaged
the triv ial, mundane questions posed to the Pyth ia
of h is day. However, not all questions were triv ial.
'vVhen one questioner wanted to k now the nature of
god, the oracle at Claros responded:
Self-born, untaught, motherless, unshakeable,
Giving place to no name, ma ny-named,
dwelling in fi re,
Such is god. We are a portion of god, his
angels. (lane Fox 1986: 169)
World Religions: Western Traditions

A most nontriv ial visitor to Didyma, the Roman e m-

pe ro r Diocletian (r. 28 4- 305), sought the coun sel
o f Apollo whe n contemplating a campaign against
Christians and was encouraged by the oracle's re-
sponse. One hu nd red years late r the Christia n e m-
pe ro r Theodosius I outlawed all o racles and thei r
associated festivals.
Commu nal piety, involv ing both men a nd
women, was at the center of Greek li fe. Priestesses
were as numerous as priests. Women prayed, per-
formed at festivals, paid for and partic ipated in
sacrifices, and made ded ications (espec ially for
their children). The ritual actions of women we re
most closely linked to the ir domestic roles: ca rry-
ing water, preparing food, and weav ing. Yet wome n
were excluded from political participation. Athenian
citizensh ip, for instance, was exclusive to males.
\.Vhat can be termed "cultic parity" somewhat co m-
pensated for wome n's political inequality.
The most important female-cente red festival in A red-figure amphora depicting women preparing
cities th roughout Greece was the Thesmophoria, oxen for sacrifice.
honoring Demeter and her daughter Pe rsephone/
Kore. De mete r represented both ferti lity (of women
a nd the la nd) a nd political solida rity secUI:ed The Gree ks had competi ng interpretations of
though the law. Eve ry year on th is occasion women fate. One view held that the Fates (Moi rai) spun ,
brieOy controlled the cities. In Athe ns, for example, assigned, and then cut the thread of life, while an-
emulati ng the exact practice whe reby male rep re- othe r, inOuenced by Egypt, held that Zeus or Hermes
sentatives we re chose n for public responsibiliti.es, weighed the souls of the dead . At death the soul
each of the 140 demes (com mun ities) selected two (psyche) departed the body for the land o f the dead,
o f its women to p reside over the Athe nian assembly where it led a d is mal existence among the nether-
to do whateve r was "consecrated by tradition." Day world shades ruled by Hades and Pe rsephone. The
one began with a procession from Athens to Eleu- desire for a less d reary a fte rli fe d rew many Greeks
s is, with the women bearing the tablets of sac•ed to mystery cults, wh ich promised b righter pros-
laws on their heads. That night they participated pects. So strong was that longing that myste ry cults
in the mysteries. Back in Athens for day two, the abounded throughout the Greek world. Arcadia, a
wome n fasted a nd sat on cush ions made from the sparsely inhabited rural region, accommodated 13
b ranc hes of weepi ng willows as they reenacted myste ry cults. The most famous site where such
Demeter's mou rn ing for Persephone's abduction rites were held was Eleu sis, a day's walk ing d is -
to the u nderworld; towa rd day's end they carried tance from Athens. This rite, known as the Eleusin-
sac red barley seeds in sacrific ial baskets to Deme- ian Mysteries, began with a p rocession from Eleusis
te r's a ltar. Day three revolved a round a blood sac- to Athens, du ring wh ich priestesses ca rried objects
rifice consec rated to Demete r as Kall ige neia ("She sac red to Demete r in containers secured with red
who gives birth tO beautiful ch ild ren"), sy mbolic ribbons. Five days later, initiates, known as mystai,
o f Demeter's return from the u nderworld a nd the pa raded to Eleusis, where they fasted in anticipation
promise o f fertil ity. of the sec ret rites held that n ight. Eventually, mystai

could advance in g rade to become epoptai, those
who had gained knowledge of t he "un repeaLable
secrets" of the cult , wh ich could never be d ivulged
on pai n of death. The ritual ended with danc ing, a
sacrifice of bulls, and libations to the dead. Myste ry
cu lts became even more important du ring the Hel-
le nistic and Roman eras. The Eleusi nian Mysteries,
introduced in the eighth ce ntury BCE, finally ceased
in 396 CE, when Ch ristian Goths sacked Eleusis.
Certa in intellectuals, especially Greek philoso-
phers, questioned and challenged the Olympian re-
ligion presented in the mythical epics o f Homer a nd
Hesiod. The author of the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus
contrasted h is "true" account of the god's birth with
five "lying" renditions, but the major sh ift in th ink-
ing about the gods came from the late-sixth-century
BCE c ritics Heraclitus and Xe nopha nes, who re-
jected the anthropomorphic view of the div ine,
accord ing to which "mortals suppose that gods are
born, wear t hei r own clothes, and have voice and
body." Xenophanes and Heraclitus particula rly cen-
su red those who "attributed to the gods all sorts of
th ings wh ich are matters of reproach and ce nsu re
among men: theft, adultery, and mutual deceit." In
place of t hose all-too-human gods Xenophanes pro-
posed a supreme universal god:
O ne god is g reatest among gods and
men, not at all like mortals in body or
thought.
W hole he sees, whole he thinks, and
whole he hears.
Always he abides in the same place, not
mov ing at all.
Completely without effort he shakes all
th ings [keeps everything moving] by the
thought of h is m ind. (Lesher 1992: 23,
25, 31, 33)
The debates tr iggered by those ideas have yet to
end. Theage nes, a contemporary ofXenophanes,sug-
gested that Homer's gods should be viewed allego ri-
cally: Athena as intellect, Ares as folly, Aphrodite as
desire. Anaxagoras, following Xenophanes, asserted:
"All liv ing th ings, both great and small, a re con-
t rolled by Mind" (E. Hussey, in Freeman 1996: 227).
< •
2 Religions of Antiquity 61 .'
)
Protago ras d isagreed: "Concerni ng the gods I am
unable to discover whether they exist or not, or what
they are in form; for there are many h ind rances to
knowledge, the obscurity of the subject and the
brevity of life" (W Guthrie, in Freeman 1996: 227).
The Athen ian playwright C ritias was downright
cynical: "I believe that a man of sh rewd and subtle
m ind invented for men the fear of gods so that the re
m ight be something to frighten the wicked eve n if
they acted, spoke, or thought in secret" (R. Mui r, in
Freeman 1996 227).
The most inOuential Greek ph ilosopher to re-
Oect on the natu re of the div ine was Plato (425 - 347
BCE). Plato's ea rl iest w ritings defended h is mentor
Socrates against charges of atheism and impiety. In
later works, such as the Republic and Phaedo, Plato
developed a theory of abstract, othe rworldly forms
that exist in a loftier realm than the mundane realm
of th is world. He further proposed a compa rable
theory of an immortal soul superior to physical
Oesh. He elaborated on h is dualism in Timaeus, in
which he attributed to a demiurge (creator god) the
fash ioning of a pe rfect, o rderly universe. In such an
interconnected cosmos, every soul would be paired
with a star. Upon death the souls o f the vi rtuous
would be released from t he body and asce nd to the
soul's linked star. Unrighteous men would be rei n-
carnated as women, while immoral women would
be rebo rn as an imals.
Plato also offered cosmological proof of God's
existence based on the regular motions of heavenly
bodies. Expanding upon ideas suggested by Xeno-
pha nes and Heraclitus, he posited a prime mover,
a rgu ing that all that moves has to be an imated.
God animates the heavens, just as the soul an i-
mates living creatures. In h is final work, Laws, Plato
shifted from cosmology to morality, declari ng t hat
if humans do not accept their share in the d ivine,
in the form of souls, then they can not strive for
moral perfection. Plato assailed Greece's Olympian
rehgion but accepted the necessity of its polis, or
state-sponsored, religion with its traditional rituals,
so long as they were publicly, rather than privately,
staged. Those who challenged or ignored these po-
sitions were deemed impious atheists, subject to a
World Religions: Western Traditions

Document
Hymn to Zeus
In the Hymn to Zeus, the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes (331- 230 BCE) lauds the universal dominion of a single
omniscient god (Zeus) and his role in dispensing universal justice.
Noblest of immortals, many-named, always all-powerful
Zeus, first cause and rule r of nature, gove rning everything with your law,
greetings! For it is right for all mortals to address you:
for we have ou r origin in you, bearing a likeness to god,
we, alone o f all that live and move as mortal creatures on earth.
The refore I shall praise you constantly; indeed I will always sing of you r rule.
This whole un iverse, spinning a round the earth, truly
obeys you wherever you lead, and is readily ruled by you;
such a se rvant do you have between your unconq uerable hands,
the two-edged, fiery, ever-liv ing thunde rbolt.
For by its stroke all works of nature a re guided.
With it you direct the universal reason, which pe rmeates
eve ryth ing, mingling with the g reat and the small lights.
Because of this you are so great, the h ighest k ing forever.
Not a single th ing takes place on earth without you, god,
nor in the d ivine celestial sphere nor in the sea,
except what bad people do in their folly.
But you know how to make the uneven even
and to put into order the disorderly; even the unloved is dea r to you.
For you have thus joined eve rything into one, the good with the bad,
that there comes to be one eve r-existing rational orde r for everyth ing.
This all mortals that are bad Oee and avoid,
the wretched, who though always desiring to acquire good thi ngs,
neithe r see nor hea r god's universal law,
obeying which they could have a good life with u nderstanding.
Butt hey on the contra ry rush without rega rd to the good, each after different things,
some with a bell igerent eage rness for glory,
othe rs without discipline intent on profits,
othe rs yet on indulgence and the pleasurable actions of the body.
They desi re the good, but they are bo rn now to this, then to that,
while striving eage rly that the complete opposite of these th ings happen.
But all-boumif ul Zeus, cloud-wrapped rule r of the thunde rbolt,
deliver human beings from their destructive ignorance;
d isperse it from the ir souls; gram that they obtain
the insight on which you rely when gove rning everything with justice;
so that we, hav ing been honored, may honor you in return,
constantly praising your works, as befits
one who is mortal. For the re is no greater privilege for mortals
or for gods than always to praise the universal law of justice. (Thorn 2005: 40- 41)

sentence of death. Plato ironically endorsed the ve ry
legislation that had been used to punish Soc rates.
Plato's state would also have banished youth-
subverting poets like Homer, who at the conclusion
o f the Iliad had Achilles proclaim:
The gods have woven thus for happy
mortals
That they live in sorrow, wh ile they them-
selves have no ca res.
For on Zeus's threshold stand two urns
For the gi fts he sends: one of evils, the
other of blessi ngs. (M. Edwards, in
Foley 2009: 310)
Plato could not envision d ivin ity as evil, nor could he
accept that God would introduce evil into the world.
Later Stoics embraced this sanguine appreciation
of God, whom they termed the Divine Mi nd; they
originally considered Zeus as the embodiment of the
divine and late r used h is name as a synonym for God.
In the ensuing cosmopolitan era initiated by Al-
exander, the once-independent polis (city-Slate) suc-
cumbed to powerful Hellenistic monarchs, who were
now acclaimed as gods and honored with ruler cultS.
A hymn to one such king captured this attitude, con-
tending that the other gods we re so distant that they
no longer heeded humans and even then thei r con-
tact came through fabricated statues, but the ki ng was
Focus
The Magna Mater (Cybele)
'v\lorsh ip of the Magna Mate r ("G reat Mothe r") had
a long, d isti nguished h istory. Her cult's origins are
commonly traced to seventh-ce ntury BCE Phry-
gia (a land in weste rn Tu rkey), but its roots we re
much older. From Ph rygia the cult sp read to Greece
in the sixth century BCE and from the re to Rome.
By t he second century CE he r sanctuaries cove red
the breadth of the Roman Empi re and beyond, from
the Vatican Hill to Lugdunum in Gaul (p resent-day
2 Religions of Antiquity
real and present, and hence far more likely to respond.
Nevertheless, cult practice continued much as it had
for hund reds of years, centered on t raditional festivals
and rituals, and the major oracles thrived. As rulers
became more godlike, though, they too came to be seen
as d istant; thus, the emotional immediacy of mystery
cults became especially attractive to common citizens.
Everyone wanted d ivine favor, including rulers, who
sponsored cultS of Nike ("Victory") and Tyche ("For-
tune") and perpetuated propaganda claiming that the
imperial world they ruled was, as Stoic philosophers
also claimed, the result of divi ne will and favor.
a. Roman Tradition
Rome's defin ing characteristic was powe r. An
ever-expand ing powe r, Rome had a personality
split between ruthless force and generosity. Rome
expected unquestioned loyalty, .fides, from allies and
subjects. Any d isobedience or th reat, whethe r real
or potential, faced sw ift and brutal rep risal. At the
same time Rome also displayed forbearance by ab-
sorbi ng rather than destroying conquered foes. A
key component of Rome's absorptive state was its
continuous emb race of foreign in fluences, includi ng
non -Roman gods and philosophies.
The heyday of Roman accepta nce of foreign
gods came du ring the Second Carthagi nian War
Lyons, France) to Ai Khanoum in northern
Afghan istan.
In Phrygia she was known simply as Mata r,
"Mothe r," but one of her epithets, kubileya, a te rm
assoc iated with mountains, was rende red by t he
G reeks as Kybele/Cybele. The only Ph rygia n de ity
to be depicted iconograph ically, in ma ny images
she was accompanied by a lion- a sym bol of her
powe r.
World Religions: Western Traditions
(218- 202 BCE). The Sibylline oracle predicted that
Rome would defeat Ca rthage if it imported Cybele,
undoubtedly d ue tO her association with Troy, the
home of Aeneas, whom Roma n myth identified as
the ancestor o f Rome's founde r, Romulus, and the
pacifie r of Carthage (a role in wh ich he would appear
in Vergil's Aeneid). In 204 BCE, Cybele, in the form
o f a black meteorite, arrived in Rome, where she
was named Magna Mater. There she joi ned oth er
foreign gods, includi ng Apollo, for whom special
games were instituted in 212 BCE; Demete r, whose
Thesmophoria was introduced in 205 BCE; a nd Di-
onysus/Bacchus, whose rites reached Rome in 200
BCE. In 186 BCE the Roma n senate cha rged the
followe rs of Bacchus with conspi ring against the
Roman state, arrested 7,000 Bacchantes, executed
unknown numbers, and placed Stringe nt limi.ta-
tions on futu re practice of the god's rites. The first
Roman devotees of Bacchus were wome n a nd slaves,
who sough t release from their debased status in the
cult's emotional ritual, the Bacchanalia, which was
typically conducted in secret (like a mystery rite). As
long as its numbe rs remained low, the cult was tOl-
erated. When its soaring popularity coinc ided with
yet another Roman c ris is, however, its "secret a nd
noc turnal " rites were denounced as anti-Roma n.
Rome's tende ncy to lash out in times of up-
heaval affected several of its Vestal Virgins, Rome's
only major female priesthood. The six Vestals we re
viewed as indispensable pillars o f the pax deomm,
Rome's singular relationship with its gods. Th ey
were responsible for ensuring that Rome's sac red
fire neve r d ied out; preparing the special nour that
was sprinkled on animals offered to the gods during
State sac rifices; participating in such public festivals
as the Parentalia, which honored dead ancestors; a nd
safeguarding private wills and important state docu-
mentS. Each year their own Vestalia festival was held
for eight days in j une. On day one the Temple of Ves-
ta's in ner sanctum was ope ned to ordinary women ,
who assisted in preparing the hallowed nour. Vestals
themselves had to be pure- hence their requireme nt
of strictest chastity. Breaches of Vestal d uties merited
me rciless d iscipline. The pontifex maximus (" high
priest") publicly wh ipped any Vestal whose neglect
caused the sacred name to die out. Violating the vow
of chastity was a capital crime, punished by bei ng
thrown into the Tibe r Rive r or by live entombment in
an underground cell, where the accused died of star-
vation or su ffocation. At least 19 Vestals are recorded
to have been exec uted. Wh ile some may have will-
fully ignored their vows, others we re likely scape-
goats d uri ng precarious moments in Rome's h istory.
The fi rst century BCE was a particularly pe ril -
ous era, marked by decades of upheavals that ended
when Octav ian defeated Ma rc Antony and Cleop -
atra. No ruler was more astute in the use of myth
to justify h is pol itical regime than Octavian , bette r
know n as Augustus Caesa r. Augustus transformed
fou ndation myths into legitimation myths. Rome's
principal foundation myth ce ntered on the legend
of Romulus, whose choice of the Palatine Hill as
the site of the futu re city had been validated by the
appearance of 12 vultures. Accordi ngly, Octavian
made it know n that 12 vultures had also appeared
to h im, imply ing that he would reestablish Rome-
although now as the Roman Empire, as opposed to
the Roman Republic.
Augustus used religious props th roughout his
reign , includ ing a second foundation myth that was
the subject of the greatest lite rary work of the Au-
gustan Age. Ve rgil's Aeneid traced Rome's origi ns to
Aeneas, a refugee from Troy who was the son of a
human father and a divine mother ide ntified as Aph-
roditeNenus. Augustus's clan, the julians , had long
claimed Aeneas and Venus as ancestors. Fu rther-
more, as pontifex ma.ximus, Augustus was requi red to
live next to the house o f the Vestal Virgi ns, but, un-
willing to vacate his own home, he rededicated his
house as public property and tu rned pa rt of it into
a shrine to Vesta. In th is way he not on ly brought
Rome's hearth , the symbol of the empire's d ivine
favor, into his ow n home but also reinforced h is
connection with the foundation myth in which the
fire of Vesta was fi rst trans ferred from Troy to Italy
by Ae neas and then brough t into Rome by Romulus.
Finally, the ve ry na me "Augustus" was pa rt of
the new ruler's legitimation scheme. Until he took
the name for himself, "august" had been an epithet
attached to places touched by a god and subse-
que ntly consec rated by priests know n as augurs. By
renaming h imself Augustus, Octavian emphasi zed

his heaven-sent good fortune. Sacrifices were of-
fered to both h is genius (the personification of h is
innate qualities) and h is numen (divi ne power). He
was elevated to divi ne status upon his death in 14
CE, when a senator- his vision sharpe ned by a n
extremely large bribe from Augustus's widow-
declared under oath that he had witnessed Augustus
physically ascending to heaven.
Augustus came to power by terminating a cen-
tury of civil war, in the course of which he obtai ned
a near monopoly on the instruments of power. He
also looked to poetS to justify his new position. Some
obliged, but others censured h im. Vergil, whose
Aeneid became Rome's equivalent to the Iliad and the
Odyssey, presented Aeneas in a most ambivalent light.
Ovid's Metamorphoses directly challenged Augustus's
legitimation myth and Rome's developing imperial
cult. Ovid's gods, far from concerning themselves
with justice, used thei r power to prey on the weak.
Male gods, partic ularly jupiter, regularly resorted
to sexual violence. The only truly compassionate
deity was Isis, a female goddess who comforted the
distressed- and she was a non-Roman goddess,
imported from Egypt, Rome's most recent imperial
conquest (under Augustus). Augustus exiled Ovid for
his pointed criticism of power's darker side. Perhaps
Augustus forgot, or wanted to forget, that Rome's
central foundation myth, the tale of Romulus and
Remus, was a story of fratricide. The entire cou rse of
Roman h istory had begun with an "original sin," an
act of violence that Rome could never escape. Myth
also recounted the compounding of that origi nal si n
in the story of the rape of the Sabine women, when
Rome's "found ing fathers" killed the males of sur-
round ing communities in order to seize thei r women.
Three times reprieved from execution, Marcus
Terentius Varro (116- 27 BCE) was eventually cel-
ebrated by Augustus for his Human and Divine An-
tiquities, a 41-book compilation of Roman religious
practices that effectively made "Roman religion" a
subject o f study. Borrowing from Greek thought,
Varro spec ified th ree ways of thinking about the
gods (theologiai in Greek, literally "words about
gods"): mythical, philosophical, and civic/practical
(refe rring tO popular understanding and practices).
Even though they were mutually incompatible, Varro
2 Religions of Antiquity
a rg ued, each of these approaches served a purpose
that rendered it valid in its own sphere.
Not so lucky was another admirer ofVarro, Cicero,
murdered for his pol itical role in the civil wars, but not
before he wrote several works on religion. As a philos-
opher, Cice ro held skeptical views on much religious
lore and behavior, but he saw the value of traditional
civic religion, wh ich he encouraged in The Laws, echo-
ing Plato's sentiments in his work of the same name:
Let men approach the gods in chastity, let
them bring a spirit of loyalty, let them do
without riches. If a man does otherwise, a
god will pun ish h im.
No one should have gods o f h is own,
not new ones, not imported ones, unless
they have been publicly invited in and ac-
cepted. Private worship should only be for
those approved by the fathers.
Observe the rites of family and fathers.
The gods who are rega rded as heavenly-
worsh ip those, and those who have earned
heaven by their deeds . and worship
those virtues by wh ich men achieve ascent
to heaven: Intelligence, Courage, Piety,
Faithfulness.
Let there be no quarre ls on festal days,
and let servants observe the m when their
work is done, for so they were placed on
the annual cale ndar.
Let there be priests for the gods, pon-
tiffs for all, and a priest for each.
Let the vestal virgins in the city look
afte r the fi re on the public hearth foreve r.
Let there be no nighttime sac rifices
by wome n except those done properly on
behalf of the people.
Let there be no initiations except for
the custOmary one for Ce res in the Greek
[Eleusis] way.
At the public games . . . keep the popu-
lar celebration under control a nd connected
to the honor shown the gods. (O'Donnell
2015 48 - 49)
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sites
Rome. Italy
The religious as well as the political capital of the
Roman world, ancient Rome contained hundreds
o f temples. Among them was the magnificent Pan-
theon, commissioned by the empe ror Hadrian in
the second century CE to replace a temple built
Cice ro, the self-designated upholder of the Repub-
lic, focused on Rome the city rather than Rome the
empi re, but the city could not be separated from the
empi re of which it was the cente r.
The Roman Empi re, with a population of about
SO million in the time of Augustus, was a vast net-
work of roads that all led to Rome, a multicultural
metropolis of approximately 750,000 residernts.
Rome the city was the empo rium of the world,
where everyth ing, includ ing religions, was mar-
keted. Besides the cults already mentioned, Greece's
Asclepius, Iran's Mith ra(s), and Egypt's Serapis
were represented in the capital and th roughout the
empi re. Shrines to Isis and Mithras were erected in
Britain , and Mith ras was also particularly popular
in milita ry camps and settlements along the Rh ine
and Danube frontiers. Greek philosophical schools,
such as Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Platon ism,
with the ir perspectives on religion, were also pres-
ent. Cults and philosophies were significantly mod-
ified, however. For example, the cult of Mithras bore
no resemblance to Mithraic worsh ip in the god's Ira-
nian homeland. PlatO's "rational" ph ilosophy turned
mystical in its Neoplatonist guise.
Many such cults, including those of Mith ras,
Cybele, and Isis, can be classed as mystery reli-
gions, offering a promise of "salvation ," a release
from the restrictions placed on , and the smallness
felt by, individuals under the domai n of an all-
powe rful imperial state and an equally imperious
Fate. Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, and He rmeticism,
under the Augustan-era consul Marcus Agrippa.
Although the ea rlier temple had burned down , its
fa~ade survived and was incorporated into the new
building, wh ich was eventually converted into a
Christian church.
all of which offered immortality through some form
of internal transformation, we re also attractive.
Countless people still placed their trust in the stars
and div ination. And traditional festivals continued
accord ing to long-established calendars. A resident
of Rome or other major city of the empi re had a
wealth of options, able to pick and choose which
cults to favor. By the fourth century CE, however,
most of those religions were becoming stale. Some,
like Mith raism, disappeared, while components of
othe rs, such as Neoplatonism, became accessories
to the fashion that caught the eye of empe ro rs and
then the empire: Christianity.
The most important Roman setter of taste, affect-
ing both trends in power and the power of trends,
was the emperor. Royaltrendseuing had a long h is-
tory in antiquity. In recogn ition of Rome's control
of the easte rn Med iterranean in the second century
BCE, local el ites protected their interests by institut-
ing worsh ip of the goddess Roma, inspired by the
fact that her name in Greek meant "power." Later,
they shifted thei r homage to "Rome and Augustus."
Upon the death of Augustus, they restricted their
veneration to his d ivinity. Thus was born the impe-
rial cult, a card inal means of establishing unity in a
most diverse realm.
Such homogenizing efforts became standard in
the third century CE, when the Severan dynasty
(193- 235) championed the Syrian god Elagabal ("El
of the Mountain"). Aurelian (r. 270- 275), upon re-
uniting an empire that had been badly fragmented,

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1·rauLtLon
Women in the Traditions of Antiqu ity
According to the principal characte r of play by
Euripides of which only fragments have been pre-
served, women had the greatest share in matters
concerni ng the gods, a position that reinforced a
much earlier Sumerian proverb:
My wife is at the outdoor sh rine,
And here am I sta rving of hunger.
(Krame r 1963: 255)
The perspective of both passages is male. Our
knowledge of the role of women in anc ient religion
derives from texts written by males, a few support-
ive, many neutral, and a significant numbe r hostile.
The Sumerian proverb, whether serious o r humor-
ous, captures typical gende r relations of the ancient
world, where women we re expected to subordinate
their interests to males, who expressed frustration
when women looked to their own interests, espe-
cially religious devotion. Such devotion could be
formal, in that some women had the opportunity to
become practitione rs, such as priestesses, or in for-
mal , as when women acted as worsh ipers.
In both the ancient Near East and late r Greco-
Roman eras, women's formal participation in reli-
gion declined ove r time. For most of the th ird and
second millennia BCE, Mesopotamian priestesses,
like their counterparts in Egypt, made offe rings,
prayed to the gods, Jed rituals, and even supervised
the construction and ope ration of temples. Some
women prophesied. Those responsibilities faded
with the centralization of state power du ring the Old
Babylonian period and Egypt's New Kingdom. With
rare exceptions (royal women), even as goddesses
continued to be worsh iped, women in later centu-
ries were depicted negatively, commonly as witches
intent on doing ev il. The one important role left to
2 Religions of Antiquity
i. ~ •...' I
women in religious serv ices was as musicians, eithe r
singe rs or instrumentalists, such as the 200 female
pe.:cussionists who served one Babylonian temple.
Men controlled both civ ic and family religion in
Greece and Rome; consequently, classical culture,
both written and visual, se rved to inform women
of t heir proper gende r roles, espec ially as mothers
and wives, and further identified boundaries be-
tween men and women, such as pa rticipation (men)
or nonparticipation (women) in animal sacrifice.
Certain females who transgressed boundaries- the
ecstatic devotees of Dionysus (maenads), the jealous
shrew Hera, or the ch ild-murdering Medea- served
as warnings of how women should not behave.
For all that, women were not passive but could
actively partake in religious matters in a numbe r
of ways: in spec ifically female festivals, which we re
often age-related; as priestesses; or as dedicators.
Dedications, in fact, present a di fferent picture from
the male-generated cultural constructs. Between the
eighth and fifth centuries BCE, the greater Greek
world produced some 800 inscribed ded ications, of
which roughly 10 percent named women. The tens
of thousands of ded ications made at sanctuaries
to Hera to honor th is patron of marriage included
spindle whorls, bobbins, loom weights, and fibulae
(d ress fasteners), all of which point to the signifi-
cance of women's domestic economy in the a reas
of weaving and spinning. Devotees also offered
her cakes associated with fertility. One particular
Heraion held close to 3,000 terracoua figurines of
seated or standing female worsh ipers of Hera.
Such ded ications permit women who would have
remained foreve r anonymous to emerge for brief
moments: Demetria, who offered three obols (coins)
to Asclepius; the women who made their personal
marks on spindle whorls; Menekrateia, identified as
continued
 World Religions: Western Traditions
a priestess, who paid for a small shrine in honor of
Aph rodite in that goddess's sanctuary on the Athe -
n ian ac ropolis. Ded ications also offe r insight into
gender relations. Menek rateia is identified as the
daughte r of Dexic rates. Prior to 500 BCE, women's
ded ications d id not note pa rentage. As Greek states
centralized during the fifth centu ry BCE, women's
independent identity was subo rdinated to male au-
thority figures (fathe r or h usband).
The Greek author Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writ-
ing during the reign of Augustus Caesar, contrasted
conservative Rome with the much looser Greece:
And no festival is obser ved among the
Romans by the wearing of black garments
or as a day of mourning and with beating
of breasts and lamentations of women be-
cause of the d isappearance of deities, in
sponsored worship of Sol lnvictus ("The Uncon-
quered Sun"). Diodetian (r. 284- 305), a tradition al-
ist, identified h imself as the "son of Jupiter" and, li ke
Au relian , sought to use religion as the main instru-
ment to unify his empi re after another series of civil
wa rs. These two rulers set the stage for Constantine
(r. 306- 337) to use the power of his impe rial office
to favor Ch ristian ity. From then on the imperial
mantle was Ch ristian , except for a brief, failed efron
by J ulian (r. 360- 363) to reve rse the trend.
~ Iranian Tradition
(Zoroastrianism)
Iran was home tO many religious traditions, but
th is section emphasizes Zoroastrianism, which
inOuenced Judaism, Ch ristianity, and Islam. Re-
constructions of early Zoroastrianism abound in
speculation, largely because of the "tyra nny of the
texts." The major source for our knowledge of Zo-
roastrianism is the Avesta, a compilation of several
the way that the Greeks commemorate the
rape of Pe rsephone and the experiences
of Dionysus. . .. And one will see among
the Romans no ecstatic possession, no Co-
rybantic frenzies, no begging rituals, no
bacchanals or sec ret mysteries, no all-n igh t
vigils of men and women in the temples,
nor any other trickery of th is kind. (Dillon
2002: 3- 4)
Not much late r, all such p ractices, or "tric kery,"
would be subjected once again tO the scathing crit-
ic ism of male upholders of cultu ral trad ition, as in
Juvenal's Satires, wh ich ridiculed women for their
worship of Isis a nd Bona Dea (the "Good Goddess").
Neither h ungry husbands nor ridicule, howeve r,
were grounds for stopping women from displaying
their religiosity as they saw fit.
sou rces composed ove r at least 10 centuries that re-
ceived canonic form in the seve nth century CE and
was fu rther revised over the next two centu ries as
Zoroastrian ism continued to defi ne itself in the face
of attacks from Islam. The oldest su rviving copy of
this Great Avesta, th ree-quarte rs of which has been
lost, dates tO 1323 CE. Determin ing how much re-
daction (rev is ion) each component of the Avesta un-
derwent is a particularly thorny problem.
The major text of the Avesta is the Yasna (" wor-
ship"), 72 chapters split between the languages
of Old Avestan and Younger Avestan. Seventeen
hymns compris ing the Gatltas, plus n ine other
chapters, form the Avesta's Old Avestan substratum.
The Younge r Avestan sections include all remain-
ing chapte rs of the Yasna plus the Yashts, 21 hymns
to several deities, and the Vendidad, a collection of
purity taboos. These are the fundamental sou rces
for any inte rpretation of ancient Zoroastrianism.
The Gathas introduce Zarathustra as the recipient
of revelatory visions from Ahura Mazda. Zarathustra
(hereafter called Zoroaster, as the Greeks rendered

his name) can be unde rstood as a prophet, in the
same ve in as Muham mad , or as an inspired poet,
comparable to Homer. Much of what is "known" of
Zoroaster comes from much later hagiograph ies
(idealized biograph ies o f spi ritual figures). Zoroast-
er's li fe is sh rouded in mist. No one ca n determine
when (or indeed even if) he lived, with suggestions
ranging from the seventeenth LO the sixth centu-
ries BCE. The date of the composition of the Gathas
is also problematic. Since they are written in the
language of Old Avestan , wh ich is close ly related
to Ved ic Sanskrit, scholars assume that they we re
composed quite early, no later than 1000 BCE, and
preserved in an unchanging oral tradition until put
into writing at an undetermined date centu ries later.
The similarities between the Gathas and the
Rigveda place the forme r in an Indo-Iranian rather
than an anc ient Near Easte rn context, so the orig-
inal homeland o f Zoroastrianism was likely much
close r to the Indus Rive r Valley than to the Tigris-
Euphrates region. A key te rm common LO both
sources is asura!ahura. In the Rigveda, asura is a n
epithet used for several important gods, wh ile ahura
(the Sanskrit s- became h- in Avesta n) refe rs to one
god elevated above all others, who a re reduced to
six aspects ("Beneficent Im mortals") of the p rinc ipal
god, Ahura Mazda. Mazda marks someone who is
wise, wh ile ahura implies creative power. The most
common translation of Ahura Mazda is "W ise Lord."
The central te net of Zoroastrianism was cosmic
d ualism , a near-eternal tension or con fl ict be-
twee n good and evil, between asha ("Truth ") and
druj ("Lie"), between light (sun and fi re) and dark-
ness. Asha was beneficent (spenta) and life affi rm-
ing; druj was maleficent (angra) and life denyi ng.
Ahura Mazda was said to have c reated twi n off-
spring: Spenta Mai nyu ("Good Spirit") and Angra
Mainy u ("Evil Spirit"). The ir consta nt battle was
also believed to engage humans, who received free
will to choose between them. Righteous hu mans,
know n as ashavans ("possessors of the truth "), had
a moral d uty LO follow the principal ethos set forth
by Ahura Mazda: good though ts, good words, a nd
good deeds. If they adhe red to that ethos and par-
ticipated in sac ri fices, in the same way that Ahura
2 Religions of Antiquity
Mazda and h is six ema nations ("Good Thin king,"
"Highest Truth," "Dominion ," "Prospe rity," "Humil-
ity," and "Im mortality") foste red life, hu mans would
produce blessings for themselves, thei r commu-
nit ies, and the world . Dishonesty was r ui nous; so
too was debt, since it made a person susceptible LO
deceit, violence, a nd loss of free wil l.
This brief ove rview of Zoroastrian ideas is based
on the later, Younger Avestan portions of the Avesta
as well as the Gathas. Also composed in Younge r
Avesta n we re the Yashts (hy mns of "vene ration"),
wh ich p raise an assortment of gods, identified as
yazatas ("beings worthy of worship"), includi ng
Mith ra, Anahita, and other gods of non-Zoroastrian
Ira n. Younge r Avestan was linguistically related LO
Old Pe rsian , the home of wh ich was Southwestern
Ira n and which was the official language of the first
Ach aeme nid Persian Empire (550- 330 BCE).
Many sources, includi ng Persian royal insc rip-
tion s, accounts of Greek travelers, and Babylonian
and Elamite texts , permit a partial reconstruction of
Ach aemenid religion. The priesthood was eclectic.
Orne group conducted ceremonies in honorofElamite,
Babylonian, and Iran ian gods. The better-known
magush (Magi), o riginally priests from the western
Ira nian region of Media, we re designated by three
titles: lan-lirira ("conductor of /an-sac rifices"), fra -
mazda ("outstand ing memorizer"), and atravaxsha
("he who lets the fire grow"). The latte r two descrip-
tion s link them to Zoroastrian priests.
Although Achaemenids never mentioned Zo -
roaster, their inscriptions, in wordi ng identical to
Younger Avestan exa mples, underscore the rela-
tion ship betwee n the rule r and Ah ura Mazda. The
insc riptions of Darius (r. 522- 486 BCE) praise
Ah u ra Mazda as the god who assured h is victory in
combat and as the "all-great god who established the
cosmos." To obey Da rius was to obey Ahu ra Mazda.
Darius and his successors governed earth as agents
of Ah ura Mazda, fought against the Lie, and spurned
evil gods, thereby mai ntaining orde r, securing pros-
pe riL y, and promoting happiness. Their construc-
tion of palaces recapitulated Ahura Mazda's c reation
of the cosmos, and Greek authors described thei r
royal garde ns as paradeisos ("paradise"). The most
World Religions: Western Traditions
important element of the official state religion was
sacrifice- o f grai n, beer, wi ne, or fruit, but neve r
an imals. Although othe r gods received offerings, the
m~or dedication was the /an-sacrifice, performed
by the king in honor of Ahura Mazda. Zoroastri-
an is m may not have been the official religion of the
first Persian empi re, but it was markedly assoc iated
with the ruling dynasty.
Alexa nder's termination of the Ach aemeoid
Empire inaugurated the Hellenistic Age, an era that
saw the diffusion of Greek in Ouence fa r to the east
and of some easte rn ideas, including Zoroastria n-
ism, to the west. Eventually a new Persian Emp ire
eme rged, alternately named the Parth ian (for its
Central Asia n homeland) or the Arsacid (for the
founder). Like the Achaemen ids, the Arsac ids (247
BCE- 224 CE) d id not force their private devotion to
Ahura Mazda on thei r subjects. Religion through-
out the Parth ian Empire remai ned hete rogeneous.
Excavations at Nisa, the first capital o f the Pa rthian
Empire, located in today's Tu rkmenista n, show that
the Arsac id royal family sponsored priests beari ng
the titles magus and "maste r of fi re," suppo rted sev-
eral te mples, and partic ipated in Zoroastrian rituals,
includi ng worshiping ancestors and maintai ni ng
dynastic fi res, but also reve red such Greek and Mes-
opotamian deities as Artem is , Aphrod ite, Dionysus,
Anahita, a nd Nanaya.
A si milar adm ixture was evident in the northern
AnatOlian ki ngdom ofPontus, particularly d uring the
reign of Mith radates VI (120- 63 BCE), who claimed
descent from the Achae menids. Mithradates ("Gi ft
o f Mithra") worshiped Greek gods, local AnatOlian
gods, and Iranian deities. On special occasions he
joined Zoroastrian priests named "Fire-keepe rs" at
a mou ntaintop fire alta r ded icated to Zeus, who was
equated with Ahura Mazda. 'Nearing the pure wh ite
cape of a magus, Mith radates poured libations onto
the alta r, over wh ich he tossed ince nse, and recited
prayers to Mith ra a nd Ahura Mazda as the offerings
went up in smoke.
Some schola rs contend, based on d iverse
sources, that Parth ian Zoroastrianism inOuenced
j ew ish , Gnostic, and ea rly Christian apocalyptic
literatu re. It is equally possible that Zoroastrianism
was inOuenced by earlie r Mesopota mian traditions.
The transmission of ideas was complex a nd un-
doubtedly moved in several d irections.
The term "apocalypse" normally refe rs tO a
cataclysmic end of the world; it is thus related to
eschatology, which is conce rned with an indiv id -
ual's lot upon death. A Panhian-era work called
the Vendidad ("Agai nst the Demons") expands
upon such a fate, wh ich was fi rst portrayed in the
Gathas. This work desc ribes how at death the urvan
("breath-soul") of an indiv idual hove rs around the
corpse for th ree days, a fte r wh ich it proceeds to
the Account-Keepe r's Bridge. A beautiful, sweet-
smelling maide n guides righteous souls across the
bridge 10 the House of Good Thought, while a mal-
odo rous hag leads ev il souls to the House o f lies.
As expressed in a late r work named the Denkard ,
every indiv idual's thoughts, wo rds, and actions
have consequences in the larger world, especially in
the struggle between good a nd evil. Honesty, truth -
fulness, ge nerosity, and charity all help good atta in
a fi nal victory ove r evil.
According to Zoroastrian teaching, the world
has passed th rough several phases: the age of cre-
ation, when all was perfect; the age of debase ment,
when ev il a nd corruption ente red the world ; a nd the
age of conOict, when good and evil competed. In the
coming age of separation, good thought will defeat
evil thought, the world will retu rn to its primordial
state of pe rfection, and evil will be cast into pe rma-
nent oblivion. At such time, the re will be a gene ral
bodily resurrection. The good will spend eternity in
a brilliant heavenly abode, while the ev il will d rown
in the darkness of extinction.
Ethics was not the only determine r o f one's fate;
piety was equally important in strengthe ning both
ind ividual and cosmos. Days custOmarily began
with prayers to Ahura Mazda, voiced wh ile faci ng
either the sun or fi re, in a sy mbolic re-c reation of
the world of light after a period of da rkness. Yasnas
were rec ited at set hours of the day; yashts we re
important components o f seasonal festivals . The
coming-of-age ritual, normally conducted when
a youth had attai ned the age o f 15, was espec ially
significant. Until then , child ren's good and bad
 2 Religions of Antiquity

deeds accrued to their parents' accounts. After this
ceremony the young person's thoughts, words, and
deeds went into his or her own account. The youth,
whose body was perceived as a microcosm of the
un iverse, would ceremoniously don a white shin
that symbolized the sunlit sky, the visible represen-
tation of good thought. The central moment was the
placement of the kushti , the sacred waistband, on
the in itiate. The kushti's 72 threads of wh ite lamb's
wool represented the 72 chapters of the Yasna, wh ile
its six tassels accentuated the six life-affirm ing sea-
sonal festivals. The initiated young person could
now enter the temple, although only consecrated
priests could access the holy of holies for recitation
of the yasna hymns.
PriestS, titled "those who offer libations" and
"those who tend the sacred fire," became a privi leged
caste and highly inOuential political force during
the Sasanian era (224- 651 CE). The ancestors of
Ardashir I (r. 224- 242 CE), founder of the Sasanian

Ardashir faces Ohrmazd (the Middle Persian rendering of Ahura Mazda). who invests Ardashir (on the left)
with the ring of sovereignty. Ardashir"s horse tramples the defeated Parthian ruler. while Ohrmazd's horse
crushes the snake-headed Ahriman (the Middle Persian form of Angra Mainyu). That the horses are mirror
images of each other implies that Ardashir was the earthly counterpart of Ohrmazd. a piece of propaganda
highlighted in the inscription: "This is the figure of the Mazda-worshiper. divine Ardashir. King of Kings of
the Iranians. whose lineage issues from the gods... That same formula appeared on the front of Ardashir"s
coins. while the reverse featured a fi re altar. which became the symbol of the Sasanian dynasty. Ardashir
subsequently destroyed all the fi re altars in his empi re except those of his own founding: in this way. he used
religion to centralize his realm.
World Religions: Western Traditions
dynasty, had been such priests, superv isors of a local
fire temple they maintained as Parth ian vassals. Th ey
also identified much more closely with the Ach ae-
men id than the Arsacid dynasty. Ardash ir's rock
relief at Naqsh-e-Rustam set the tone for h is reign .
Since church and state were one, "born of the
same womb, joi ned together, never to be sundered ,"
the chu rch could make use of the state just as the
state made use o f the church. This un ification
became the goal of Kartir, a Zoroastrian high priest
who used h is position in the admin is trations of fou r
successive kings to establish a single pa ramount
state religion. Such centralization entailed both
exclusivity and expansion. Kartir launched pe rse-
cutions of non-Zoroastrians, begi nning with Man-
ichaeans and then spread ing to jews, Ch ristian s,
and Budd hists. He also pu rsued "heretical" Zoro-
astrians, cou ntena ncing on ly a single form of state-
approved fire temples, magi-priesthood, and rituals.
Un iform devotion to an exclusive god depe nded on
pe rformance, especially the prope r ma intenance of
the fire temples, rathe r tha n belief.
The Sasanian Empire and its state-backed Zo-
roastrianism suffered a major blow when the last
Sasa nian rule r sur rende red to Arab Musli ms in
651. Zoroastrianism was not entirely suppressed,
however. Zoroastrian p riests continued to hold ad-
min is trative positions, and Zoroastrian intellectu als
continued to o ffer thoughtful assessments of thei r
religion. Theology, especially the issue of theodicy,
gained urgency. A ni nth-century work argued that
dualism was better suited than monotheis m to deal
with the problem of evil si nce God , the ulti mate
good , could never authorize evil. Zoroastrian ism's
cosmogenic subordinate creator god (comparable to
Plato's demiurge), who engendered the twins Good
and Evil, made more sense.
Zo roastrian thought inOuenced other religio us
trad itions, but it also app ropriated external ideas,
includi ng the figure of a sav ior who effectuated the
final resu rrection of the bodies o f the righteous at
the end of time. No such savior could protect Zoro-
astrians from actual auacks, wh ich we re launched
by Muslims and especially by Mongols in the thi r-
teenth and fourteenth centu ries. Many Zoroastria ns
fou nd safety in Oight, leaving Iran for weste rn Ind ia
(whe re they became know n as Parsis), the begi n-
ning of a diaspora that currently finds the survivi ng
150,000 or so modern adhe rents, includi ng 16,000
in North America, struggling to keep thei r tradition
alive.
~ Manichaean Tradition
Ma ni was born in 216 in southern Mesopotam ia,
an interaction zone o f religious cultures- judaism,
Ch ristianity, Zoroastrianism, and the vestig ial
Babylonian sta r-wo rship tradition. Raised in a
family of Elchasa ites, a bra nch of j ew ish Chris ti-
anity infused with Gnostic notions, Mani expe ri -
enced two epipha nies, the fi rst at age 12 and the
second at 24, d uring which the "Living God " made
mani fest to Ma ni the true origi ns and future of
the u niverse, "the myste ry o f Light and Darkness."
Inspired to undertake a public ca reer, Mani fi rst
journeyed to the Indus Rive r Valley (p resent-day
southern Pakista n), whe re he acqua inted h imself
with Buddhism. He the n returned home to Cte-
siphon, capital o f the newly installed Sasanian
dy nasty. Eve n though the ruli ng house adopted
Zoroastrian ism as the official state religion, several
early rulers sanctioned Man i, who took advantage
o f such protection to fulfill God's command to
found a universal religion.
Among the secrets God revealed to Mani was
the "mystery of the apostles"- Buddha , Zoroaster,
jesus- who we re authoritative for the ir ti me but
insu fficiently valid for the present, and he nce had
to be supplanted. One way to supe rsede them was
to craft a canon of written texts, a failure for wh ich
Man i criticized his predecessors. Man i produced a
corpus of seve ral texts, supplemented with picture
books for the u nlette red. None of his works has
survived intact, but exce rpts from several offer a
glimpse of his vision.
Mani obsessed over the origi n of ev il. Like
Neoplatonism, Zoroastrian is m, and Gnostic is m,
his worldview proposed a thoroughgoing dualism,
on wh ich he elaborated via cosmological myth . In
his account, creation had p roduced two coeternal

principles that existed separately from one another.
The good (peace, justice, wisdom), which Mani
called God or "Father of Goodness," resided in the
realm of light. Evil, labeled Sata n o r "matte r," inhab-
ited darkness but late r invaded the realm of light
a nd imprisoned light within matter, the reby initi-
ating the present age of human ex iste nce. God then
tasked special individuals, culminating in Mani and
his "Elect" followers, to liberate light. Ulti mately, a
g reat conflagration would consume the un iverse,
a nd the end would replicate the beginning, with
light a nd da rkness again coexisting separately.
The Manichaean Elect, compris ing both male
and female monks, had to live a stringently ascetic
life according to five com mandments- no lyi ng,
kill ing, eating meat, sexual intercourse, or personal
possessions- and th ree seals. The "seal of the mouth"
demanded vigilance over thoughts and expression
(e.g., no blasphemy), plus avoidance of prohibited
foods (those lacking light, including wine and meat).
The "seal of hands" required vigilance ove r actions,
proh ibiting the killing of any living thing. The "seal
of thought" sought constant harmony with the realm
of light. The Elect were further requi red tO pray
seven times daily and to fast at least 100 days yearly,
including the entire month preced ing the principal
Manichaean feast day, know n as the Bema, named
for the th rone on which Mani's portrait was placed
on the an niversa ry of his death. Laypersons known
as "Hearers" supported the Elect. They tOO were for-
b idden tO lie, murde r, rob, or commit adultery, but
they could perform manual labor, ow n property, and
" kill," since they prepared food (those grains, vegeta-
bles, and fruits with the most light) for the Elect. The
othe r expectations for this group were also milder:
they were requi red tO pray only four times each day
and tO fast only 50 days per year.
Wh ile Man i preached in Iran and Mesopota-
mia, h is d isciples sought converts throughout the
Sasanian Empire and then ventured farthe r afield,
east to Ind ia and west to Egypt. Mani's success
th reatened the Zoroastrian state religion; prodded
by Kartir, the leading Zoroastrian at h is court,
Bahram I (r. 274- 277) ordered Mani 's arrest and
subsequent execution in 276.
2 Religions of Antiquity
Shortly afterwa rd, Manichaeis m earned the dis-
pleasure of the Roman emperor Diocletian, who saw
it as a contagion from Persia, Rome's long-standi ng
enemy. Prior to his persecution of Ch ristians, Diocle-
tian ordered Man ichaean leaders to be burned alive
along with thei r scriptures. Manichaeism fared no
better under Constantine and late r Ch ristian emper-
ors, who came to regard it as a heresy- a successful
heresy, for th is supe rstitious sect, so identified by the
histOrian Ammianus Marcelli nus , spread from Egypt
to Italy, Gaul, Spain, and North Africa. So influential
did Manichaeism become in North Africa that five
of its Christian bishops were former Man ichaeans.
The most famous ex-Manichaean was Augustine,
whose 10 years as a Manichaean would leave a deep
imp rint on h is understand ing of good and evi l. The
Manichaean teacher Faustus, in defending Man-
ichaeism against Augustine's criticisms, argued that
jews and Christians were hei rs o f paganism, whereas
Manichaeans were the true followers of jesus: "Their
[pagan[ sacrifices you [Christians[ change into love-
feasts , thei r idols into martyrs, to whom you pray as
they do to thei r idols. You appease the shades of the
departed with wine and food. You keep the same fes-
tivals as the Gentiles; for example, the calends and
solstices" Oohnson 2009: 9- 10). Continuing attacks,
however, led to the disappearance of Manichaeism
fro m the West by the end of the sixth century.
A Sasa nian state offensive encouraged by the
Zoroastrian leade rsh ip convinced Man ichaeans tO
head east, from Iran to Central Asia along the Sil k
Road. When the Umayyad caliphate overth rew the
Sasa nian dy nasty, Man ichaeans returned to Iran,
but their stay ended a century later when attacks re-
sumed unde r the Abbasid caliphate. The Silk Road
agai n beckoned. Ma nichaeism became the official
rehgion of a Uighur state from 763 tO 8 40. Man-
ichaeism eve n reached China , where it was called
the "Religion of Light." Seve ral spo rad ic persecu-
tions in Ch ina forced it underground, where it sur-
vived by adapting to local cond itions. just as Mani
had borrowed freely from Zoroastrianism, Ch risti-
an ity, and Buddhism, h is heirs in Ch ina cla imed tO
be Daoists. Thus, Man ichaeism pe rsisted in China
until the seventeenth century.
World Religions: Western Traditions
~ The End of Paganism
Pagan ism's death resulted from both nat u-
ral causes a nd blows to the body. As is typical
o f markets, includ ing religious markets, tastes
ch ange. Certain religious prefere nces of the la te
second and ea rly third centu ries- He rmeticis m,
Mithraism, and othe r religious discipli nes that
sough t self-t ra nsformation by releasing the d i-
vinity within hu mans- had become far less fash-
ionable by the time of Consta ntine. Constantine
h imself, acting on contrary pe rsonal a nd impe-
rial positions, publici zed h is pe rsonal d istaste for
paga nism's "inj u rious erro rs" eve n as he perm it-
ted public as opposed tO private perfo rma nce of
traditional p ractices, such as sac rifice a nd divi-
natio n. late r laws we re often contradictory. O ne,
passed in 341, outlawed an imal sacrifice in Italy,
although it was rarely enforced. Another, enacted
the follow ing year, protected rural te mples even
as u rba n temples were transformed into Christian
ch urches. Such amb ivalence ended with Theoclo-
s ius, who orde red the sup pression of pagan is m.
The first assault on these trad itions was physical,
with ba nds o f monks dest roy ing temples th rough-
out the empire, starti ng in cities along the Eu-
phrates frontier. The second assault ca me in t he
form of a se ries o f laws passed in 391 a nd 392
th at forbade sac rifices, worsh ip of idols, visits to
temples, a nd othe r trad itional practices such as
burning ince nse.
Simultaneously, a polytheistic correspondent
o f Augustine made an appeal fo r Ch ristians and
pagans to coe xist in pa radoxical "ha rmonious dis-
cord," since thei r common Father could be wor-
shiped in 1,000 ways. Discord, h owever, trumped
harmony. Augustine's monolithic religion- o ne
exclusive path , o ne exclusive truth, one exclu-
s ive God- won out. l aws proscribing trad ition al
practices helped in th is bau le , as did de nunciatOry
sermons. Pe rh aps the most effecti ve tac tic in t he
campa ign aga inst antiquity was the with hold ing
o f impe rial monies from paga n temples and
sh rines. By 400, anyone seeking to commune with
the d ivi ne in the prese nce o f othe rs had nowhere
to go but a Ch ristian chu rch. Finally, the Theodo-
sian Code of 438 outlawed a ll traditional modes
o f piety as supe rstitions and legally defined reli-
gion from the si ngle pers pec tive o f the Christian
chu rch.
The powe r o f the state determined the final
outcome o f this struggle. Whe n Augustus beca me
emperor, he masked h is absolute powe r by cla im-
ing to be no more tha n princeps, the fi rst a mong
equals. The Princ ipate phase of Ro me ended with
the accession of Diocletian, who traded in princeps
for dominus, a term that mea nt "absolute master"
but was typically tra nslated as "lord ." Hence-
forth , it became as d ifficult for inOuential Roma ns
to access the empe ror, hidden behind ba rrie rs of
court ritual, as it had been for Egyptia n o r Meso-
pota mian com moners tO access the inner shrines
contai ning the statues o f gods. Constanti ne and
his Ch ristian successors furthered th is sh ift in
wh at ca me to be known as the "Dominate" era of
the Roman Empi re. They the n used the ir dominant
posi tion tO elevate their preferred, a nd om nipo-
tent, God ove r the myriad peuy gods of old, now
rendered powerless.
Power may claim to be absolute, but its reach is
never total. Paga nism persisted- in the secrecy of
private homes, in the count ryside, in a few long-
established public festivals. During the fi fth ce ntury,
Christians persistently d isparaged trad itionalists
as "incense offerers." Citizens in Rome continued
to build private sh rines to Isis a nd Osiris into the
fifth century. The trad itional festival of lupercalia
was fi nally outlawed in Rome in 496 but persisted
in Constantinople into the tenth ce ntury. Du ring
that century, the Muslim geographer ai-Mas'udi
also marveled at the nu mber of pilgrims, p rima rily
star-worsh ipers, still visiting active pagan temples in
Harra n, a me re 20 miles from Gobekli. Thus, this
chapte r on the religions of antiquity ends whe re it
began.
 2 Religions of Antiquity

~ Recent Developments ~Summary

The cu rrent study of ancient rel igion(s) reOects the
inOuence of seve ral recent developments. Archaeo-
logical evidence has simultaneously complemented
textua l evidence and challenged interpretations de-
rived exclusively from texts (produced by the liter-
a ry elite). Such evidence also affords a more detailed
pictu re of eve ryday religious life. Greater attention
has been paid to the official a nd unofficial roles
o f women. More emphasis has bee n placed on the
features that the religions of antiquity shared with
j udais m and Ch ristianity (fewer commonalities ca n
be found with Islam). Th is emphasis has resulted
in efforts to contextuali ze practices and concepts
and an appreciation that d ifferences among reli-
gious trad itions a re more often differences of degree
than of kind. Fi nally, there is intense debate about
the extent to wh ich the religions of antiqu ity were
monotheistic.
This chapter has demonstrated that the religious
traditions of antiquity sought tO address every
aspect of what most laypeople today consider "re-
ligion": a "belief" in the supernatural, a n effort to
unde rstand the interaction between divine and
human planes of ex istence, consideration of what
makes people worthy o f div ine support, the idea
of conO ict betwee n good and evil, and conte mpla-
tion of the ultimate end of mate rial existence. The
six: tradi tions examined in this chapte r all reached
compa rable conclusions. The questioning o f those
conclusions th at began arou nd 600 BCE, however,
set the stage for a challe nge to the most fundamen-
tal compone nts of the religions of antiquity: the
number o f gods and the most proper fo rm of wor-
sh ip. Eventually, a di fferent set of a nswers , wh ich
formed the basis of the th ree monotheistic Western
traditions, would supplant the ancients' a nswers.

Egypt Pyramid Texts mortuary

myth
Egypt Coffin Texts 22nd- 17th centuries mortuary
BCE myth
Egypt Book of the Dead 16th century BCE mortuary
myth
Mesopotamia Epic of Gilgamesh 18th century BCE (Old 13th- 10th centuries myth
Babylonian version) BCE (Standard Version)
Mesopotamia Enuma £/ish 13th century BCE 7th century BCE myth
(Babylonian version) (Assyrian version) ritual
Mesopotamia Epic of Erra (also known as 8th century BCE myth
Erra and lshum) magic
Greece Homer's Iliad and Odyssey 8th- 7th centuries BCE myth
Greece Hesiod·s Theogony 8th- 7th centuries BCE myth
Rome Ovid·s Metamorphoses Ist century CE myth
Rome Ovid·s Fasti Ist century CE ritual
Zoroastrianism Yasna Uncertain BCE 7th century CE ritual
 World Religions: Western Traditions

Religious Text Composition/ Compilation/ Use

Tradition Compil•tion Revision
Zoroastrianism Yasht Uncertain BCE 7th century CE ritual
Zoroastrianism Denkard 9th-10th centuries CE compendium
Zoroastrianism Bundahishn 8th-9th centuries CE myth
Manichaeism The Fundamental Epistle 3rd century CE doctri ne

Discussion Questions
l. What radically new understanding d the div ine d id Greek ph ilosophers introduce)
2. Which aspect of ancient religion would prove most offensive to jews, Ch ristians, and Muslims:
(a) the worship of Statues as if they were actual gods themselves (idolatry), (b) the practice of
offe ring sac rifices to the gods, (c) th e recognition of numerous gods (polytheism), o r (d) the
ancients' openness to d iverse explanations of how the un iverse ope rated?
3. Many late antiquedefendersof"pagan" religion argued that since God was ultimately unknowable
to humans, all reasonable ways to reach some understanding of the divine were legitimate. "The
paths to God are many," accord ing to that view. Is such a position defendable?
4. Which are more important: the d ifferences or similarities between the religions of antiquity
and the three major monotheisms)
5. How similar to ancient Near Easte rn and Greco-Roman religions were Zoroastrian ism and
Man ichaeism?

Glossary
Ahura Mazda (Ohrmazd) Principal
Zoroastrian god.
Akhenaten Controversial fourteenth-
century BCE Egyptian ruler whose
devotion to Aten convinces some
scholars that he was the world 's first
monotheist.
Akkadian Name of the Semitic lan-
guages (Babylonian and Assyrian) of
Mesopotamia.
Amun/Amun-Ra Principal Egyptian
state god during the Middle and New
Kingdoms.
Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) Evil god
of Zoroastrianism.
anthropomorphism Attribution of a
human form or character to nonhu-
man phenomena .
Avesta Most important collection of
Zoroastrian scripture.
Book of the Dead A modem designation
of The Book of Going Forth by Day, a New
Kingdom collection of spells designed to
ensure the resurrection of the dead and
their security in t!he afterworld.
Coffin Texts Spells inscribed on the
coffins of nonroyal elite Egyptians
during the Middle Kingdom, intended
to protect the dead traversing the neth-
erworld and to secure them an afterlife
comparable to that of the (divinized)
dead rulers.
cult Synonym for "ritual worship."
Demeter Greek "mother goddess"
associated with the harvest whose
principal center of worship was
Eleusis.
Denhard Zoroastrian "Acts of Reli-
gion: often called the "Encyclopedia
of Zoroastrianism."
Eleusis Site of the Eleusinian Mys-
teries, centered on the myth of Perse-
phone's abduction to the underworld
by Hades and her rescue by her
mother Demeter. Initiates participated
 2 Religions of Antiquity 77

in rituals designed to ensure a favor-
able stay in the netherworld.
Enuma Elislt Mesopotamia's creation
epic, named for itS first two words
(translated "When on high"), in which
the Babylonian god Marduk triumphs
over the forces of chaos, "creates" and
orders the universe, and becomes ruler
of the pantheon.
GaLitas Oldest portion of the Avesta,
containing Ahura Mazda's revelation
to Zoroaster.
Gilgamesh Subject of several Sume-
rian stories reformulated during the
Old Babylonian period into a unified
narrative commonly known as the
Epic of Gilgamesh and later revised into
a ··standard Version."
hagiography An idealized biography
of a spiritual figure. Often used to de-
scribe the devotional biography of a
saint.
Hathor Egyptian cow goddess asso-
ciated with both creation (love, sex,
and fertility) and violent destructive
power.
Hesiod Eighth-century BCE author of
Works and Days and Theogony; one of
the two primary sources for the "stan-
dard " portraits of the Greek gods.
Homer Eighth-century BCE author
of the Iliad and the Odyssey; the other
primary source for the "standard" por-
traits of the Greek gods.
Ish tar Mesopotamian goddess of both
love and war, early identified with her
Sumerian counterpart lnanna.
Isis The best-known Egyptian god-
dess, first associated with living and
dead rulers. In myth she was the
devoted sister and wife of Osiris and
the loving mother of Horus. During
the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, Isis as-
sumed the functions of numerous other
deities and became a universal goddess.
magus Originally a term for Median
priestS that became the major designa-
tion of Zoroastrian priests.
Marduk Patron god .of Babylon, later
elevated to the supreme position in the
Mesopotamian pantheon.
Neoplatonism Philosophical school
most influential between the third
and sixth centuries CE. Many of
its concepts regarding divinity and
cosmology intersected with jewish,
Christian, and Islamic thought.
netherworld Region where spirits of
the dead were believed to enter, also
known as the afterworld or afterlife.
While "netherworld" suggests it lay
beneath the earth, the land of the dead
could also be located in the heavens.
Osiris Egyptian god who was the
preeminent judge of the dead and who
ruled the realm of the dead.
Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) Roman author
of Metamorphoses and Fasti.
Plato (c. 425-347 BCE) Greek phi-
losopher whose most important con-
tribution to religious thought was his
separation of the world into conflicting
material and spiritual realms.
Plutarch (46-120 CE) Senior priest of
Apollo at Delphi and a prolific author
of works including the Moralia, which
featured "On the Worship of Isis and
Osiris"- the most complete version of
the principal Egyptian myth .
Pyramid Texts Spells or incantations
(literally, "utterances") carved on the
walls of the royal burial suites of Old
Kingdom rulers and recited by priests
to guarantee the resurrection and
well-being of dead rulers.
stela Inscribed stone sculpture; plural
"stelas" or "stelae."
Sumer Urban civilization of south-
ernmost Mesopotamia (Sumer) in
the fourth and third millennia BCE;
Sumerian religion was the substratum
of Mesopotamian religion.
Tiamat Female monster who repre-
sented primeval chaos/disorder and
was subdued by Marduk in Enuma
Elish. ("Tiamat" is related to tehom,
the Hebrew word usually translated
as 'lhe void" or "nothing" in the first
verses of Genesis.)
Vesta Roman goddess of house-
hold and hearth, served by priest-
esses known as the Vestal Virgins,
who maintained the sacred fire that
secured the safety of Rome itself.
Vesta's Greek equivalent was Hestia
("hearth ").
Xenophanes (c. 570-c. 475 BCE)
Early Greek philosopher who chal-
lenged the anthropomorphic depic-
tions of the gods in Greek myth.
Yasna Principal Zoroastrian cere-
mony accompanied by recitation of the
Yasna section of the Avesta.
Zeus Most powerful Greek god,
who ruled from Mount Olympus.
His principal shrine was at Olym-
pia, the site of the ancient Olympic
Games.

Further Reading
Beard, Mary,John North, and Simon Price. 1998. Religions of Rome.
2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Volume 1
offers a thoughtful assessmem of classical Roman relig10n;
Volume 2 provides hundreds of texts.
Dalley, Stephanie. 2000. Mydos from Mesopotamia: Creal ion, the
Flood, Gilgamesh, and Od1<r<. Rev. ed. J'ew York: Oxford
University Press. Translations of Mesopotamian texts.
Fohz, Richard. 2010. Religionsofthe SilkRoad: Premodern Patterns
of Globalizalion. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
A work detaoling the eastward spread of religions and dealing
wnh f>.<fanichae1sm.
Hinnels, John R., ed. 2007. A Handbook of Ancienl Religions.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Several chapLers
devoted to Lhe ancient Near EasL and Classtcal worlds.
Johnston, Sarah lies, ed. 2004. Religions of the Ancient World:
A Guide. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. A
single-volume compendium that includes secLions on 11 maJOT
aspects or religton. Lhe histories of 11 religtous Lradmons, and
comparative exarninauons of 20 important topics.
78 World Religions: Western Traditions
Kraemer. Ross Shepard, ed. 2004. \\'omen's Religions in tl!e
Greco-Roma:n World: A SourcebooiL Oxford: Oxford Univer·
sity Press. A w1de-rangmg collecuon of documents from the
classtcal world.
Mikalson , Jon D. 2005. Ancien< Greek Religion. Oxford: Black·
well. A basic, topical introduction.
Ogden, Daniel, ed. 2009. Magic, WilciJCrafl, and GlwSlS in dlf Greek
and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. 2nd ed . Oxford: Oxford Un i·
versity Press. A fasdnat•ngcollection on the class1cal world.
Rose. jenny. 2010. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction. london: 1. B.
Tauris. The most accessible presentation of the religton available.
Recommended Websites
www.e t ana.org www.perseus .tufts.edu
The sne of the Electromc Tools and Ancient Near Eastern Archives, A Tufts Universny site providing texts m Greek, Laun, and Enghsh.
offering a range of matenals, including texts m translation.
www.iranicaonline.org
www.uee .ucla .edu An online encyclopedia conrainmg numerous articles penaimng to
The UCLA Encycfopedta of Egyp<ology; offers brief<optcal arucles. Zoroastrianism and Mamchaeism.
References
Ando, Clifford. 2008. The Mauer of <he Gods: Religion and <he Roman
Empire. Berkeley: Universny of Cali forma Press.
Assmann,Jan. 2001. The Search for God in Ancien< Egyp<. f<haca , NY:
C-Ornell Universny Press.
Assmann, Jan. 2005. Dealh and Salvalion in Ancien< Egypt Ithaca,
NY: Cornelf Umversny Press.
Bowden, Hugh. 2010. Mys<ery Cults of <he Ancien< World. Prince<on,
NJ: Pnnceton Umversity Press.
Cagni, lutgi. 1977. The Poem of Erra. Mahbu, CA: Undena
Publications.
C hadwtck,J., and W. N. Mann. 1950. Hippocralic Wri<ings. london:
Pengum.
Connelfy,Joan Breton. 2007. Por-uail of a Pries<es.<: Women and Ri<uaJ
in Ancient Greece. Princeron. NJ: Princeton Universny Press.
Dtlfon, Mallhew. 2002. Girls and Women in Classical Greelr Religion.
l ondon: Rouliedge.
Feeney, Denis. 1998. Literature and Religion at Rome: Cultures, Con.
<ex<s, and Beliefs. Cambridge: Cambndge Umversity Press.
Foley, John Miles, ed. 2009. A Companion 10 Ancien< Epic. Oxford:
Wiley-Blackwelf.
Foster, Benjamin . 2005. Before <he Muses. 3rd ed. Be<hesda, MD:
COL Press.
Fowden, Ganh. 2013. Before and Af<er Muhammad: The Firs< Miffen-
nium Refocused. Princeron, Nj: Princeton University Press.
Freeman , Charles. 1996. Egyp<, Greece and Rome. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Halfo, Wilham, ed. 1980. The Conlexl ofScriplure: Canonical Compo-
silionsfrom <he Biblical World. leiden: BrilL
Johnson, luke Ttmothy. 2009. Among <he Genlifes: Greco-Roman Re-
ligion and Chri.slianity. New Haven. CT: Yale University Press.
Salzmann, Michele Renee ed. 2013. Tloe Cambridge Hislory of
Religions in <he Anden<IVorld . 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge
Universit)' Press. Several chapters, some challenging, on an.
ctenL Near Eastern and Greco. Roman rehgtous traditions.
Simpson, William Kelley, ed. 2003. The Li<erawre of Ancien<
Egyp<. 3rd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale Universi<y Press. A fine
anthology of anctent Egyptian texts.
Snell, Daniel C. 2011. Religions of lite Ancien< Near Eas<.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. An e:xcellenL work
for beg1nners.
Kramer, Samuel Noah. 1963. The Sumerians. Chicago: Umversity of
Chicago Press.
lamben, W. G. 1960. Babylonian Wisdom Li<emlure. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
lane Fox, Robin. 1986. PagaiiS and Chris<iaiiS. San Franctsco:
Harper & Row.
Lalli more, Richard. 1947. Pin dar's Odes. Chicago: Umversity of Chi-
cago Press.
Lesher,). H. 1992. Xenophanes of Colophon. Toronto: University of
Toron1o Press.
Uchthetm, Mmam. 1973-1980. Ancien< Egyp<ian Li<emlure. 3 vols.
Berkeley: University of Cali fo rnia Press.
Uchthetm , Mtnam. 1997. Moral Values in Ancien< Egyp<. Fribourg,
Swilzerland: University Press.
Mandelbaum, Alfen. 1993. The Me<amorphoses of Ovid. San Diego:
Harcourt.
O'Donnell, James. 2015. Paga115: The End of Tradi<ionaJ Religion and
lhe Rise of Chrislianily. New York: HarperCoffins.
Parker, Robert. 2011. On Greelr Religion. l<haca , NY: Cornelf Uni-
versily Press.
Pntchard,James, ed. 1969. Ancien< Near Eas<ern Texts Rela<ing 10 <he
OJd Te.szament. 3rd ed. PnnceLOn. NJ: Pnnceton Universny Press.
Rives, James B. 2007. Religion in <he Roman Empire. Oxford:
Blackwell.
Sasson, Jack M., ed. 1995. Trans. H. te Velde. Civifiza<ions of <he
Ancien< Near Eas<. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scnbner's Sons.
Segal, Alan F. 2004. life af<er Dealh: A Hc«ory of lhe Af<erJife in Wesl-
ern Religions. New York: Doubleday.
Sneff, Daniel C., ed. 1995. A Companion lo <he Ancien< Near Eas<.
Oxford: Blackwell.
 2 Religions of Antiquity 79

Thorn, Johan 200~. Cltanlht\ Hymn 10 Ztu< Tubmgen,
Genn;my Mohr S•ebtck
Ulluccl, Damel 2011 Tht Chrhllan RtJe<llon of Ammo/
Sacrifia Oxlord Oxlord Unrvcrsuy Press
von Dassow, IX•. cd 1994 Tilt f.r:YI"""' Boolt of 1hc Dmd: Tilt
Bad! of G<>tng fOfth 11> lAA Trans !Uymond 0 Fowlkner.
San FranciSCO. ChronKie Books
Wa11erson , Barbara. 1999. Amama: AnCltnl Egypt'• Ag< of
Revolution. Srroud, UK: Tempus
WallS, Edward. 2015. Tht Fmal Pagan Gtntrallon Berktl<)~
t:m,•ersuy o( Cabfom1a Press.
\\'Hkmson , Toby. 2010. Tht RISt and Fall of AnCltnl Eg.~pl
?'ew York: !Undom House
_,
World Religions: Western Traditions
Traditions at a Glance
There are approximately 14 mtllton Jews in the
world today.
C L bution
The majority of jews live in either the United
States (5- 6 million) or Israel (6 million). There are
about 1.5 million jews m Europe. 400,000 in Latin
Amenca, and 375,000 m Canada.
sand L.....!k s
Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son jacob are
cons1dered the patriarchs of the jews, and the
prophet Moses, who is sa1d to have received Lhe
Torah from God and revealed it to the Israelites at
Mount Si nai, is known as the Lawgiver. The re is no
cred ible evidence outside the B1ble, however, that
any of them actually existed.
God IS the sole deuy m judlllsm, "Yahweh" is
understood to be God's proper name, but jews avoid
usmg tl.
In this chapter you will learn about:
o jewish history from biblical times to the pres-
em day
The diverse express1ons of Jewish identity
o
throughout that h1story
o How jews responded to struggle and adver-
Slly in their past, how the1r responses shaped
judaism, and how judatsm affected their
responses
o jewish rituals and pracuces. and their con-
nections to events in jewish history
o How it is possible to identify oneself asajewand
even take pan in religious services and obser-
vances without necessarily believing in God
o How jewish women are now challengi ng
some ancient tradnions w1thm judaism
~ j~rusalem: view from the Olive Mountain (Fr~dfr~se/Getty
A.Jt!tc.
j ewish scnpture centers primarily on the Hebrew
Bible (referred to as the Tanakh, a n acronym formed
from the first Hebrew letter of the th ree subd ivisions
of the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Nevi 'i m, and Ketuviim),
and secondanly on the M1shnah and Talmud.
Note 101
jews understand themselves to be in a relauonsh1p
with God, the ommpotent and omniscient creator
of the umverse, that IS expressed as a co,·enant,
or agreement, sealed at Mount Sinai. God IS to be
worshtpped with all of one's heart and soul and
strength by observmg rituals and laws pertammg
to all aspects of life. including eth ical behavior,
such as loving one's neighbor as one loves one's self.
Rituals and laws described in the Tanakh are inter-
preted in the later rabb1mc writings of the M1shnah
and Talmud.
-.J ewish Identity as
Ethnicity and Religion
Introducing Three Jews
Havmg removed the ornate!)' wrapped Torah scroll
from the Holy Ark, the rabb1 carefully slid the velvet
curtains closed. As she turned to face her congrega-
tion, she placed the scroll gently on the table before
her and began to recite m Hebrew the first blessing.
•
Normally it was not so bluste ry in jerusalem, butt he
weather had been stormy all day. The young man
was thankful for the warmth of his long black coat
and vest as he humed along the narrow pathway to
Images)
 3 j ewish Traditions

his Talmud study class. The wi nd tossed h is curly
sidelocks wildly behind him as he dipped his head
low against the wind , one hand grasping his wide-
brimmed black hat.
• Ha lakhah Qew ish law). They consider themselves
Rashel wal ked into her favorite greasy spoon in
dow ntown Montreal and sat dow n at he r usual
table. Every Saturday morning she came here for
break fast, with the loca l pape r in hand to read as
she ate. She didn't even need to put in her orde r, be-
cause it was the same eve ry time: a ham and cheese
omelette with a side order of bacon.
Each of the th ree people described above is j ewish.
And judaism has room for all three. Some j ews,
such as the fi rst two, feel their jewishness tO be
inseparable from j ew ish religious practices a nd
custOms. Others- in fact, the m~ority of jews
living in North America and lsraelwday- are more
like Rashel in that they rarely if eve r attend syna-
gogue (the jewish place of congregational worsh ip)
and make no auempt tO follow the rules set dow n by
to be eth nically jewish because they were born to
j ew ish parents, and they may or may not identi fy
with aspects of secula r jewish culture (music, liter-
atu re, food , and so on), but the religious d imension
is not importa nt 10 them. Thus j ewish ness can be
grounded in religious, eth nic, or cultural elements,
or a ny combination of them.
Fo r some j ews, the mere idea of a female
rabbi (" teache r") is preposterous and contrary to
Halakhah. They believe that women have import-
ant roles in the jewish community, but that the
role of rabbi is reserved for me n alone. For others,
a fe male rabbi is completely acceptable and natural;

Alina Treiger- the first female rabbi to be installed in Germany since the Holocaust- introduces herself to her
parish at the synagogue in Oldenburg on February I, 2011.
World Religions: Western Traditions

in fact, some jews might be attracted to a partic-
ular sy nagogue precisely because it has a female
rabbi. Similarly, some jews might pe rceive the dress
and lifestyle of the young man desc ribed earlier--
a member of a rigorously obse rvant subgroup of
Orthodox jews known as Haredim- to be anti-
quated and unnecessary, while others would con-
side r the devotion of such men, whose lives revolve
arou nd the study of ancient jewish texts, to be one
of the reasons for the survival ofJudaism and there-
fore worthy of deep respect. jews holding the Iaue r
pe rspective would likely maintain that eati ng pork
and consuming meat and dairy togethe r- as Rashel
does- are serious transgressions of jewish law. Yet
if you asked Rashel if she identified he rself as jewish,
she would respond fervently in the affirmative. And
the re are many jews (particularly in Canada, the
Un ited States, and Israel) who would say the same.
The spectru m of jewish identity is broad, and
what one jew considers an essential part of that
identity may not hold any significance for another.
Who ought to be called jewish and what constitutes
acceptable jewish behavior are subjects of ongoi ng
debate among jews themselves.

Timeline
c. 18SO BCE Abraham (Abram) arrives in Canaan
c. 1260 Moses leads the Exodus from Egypt and Yahweh reveals the Torah to the Israelites
c. 1000 David takes jerusalem and makes it his capital
921 Northern kingdom separates from Israel following Solomon·s death
722 Assyrians conquer northern kingdom and disperse its people
S86 Babylonians conquer jerusalem and deport its leaders
S39 Persians conquer Babylonia. permitting exiles to return in 538 BCE
c. SIS Rededication of the Second Temple
c. 333 Alexander the Great's conquests in the eastern Mediterranean begin the process of
Hellenization
c.200 Torah translated from Hebrew into Greek. producing the Septuagint
167- 164 Maccabean Revolt
70CE Romans lay siege to jerusalem and destroy the Second Temple
132-IJS Bar Kochba Revolt
c. 220 Mishnah of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi codified
c. 400 Palestinian (or jerusalem) Talmud codified
c. soo Babylonian Talmud codified
Il lS Birth of Moses Maimonides. author of The Guide of the Perplexed (d. 1204)
1492 jews expelled from Spain
IS69 Kabbalah scholar Isaac Luria establishes center of jewish mysticism in northern
Palestinian city of Safed
1666 Sabbatai Zvi promoted as the messiah
1698 Birth of Israel ben Eliezer. the Baal Shem Tov. in Poland (d. 1760)
 3 jewish Traditions

1729 Birth of Moses Mendelssohn. pioneer of Reform judaism in Germany (d. 1786)
1881 Severe pogroms in Russia spur jewish emigration
1889 Conservative judaism separates from Reform judaism in the United States
1897 Theodor Herzl organizes fi rst Zionist Congress
193S Nuremberg Laws revoke many rights of jews in Germany
193S Regina jonas in Offenbach am Main. Germany. becomes first female rabbi ordained
1938 jewish busi nesses and synagogues attacked across Germany during Kristallnacht. the
.. Night of Broken Glass:· as a prelude to the Holocaust
1939-1945 Second World War (inclu ding the Holocaust)
1947 Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
1948 Establishment of the state of Israel
2 016 Shimon Peres. former president and prime minister of Israel and key negotiator of Oslo
Accords. dies at age of 93
2 016 Rabbi Lila Kagedan becomes first official female modern Orthodox rabbi in United
States
2017 Unprecented interfaith dialogue and cooperation among jews and Muslims in United
States
----J.~
.J
canonical collection. There were many add itional
~ Earliest Jewish History: jew ish writings that could have been selected, but
The Biblical Story the jew ish community had come to recognize only a
certai n set of documents as theologically meaningful
The place tO commence a discussion of j ew ish his- and authoritative.
tory is with the Hebrew Bible, which is also know n The Hebrew Bible is divided into three sections:
to j ews as the Tanakh and to Christians as the Old Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. ("TaNaKh" is an
Testament Oews do not use the Iaue r te rm, which acronym based on the first leuers of the three sec-
reOects the Christian idea that the Hebrew Bible was tion names, separated by the vowel "a"; the "h" ind i-
supe rseded by the New Testament). Although ofte n cates that the final "k" is pronounced with a guttural
described as a book, the Hebrew Bible is in fact an sou nd.) The name of the fi rst section, "Torah," is a
anthology of 24 books, many of wh ich were initially Hebrew word that has two meanings. In its broad
separate works. The writings they contain represent sense it designates the law, or instruction of God,
a variety of literary forms, including poems, songs, and as such is another way of refe rring to the Hebrew
legal prose, and vivid narratives full of drama and Bible as a whole; in its narrow sense it refers spe-
supe rnatural eventS. Most scholars believe that they cifically tO the first five books of the Hebrew Bible:
were composed by a va riety of authors from di ffer- Ge nesis, Exodus, l eviticus, Numbers, and Deuteron-
ent segments of society over some 800 yea rs, from omy. These books cove r the histOry of the Israelites
approximately the tenth tO the second century BCE, fro m the creation of the world until the entry into
although a few scholars, usually called minimalists, the Promised land, and they instruct the people on
argue that few if any of the Hebrew Bible's contents how to live moral and ritually acceptable lives. Also
were written before the sixth centu ry BCE. Eventu- known collectively as the Pentateuch (Greek for
ally the sepa rate books were assembled into a single "five books"), these books are considered the most
 World Religions: Western Traditions

,.~.,.,.

\ .,... Document
The Tanakh
The books comprising the three sections of the Tanakh d. Obadiah (;,:l+"V I 'Obhadhyllh)

r~'i·~ are as follows: e. Jonah (;,1i' I Yonah)

f. Micah (;,~'T.l I Mtkhah)
I. Torah (;,lin, "l aw") g. Nahum ( oml I Nahum)
:~,., 1. Genesis (n•11il<1i! I B;m~·shit) h. Haba kkuk (i'1il':;IQ I l:labhaqqoq)

• 2. Exodus (mow I Shemot)

3. l ev iticus (ln i''l I Vayikra)
i. Zephaniah (;,:1~¥ I Sephanyah)
j . Haggai (•~IJ I l:laggai)
,,~~~

,y,:f,
4. Numbe rs (1 :l1D:l I B~midbar) k. Zechariah (;,:1~1 I Zekhar yah)
5. Deute ronomy (0'1"1 I D~bharim) L Malach i (•JJ:'7T.l I Mal'akhi)

~ ,.,,., II. Nevi'im (0'1:<':;11, " Prophets")

6. j oshua (JJ¥_~in~ I Yehoshcta')
7. judges (o•t>!l11!1 I Shophti m)
8. Samuel I & II (?l:<m1p I ShemO'el)
9. Kings I & II (o•J'm I M'lakh im)
III.
14.
15.
16.
Ketuvim (o•:;~m~, "Writings")
Psal ms (o•?;,n I Teh ill im)
Proverbs (•?wo I Mishlei)
j ob (::~i•~:< 1 Iyyobh)
Song o f Songs (o•·pw;:~ 1'WI Shl r Hashlrim)

~:I~,
17.
10. Isaiah (1;,:J?1!i~ I Yesha'ayaho) 18. Ruth (nn I Ruth)
11. j erem iah (1;,!1?l~ IYi rmeyahO) 19. lamentations (;,J•x I Eikhah)
12. Ezekiel (?X'i?1Q~ I Ye khezqiel) 20. Ecclesiastes (n7<;~i' I Qoheleth)

~?
13. The Twelve Prophets (1wv •1n) 21. Esther h iJt;>l;' I Ester)
a. Hosea (JJ.Pi;, I Hoshea-) 22. Daniel (?x~n I Dllnrel)

~ .,~!.
b. Joel (?l:<i' 1 Yo ·en 23. Ezra-Nehemiah (;,•om1 X1 1VI Ezra v'Nechemia)
c. Amos (oim; I 'Amos) 24. Ch ronicles I & II (o•o•;, •1::11 I Divrei Hayamim)

sac red pan of the entire Hebrew Bible. "Nev i'im" is
the Hebrew word for "prophets," men such as Moses
who we re believed LO speak for God to t he Is raelites.
The th ird section, "Ketuvi m" ("w riti ngs") contains a
variety of mate rials, includi ng songs, p rayers, a nd
wisdom literature (e.g., the books of job, Prove rbs,
and Ecclesiastes, each of which offe rs practical
advice for dealing judiciously with common hum an
conce rns), as well as historical texts.
The Biblical Narrative
as Sacred History
The biblical people of Israel, the Is raelites, we re
the precursors of mode rn j ews, and the major ity
of jewish festivals, rituals, and custOms are de rived
from biblical StOries. Yet the accuracy o f those sto -
ries is a matter of debate among scholars, si nce in
most cases the re is no extrabiblical ev idence to con-
firm that t he events they desc ribe ever occu rred,
or eve n that the people involved in the m actually
existed. But it was not the goal of t he human au-
tho rs of t he biblical sto ries to record a n objective
account of h istorical events . Rather, the ir w ritings
were inte nded to convey a theological message and
teach the Israelites how to live t hei r lives devoutly
both in action and in attitude. Although some of
the accounts found in t he Tanakh do conta in accu-
rate historical information, mode rn reade rs ought
not to assume th at every swry found t herein is
historically factual.

The biblical narrative is more properly under-
stOod lO be "sac red " h istory: it was because the
StOries served the theological agenda of the writ-
ers t hat they were valued and incorporated in the
Tanakh. W hat the Hebrew Bible does is prov ide in-
sight into the characte rs and events that came to be
conside red theologically mean ingful for the j ew ish
commun ity. Whether or not t he biblical StOries a re
accurate, they are essential for understa nding the
development of juda ism.
The material eventually included in the Hebrew
Bible may have o riginated as oral stories or songs
that were t ransm itted by word of mouth from one
gene ration to the next until eventually they we re
written dow n. Among the central characte rs in Isra-
elite history whose existence can not be confi rmed
a re Abraham, h is son Isaac, Isaac's son jacob, a nd
Moses. The earliest biblical figu re for whom we
may have a rch aeological evidence is the lowly
shephe rd-tu rned-ki ng-of-Israel, Dav id. Yet eve n
this ev idence- an inscription on the Tel Dan stela
(a n upright monumental SLOne), discovered in 1993
in northe rn Is rael- is d isputed by a few scholars.
The Creation of Humanity
In fact, there are two different accounts of the cre-
ation of huma ns in the Hebrew Bible, and each of
them has its ow n repe rcussions for ge nde r relations.
The fi rst one is found in Genesis 1:26- 27:
Then God said, "l et us make humanki nd
in our image, accordi ng to our likeness;
and let them have domi nion ove r the fish
of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the wild an i-
mals of the earth , and over every creeping
th ing that c reeps upon the earth ." So God
created humanki nd in h is image, in the
image of God he created them; male and
female he created them.
In this account, man and woman are created at
exactly the same time in "the image of God": thus,
they are equals. In the second c reation story, how-
ever, man is created first out of t he earth, and woman
3 jewish Traditions
is created later out of one of his ribs as a "helper" for
him. Th is story is found in Genesis 2:7, 18, 2 1- 24:
Then the lord God formed man from the
dust of the g round, and breathed into h is
nostrils the breath of life; and the man
became a living being ... . Then the l ord
God said, "It is not good that the man
should be alone; I will make him a helpe r
as h is partne r." ... So the l ord God caused
a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and
he slept; the n he took one of h is ribs and
dosed up its place with Oesh. And the rib
that the lord God had ta ken from the man
he made into a woman and brought he r LO
the man. Then the man said, "Th is at last
is bone of my bones a nd nesh of my nesh;
th is one shall be called Woman, for out of
Man th is one was taken." Therefore a man
leaves h is father and h is mother and d ings
to h is wi fe, and they become one Oesh.
This second creation account is by far the better
known of the two; indeed, many people take it for
granted that this account, in which Eve is a secondary
creation made from one of Adam's ribs, is the only
creation story. Rabbis through the centuries have
tried to explain the significance of the r ib. O ne m id-
ras h (a rabbinic commentary or interpretation) dated
to the fourth or fifth century CE proposes that "the
rib is a hidden pan of the body, and therefore it was
chose n to teach women modesty" (Bereshit Rabbah
18). This is an example of circular reasoning: the rab-
binic account of why God chose to create the woman
out of a rib (so that she will be modest) is used LO
justify the rabbinic view of the way women ought
to behave (modestly). Rabbinic literature justifies
the exclusion of women from numerous leadership
roles on the grounds that it would be immodest for a
woman to perform a public role of any kind. In fact,
this c reation story has been used th roughout h istOry
to justify the dom ina nce of men over women. The
"appropriate" h ierarchy of male and female is explic-
itly presented in this ve rsion of humanity's creation.
Some inte rpretations suggest that because the female
was created from a bone rather than from the earth ,
 World Religions: Western Traditions
women are "lesser" creations whose central obliga-
tion is LO serve men, not God. This understanding
shapes everything from the marital tasks of a wife to
the imagery used to express the relationship between
God and Israel, in wh ich God takes the role of hus-
band and Israel takes the role of wife.
So where was the first woman made together
with Adam in chapter 1 of Genesis when Eve was
created in chapter 2? The rabbis devised a creative
answer with the midrash of Lilith, the original
female being (see "The Story of Lilith" box) In early
rabbinic reference s, Lilith appears as a long-haired,
winged demon of the succubae class- that is, a
female demon who has se xual relations with sleep-
ing men: "Rabbi Hanina said, 'One !male] may not
.,
t·~~-,
..
Document
The Story of Lilith
The Alphabet of Ben Sira, written between the eighth
r~'i·~ and tenth centuries CE, is the earliest written version
==,.,
of the rabbinic explanation for the two different creation
stories in Genesis. According to this text, Adam's first
wife, Lilith, expected to share power equally with Adam
since both were made of the same substance. Thus Lilith
~
,y,,
refused to lie below Adam during sex: she wanted to be
,,~~ on top. Adam refused and Lilith left him, necessitating
the creation of a second wife, Eve.
,.
When the first man, Adam, saw that he was alone,
God made for him a woman like himself, from t he
~ earth. God called her name Lilith, and brought her
to Adam. They immediately began lO quarrel. Ad.am
said: "You lie beneath me." And Lilith said: "You lie be-
~
neath me! We are both equal, for both of us are from
the earth." And they would not listen to one another.
As soon as Lilith saw this, she uttered the Divine
name and new up into the air and ned. Adam began
to pray before his CreatOr, saying: "Master of the uni-
verse, the woman that you gave me has ned." God sent
three angels and said to them: "Go bring back Lilith.
sleep alone in a house, for Lilith takes hold of who-
ever sleeps alone in a house" (Babylonian Talmud
IBTI Shabbat 151b). later, succubae were said to be
particularly envious of human wives, and to hate the
children born of ordinary human relations. Thus
Li lith became known as an enemy of women, and
all problems related to pregnancy and childbirth,
including infertil ity and miscarriage, were blamed
on her. In the late Middle Ages, amulets warding off
the jealousy of Lilith were used to protect pregnant
mothers and their babies.
The earliest reference to the people of Israel out-
side the Bible is found on the victory stela of the
Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah, wh ich dates from
approximately 1208 BCE. Discovered in 1896, it is a
If she wants to come, she shall come, and if she does
not want to come, do not bring her against her will."
The three angels went and found her in the sea
at the place where the Egyptians were destined to
d rown. There they grabbed her and sa id to her: "If
you will go with us, well and good, but if not, we
will drown you in the sea."
Lilith said to them: "My friends, I know God
only created me to weaken infants.... From the day
a child is born until the eighth day, I have dominion
over the child, and from the eighth day onward I
have no dominion over him if he is a boy, but if a
girl, I rule over her twelve days."
They said: "We won't let you go until you accept
upon yourself that each day one hundred of your
children will die." And she accepted it. That is why
one hundred demons d ie every day. They would
not leave he r alone until she swore to them: "In any
place that I see you or your names in an amulet,
I will have no dominion over that ch ild." They left
her. And she is Lilith, who weakens the children of
men . . .. (Stern and Mirsky 1990: 183- 184)

black granite stone insc ribed with a hymn recordi ng
the pha raoh 's triumphs. One verse reads: "Israel is
wasted, its seed is not . . ." (Hallo 2003: 41). "Is rael"
here almost certai nly refe rs to an ethnic group or
people: instead of the h ieroglyph ic sign for "coun-
try," the insc ription uses the sign for "people." By the
end of the th irteenth centu ry BCE, then, it seems
that a people calling itself"Israel" ex isted in Canaan
(a term designating roughly the region of mode rn-
day Israel, the Palestinian territories, lebanon, and
pan of Syria).
The Origins of "Israel,"
"Hebrew." "jew." and "Semitic"
The origins of the term "Israel" are not certain,
although one inte rpretation ("the one who Strug-
gled with God") links it with a story in wh ich
Ab raham's grandson j acob w restled with a d ivine
being and was then renamed "Israel." Two othe r
terms used on occasion in the Hebrew Bible a re
"Heb rew(s)" and 'jew(s)." Abraham, for example,
is called a Heb rew, and the prophet Jonah iden-
tifies h imself as a Heb rew. This te rm might come
from the Akkadian word hab!piru (Canaan ite
apiru), which referred to fugitives, me rcena ries,
and people living on the pe riphe ry of regular soc i-
ety. It may be that th is was a term used to refer to
early Israelites, signifying that they were somehow
removed from conventional society. Mode rn-day
usage of the te rm "Hebrew" is rese rved for lan-
guages: the ancient Heb rew of the Bible and othe r
religious jewish literature and the mode rn Heb rew
that is one of the two offic ial languages of the
mode rn state of Israel (the other is Arabic). The
word "jew" is derived from "Judah," the name of
the territory that in ancient times was considered
to be the jewish home land. The word "Semitic" is
de rived from "Shem," the name of the man from
whom both jews and Arabs are said to have de-
scended. (Accordi ng to the biblical story, Shem was
one of th ree sons of the legendary Noah, builder of
the Ark that su rvived the g reat nood sent by God
to destroy creation.)
3 jewish Traditions
W hen Was the Torah
Written Down?
The re has been a good deal of scholarly debate
over when the mate rial in the Torah was written
down. Trad itional j ews (e.g. , those belonging to the
Orthodox b ranch of Judaism) hold that the Torah
was divinely revealed to Moses, the legendary leade r
of the Israel ites, at Mount Sinai and written down by
him as a single document. Most contemporary bib-
lical scholars strongly d isagree with th is view. They
a rgue that the Torah is a composite text, comp ris-
ing various documents composed at d ifferent times
by human beings. The theory that still dom inates
mode rn discussions of the Torah question is the
Documentary Hy pothesis , wh ich was p roposed
in 1883 by the Ge rman scholar julius Wellhausen.
Based on obse rvations from ea rlier investigators as
well as his own ins ights , th is hypothesis a rgues that
the Five Books of Moses consist of mate rial from fou r
di ffe rent authors (or schools of authors) that can be
identified th rough their differences in style and vo-
cabulary as well as theological viewpoint. The basic
assumption that the Bible is a human rather than
a div ine creation has d rawn vigorous criticism of
the Documentary Hypothesis from trad itional jews,
Christians, and Muslims alike. Schola rs hold ing a
mo re liberal perspective have also been critical of
the theory, in particular regarding the dates and
other deta ils pertaining to the composition of the
di ffe rent documents. Nevertheless, the Documen-
tary Hypothesis has had a powe rful in nuence: it is
now widely accepted that multiple voices a re repre-
sented in the texts of the Torah.
The second book of the Torah, Exodus, tells how
Moses led the Is raelites out of slavery in Egypt and
eventually, after 40 years of wande ring in the desert,
to t he Promised land of Canaan. Some scholars sug-
gest that part of the book may have been written as
early as the th irteenth centu ry BCE- the time that
most scholars would associate with any event resem-
bl ing the Exodus. According to the biblical story,
Moses, with divine help in the form of 10 horrible
plagues, convinced the Egyptian pharaoh to liberate
the enslaved Israelites and let them leave Egypt.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
Passover
Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) commemorates t he
supposed liberation of the Israelites from slave ry in
Egypt. It falls in the spring and is one of the major
Jewish festivals. The focal point of this festival is t he
rit ual meal called a Seder ("orde r"), during which a
text called the Haggada h is read aloud. Relating t he
story of the Exodus from Egy pt, it celebrates the (act
that death passed over the Israelites when God struck
down the Egyptian fi rstborn in the tenth plag ue.
During the Seder meal Jews eat unleavened bread to
remind them of the speed with wh ich the Israelites
left Egypt; in fact, it is forbidden to eat any yeasL or
cereal products that could ferment throughout t he
holiday. This means that no bread or bread producLS
are eaten during Passover; only matsoh- unleavened
bread (w ithout yeast)- is allowed. Th is is why Pass-
over is also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
A Sede r is a joyous occasion , a gathering of family
and friends that should include not only the rec itation
of the Haggadah but also a spirited discussion with
O the r scholars suggest t hat the w riting process
o f the To rah may have begun d uring a time of cris is ,
when there was reason to fear that the oral t radi-
tions m ight be lost if they we re not recorded. Two
pe riods of tumult that have bee n suggested as pos-
sible candidates are the eighth century BCE, after
the northern k ingdom of Israel fell tO the Assy rian s ,
and the sixth century BCE, a fter jerusalem fell to
the Babylonians and the leaders of the Is raeli tes
were sent into exile in Babylon ia.
It is probably safe tO assume that the earliest ma-
terial to have bee n committed to the page (or, mo re
correctly, the papyrus or pa rchment) was the Torah
(the Five Books of Moses). The first five books likely
took thei r fi nal form in the postexil ic pe riod, some-
time between the sixth and fourth centur ies BCE.
The books of the Nevi 'im were probably finalized
around 200 BCE, and those o f the Ketuvim by t he
many questions and debates about Lhe meaning of Lhe
holiday. The evening can stretch into the early hou rs
of the morning, and in O rthodox households Lhe
meal may not even be served until well past midn ight.
The ce nterpiece o f the Sede r table is a plate with
five or si x symbolic foods on it. The karpas (vege-
table) is typically a piece of parsley o r celery and
represents spring or hope. It is dipped in salt water,
wh ich sy mbolizes the tears of the Israelites, before
it is eaten. Maror (biue r herb) is usually represented
by horseradish a nd is meant tO rem ind one of the
bitte rness of slavery. The kharoset, a mixture o ften
made of apples, nuts, wine, and spices, relates tO the
mortar from which the Is raelite slaves made br icks
for the pharaoh 's buildings. The zeroa (shan kbone)
echoes the lamb's blood with wh ich Israelites
marked the lintels of thei r doorways, signaling their
presence to God so that he would "pass over" thei r
house without tak ing their firstborn. The baytzah
(ha rd-boiled egg) is understood to symbolize eithe r
second century CE. The latest book in the Hebrew
Bible is the Book of Dan iel, whose final chapters
(7- 12) were w ritte n a fte r 167 BCE (even though the
na rrative is written as if the events it desc ribes took
place during the time of the Exile in Babylon ia).
Relationship as Covenant:
The Israelites and Their God
The Bible identifies the Israelites as God's chosen
people. O n the one hand, they were thought to have
been chosen by Yahweh , as it says in the fi fLh book
of the Torah: "For you are a people holy to the LORD
you r God; t he LORD your God has chosen you out
of all Lhe peoples on earth to be his people, his t rea-
sured possession" (Deuteronomy 7:6). On the OLhe r
hand, the Is raelites we re thought to have themselves

fertility or mourn ing for the loss o f the two h istoric
temples in Jerusalem (because hard-boiled eggs
are relatively easy to d igest, they we re often eaten
during pe riods of mourning). Finally, haze ret (biLLer
vegetable) is an optional second symbol of the harsh
life of a slave; a piece of romaine leuuce is commonly
used. j ews are to retell the story o f the Exodus as if
everyone gathered a rou nd the table had been liber-
ated from slavery in Egypt themselves.
At the table, it is the custom to reserve some wine
in a special cup for the prophet Elijah, whose return
to ea rth will herald the com ing of the Messia nic Age,
a time of peace and prosperity for all. At one point in
the evening the door to the house is even held open
for him to come in and partake of the Passove r meal.
The Torah indicates that Pesach is to last seven
days a nd that the first and last days of the holiday
a re to be spec ial. For Reform a nd Reconstruction-
ist j ews, a nd for those liv ing in Israel, that means
hold ing se rvices on the first and seventh days. Con-
servative and Orthodox jews living outs ide Israel
typically observe the holiday for eight days.
Passover is the first of th ree major festivals
know n collectively as the Shalosh Regalim ("Three
chosen Yahweh: "Then joshua said to the people,
'You are witnesses against yourselves that you have
chosen the LORD, to serve him.' And they said, 'We
a re wit nesses"' (Joshua 24:22). It is unlikely that
the Israelites understood their selection by Yahweh
to have marked them out as superior to other peo-
ples; rathe r, they likely saw it as obliging them to
assume the responsibil ities of se rving God. Nor was
the notion of being a "chosen people" unique to the
Israelites; there is evidence that other peoples in the
anc ient world also understood themselves to have
been chosen by their deities.
O ne of the central themes in the Bible's account of
the relationship between the Israelites and thei r God is
that of the covenant. The Hebrew word for "covenant"
is brit, which can also be translated as "treaty," "alli-
ance; or "pact." It refers to an agreement bet ween two
parties in wh ich promises are made under oath either
3 jewish Traditions
A Seder plate makes a colorful centerpiece lor the Passover
tab Ie. Starting from the top and moving in a clockwise
direction are the six symbolic foods: a hard-boiled egg
(baytzah); a shankbone (zeroa): a "mortar" mixture made
ol apples. nuts. wine. and spices (kharoset): a piece ol let-
tuce (hazeret): parsley (karpas): and horseradish (maror).
Pilgrimages"), which the Torah commanded the
ancient Israelites to obse rve by making a pilgrimage
to J erusalem; the othe r two a re Shavuot and Sukkot.
to carry out or to abstain from certain specified actions;
marriage is a modern example of this type of agree-
ment. The first bibl ical covenant, desc ribed in Genesis
9:8- 17, is made when God promises Noah that he will
never again send a nood to destroy the world.
The fact that the Is raelites a re described as par-
tic ipating in covenants is not unusual for the place
and time in which they lived. A multitude of in-
ternational t reaties are preserved in texts from the
anc ient Near East. Covenants were important for
the gove rning and stabilization of ancient social
and political li fe. Typically such agreements we re
made between two parties of unequal power: thus
a powerful rule r would p romise protection to a less
powerful one on cond ition that the Iauer fulfilled
certain obligations. One way of ritualistically seal-
ing such a treaty was to have a number of animals
cut in half and their ca rcasses lined up in rows.
World Religions: Western Traditions
The two parties would then wal k in between the
bodies, symbolically ind icating their understandi ng
o f the contract: if either pa rty did not fulfill its obli-
gations, it would suffe r the same fate as the an imals.
What was unusual about the Israelites' covenants
was that they were made with a deity and involved
promises to live in accordance with a moral code in
exchange for that deity's protection of and presence
in their lives. Other Near Easte rn peoples offered
sacrifices to thei r national or tribal deities in hopes
o f rece ivi ng rai nfall, fe rtility, and prosperity, as well
as protection, but they did not promise to behave: in
an ethical manne r as part of the pact.
The Book of Genesis traces Israelite ancestry back
to a single patriarch, a descendant of Noah th rough
his son Shem. According to itS account, this man,
Abraham, left his birthplace in the region between
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (later known by the
Greek name Mesopotam ia, "between the rive rs," a nd
Focus
Circumcision
judais m, like other religious traditions, uses rituals
to commemorate importa nt transitional mome nts
in a person's life. Circumcision is one o f the best
know n of these rituals, performed on a j ew ish male,
usually eight d ays a fte r birth, unless it would p ut
the infant's life in d ange r. j ust as Abraha m under-
went circumcision as a sign o f the covena nt between
him and God, so too does every male born into a
j ew ish family. Known as a Brit milah ("covenant of
circumcis ion") in Hebrew, in Yiddish (the vernac u-
lar la nguage of central and eastern European j ews) it
is called a "Bris." It involves the removal of the fore-
ski n from the penis by a mohe l, a ritual circumciser
who is h ired for the occasion. Usually the ceremony
is conducted at home in the presence of family me m-
bers and friends who gather to celebrate the birth,
although it can also take place in a sy nagogue. The
only people who a re required to be present are the
fathe r, the mohel, and the sandek, the person who
located in present-day Iraq and Syria) and traveled
with his extended family, includ ing his wi fe Sarah ,
tOward the land of Canaan. At a midway poi nt called
Ha ran, where much of his family decided to settle,
Abraham was called by God to continue on to Canaan.
Once in Canaan, God entered into a covenant with
Abraham that shared many of the elements outli ned
above. God, who was obviously the more powerful
of the two parties, promised Abraham that he would
give the land of Canaan to Abraham's still-unborn
offs pring for their own, on condition that Abraham
showed perfect obedience to God. When Abraham
asked for a guarantee that God would keep his prom-
ise, the ce remonial splitting of animal carcasses was
performed, and God, whose presence was symbol-
ized by a smoking fire pot and flaming torch , "passed
between these pieces" (Genesis 15:17- 18).
Many years late r, at the advanced age of 99,
Abraham agreed to God's request that he undergo
holds the baby while the circumcision is performed .
Trad itionally, the baby is then named and a celebra-
tory meal is served so that the presence of a new life
in the world is con nected with the joy of sharing
food with family and friends. Blessings for the ch ild
and his parents are recited as part of the ritual.
Nowadays, more and more jewish families are
finding formal ways of expressing their j oy at the
birth of d aughte rs as well as sons. The more libe ral
branches of judaism now hold a naming ceremony
for girls called a Simchat Bat ("joy of a d aughte r"),
wh ich celebrates the bringing o f a daughter both
into the family and into the covenant with God.
Since there is no explic it ritual formula to follow,
fam ilies tend to c reate their own trad itions: some
inv ite relatives and friends to their home or to a hall
si mply to share a meal, while others ma ke the event
more of a trad itional ceremony in wh ich various
prayers and blessings are recited.

Document
The Decalogue (Ten Commandments)
The tenns of the covenant into which Yahweh and the
Israelites enter are presented in the Decalogue, or Ten Com-
mandments. The Decalogue appears twice in the Torah: in
the second book, Exodus (20:2- 17), and in the fifth, Deu-
teronomy (5:6- 21). The first Jive commandments concern
responsibilities to God; the second, to fellow human beings.
I am the LORD your God who brought you out of
Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no othe r god to set against me.
You shall not make a carved image for yourself nor
the likeness of anything in the heavens above, or on
the earth below, or in the waters unde r the earth.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them;
for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous god. I punish
the ch ildren for the sins of the fathers tO the third
and fourth generations of those who hate me. But I
keep faith with thousands, with those who love me
and keep my commandments.
You shall not make wrong use of the name of the
LORD your God: The LORD will not leave unpun-
ished the man who misuses his name.
circumcision as a sign of their covenant (Genesis
17). Then, in fulfillment of another promise that
God made to Abraham, Sarah miraculously pro-
duced a son, Isaac, even though she had always been
"barren" and was now well past childbearing age.
God then asked Abraham to sacrifice the young
Isaac as a burnt offering, and Abraham prepared tO
fulfill his part of the bargain (Genesis 22) But just as
he was about tO plunge his kn ife into h is son's body,
an angel intervened, instructing h im tO free Isaac
and sacrifice a ram instead. Abraham, who had
now shown that he was willing tO obey God even
if it meant sacrific ing his beloved son, became the
model par excellence of obedience for the Israelite
people.
3 jewish Traditions
Remember to keep the sabbath day holy. You have
six days to labour and do all your work. But the sev-
enth day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; that
day you shall not do any work, you, your son or your
daughter, your slave or your slave-girl, your caule or
the alien within your gates; for in six days the LORD
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in
them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the
LORD blessed the sabbath day and declared it holy.
Honor you rfather and mother, that you may Iive long
in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
You shall not commit murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false evidence against your
neighbor.
You shall not covet your ne ighbor's house; you shall
not covet your neighbor's wife, h is slave, h is slave-
girl, his ox, his ass, o r anything that belongs to him.
(Exodus 20 2- 17)
Abraham's son Isaac and Isaac's son Jacob in
turn made further covenants with God, but it was
only centuries later, after the Exodus from Egypt,
that the legendary leader and prophet Moses made
a C()venant with God on behalf of the Israelites. The
Decalogue- the latin translation of the Hebrew
aseret hadevarim ("ten words"; also known as the
Ten Commandments)- which Moses transmiued
tO t he Israelites at Mount Sinai, stipu lated not only
the people's duties to God, but also the ir duties to
one another. This aspect of the Torah confirms that
ethical behavior was an obligatory component of
the Israelites' covenant with God.
The second book of the Torah, Exodus, is called
Shemot ("Names") in Hebrew, from its first sentence,
World Religions: Western Traditions
"These are the names of. . . ." It describes how God,
through Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt to Mount
Sinai and then, amid thunder and lightning, spoke out
of a cloud LO reveal his commandmentS, beginning
with the Decalogue. Shortly after, Moses went up the
mountain and stayed there for 40 days and 40 nightS.
l ost without their leader, the Israelites persuaded
Aaron, Moses's brother, to make them a god to take
Moses's place. Having collected the people's gold ear-
rings, Aaron melted them down and used the golclto
create an idol in the form of a golden calf. They were
worshiping the calf when Moses descended from the
mountain with the stone tablets on which God had
engraved his commandments- the second of which
forbade the making of idols. Enraged, Moses hurled
the Tablets of the l aw to the ground, shattering them;
he destroyed the golden idol and, with the help of
the faithful Israelites who had not taken part in the
Focus
Shavuot
Shav uot celebrates God's revelation of the Torah
to Moses, although its origins can be traced to the
barley harvest in the ancient land of Israel. Also
known as the Festival of Weeks (because seven
weeks pass bet ween the second day of Passover and
the day before Shav uot), the holiday is the second of
the Shalosh Regalim ("Three Pilgrimages").
By the middle of the second centu ry CE, it had
become the tradition LO mark Shavuot by reading the
Decalogue (a crucial part of the law) and the Book
of Ruth (set du ring the barley harvest). Anothe r tra-
dition , still obser ved today among religious jews, is
to stay up the entire n ight of Shavuot reading from
a special volume that conta ins passages from eve ry
book of the Bible and every section of the rabbinic
commentary on it (the Mishnah); this ritual, int ro-
duced by sixteenth-century mystics, representS de-
votion to the Torah. A third trad ition is to eat sweet
dairy foods such as cheesecake and blintzes filled
with cheese on Shavuot, possibly because they recall
idol worship, put LO death 3,000 who had. According
to the Bible, Moses and the Israelites spent the next
40 years wandering in the desert; then, within sight
of the Promised l and of Canaan, Moses died.
l eadersh ip of the people of Israel was transferred
to joshua, who guided them across the jordan River
to take possession of Canaan. According to the Book
of joshua, the Israelites annihilated the people of
Canaan. Yet there is no archaeological evidence LO
support this account, and many biblical scholars
argue that it was constructed to convey the theologi-
cally important idea of the Israelites' taking full pos-
session of the land that had been prom ised to their
ancestors. Archaeological find ings in fact reveal that
the earliest Israelite communities were not built on
the ruins of Canaanite seulements, but rather on for-
merly uninhabited land in the central h ighlands. As
a result, most scholars now understand the Israelite
the desc ription of the Torah as "honey and milk .
under your tongue" (Song of Songs 4:11).
Usually falling in late May or early June, Shavuot
is celebrated for j ust one day in Israel, but for two
days by most j ews living outside Israel. The reason
for the two-day celebration is that in antiquity the
jewish calendar was set on a month-by-month basis,
and the beginning of a new month was not estab-
lished until two witnesses had observed the new
moon. This information was then communicated
by lighting signal fires. Since th is means of com-
munication was slow, jews living outSide Israel were
sometimes not sure exactly when the Shalosh Regalim
began, so to be on the safe side they added an extra
day LO the celebrations. Even though the jewish cal-
endar is now fixed and the re is no longer any risk
of missing the correct festival day, the trad ition has
been mainta ined by the majority of jews outside
Israel (the exceptions are members of the Reform
branch).

acquisition of Canaan to have been accomplished
th rough seulement rather than milita ry conquest.
The Personal Name of God
The God with whom all these biblical figures made
their cove nants has a pe rsonal name, which is repre-
sented in Hebrew by four lette rs (yod, hay, vav, hay):
YHWH. Th is Tetragrammaton ("four-letter word ")
is conve ntionally written as "Yahweh." In fact, it is
not known how those four leuers ought 10 be pro-
nounced, since the re are no vowels between the
consonants (i n its origi ns, the Hebrew alphabet is
entirely consonantal). In Exodus 3:14, YHWH tells
Moses, "I am who I am," wh ich suggests a possible
linkage with the Hebrew ve rb hayah, "to be." Th is
might mean that YHWH denotes somethi ng like "he
[who] causes 10 be," but there is no strong consensus
on th is inte rpretation. In any case, many religious
j ews consider the Tetragrammaton too sacred to
ever be pronounced. Indeed, one of the command-
ments of the Decalogue warns that God's name is
not to be taken in vain. Modern j ews who encoun-
ter YHWH in the text while readi ng aloud say the
word "Adonai" ("l ord ") or "haShem" ("the Name")
instead. English translations of the fou r Hebrew let-
ters normally use capital lette rs (the LORD o r GOD).
In the sixteenth centu ry, a mistaken belief that
the vowels of "Adonai" were those belonging to
the Tetragrammaton, YHWH , produced the name
Focus
Sukkot
Sukkot commemorates the Is raelites' wander-
ings in the wilderness. It is a n eight-day holiday
during which- weather permiuing- jews eat
a nd sleep in the open air in a temporary struc-
ture called a sukhah (" booth" or "tabernacle" in
Hebrew; suhkot is the plural form). Accord ing to
trad ition, the suhkah should have a roof made of
o rganic mate ria l "g row n fro m the ground," such as
palm leaves, bamboo sticks, o r pine tree branches,
3 jewish Traditions
'jeh ovah." Protestants were in a power struggle
against the Catholic Church at that time, and to but-
tress their a rguments they turned to the ancient bib-
lical texts in the origi nal Hebrew and Aramaic. But
they were not well-versed in these languages and did
not realize that the vowels they were combining with
the Tetragrammaton were in fact those of another
word altogether. To this day, certain Ch ristians (in
particular, j ehovah's Witnesses) continue to use the
name jehovah, but it was neve r used by jews.
Of Kings and Messiahs
It is possible that the biblical David- an obscu re
shephe rd who, according to one tradition, killed the
giant Goliath with his sl ingshot and became king-
is based on a h istorical figure. David, whose reign is
said to have begun around 1000 BCE, is identified as
the Israel ites' greatest king, the ruler agai nst whom
every future leader of Judah is compared. As part of
the inauguration ritual, the new king was anointed
with oil by the prophet Samuel. The Hebrew term
mashiach- from which both the English messiah
and the Greek form "Ch ristos," hence "Ch rist," a re
derived- is directly related to this ritual, as it means
"anointed [one]." Thus David was a messiah. He was
also a wa rrior king who was said to have conque red
an impressive number of the Is raelites' neighbouri ng
enemies, establish ing an empire of sons that his son
and successor as ki ng, Solomon, inherited.
and it must be possible 10 see the sky through
the gaps in the roof. This symbolizes the will ing-
ness of the people usi ng the sukkah to put them-
selves directly under divine protection. Usually
fall ing in September or October, Su kkot is said to
h ave taken its name from the temporary shelte rs
in which fa rme rs would stay in autumn to keep
wmch over the ir ripening crops. It is the th ird and
lasl of the Shalosh Regalim.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
Samaritans
The Sama ritans a re an ancient people who still
inhabit what is today the modern state of Israel.
For the most part they live now, as they did then ,
in Samaria, in the center of the country. They iden-
tify themselves as jews, but the re have always been
j ews who conside r them "half-jews" at best. Th is
is primarily because of the unce rtainty of th ei r
o rigins: some believe that the Sama ritans we re
the product of intermarriage between the people
who were not deported by the Assy rians and those
brought to the region from othe r locations. In a ny
event, the Samaritans broke off from mainstream
j ewish t rad ition in about the fifth century BCE and
have d istinct beliefs and practices. Fo r example,
the jerusalem Temple was neve r the ir holy place:
they had their own temple on Mount Gerizim in
Samaria, although it was destroyed in the second
Samaritan priests prepare a fire pit for their Passover sacrifices. held at the foot of Mount Gerizim
in Samaria.
century BCE and neve r rebuilt. Their Bible con-
sists of the Torah or Pentateuch alone. And the ir
Torah di ffers from the standard Heb rew text in
seve ral ways; for example, in t he Samaritan tra-
dition, the Tabernacle (also sometimes called the
Tent of Meeting) in which the Israelites are sa id to
have worshiped God in the wilderness during the
Exodus, is set up on Mount Gerizim rather than in
Sh iloh (Joshua 18:1).
Samaritans exist in Is rael in dw indling numbers
today, with approximately 600 of them left. And
to t his day, du ring Passove r, they continue to per-
form sac rifices at the foot of Mount Ge rizim, which
makes them the longest-sac rificing group in the
Middle East- and possibly the world. When Israeli
authorities feel that the area is safe enough, tourists
can go the re to observe the sacrifice r itual.

Solomon builL the First Temple in jerusalem as
a focal poi nt for national identity and Israelite wor-
sh ip, with the Iauer primarily enacted in the form
of sacrifices. The c reation of a centralized place for
the Is raelites to venerate their God was intended, at
least in part, to put an end to the worsh ip of Yahweh
in the "h igh places" where the Canaan ites too wor-
sh iped their gods. Apparently Solomon did not en-
tirely succeed in this effort, however, since biblical
writers continued to condemn "high places" wor-
sh ip even afte r the establishment of the Temple. Fol-
lowing the death of Solomon, in the second half of
the tenth century BCE, the kingdom split into two:
Israel in the north and Judah in the south. From th is
point on, the historicity of the events desc ribed in
the Heb rew Bible is on firmer ground.
The Exile in Babylonia
Some two centuries later (c. 722 BCE), the north-
ern kingdom fell to the supe rpower of the region,
the Assyrians. The victors deported some of the
Israelites to othe r parts of the ir empire and imported
Document
Psalm 137:1-6
The Psalms are poetic prayers whose central purpose
is to praise God. Although tradition attributes them to
the tenth -century BCE King David, modern scholars
believe that the linguistic evidence points to a multitude
of authors and editors working in the postexilic period
(sixth century BCE) and later. Indeed, the Exile is a fre-
quent theme in the collection. Psalm 137, for example,
expresses the longing of an exile in Babylon for his city,
]emsalem. It is often recited on the Ninth of Av, the day
of moumingfor the destruction of the two temples.
By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat,
sat and wept,
3 jewish Traditions
people from elsewhere into Israe l, dest roying its
nat ional cohesion. The Is raelites remaining in the
south fell to a later superpowe r, the Babylonians, in
586 BCE, at which time t he Temple in jerusalem
was destroyed. Like the Assyrians, the Babylonians
did not utterly destroy the population; instead,
they depon ed its political and religious leade rs to
Babylonia (modern-day Iraq) to prevent them from
stirring up trouble in the ir homeland. Thus began
the Babylonian captiv ity, or Exile .
The Exi le is of paramount importance in
Is rael ite- jewish h istory. Marking the beginning
of the Dias pora- the dispe rsion of j ews outside
Is rael- it reverbe rates t hroughout the Hebrew
Bible in passages evoking the trauma of alienation
from one's homeland, which jews have dealt with
th roughout their histo ry (see "Psalm 137:1- 6" box).
Orne important theological development assoc iated
with the Exile was the first unambiguous statement
of monotheism. Scholars theorize that, fa r from
their homeland, the exiles recast their national deity
as un iversal. The earliest w rite r to describe Yahweh
as the only god in the un iverse was the unnamed
!( ,-~~-,
.,~
=~.,~,··
as we thought of Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung up ou r lyres,
for our captors asked us there for songs,
'y'==,.
y,,,,~.
our tormentors, for amusement,
"Si ng us one of the songs of Zion."
How can we sing a song of the Lord
"~~..-....
on alien soil?
If I forget you, 0 jerusalem,
let my right ha nd wither;
let my tongue stic k to my palate
if I cease to think of you,
if I do not keep jerusalem in memory
even at my happiest hour.
World Religions: Western Traditions
prophet who is believed to have composed chapte rs
40 tO 55 o f the Book of Isaiah: in Isaiah 45:21, for
example, he has Yahweh decla re , "There is no oth er
god besides me, a righteous God a nd a Saviou r;
the re is no one besides me."
The Exile lasted for nearly SO years, but it came
to an end in 539 BCE, when Babylonia itself was
conquered by yet another superpowe r- the Persian
Empire. The victOr, Cyrus of Persia (modern-day Iran),
allowed all the Babylonians' captives to return to their
homelands, among them the people from Judah. Not
all of them did return, howeve r. A sizable number had
put dow n roots in Babylonia and felt no need to go
back to thei r ancestral home. In ti me, Babylonia would
become one of the most vibrant intellectual centers of
judaism, and it would remain so until the tenth cen-
tury. In fact, it was the Babylonian j ew ish commun ity
that would produce one of the central textS in the his-
tory of judaism: the Babylonia n Talmud, completed
in the sixth centu ry CE.
~The Second Temple
Period (515 BCE-70 CE)
Those who d id return to their ancestral homela nd
found that the ir territory had been reduced to the
area immediately a rou nd Jerusalem. Nevertheless,
they we re able to rebuild the Temple a nd (with
Focus
The Septuagint
The arrangement of the books in the Ch ristian "Old
Testament" is based on the Greek version of the Hebrew
text, wh ich was translated around the beginning of
the third centu ry BCE to serve the Greek-speaki ng
jewish community in Alexandria , Egypt. (By that
time in their h istOry, even jews liv ing in the land of
Is rael reserved Hebrew for religious purposes and
used Aramaic as thei r day-to-day language.)
the help of the Persians) furnish it with many of
the gold and silver items that had been taken by the
Babylonians. Rededicated in 515 BCE, the "Second
Temple" would endu re until 70 CE, when it was
destroyed in the cou rse of a Roman siege that left
much of Jerusalem in ruins.
The Impact of Alexander
the Great
Alexa nde r the Great (356- 323 BCE) produced major
cultural sh ifts in the ancient Near East. The son of
the k ing o f Macedon, on the northern Greek penin-
sula, Alexande r as a youth had been tutOred by the
Greek philosopher Aristotle, and he had no doubt
that Greek culture surpassed all others. When his
father died, the 20-year-old Alexander set out to
become the master of the the n-know n world .
As he and his troops traveled ac ross Asia Mi nor
(modern-day Turkey) and down into the eastern
Med iterranean basin, Alexander int roduced Greek
culture to the lands he conquered. He established
more than 30 cities (20 named after h imself), in each
of which he erected fac il ities central tO Gree k civil i-
zation, such as theaters and gymnasia. Before long,
koine, or "common," Greek became the new li ngua
franca of the region. One consequence of this d iffu-
sion of Greek culture was that people from one part
The Greek text is known as the Septuagi nt
(La tin for "seventy") o r LXX (70) because lege nd has
it that the Torah (the fi rst section) was translated
by 70 (or 72) j ewish sages. Accord ing to the legend,
the sages worked independently, and yet all of them
ca me forward with precisely the same text. This
was taken as evide nce that thei r work was d ivinely
sa nctioned.

of the empi re, such as Asia Minor, could travel to a
very d iffe rent pan, such as North Africa, and be su re
to find people with whom they shared a common
language; they would also see many recogn izable
Gree k structures and arch itectu ral forms a nd so feel
a measure of famil ia rity even in an otherwise for-
eign city. In this way Alexander laid the fou ndations
for the cosmopolis ("world city") and made possible a
new sense of interconnectedness among peoples and
a reas that were formerly disparate and distinct.
Hellenization and the jews
Scholars refe r to the spread of Greek cultu re outside
the borders of Greece as "Hellenization ." from the
Greek word for Greece (He/las). j ewish responses to
Hellen ization va ried widely. The fact that some j ews
enthusiastically embraced Greek ideas and customs
while others forcefully rejected them as contrary to
the jewish way of life created serious tens ions in the
j ew ish commun ity. Certain jews became so enam-
o red of Greek culture that they abandoned their an-
cestral trad itions a nd rituals and began living like
Greeks. There were jewish men who so desi red to
blend in with non-jewish (uncircumcised) males at
the gy mnasium that they underwent a spec ial sur-
gery to hide the evidence of circumcision so that
when they exercised nude, they would not sta nd
out as d ifferent. On the other hand, there were
many jews, particularly in non-urban areas, who
staunchly rejected all Greek ideas and custOms.
The Maccabean Revolt
Meanwhile, j udea's rulers worked to break down
jewish resistance to Helleni zation. For over a century,
judea was controlled by the Ptolemies, a Greek dy-
nasty descended from one of Alexander's generals that
had ruled Egypt since 305 BCE. In 198 BCE, however,
a rival Greek dynasty named the Seleucids, who al-
ready ruled Syria, took control of judea. The territory
around jerusalem became known in Greek as Ioudaia,
and a person from there was called an loudaios.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175- 163 BCE) was
a Seleucid who strongly advocated assimilation to
3 jewish Traditions
Greek culture within the territOries he ruled. To
that end, he proh ibited both the readi ng and the
teach ing of the Mosa ic Law, commanded that Torah
sc rolls be burned, and made observation of the
Sab bath (the seventh day) a c rime punishable by
death. He also ordered that women who had had
their sons circumcised be put to death; the First
Book of Maccabees (one of several texts excluded
from the Hebrew and Protesta nt canons but in-
cluded in Catholic and Eastern O rthodox Bibles)
contai ns gruesome stories of mothe rs executed
with their sons' bodies tied a rou nd their necks (e.g.,
1 Maccabees 1:60- 1)
All th is was extremely painful fo r the jews to
endure, but Antiochus's most egregious actions of
all were d irected against the Temple, where the
ruler erected alta rs to other gods and placed a statue
of Zeus in the sanctuary courtyard. On Yahweh's
alta r he sac rificed pigs- animals conside red inap -
pro priate for Is raelites to eat, let alone offer in ven-
eration of the ir deity. It was th is act that the Book
of Dan iel desc ribes as an "abomination" (9:27).
Antiochus also inte rvened in the selection of the
Temple's h igh priest, replaci ng the legitimate priest,
Ornias lll, with his more Hellen ized brother j ason
in excha nge for money; then , when offe red an even
large r bribe by an even more Hellenized ca nd idate
named Menelaus, Antiochus promptly replaced
jason in turn. Whe n the j ews revolted agai nst this
interfe rence, Antiochus furthe r restricted jewish
practices. His ultimate goal might well have been
to promote pol itical unity rathe r tha n tO erad icate
the j udeans' religion, but s ince religion in antiquity
was inte rtwined with all aspects of life, the judeans
interpreted h is actions as a comp rehe nsive attack on
their way of life.
jews who refused to transgress the laws of their
faith (e.g., by eati ng pork o r leav ing thei r sons unci r-
cumcised) were often tortured and put to death. The
graphic descriptions of these persecutions in 1 and
2 Maccabees suggest that some o f these people un-
derstood them to be signs that the end of the world
was imminent. This apocalyptic perspective is also
reflected in chapters 7- 12 of the Book o f Daniel,
which describe the toppling of Antiochus from h is
World Religions: Western Traditions
th rone; as noted earlier, these chapte rs are thought
to have been writte n in the same period.
The Hasmonean Family
In 167 BCE, a family of priests known as the
Hasmoneans mounted a successful uprising against
Amiochus IV Epiphanes and Hellenized Jews. From
a village on the outskirts of jerusalem, they were led
by J udah , who with his brothers coord inated a band
of fighters who knew the hills and gullies of the land
well. Together they engaged in a guerrilla-S!yle war-
fare that proved unexpectedly effective against the
Syrian a rmy. Judah 's impressive power as a figh ter
and leader ea rned h im the nickname "Maccabee"
("the Hammer"), from which the revolt as a whole
derives its name. The Maccabeans recaptured
the Temple, purged it o f foreign idols and impure
animals, and rededicated it to its rightful deity in
164 BCE. It is th is rededication of the Temple that is
recalled by the annual Hanukkah holiday.
Establish ing the mselves as cl ient kings of the
Seleucids, the Hasmoneans ruled from 164 to
63 BCE in preca rious semi-independence d uri ng
a time of profound sectarian d iscord and civ il war.
Focus
Hanukkah
Hanukkah, the Festival of lights, commemorates
the return o f the Temple to the j ews by Judah the
Maccabee a nd h is brothers. According to the Talmud
(BT. Shabbat 21b), when the Temple was purified ,
only one vial of oil with the seal of the j ewish hjgh
priest could be found to light the seven-branched oil
lamp called the menorah. This amount of oil should
have run out after one d ay, but- miraculously- it
lasted for eight d ays. For this reason Hanukka h is
celebrated by lighting a ca ndle on a special me no-
rah called a Hanukkiah for eight consecutive days
and eating foods cooked in oil, such as pot.ato
In time many of them willingly adopted Hellen istic
culture. In 63 BCE, howeve r, the Roman gene ral
Pompey secu red Jerusalem and made the state a
vassal of Rome, bringi ng jewish self-rule to an end.
A Variety of Judaisms
An astonishing variety of j ewish groups emerged
d uring the latter pan of the Hasmonean period.
The n as now, there were competing views about
who was a j ew, what it meant to be a Jew, and how
jews should relate to non-j ews. Because of this
diversity, it is more acc urate to refe r to "judaisms"
than "Judaism" in the Second Temple period. A brief
look at some of the groups active nea r the end o f the
period demonstrates this d iversity.
Sadducees and Pharisees
The Sadd ucees came primarily from the uppe r
echelons of society, and most were wealthy. They
made up most of the membersh ip of the Sanhedrin,
the local j ew ish cou ncil. Sadducees had close con-
nections with the priests in cha rge of the Temple
cult, and most of them we re priests themselves.
latkes (pancakes) and suJganiot (doughnuts with
jam or caramel in the ce nter). Gambling games with
spin ning tops called d reidels are frequently played
at Hanukkah . Dreidels made outside Israel have
a single Hebrew lette r on each o f thei r fou r sides:
nun , gimel, hay, and shin. These Jeuers stand for the
Hebrew word s meaning "A great miracle happened
there," a reference to the mirac ulous event of the oil.
On dreidels made in Israel, the letter shin is replaced
by pay, indicating that the events took place in Israel
itself: "A great miracle happened here."

Document
Josephus on Jewish Sects
Born to a priestly family ill Jerusalem, josephus (37- c.
100 CE) was a jewish historian who described to Roman
readers the complicated religious situation ill the j udea
of his day.
Now at this time there we re three schools o f thought
among the jews, which held different opinions con-
cerning human affai rs; the first being that of the
Pharisees, the second that of the Sadducees, and the
third that of the Essenes. As for the Pharisees, they
say that certain events are the work of fate, but not all;
Sadducees were respons ible for the smooth ru nning
o f the Temple, in particula r the sacrificial system.
They emphasized the need for jews to be properly
involved in th is cultic worship in accorda nce with
the Torah. For the Sadducees, the Torah- that
is, the Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses- was
the only authoritative text, and they demanded a
narrow, lite ral inte rpretation of the law. They be-
lieved in neither a futu re resurrection of the dead
nor a future Day of j udgment when humans would
be held accountable for their deeds on earth: in thei r
view, th is life was the only one.
The Pha risees, for their pa rt, sought tO apply
Halakhah to eve ryday life. The New Testa ment,
partic ularly the Gospel of Matthew, inte rprets th is
focus as narrow a nd legalistic, even hypocritical
(the Oxford English Dictionary lists "hypocrite" as
one of the meanings of "Pharisee"). What has ofte n
been ove rlooked, however, is the competitive con-
text in wh ich the Gospels were written: from the
pe rspective of the Gospel writers, the Pharisees
were their rivals. And one of the most effective ways
to undermine the power of rivals is to portray them
in a negative light. Thus reade rs fam iliar with the
New Testa ment ough t not to accept at face value its
portrayal o f Pha risees as nit-pic king legalists.
'
3 jewish Traditions I OJ
as to other eventS, it depends upon ourselves whether
they shall take place or not. The sect of Essenes, how-
ever, declares that Fate is mistress of all things, and
tha t nothing befalls men unless it be in accordance
with her dec ree. But the Sadducees do away with
FaLe, holding that there is no such th ing and that
human actions are not ach ieved in accordance with
her decree, but that all th ings lie within our power,
so that we ourselves are responsible for our well-
being, while we suffer mis fortune through our own
thoughtlessness. Oosephus 1930- 1965 311- 313)
The Pharisees sought to understa nd how a jew
should live in o rder to please God. In a modern
setting, they would be the people holding Bible
study classes and po ring over the scriptures in an
effort to u nde rsta nd what God intended human
bei ngs to do. They had a social consc ience and we re
conce rned with what it meant to live thei r daily
lives in accordance with the Torah. In contrast to
the Sadducees, the Pha risees tended to interpret the
sc riptu ral text broadly. They practised a lmsgiv ing,
prayer, and fasti ng, and they believed in the resur-
rection and future Day of j udgme nt. For them the
entire Tanakh was sac red and worthy of study.
Among the ir conce rns were the Torah 's instruc-
tion s regardi ng matters such as food purity, Sabbath
obse rvance, and family issues. The Pha risees wok
it o n the mselves to clarify poi nts that were vague
or confusing. Fo r exa mple, in the Decalogue jews
a re instructed to keep the Sabbath day holy (Exodus
20:8- 11; Deute ronomy 5:12- 15). But what did that
mean in practical terms? If it mea nt refraining from
work on the Sabbath, how did one define "work"?
The Pha risees provided interpretations a nd formu-
lated a nswe rs tO such questions; they also estab-
lished rules and instructions to help jews observe
the law. In due course, these teachings atta ined
World Religions: Western Traditions
the status o f d ivinely revealed law and came to be
know n as the Oral Law or Oral Torah. In developi ng
their interpretations and regulations, the Pharisees
were not trying to split hai rs: their goal was to u n-
derstand what God had com manded so that th ey
could obey and help other j ews do likew ise.
In 70 CE the Romans destroyed the Second
Temple, and it was neve r rebuilt. The Pharisees we re
one of the only groups to survive; by the second cen-
tu ry CE, those who would have bee n called Ph ar-
isees in an earlier time we re refe rred to as rabb is
(from rav, the Hebrew term for "teache r"). Thei r o ral
trad ition likew ise survived and developed furth er
under the rabbis, who inherited the Pha risaic inter-
pretations and added their own. Accordi ng to rab-
binic tradition, God gave Moses the O ral Torah at the
same time as the written ve rsion. Finally, the 0 raJ
Torah was written down and cod ified arou nd the
yea r 220 CE by J udah ha-Nasi ("Judah the Prince")
and in th is writte n form is called the Mishnah.
Essenes
The Essenes a re ge nerally held to have bee n the a u-
thors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of texts
Focus
Purim
Purim is a joyful and exubera nt mi nor j ew ish h ol-
iday that falls around March. The Book of Esth er
tells how the Jews of Pe rsia were saved from the ev il
plot of a Pe rsian official named Hama n, who sought
to exte rminate them (the word "purim" means
"lots," a refe rence to the lottery by which Hama n
determined the date of h is attack on the Jews). At
the center of the story a re Esther, a wise and beau-
tiful Jew ish woman, and he r uncle, Mordecai, who
together preve nt the destruction of the j ews. Since
the holiday celebrates delive rance from a physical
th reat, it calls for great happiness and me rriment,
prod uced between the second a nd fi rst ce nturies
BCE that were discove red acc identally by a Bed-
ouin shephe rd searching the judean hills for a lost
sheep in 1947. These important manuscripts shed
light on how the Essenes- a monastic community
of meticu lously obse rvant priests- were organ ized ,
initiated newcomers, and viewed the world. In
addition, the Dead Sea Scroll library contai ns the
earliest manusc ripts o f eve ry book of the Hebrew
Bible (some in fragmented form only) except, for un-
known reasons, the Book of Esthe r.
Cultic purity- a bodi ly state in wh ich one is suf-
ficie ntly pure to be acceptable to enter the sac red
spaces of God- was of the utmost importance for
the Essenes; like the Pha risees, they sough t to apply
the Bible to daily life, but in a much more rigor-
ous manner. They established thei r community
at Qumran in the j udean dese rt afte r expressi ng
their d isapproval of the way the Hasmonea ns were
ru nning the Temple cult. They held an apocalyp-
tic worldview, believi ng that the world was u nde r
the control of evil forces and that God would soon
intervene to defeat the powe rs o f darkness. The
Esse nes thought of themselves as the new children
of Israel, biding their time until the day when, with
with a focus on material rathe r than spiritual things.
Whe n the Book of Esther is read in the sy nagogue,
membe rs o f the congregation use noise makers or
bang pots and pans to d rown out every mention of
Haman's name. The re is also a festive meal at wh ich
guests are expected to d rin k enough wine that they
ca nnot distinguish between "Blessed be Mordecai"
and "Cursed be Haman." As in the North American
celebration of Halloween, there are costume parties
and gi fts of food, especially hamantaschen, cookies
(traditionally filled with poppy seeds) that are sup-
posed to resemble the ea rs o f Haman.

Th ree-cornered hamantaschen cookies. filled
with poppy seeds or fruit jam. are eaten during
the jewish holiday of Purim. Their name derives
from the Yiddish word homantasch. from Haman
(Haman. the villain in t he Book of Esther) and
lash (pocket). In Hebrew, the cookies are called
Oznei Haman. literally "Haman·s ears."
God's help, they would take back the Promised
Land from what they saw as the corrupt leadership
of Hellen ized jews.
Therapeutae
The Therapeutae were a monastic g roup living near
Lake Mareotis in Egypt. In sha rp contrast to the
monastic Essenes of Qum ran, the Therapeutae
included women as well as men in the ir commu-
nity, and although the sexes lived and ate sepa-
rately, they would meet tO worsh ip, s ing hymns,
and dance together. Members of the community
renounced private property and family life, lived
their lives in devotion to God, prayed at sun rise
and sunset, and spent the rest of their time in study
o r worship.
Zealots
The Zealots did not exist as an o rgan ized group
until well into the first century CE. In contrast to
the Sadducees, who found ways of mollifying the
Roman authorities, the Zealots vehemently refused
'
3 jewish Traditions 103
to cooperate with Rome; in fact, they encou raged
fellow jews to engage in violent rebellion. The result
was the First jewish Revolt (66- 73 CE), in the course
of which most of jerusalem, includ ing the Second
Temple, was destroyed and much of the j ew ish pop -
ulation eithe r killed or forced into slavery.
Other Temples
Although the Temple in jerusalem was supposed
to be the central focus of jewish worship, in fact
it was not the only j ewish temple in existence.
In addition to the Samaritan temple on Mount
Gerizim, there were two temples in Egypt. One was
built on Elephantine (an island in the Nile) in the
fiflh century BCE to se rve a jewish military colony
in service to the pharaoh; it appears to have been
destroyed within a century. The othe r was con-
structed in the second century BCE at Leontopolis
(north of modern Cai ro) by the h igh priest Onias Ill,
who had been removed from h is office by Antio-
chus IV Epiphanes, and lasted until 73 CE The
existence of these othe r places of worship is often
ove rlooked by scholars.
Other Visions of the Future
Fu rther expressions of dive rsity can be seen in the
var-ied expectations for the future held by jews in
th is period. Some hoped for a messiah to lead them
out from under the opp ressive hand of t he Romans.
As has been noted, the te rm "messiah" comes from
the Hebrew mashiach, "anointed one." Until the end
of judean monarchic rule in 586 BCE, the term re-
fe r red exclusively to the current Hebrew king; some
time late r, the Pe rsian king Cyrus, who allowed the
return of the jews exiled in Babylonia, was also hon-
ored as a mashiach (Isaiah 45). By Hellenistic times,
however, the idea of an "anointed" king had moved
out of the world of current possibility and into the
realm of anticipation: now the mashiach was the
ideal future k ing whom God would raise up and
empower to lead Israel to victory over its enemies.
The Essenes, in fact, awaited two messiahs: one a
king, and one a priest.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Not all expectauons centered on a mess1ah ,
however. Some Jews hoped for the estabhshment
of a new covenant between God and h1s people,
while others looked forward to a new era of justice
and equality. There were also those who looked
forwa rd to a time when jerusalem would become
centra l to the world, and all peoples would wor-
ship God at Mount Zion. The range o f thought
regard ing the futu re IS simi larly broad among
modern Jews.
Points of Consensus
01versny of expeCLauons notwnhstandmg, a degree
of consensus did exist concernmg cenam funda-
mental factors of Judaism dunng this period. The
majority of j ews, regardless of sect. believed in:
l. The oneness of God. By the Second Temp le
period, j udaism was a monotheiStiC trad ition
centered on the idea of a single, all-powerful
creator-god.
2. The authority and sacred nature of the Torah.
3. The special status of Israel as the chosen
"people of God." Who exactly was mdud ed
m the "people of God" was a pomt of con-
tention (as it continues to be m the modem
state of Israel). But there was a general belief
not only in the existence of a "people of God"
but also in that of a "land of God." The Iaue r
point is illustrated by the trad ition, still prac-
ticed today, of givmgallthe agncultu ral la nd
in Israel a "sabbath" every seven years, when
it 1s allowed to he fallow.
-f. The status of the Temple m Jerusalem as the
place where God and hiS people met.
Fmally, it is important to note that the majority
of jews in late antiquity d1d not belong to any of
the sects d iscussed above. Most people went about
their daily lives observ ing the aspects of the Torah
that thei r parents, and their parents' pa rents before
them, had deemed important.
~ Enter the Romans (63 BCE)
Conflicts among the Hasmonean leaders eventually
led to a bloody c1vil war. In 63 BCE the Roman gen-
eral Pompey was called to j udea to seule the nvalry
among the various contenders for the Hasmonean
th rone. Instead, he took control of the land. Thus
began approximately four centuries of repressive
Roman rule over Judea.
Herod the Great
In 37 BCE the Romans put an end to the Hasmonean
dynasty by appomtmg Herod the Great as kmg of
IsraeL Herod 's governance style was marked by ex-
travagant self-mdulgence, brutality, and deception,
yet he was one of the most vibrant and successful
leaders in all of jewish h istory, cleverly balancing
Roman and jewish interests. Nevertheless, because
he was not of judean desce nt-his ancestors were
Idumeans, converts to Judaism who inhabited the
territory JUSt south of Judea- many Jews did not
accept Herod's rule as legitimate.
Herod was mdeed de,·oted to Rome and
Hellemsuc culture, but he made manr advances
on behalf of judean culture and religion. He also
greatly 1mproved the quahty of life for the peas-
antry by extending irngation systems and reducmg
lawlessness and band itry. The kingdom of j udea
prospe red under his leadersh ip. At the same time,
he was pathologica lly suspicious, prepa red to kill
any member of the forme r Hasmonean dynasty who
might possibly threaten h is power, including h1s
wife Mariamme and three of his sons. After the1r
murders he was frequently tormented with gUilt.
Perhaps ll IS no wonder that Augustus, who was
emperor of Rome from 27 BCE to 14 CE and a fnend
of Herod 's, IS sa1d to have declared that he "would
rather be Herod's p1g than Herod's son."
Herod ennched his kingdom by establish-
ing new cities, such as Caesarea Maritima on the
Medite rranean coast, and new fortresses, including
the Antonia in jerusalem, Herod ion just south of
je rusalem, and Masada. He built many impressive

Focus
Monotheism
MonOLheism- the belief in and worsh ip of a single
god, creator of the unive rse- is a central feature of
j udaism and is considered one of the fundamen-
tal teachings of the Torah. Yet there is ev idence in
the Hebrew Bible that polytheism (the belief in and
worship of multiple gods) was not only practiced by
the Israelites du ring the preexilic pe riod, but was
acceptable to much of the population. Israelites
worshiped fertility gods such as Ba'al and Asherah
public structures, including temples, aqueducts,
and theaters. But h is most famous project was the
renovation of the Temple in jerusalem. He replaced
what had been a rather modest building, more
than four centuries old, with a stunningly beautiful
structure on a much-enlarged site. Even those who
did not particularly like Herod were moved by th is
project honoring the national religion.
The Rabbinic Period (70-700 CE)
The traditions of the Pharisees outlived those of
all the other groups of Second Temple judaism,
except for the Samaritans. The interpretations
of the rabb inic movement , wh ich incorporated
the Pharisaic traditions, have defined jewish be-
liefs and pract ices for the past 2 ,000 years. The
teachers and religious leaders who helped to steer
jewish communities after the devastating loss of
the Temple in 70 CE replaced sacrificial worsh ip-
never practiced again- with liturgical prayer and
a new emphasis on ethical behavior, such as the
giving of alms.
Synagogues (the term comes from the Greek
for "gathering together") already existed while
the Temple still stood; the earliest archaeological
'
3 jewish Traditions lOS
along with Yahweh , who was initially pe rceived as
a national deity. Through thei r battles with other
I'
•
peoples and their gods, as well as their internal I
struggles with allegiances to multiple de ities, the Is-
raelites eventually became pe rsuaded that Yahweh
was the sole god of the un iverse. The belief in one
god is a central tenet today not only for jews, but
also for Christians and Muslims.
.. -t_:a::_-
~·
evidence for them comes from late-third-century
BCE Egypt. But they gained in importance once the
Temple was gone. Communal gathering places in
which jews met to read the Torah, to pray, and to
study, synagogues by the first century CE we re scat-
tered across the Roman Empire, wherever there was
a community of jews.
The fact that texts and interpretations, ratherthan
a particular place, became the central focus of juda-
ism helped those scauered communities maintain a
sense of un ity regarding religious culture, language,
and customs. Because of the centrality of Torah
study to judaism, literacy rates tended to be higher
among jewish males than among their non-jewish
counterparts. If most jewish boys learned to read,
however, it seems that girls and women were- with
one possible exception- excluded from Torah study
on the grounds that women's primary domain was
the home.
That possible exception was Beruriah, the daugh-
ter of one great scholar and the wife of another. Ac-
cording to the Babylonian Talmud, she learned 300
Jaws from 300 scholars in one day (BT Pesah 62b).
Accord ing to another story (BT Berakhot lOa), when
her husband prayed that some local troublemakers
would die, Beruriah rebuked him: "Why would you
World Religions: Western Traditions

Solomon's Temple was dest royed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. but it was rebuilt and rededicated following
the return from the Exile. Five centuries later. the Second Temple was renovated and expanded on the orders
of Herod the Great. A model of jerusalem in his day (the late first century BCE). including the refurbished
Second Temple (above: scale I:50), was constructed under the direction of Michael Avi-Yonah, former profes-
sor of archaeology at Hebrew University, and opened to the general public in 1966. Now located at t he Israel
Museum in jerusalem. it is a popular attraction and educational site.

pray for that? Because the psalm (104:35) says 'Let
sins cease'? Does it say 'sinners'~ No- it says 'sins.'
Besides, look at the end of the verse: 'And they are
wicked no more.' Once sins have ceased, the people
won't be wicked any more. So you should be pray-
ing that they w ill repent and be wicked no more."
He prayed for them, and they repented.
Another example exhibits Beruriah 's superior
awareness of the rabbinic law, as well as her supreme
confidence in demonstrating this awareness to
well-established rabbin ic scholars. Rabbi Yosi t he
Galilean was going along a road when he met
Beruriah. He said to her, "By which road shall we
go to Loci?" She said to him, "Galilean fooll Did not
the sages say, 'Do not talk too much with a woman'
[Mishnah Avot 1:5, BT Nedarim 20aP You should
have said, 'By which to l od?'" (BT 'Eruvin 53 b).
Was Beruriah a historical figure? If so, does th is
mean that women in rabbinic ci rcles were indeed
permitted LO study Torah~ O r did the rabbis invent
her in order to demonstrate the danger of educat-
ing women~ According to one medieval t radition,
Beruriah committed suicide after being seduced by
one of her husband 's students; undoubtedly, this
story was meant as a warn ing against permiuing
women to study Torah.
The lim iting of Torah study to males was not un-
usual for the era in which the rabbis were writing
(between roughly the second and sixth centuries
CE). What may be somewhat surpris ing is that the
Talmud contains rulings concern ing a husband's
sexual obligations to his wife. The rabbis outlined
a set of laws (based on Exodus 21:10) in which
three necessities are highlighted as rights that a
wi fe can expect from her husband: food , cloth ing,
and marital rights. The last of the th ree is under-
stood to refer to sexual re lations. The Talmud, in
its commentary on this verse, specifies how often

Sites
The Western Wall. Israel
The on ly remnant of Herod's Temple still standing
is one of the outer retaining walls, tOday known as
the "Western Wall" (kotel in Hebrew). Religious jews
around the world consider it a sacred place because
of its association with the Temple, and it is treated
with great respect. When leaving the wall, for ex-
ample, people walk backwards, to avoid turning
the ir backs on it. Large rectangular stones with bor-
ders around their perimeters, located at the wall's
base, date to the time of Herod the Great. Subse-
quent layers were added by the various Islamic re-
gimes that controlled the area between the seventh
century and 1967. After the state of Israel gained
control of East jerusalem in the Six-Day War of
that year, the wall area was designated an open-air
A woman is deep in prayer on the women·s side of the Western Wall. Also visible are some of the many prayer
requests that the faithful have stuffed into the cracks.
'
3 j ewish Traditions 107
synagogue; as a consequence, no photos of the wall
may be taken on the Sabbath.
Trad itionally, people write personal prayers and
leave these notes in the cracks of the wall. Since
antiquity jews have gathered before the Western
'Nail to mourn the loss of the Temple that once
stood beh ind it. On the Ninth Day of Av (Tis ha
b'Av in Hebrew)- the day on which , accord ing to
legend, both the First and Second Temples were
destroyed- thousands of jews gather in the plaza
in front of the wall to express their sorrow. Leather
shoes are not worn on this day, since the comfort
of leather is considered a luxury that is inappro-
priate at a time of mourn ing. On Tisha b'Av, there-
fore, one often sees the incongruous sight of Haredi
continued
World Religions: Western Traditions
men wearing plastic fl ip-flops or wh ite tennis shoes
under their long black coats.
The a rea in from of the wall is sex-segregated,
with men p ray ing on the left and women on t he
right. In January 2016, after three years of negoti-
ations among Israeli authorities and liberal Israeli
and American jewish g roups, the Israeli govern-
ment app roved a plan to establish a mixed-gender
prayer space at the Weste rn Wa ll. Th is move was
lauded by liberal jews as a sign ificant step towa rd
a man must provide sex for his wife based on h is
profession, since what he does for a living will affect
how long he is away from her and how physically
tired he is: "Men of independent means: every day;
workmen: twice a week; ass drivers: once a week;
camel d rivers: once a month, and sailors: at least
once every six months" (BT Ketubbot 5:6). If a hus-
band does not fulfill his duty, he must divorce h is
wife so that she can remarry and have her sexual
needs met by someone else. On the one hand, given
the period in which the Talmudic commentary
was composed, th is acknowledgment of women's
sexual needs seems rather progressive. On the
other hand, these laws may have been based on the
understanding that women's sexuality was so pas-
sive that they were not capable of asking for sex,
or, alternatively, that women were not capable of
controlling the ir sexuality and thus must be satis-
fied. The same laws, by prohibiting men from taking
vows of abstinence, increased the likelihood of pro-
creation. This is hardly surprising: afte r all , the
rabbis of the Talmudic period considered Genesis
1:28 to be the fi rst mitzvah (commandment) in the
Bible: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth."
By the end of the first century CE, the majority
of jews were liv ing outside judea. The total jewish
population was probably between 5 and 6 mill ion,
and jewish communities could be found in every
major city of the Roman Empire. The jewish quarter
the acknowledgment of their rights in Is rael,
whe re Orthodox jewish authorities control almost
eve ry component of j ewish life. In june 2017, how-
eve r, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
announced that he would suspend the proposal.
Right-wi ng Orthodox jews form an importa nt pan
of the p rime min ister's coalition gove rn ment, and
they have increasi ngly expressed their opposition
to the plan.
of Alexandria, wh ich was one of the three largest
cities in the empire (after Rome and Antioch, in
what is now southern Turkey), had approximately
200,000 inhabitants by the first century CE.
Another Clash with Rome
The last major jewish revolt against Roman rule
LOok place between 132 and 135 CE. It is associated
with a messian ic figure named Shimon Bar Kosiba,
who was called by h is supporters Bar Kochba ("son
of the Star," a messian ic title from Numbers 24:17)
but was known to his critics as Bar Koziba ("son of
the Lie" or "Liar"). The revolt was likely prompted
by the emperor Hadrian's plan LO establish a Roman
city on the remains of jerusalem and a temple to
j upiter Capitolinus on what had been the site of
the Temple. The revolt- a last gasp of revolution-
ary fervor on the pan of the jews- failed miserably,
and Hadrian's plans were carried out. Those jews
who had been living within the precincts of jeru-
salem were now driven out and warned that if they
tried to return LO the city they faced death. It was at
this time that, in an auempLLO rid j udea- a Roman
province since 6 CE- of any rem inders of its
jew ish inhabita nts , the Romans renamed it "Sy ria-
Palestina." Until the establishment of the state of
Israel in 1948 judaism would be predominantly a
religion of the Diaspora.

Rabbi Hillel
Rabbi Hillel was a popular teacher who was active
bet wee n 30 BCE and 10 CE a nd hence an older con-
tempora ry of jesus o f Naza reth . A hu mble wood-
worker who became the leade r o f a religious school
(yeshiva), he was renow ned for h is piety. Accord-
ing to a fa mous sto ry, an impe rtinent non-j ew once
came to Hillel and sa id that he would convert to
j udaism if the rabbi could recite all of the Torah
while standing on one foot. Hillel reportedly told
him: "What is hateful to you, do not do to you r
neighbor: that is the entire Torah. The rest is com-
menta ry; go and learn it!" Whe reas Hillel was said
to have been len ient in h is interpretation of the
Torah, his compatriot and rival, Rabbi Sham mai,
took a stricter, more literal view. More tha n 300
arguments between the House of Hille l and the
House o f Shammai are recorded in the Talmud, a nd
in most cases it was Hillel's interpretation that the
rabbin ic scholars followed.
The Androcentric Perspectives
of the Rabbis
The foundational lite rature of rabbi nic j udaism
reflects the interests and conce rns of male rabbis.
Women generally we re excluded from the rabbinic
hiera rch ies o f achievement and exempt from those
rituals and activ ities conside red to be most me ri-
torious, such as the study of Torah a nd the perfor-
mance of mitzvot (the plural of mitzvah, meaning
"com mandments"). Women were typically expected
to fulfill only those command ments that we re neg-
ative ("you shall not .. .") a nd not time-bound (i.e.,
rituals that d id not have to be performed at a certai n
Lime). While rabbinic Halakhah gave wome n more
freedom and protection than biblical law d id, and
the rabbis made it possible for some women to in-
herit, control, and d ispose of property, the status of
most women- in particula r, wives and unmarried
minor daughters- was dearly subordi nate to that
o f men in all a reas of life: j ud icial, religious, sexual,
a nd economic.
'
3 jewish Traditions 109
On the other hand , non rabbinic evide nce such
as inscriptions demonstrates th at some women
d id se rve as heads o f synagogues (archisynagogos)
in the a ncie nt world, particula rly in the Greco-
Roman Diaspora, and th at othe rs we re patrons
and be nefactors o f both civ ic a nd religious institu-
tion s . Wh ile it is true that these wome n would h ave
belonged to the elite and so been a fforded opportu-
nit ies that most women were not, they remind us
o f how important it is to di fferentiate between the
idealized li fe o f the j ewish woman that the rabbis
presc ribed in thei r writing and the realities of the
lives that actual j ewish women lived in antiqu ity.
It was- alas- the ideali zed image, not the flesh
and blood reality, that would dete rmine the norms,
roles, and expectations for jewish wome n in subse-
q ue nt centu ries.
Two Main Rabbinic Centers:
Palestine and Babylonia
Afte r the Ba r Kochba revolt, j uda is m developed
under the guidance of the rabbis, the successors of
the p riestly leaders of the previous pe riod. The re
we re two main centers of development: the Galilee
region of northern Palestine, and Babylon ia, wh ich
was now ruled by the Parth ians. Relations between
Palestinian jews and the Romans eve ntually cal med,
and an a rrangeme nt was forged between the two
for me r enem ies in which the j ews were granted the
same treatment as othe r minorities of the empire,
with the extra privilege of exemption from pagan
cuh ic obse rvances. Roman leaders recognized the
j ew ish patriarch , a descendant of Rabbi Hillel, as
the central political leader of the j ew ish commun ity.
But the situation for j ews deteriorated as the th ird
century progressed, primarily because of a gene ral
decline in economic and political ci rcumsta nces
across the Roman Empire that left Palesti ne rela-
tively impove rished.
In gene ral, cond itions we re bette r for Babylo-
nian j ews at th is time. When the Persian Sassanids
replaced the Parth ians in 226 CE, jews experienced
some persecution as a result of the Sassanids'
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
Mishnah and Gemarah: The Talmud
The wriuen version of the Oral Torah , the Mish nah,
is divided into six "orders," each of wh ich deals with
a particular sphere of li fe and the laws that govern
it, although some also add ress othe r subjects. The
names of the orders reveal thei r central topics: Seeds
(laws of agricultu re), Appointed Seasons (laws gov-
erni ng festivals, fast days, and the Sabbath), Women
(laws govern ing marriage, divorce, betrothal, a nd
adulte ry, as well as those gove rning vows), Damages
(civil and criminal law, a nd the most commonly read
section of the Mishnah , the "Sayi ngs of the Fathe rs," a
collection of ethical maxims), Holy Things (Temple-
related matters such as sacrifices, ritual slaughter,
and the priesthood rituals), and Purities (issues of
ritual purity a nd impurity).
The writing of the Mishnah in the early third
centur y CE did not mark the end of rabbi nic com-
mentary, however. Over the next few centu ries,
rabbis in both Babylonia and the land of Israel con-
tinued to study and inte rpret trad itional teach ings,
includ ing the Mishnah. Thei r commenta ries a re
referred to as Gemarah (from an Aramaic root th at
efforts to promote thei r own religion (Zoroastrian-
ism), but by the middle of the centu ry their zeal
for conve rsion had waned. Thereafte r, the Pe rsian
rulers a llowed the jews extensive autonomy unde r
the ir communal leader in exile, the exilarch. Inte l-
lectual activity flou rished as a result of the efforts
o f two thi rd -century rabbis named Samuel and
Abba Arikha. Rabbi Samuel was a wealthy Baby-
lonian scholar on good te rms with the Pe rsian em-
pe ror, and eventually he established an academy
in Neha rdea that was later moved to Pumbed itha.
Rabbi Arikha was a Palestin ian rabbi who arri"ed
in Babylonia in 219 and int roduced Babylonian
jews to the Mishnah. He founded an academy at
means "teaching"), and they we re transm iued orally
from teacher to student (just as the Oral law had
been). The Gemarah contains both Halakhah (legal
material) and Aggadah (narrative material). Aggadah
includes historical material, biblical commentaries,
philosophy, theology, and wisdom literature.
Eventually, this commentar y also was wriuen
down. The Gemarah produced in Palestine was
wriuen dow n in the early fifth century and in its
wriuen form is called the Palestinian (or j erusa-
lem) Talmud. About a century later, the Gemarah
produced by Babylonian rabbis was written down
and is refe rred to as the Babylon ian Talmud. It was
the latter that gai ned predom inance in the jewish
world, so that any general reference to "the Talmud"
is understood to refer to the Babylonian Talmud.
The two Talmuds are compend ia o f law, interp reta-
tion, a nd argument that offer what may be desc ribed
as a "slice o f life" from the rabbinic academies of the
time, si nce the disc ussions they present (in stream-
of-consciousness fashion) often go round and round
be fore reach ing a conclusion.
Sura. These schools rivaled and eventually su r-
passed in prestige the rabbinic schools of Palesti ne,
th riving as cente rs of jewish scholarship until the
eleventh century.
The Rise of Christianity
When the Roman emperor Constantine I gave
Christians the Iibert y to practice their faith in the
year 313, he began a process that led to Ch ristianity
becoming, in 380, the official religion of the Roman
Empire. Henceforth all inhabitants of the Byzantine
Empire were expected to follow the Ch ristian faith.
Obviously, th is did not bode well for jews.

Christian attitudes toward jews had been shaped
in la rge part by the earliest history of Ch ristianity,
includ ing the incontrove rtible fact that Ch ristian-
ity had begun as a jewish sect. jesus was jewish, as
were h is ea rliest disciples, but his message had had
only modest success among jews. By the end of the
second century, most of the people who were joining
the movement were Gentiles (non-jews). In time, as
leaders of Christian communities sought to differen-
tiate their movement from judaism, te nsions devel-
oped, especially with certai n Gentiles who identified
themselves as Ch ristians but chose LO adopt jewish
practices such as ci rcumcision, obse rvance of jewish
dietary laws, or synagogue attendance. Since these
'judaizers" were unde rmining Christian efforts at
differentiation, Christian leade rs such as Paul sought
to dissuade them from such practices. In h is letter
to the Galatians (c. SO CE), for example, Paul urged
Gentile Ch ristians not to tie themselves to "a yoke of
slave ry" (5:1) by observing the jewish Law, while the
author of the late-first-century Epistle of Ba rnabas
chastised the judaizers in his own commun ity for
"heaping up you r sins a nd say ing that the covenant
is both theirs and ours" (4:6).
Others arg ued that Ch ristianity had super-
seded judaism: justin Martyr, author of the
second-century Dialogue with Tryplw, decla red that
Ch ristia ns had replaced jews as "the true and spir-
itual Is raelite nation, and the race of Judah and of
j acob and Isaac and Abraham" (11:5); elsewhe re
he asserted that circu mcision was com manded of
the j ews to set them apart for su ffe ring: "That you
alone should su ffe r the things you a re rightly suf-
fering now, and that your lands should be desolate
a nd you r cities burned with fi re, and that foreigne rs
should eat up the fruits before your face, and none
of you go up unto jerusalem" (16:2). In response
to Christians in Antioch, Sy ria , who were still
atte nd ing synagogue services in the fourth century,
the bishop of that city, john Chrysostom , preached
some of the most vehement ami-jewish se rmons in
Ch ristian history, condemn ing the sy nagogue as "a
whorehouse and a theatre . . . a de n of th ieves a nd
a haunt of wild animals" (Against the ]udaizers 1.3).
Although th is rhetoric was originally directed at
'
3 jewish Traditions Ill
Christian Judaizers, it would eventually be repu r-
posed for use against j ews.
Othe r ea rly Christian literature, such as the
Gospel of Matthew, explicitly blamed the jews for
the death of jesus (e.g. , 24:26); th is cha rge would
be recycled in late r centu ries whenever te nsions
between jews and Christians were high. The same
Gospel conta ins a diatribe against jewish leaders
that has unfortu nately been inO uential in the for-
mation of anti-jewish attitudes: "Woe to you scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like wh ite-
washed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful,
but within they are full of dead men's bones and all
unclean ness . .. . You se rpents, you brood of vipers,
how are you LO escape bei ng sentenced to he IP"
(Matthew 23 27, 32).
By the early fifth ce ntury the Roman Empire
was dec idedly Christian, and the continu ing
vitality of j udaism was see n by some as contrary
to Christian inte rests. New laws were introduced
to rest rict jewish religious a nd comme rcial activ-
ities. jews were forbidden to hold public office,
build new sy nagogues, or marry Ch ristians. They
were a lso prohibited from ow ning Christian slaves.
Biblical law offered certa in protections tO j ewish
slaves (i ncl udi ng the possibil ity of ma numission),
a nd, although it was forbidden for a master to
force the conversion o f a slave, the fact that many
slaves voluntarily convened tO j udaism may have
been o ne of the reasons beh ind the prohibition.
At a time when slavery was an integral pan of the
agric ultural system o f the Roman Empire, this in-
junction meant that j ews had no hope of compet-
ing economically with Christia n farmers (Efron et
al. 2009: 134). It also rep resented a first step in
the alienation of j ews from the land , a development
that by the Middle Ages would transform them into
a n almost enti rely urban people.
Certain Christia n leade rs favored bann ing
j udaism entirely and presenting j ews with the
same options that the Ro mans had given Ch ristia ns
themselves in the third century CE: conve rsion or
death. In fact, the Visigothic king Sisebut, ruler of
Spain from 612 10 62 1, implemented th is approach
as official policy when he forced j ews to choose
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
The jewish Calendar
The Gregoria n calendar used in the Western world
is a solar calenda r, based on the solar yea r of 365.25
days. The jewish calenda r is a lunar calenda r, based
on 12 months of 29.5 days. Since these numbe rs
add up to 354 days for a luna r year- about 11 days
shorter than a solar year- any given date in the
lunar calendar will move backwards each year by 11
days. In orde r to ensu re that holidays and festivals
consistently fall around the same time of the yea r,
the jewish calendar adds a th irteenth "leap month"
(called Adar Sheni, "second Adar") on a fixed sched-
ule of 7 years out of every 19. In ancient times the
rabbis used to set the calendar based on the d irect
obse rvations of witnesses who had seen the new
moon, but a round the fourth or fi fth century CE
a calibrated written calendar rende red this system
unnecessary. Today trained experts make the as-
tronomical calculations, and festival dates and leap
months are established far in advance.
According to the Gregorian solar calendar, a
new day begins at midn ight- the first moment of
between conversion to Christianity, exile, and
death. A much longer-lasting approach, first ror-
mulated in the fifth century by Augustine of Hippo
in his City of God and later accepted by Pope Greg-
ory I (r 590- 604) as chu rch policy, was less rad i-
cal but nonetheless devastating for jews. Augustine
wished jews to se rve as an example of the con-
sequences of not accepting jesus as the mess iah.
To that end , he proposed that jews should not be
e radicated; rather, they should be allowed to live: in
s uffering. To justify his position, Augustine quoted
a ve rse from Psalms 59:11, in which David, the an-
cient k ing of the Israelites, says of h is enem ies: "Do
not destroy them, lest my people forget."
the morn ing. By contrast, the jew ish day begins at
nightfall, which is defined as the time when at least
three stars can be see n in one glimpse of the sky. A
jewish day goes from one evening to the next; thus
the Sabbath begins at nightfall on Friday eve ning
and ends at nightfall on Saturday. This is in accor-
dance with the description of the first day of cre-
ation in Genesis 1:5- "And there was eve ning and
there was morn ing, the first day"- in which eve-
ning is mentioned first.
By convention, the j ew ish calendar counts the
years from the creation of the un iverse, based on the
life spans and time periods mentioned in the biblical
text. This number is not taken too literally, though,
since eve n people who consider the c reation story in
Genesis to be an accurate account of events acknowl-
edge that the biblical references to time periods may
not be reliable. All jews, howeve r, accept the system
as a mauer of convenience. The Gregorian calendar
year "2018 - 2019" is the year "5779 Since the Cre-
ation" in the j ew ish calenda r (Wylen 1989: 67).
~Jewish Life Under Islam:
Seventh to Twelfth Century
In the early seventh century a new force appeared
that would shape the course of jewish h istory:
Islam. With in a few short decades, Muslims had
seized Palestine and Egypt from the Christian Byz-
antine Empire and Persia from the Pe rsian Empire,
and by the end of that century most of the world's
jews resided in a unified Islam ic Empi re encom-
passing territOry from the Iberian Peninsula in the
west to India in the east. As a consequence, jews in
Palestine, Egypt, and Spain were liberated from the

inj ustice and oppression they had wleraLed under
antagonistic Christia n rulers. Muslims conside red
judaism and Christianity their partners in mono-
theism and respected them for possessing, as did
Islam, a divinely revealed book. Thus jews a nd
Christians livi ng under Islam were defined as dhim-
mis ("protected peoples") and guaranteed protection
of their lives and property, as well as the right tO
practice thei r religion, as long as they paid special
ta xes and adhered to ce rta in rules stipulated in a
document called the Pact of Umar.
For jews, life under Muslim rule was consider-
ably bette r than it had been under Ch ristian Rome.
Lacking the complicated history sha red by Ch risti-
a nity and judaism discussed earlier,Jewish- Muslim
relations were less fraught with tension. In addition,
Muslims understood that with jews they shared not
only belief in a si ngle god, but opposition to the use
of images in the worship of Yahweh/Allah. Hence
they tended to be less suspic ious of jews than of
Christians, whose doctrine of the Trinity and per-
vasive use of cruc ifixes overtly contradicted Islamic
principles.
The period of European decline often called
the "Da rk Ages," from the seventh to the th irteenth
century, was a time of great advances for Islam.
And since the majority of the world's jews lived
in the Islam ic Empire, they were benefic iaries of
its prosperity. jewish involvement in u rban trade
a nd comme rce increased; by the end of the eighth
century more jews in the Muslim world we re active
in commerce than in agriculture. Arabic, formerly
the language of a small tribal populaLion, was now
the language of a vast culture and replaced Aramaic
as the jewish lingua franca.
The Gaonic Period
In 750 CE, the Abbasid dynasty overth rew the Um-
ayyads, and as a result the capital of the Musl im
caliphate moved from Damascus to Baghdad. The
j ewish academies at Pumbed itha and Su ra likew ise
moved tO Baghdad in the ninth and tenth centuries,
respectively, and there atLracted jewish students from
'
3 jewish Traditions 113
all over the Muslim world. They also atLracted letters
from rabbis, who asked the leaders of the academies,
known as Gaonim , questions about problematic
cases involving such d iverse issues as d ivorce, inher-
itance, and commercial enterprises. Their answe rs tO
these questions, called responSll , reflected thei r inter-
pretations of Talmudic laws and provided the foun-
dation for later legal and philosoph ical developments.
The mai n opposition to the Gaonim came from
the Karaites ("scripturalists"; from the Hebrew qara',
"to read"). Founded in Iraq in the eighth centu ry by
Anan ben David, the Karaite movement maintai ned
that only the Tanakh was authoritaLive and rejected
the principle that the rabbinic interpretations of the
Oral Torah (cod ified in the Talmud) had the status of
divinely revealed truth. Ben David sought to make
the Bible the exclusive source of legal authority,
encouraging individual jews tO read and interpret the
(w riuen) Torah for themselves, and to favor the plain
meaning of the words in thei r context over creative
rabbinic explanaLions such as the mid rash of Lilith.
The Karaites gained significant popular support and
from the tenth to twelfth century even threatened
to surpass the rabbis in Status. jews supportive of
Talmudic scholarship were referred to as "Rabban ites"
in order to distinguish them from the Ka raites. Be-
cau se of the Ka raites' emphasis on individual in-
terp retation, their movement was characterized by
division and disunity. Nevertheless, their impact on
the rabbinic world was important: they were the first
jews to make an intensive study of Hebrew grammar
and the manusc ript traditions of the Bible, and they
innuenced the codification of the Hebrew text of the
Bible in the tenth centu ry. It was largely because
the Muslim authorities recognized the Rabbanites as
the official representatives of judaism that they were
eventually able to prevail ove r the Karaites. But small
communities of Ka raites still exist today in Israel,
Tur key, and elsewhere in the Diaspora.
Mairnonides
By the begin ning of the eleventh centu ry, the Islamic
Empire had fractu red into a numbe r of regional
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
Ashkenazim. Sephardim. and Mizrahim
Over time, three d istinct cultural traditions took
shape among the wo rld's Jews. The oldest by far
o rigi nated in Babylonia with the exiles who d id
not return to judea in the six th century BCE- the
fi rst members o f the Diaspora. These j ews, and all
the others whose ancestors remained in the gen-
eral region o f the Midd le East, eventually came to
be know n as Mizrahim (from the Hebrew mean-
ing "East"). Since many Mizrah i j ews come fro m
Arab countries, the language most closely asso-
ciated with them is Arabic, but othe r languages
a re also spoken among the m, such as Persian
and Kurdish. Othe r j ews made thei r way west to
Eu rope. Those who settled on the Ibe rian Peninsu la
(modern Spain and Portugal) came to be known as
Sephardim (from the Hebrew for "Spai n"), wh ile
those who tu rned north tOward France a nd Ger-
many became the Ashkenazim (from the Hebrew
for "Germany"). From the eighth century until the
fi ftee nth , the Sephard ic commun ities fared sign ifi-
cantly bette r unde r the Musli m rulers of Al-Andalus
powers, and as a consequence Iraq no longer dom i-
nated the Musli m world . At the same time the inOu-
ence of the Gaonim was waning, a nd instability in
Baghdad prompted ma ny jews to leave Babylonia for
more promising lands.
Some Babylonian jews headed tO Spain, whe re
under the Umayyads (who had established the m-
selves there afte r thei r defeat by the Abbasids in the
eighth century),jewish culture was blossoming. But
that period too came to an end when a puritan i-
cal Musli m sect from Morocco called the Almohads
invaded d uring the twelfth century and banned
both j udais m and Christianity. Many j ews fled
Spai n as a result.
than did the Ash kenazic commun ities of Ch ristian-
dominated Europe.
These two groups are distinctive from one
another in language, food, and ce rta in religious
rituals. l adino (a blend of medieval Spanish and
Hebrew that is writte n in Hebrew cha racters) is
traditionally associated with Sephardic j ews, while
Yiddish (a Ge rman-based language with in fluences
from Hebrew and other languages that is written
in Hebrew cha racters) is the lingua franca of the
Ashkenazic community. In te rms o f culinary d if-
fe rences, at Passover Sephardic j ews eat rice, corn ,
and beans- all foods that lack leaven as an ingre-
dient and so comply with the Passover proh ibition
on foods made with yeast (such as b read)- but
Ashkenazic Jews avoid such foods because when
they are cooked they rise and expand j ust as leav-
ened foods do. In addition to ligh ti ng two candles
on Sabbath eve, Sepha rdic j ews light candles in
honor of fa mily me mbers who have died. Mizrah i
jews te nd tO follow Sephard ic religious practices.
Among the Jewish families that escaped the
Almohad persecution was that of a judge named
Mai mon. His son, Moses ben Maimon, bette r
know n as Moses Ma imonides (1135- 1204), would
become one of the most famous Jewish philosophers
and legal scholars of the Islamic age, identified in
religious texts as "Rambam" (R-M-B-M, the ac ro -
nym of "Rabbi Moses ben Maimon").
Moses ben Maimon was only a child when his
fam ily left Spain, goi ng first to Morocco and then to
Palestine. As an adult, he ultimately established him-
self in Egypt- one of the central hubs of jewish li fe
and at that time u nder the control of the renowned
Salah al-Oin (Salad in), the fi rst sultan of Egypt. jews

Document
Maimonides. Guide of the Perplexed:
On Image (tzelem) and Likeness (dem ut)
People have thought that in the Hebrew language
image denotes the shape and configuration of a
thing. Th is supposition led them to the pure doc-
trine of the corporeality of God , on account of His
say ing: "Let us make man in ou r image, after ou r
likeness" (Gen. 1:26). For they thought that God has
a man's form, I mean his shape a nd configuration.
The pure doctrine of the corporeality of God was
a necessary consequence to be accepted by them.
They accord ingly believed in it and deemed that if
they abandoned th is belief, they would give the lie
tO the biblical text; that they would even make the
De ity to be noth ing at all unless they thought that
God was a body provided with a face and a hand,
like the m in shape and configuration. Howeve r, His
lbodyl is, in thei r view, bigger and more resplen-
dent than they themselves, and the matter of wh ich
He is composed is not flesh and blood. As they see
it, this is as far as one can go in establish ing the
separateness of God from other things. Now with
respect to that wh ich ought to be said in o rder to
refute the doctrine of the corporeality of God a nd
tO establish His real unity- wh ich can have no true
reality unless one disproves His corporeality- you
shall know the demonstration of all of th is from th is
treatise. Howeve r, here, in th is chapter, only an ind i-
cation is given with a view to elucidating the mean-
ing of image and likeness.
As for the term likeness (demut), it is a noun de-
rived from the verb damah (to be li ke), and it tOO
signifies likeness in respect of a notion. For the
Scriptural dictum, "I am like a pelican in the wil-
derness" (Ps. 102:7), does not sign ify that its author
'
3 j ewish Traditions liS
resembled the pelican with regard to its wings and
feathers, but that h is sadness was like that of the
bird. In the same way in the verse, "Nor was any
tree in the garden of God like it in beauty" (Ezek.
31: 18), the likeness is with respect tO the notion of
beauty. Si milarly the verses, "Thei r ve nom is in the
likeness of the venom of a serpent" (Ps. 58:5), and
"His likeness is that of a lion that is eage r to tear in
pieces" (Ps. 17:12), refe r both of them to a likeness in
respect of a notion and not with respect to a shape
and a configuration. In the same way it is said, "the
likeness of a throne . . . the likeness of the throne"
(Ezek. 1:26), the likeness referred tO bei ng in re-
spect of elevation and subli mity, not in respect of a
th rone's square shape, its solid ity, and the length of
its legs, as wretched people th ink. A si milar expla-
nation should also be applied to the expression, "the
li keness of the liv ing creatures" (Ezek. 1:13). Now
ma n possesses as his proprium someth ing in him
tha t is very strange as it is not found in anything else
tha t exists under the sphere of the moon, namely,
intellectual apprehe nsion. In the exercise of th is, no
sen se, no part of the body, none of the extrem ities
are used; and therefore this apprehension was lik-
ened to the apprehension of the Deity, wh ich does
not require an instrument, although in reality it is
not like the latter apprehension, but only appears so
to the first stirrings of opinion. It was because of this
someth ing, I mean because of the divi ne intellect
conjoi ned with man , that it is said of the latter that
he is "in the image of God and in His likeness" (Gen.
1:2 6- 7), not that God, may He be exalted, is a body
and possesses a shape. (Twersky 1972: 246- 247)
World Religions: Western Traditions
were generally treated well at Saladin's court, a nd
Maimonides became the personal physician to a
high offic ial.
Maimonides was a prolific write r, produc ing
the famous 14-volume code of Jew ish law ca lled
Mishneh Tora h (in Heb rew) as well as various
treatises on medici ne and logic. His most import-
a nt ph ilosoph ical work, howeve r, was The Guide
of the Perplexed, o rigi nally wriu e n in Arabic. P re-
sented as if add ressing a single student's unce r-
tainties about the truth of judaism , the Guide was
d irected tO jews at la rge who we re "perplexed"
by the challenges of livi ng in a cosmopolitan and
philosophically soph isticated environ ment that
tested their faith. Usi ng Gree k philosophy, panic-
ularly that of Aristotle, Ma imonides sought to di-
mi nish the tension betwee n faith and knowledge
a nd emphasized th at science (i.e., lea rn ing) ought
not to undermine fa ith. He believed that all t he
biblical comma nd ments we re rational, although
some were easie r to unde rstand tha n others , and
he a rgued against the lite ral inte rpretation of
sc ripture. As he ex plai ns in the boxed exce rpt
from the Guide, biblical language th at describes
God anth ropomorphically- that is, la nguage that
attributes hu man qualities to God- is intended
o nly to make God understa ndable to humans and
should not be interpreted lite rally.
Medieval j ewish thought was deeply inOue nced
by Isla m. Musli m writers and th inkers had tra ns-
lated into Arabic nu me rous scienti fic and ph il-
osophical works of the Greeks (such as th ose of
Plato, Aristotle , and Plotinus) that emphasi zed the
primacy of rational though t and h uman reason
ove r revelation as the best sou rce of knowledge
about the world . Musli ms conside red the Gree k
philosophical trad ition to be part of their culture
a nd d id not see it as alien or threatening to t he
revelatory foundation o f Islam. jewish intellectuals
such as Maimon ides were also inspired by Muslim
thi nke rs to u nde rtake the challe nge o f connecting
phi losophy to religion. In turn, Jewish th inkers
in the Islamic world in Ouenced Jew ish thought in
Ch ristian Eu rope.
~J ews in the Christian
World: Seventh to Fifteenth
Century
Christian Europe between the seventh and twe lfth
centu ries was largely a feudal agricultural society in
wh ich peasants farmed la nd owned by the wealthy
in exchange for thei r protection. Jews, however,
belonged mainly to the urban me rchant class and
relied on protection from the gove rnme nt. j ewish
intellectual life nourished in France and Germa ny,
but elsewhe re in Europe Jews faced undercu rrents
of hostility that at times would surge into waves of
persecution, expulsions , or both.
Perhaps the best-known expuls ion was the one
ordered by the Spanish Christian monarchs Fer-
di na nd and Isabella in 1492. Hav ing finally taken
Spain's last Muslim stronghold, in Granada, they
completed their "reconquest" of the land by com-
mandi ng that the j ew ish population either convert
to Chris tianity or leave the country that had been
their home for centuries. W hen Christophe r Co-
lumbus left Spain in August 1492 on the voyage that
would ta ke h im to the "New World," he was forced
to set sail from a small port in the south because
all the country's major po rts we re so congested by
departing j ews. or the tens of thousands who left,
most sought refuge in the Ottoman Tu rkish Empire.
The re they were welcomed by Sulta n Bayazid II,
who recognized the potential value to his empire
of what were, in ma ny cases, h igh ly skilled refu-
gees. To th is day, some Tu rkish j ews still speak the
Sephard ic language, Lad ino.
The Spanish Inquisition
In o rder to avoid expulsion, other Spanis h j ews
d id conve rt to Christia nity, but some of these
"Conversos" (a nd their desce ndants) would con-
tinue to practice j ewish rites in sec ret. They were
not the first. As ea rly as 1481, Ferd inand and
Isabella h ad petitioned the pope fo r permission
 '

3 j ewish Traditions 117

Map 3. 1 Expulsion and Migration of jews from Europe. c. 1000- 1500 CE

R U SS I A

a Kharkov

MAGHREB

• Town from whiCh jews were expelled

• Town. at the bme underChristian ruler.
provid1ng Jews with refuge
• Town. at the bme underMusl•m ruler.
provid1ng Jews with refuge
~ D1rectJon and date of majOf m1gration
of jews following expulsion
D.tlleS a«otnp;~l'l)'lllg name olt.own or rcgt0t1
u:fa lO CJq:~uiSIOn of Jew~ Source: I.R. al Faruqi and D.E. Sophet. Historical Atlas of !he
Religions of !he W«ld (New York: Macmtllan. 1974): 148-9.

to establish a n Inq uis ition to root out a nd punish The Kabbalah

s uch he resy. Know n for the ruthlessness o f both
its interrogation methods and the pun ishments
it imposed, the Spa nish Inqu isition established
trib unals in ma ny c ities with the goal o f fi nding
a nd executi ng those Conversos (also refe rred to
as Ma rranos, "swine") who had not abandoned all
j ew ish tradi tions. More tha n 13,000 Conve rsos
we re put on tria l during the fi rst 12 yea rs of the
Spanish Inq uisition.
Pe•haps in response tO the pain caused by the
exp ulsion, many jews wok a renewed interest in mys-
ticism, particularly the tradition known as Kabbalah
(fro m the Hebrew term meaning "to receive"). Al-
tho ugh Kabbalah itself appears to date from the
twelfth century, some of itS teachings a re said to have
been passed from teacher to student as far back as
Moses, and perhaps ea rlier. Certai nly the biblical
World Religions: Western Traditions
Book of Ezekiel abounds in prophecies and mystical
visions of the divine, and there was a long tradition of
Hekh alot ("Palaces") literature recounting visionary
ascents into the heavenly palaces of the divine. In the
Jewish mystical tradition, the devout individual can
experience di rect revelation of God, usually th rough
meditation or ecstatic prayer. This tradition devel-
oped in new ways in the Middle Ages, in fluenced in
pan by the Islamic mystical trad ition of Sufism.
The most autho ritative Kabbalah text (actually a
collection of texts) is a commenta ry on the Five Books
of Moses called the Zohar ("splendor" or "radiance"
in Hebrew). Though written as if its author were the
second-centu ry rabbinic sage Sh imon bar Yochai,
it is gene rally thought to have been written (in
Aramaic) by Moses de Leon, a thi rteenth-century
Spanish- jewish mystic who immersed himself in
the works of the great Jewish thinkers of the Islamic
world, including Maimon ides.
Kabbalists refer to God as the Ayn Sof ("Without
End" or "Infinite" in Hebrew), for God is consid-
ered to be beyond thought, beyond form, beyond
gender- in effect, the unknowable c reator. What can
be known about God are aspectS of his divine bei ng
that connect the created world with the unknowable
div ine source of all creation; in other words, the
powers of the Ayn Sof flow through them, reveali ng
him to the world . Kabbalists call these aspects- of
which the re a re 10 - Sefi rot, which literally means
"numbers" but is usually t ranslated as "emanations"
or "channels" of God's creative energy and power.
The Sefi rot are Keter!Crown, Hokhmah/Wisdom,
Binah/Understanding, Hesed/Lov ingkindness, Ge-
vurah/Might, Tiferet/Beaut y, Hod/Splendor, Netz.akhl
Victory, Yesod!Foundation, and MalkhuUSovereigmy.
Each is an aspect of the Ayn Sof that radiates from
the divine sphere into the created, material realm,
and each one is interlinked with the others. Kab-
balists a re to spend thei r lives seeking not only to
understand the Sefirot and their inte rrelations, but
also (through the Kabbalists' own actions, thoughts,
and words) to modify these interrelations.
But why should humans intervene in such divi ne
mauers? And how can they possibly do so? The Zohar
answers these questions by explaining that at the
beginning of creation (in the Garden of Eden), the
powers of the Sefi rot were perfectly in balance. But
this balance was disturbed when humans began to
d isobey God (when Adam and Eve ate of the forbid-
den fruit). According to the Zohar, the Torah was given
to Israel to provide a way of restoring the Sefirot to
thei r original harmony. Each time a jew fulfills a com-
mandment of the Torah, a small positive sh ift occurs
that helps to bring the Sefirot into balanced align-
ment. Likewise, every time a commandment is not
fulfilled, the Sefi rot are pushed into further disarray.
When perfect balance is achieved, the divine powers
will flow unhindered, just as they did at the beginning
of creation. Some of the earthly manifestations of har-
mony among the Sefirot will include the return of the
Jewish people to the land of Israel and the ascension
of all humankind (including non-Jews) to Mount Zion
in Jerusalem in order to worship God- the Ayn5of-
through sacrificial offerings at the Temple. Hence-
forth, all will live in love, unity, and obedience to God.
Isaac Luria
An enormously influential later scholar of the
Kabbalah was Isaac Luria (1534- 1572), a jew who
was born in Jerusalem and, after some time in Egypt,
moved to the northern Palestinian city of Safed in
1569 He did not live there for long- he d ied just
three years later, at the age of 38- yet he and h is dis-
ciples transformed the city into the center of Jewish
mysticism that it remains to this day. Unfortunately,
Luria did not write his teachings down, but what we
know about them from his students' writings reveals
that they were extremely complicated and creative.
One of the better-known components of lu rianic
mysticism is the concept of tikkun ("mending" or
"restoration" in Hebrew). The basis of this idea is
Luria's understanding of how the un iverse was cre-
ated. First there was the tz.imtz.um ("contraction"): in
order to make room for the world, the Ayn Sofhad to
create an empty space. Since he was everywhere, it
was necessary for God to contract pans of h imself-
a step that Luria interpreted as a type of d ivine exile.
Next, divine light surged from God into the empty
space, taking the form of the 10 Sefi rot as well as

Document
Welcoming the "Sabbath Queen"
Isaac Luria developed a number of mystical rituals that
are still practiced today even by Jews who have no inter-
est in mysticism. One example is the ritual of Kabbalat
Shabbat, welcoming the "Sabbath Queen." On Friday
night, the eve of the Sabbath, Luria and his disciples
would go to the periphery of the city of Safed and tum
their faces toward the setting sun. There they would wel-
come the "Sabbath Queen" by reciting several psalms
and then singing a poem called "L'cha Dodi" ("Come My
Beloved"). Composed in 1529 by the Kabbalist scholar
Solomon Alkabez, it invites Jews to gather and greet the
Sabbath, which is personified as a bride. Today congre-
gations of all types continue to sing this song at Friday
night services just before the official beginning of the
Sabbath. In many synagogues, members of the congre-
gation stand for the final stanza and turn to face the
door in order to "greet" the Sabbath bride. The following
the fi rst man: Adam Kadmon ("primal man"). Out
of the eyes, nose, and mouth of Adam Kadmon the
light streamed, and this created vessels that held the
light. But the vessels were unable to contain such
div ine power, and so they exploded into luminous
fragments that became trapped in the created world.
In this way, thought Luria, ev il entered creation.
As the Zohar maintained, Luria held that jews had
the capacity to reverse this dismal situation, for the
divine sparks longed to be liberated from their mate-
rial abode and returned to thei r original state; through
prayer, SLUdy, and the performance of mitzvot, jews
could assist in the process of "restoring the world,"
or tilllwn olam . For the generation of jews struggl ing
with the afte rmath of their community's expulsion
from Spain, the idea that individual rel igious acLS
make a difference was empowering. At the same time,
the concept of the Ayn Sofs fragmentation du ring the
creation process and the resulting introduction of evil
'
3 j ewish Traditions 119
is a translation from the Hebrew of the first and last
stanzas.
Come, my beloved, with chorus of praise,
Welcome Bride Sabbath, the Queen of the days.
"Keep and Remember"!- in O ne divine word
He that is One, made h is will heard;
One is the name of him, One is the Lord!
His are the fame and the glory and praise!
Come in thy joyousness, Crown of thy lord;
Come, bringing peace to the folk of the Word;
Come where the faithful in gladsome accord ,
Ha il thee as Sabbath-Bride, Queen of the days
Come where the faithful are hymning thy praise;
Come as a bride cometh, Queen of the days!
(Hertz 1960: 357, 259)
into the world offered a way of understanding the suf-
feri ng that jews were expe riencing in their lives.
Sabbatai Zvi
Messianic expectations swelled in the year 1666,
when a student of Lu rian ic Kabbalah named
Sab batai Zvi was declared the messiah in l zm ir,
Tu~key. A number of mystically oriented jews aligned
themselves with him, and together they marched on
the sultan in Istanbul, where they camped outside
the city walls. The sultan initially paid no attention,
but when the group did not leave, he had Zvi put in
prison. Ultimately, Zvi was offe red the choice of con-
version to Islam or death. He chose to convert and
changed his name to Aziz Mehmed Effendi. Although
the majority of h is followers became d isillusioned
and abandoned him, some of them interpreted Zvi's
conversion as a d ivinely sanctioned act. Therefore
World Religions: Western Traditions
they too converted to Islam but continued to follow
jewish mystical practices in secret. Descendants of
this sect still live in mode rn Turkey, where they a re
known as the Donmeh ("returners" in Turkish).
Eastern Europe
For centuries, Ashkenazic Jews had tended to I ive
in thei r ow n com munities, separated tO some extent
from the Ch ristian mainstream of European life. By
the ea rly sixteenth century, howeve r, many places
were beginn ing to enforce segregation. Among
them was the Republic of Venice, whose na me for
its Jewish quarter, the "gheLLo," became the common
term for such districts, some of which were enclosed
by h igh walls. Meanwhile, pe rsecution had been
push ing many jews fa rther east. The fe udal leaders
in Poland welcomed them, and seve ral areas of east-
ern Europe became home tO a vibrant Ashkena zic
j ew ish culture in which the vernacular was Yiddish.
j ews lived in largely Jewish urban areas where th ey
cou ld practice their faith without obstruction.
In 1648, however, a revolt against the Polish
Roman Catholic nobil ity by Ukrain ian Greek
Orthodox Cossack peasants brought this peaceful
pe riod to an end. j ews, who had developed ties with
the nobility th rough commercial activ ities, were
also targeted by the rebels. This prompted many
Ashkenazim to leave Poland a nd move west, back
into the regions from which their ancestors had ned.
Hasidism
In the mid-eighteenth century, in the southea st-
ern Polish province of Podolia, a h ighly in nuential
movement emerged to cou nter the rabbin ic leaders
o f the day, who exagge rated the necessity of sch ol-
a rsh ip as a means of know ing God and as a res ult
dismissed uneducated jews. Members of this group
called themselves Hasidim (from the Hebrew word
for "piety"). The charis matic fou nde r of Hasidis m ,
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 - 1760), came to be known
as the Baal Shem Tov ("Master of the good name"
in Hebrew) or "Besht" (an ac ronym). An itinerant
healer and teacher, the Besht encou raged his fellow
j ews to worship God with joy a nd delight, from the
heart rather tha n the head. LiLLie is known about
his personal life, as he left no written record apart
from a few lette rs. What is known comes from the
stories of his d isciples, who clai med that he had
supe rnatu ral powe rs, including the ability to heal
ill ness and even to rev ive the dead. A collection of
those sto ries, entitled In Praise of Lhe Baal Shem Tov,
first publ ished in 1815, is an early example of one
of the most valuable legacies of Hasidic cultu re: sto-
rytelling. Today the movement continues to nourish
in certai n j ew ish com munities. Hasidic men in par-
ticular are easily identified by their long black coats,
black hats, and substantial beards and side locks.
In keeping with the Besht's emphasis on deep
religious feeling rather than scholarsh ip, Hasidic
leade rs are not rabbinic schola rs but cha rismatic
ind ividuals known as tzaddikim ("righteous men")
whose authority is based on what a re believed tO be
thei r supe rnatural powe rs; Hasid ic teach ing goes so
far as to asse rt that "whateve r God does, it is also
within the capacity of the tzadd ik to do" (Efron eta!.
2009: 264). Hasidim believe that th rough a personal
relationsh ip with a tzaddik it is possible for an ord i-
nary person to attain a State of devekuL ("aLLachment"
or "cleaving" to God). Thus the relationsh ip between
a tzaddik and h is disciples tends to be very close,
and Hasid im address their tzadd ik by the Yidd ish
title Rebbe instead of the more formal "Rabbi." By
the early n ineteenth century it was believed that a
tzadd ik could trans mi t his cha risma to h is sons, and
in this way Hasidic leadership became dynastic.
With the passage of time, many subgroups of Ha-
sidism developed. Of those that have survived , the
largest and best known today is Chabad. Named for
three concepts that it cons iders central- chokhmah
(wisdom), binah (reason), a nd da'aL (knowledge)-
it was founded in the late eightee nth century by
Rebbe Shneur Zalman (1745- 1813) and today is
widely know n as Chabad- Lubav itch, a fte r the
Russian tow n that was its base for many years.
Chabad's adherents, often refe rred to as Lubavitch-
ers, follow many o f the traditions and prayers es-
tablished by Isaac Luria. Fo r example, like Luria
they attribute human suffering tO the fragmentation
of the godhead, and their siddur (p raye r book) fol-
lows the same arrangement as Luria's. In 1940 the

Document
A Rabbi for a Day
Jacob ben Wolf Kranz, the famous "Preacher of Dubno,"
was born in Lithuania around 1740 and died in 1804.
He was known both for his scholarly ability and for his
down -to-earth, often humorous stories that subvert con-
ventional assumptions. In the following tale,for example,
one might assume that the distinguished rabbi would be
more clever than his driver.
The famous Preacher of Dubno was once journey-
ing from one tow n to a nothe r delivering h is learned
se rmons. Wherever he we nt he was received with
enthusiasm and accorded the greatest honours. His
driver, who accompan ied him on th is tou r, was very
much impressed by all th is welcome.
One day, as they were on the road, the drive r
said, "Rabb i, I h ave a great favour to ask of you.
Whereve r we go people heap honou rs on you. Al-
though I am o nly a n ignorant d river I'd like to
k now how it feels to receive so much attention.
Would you mind if we were to exchange clothes
for o ne day? The n they'll think I am the great
preacher and you the drive r, so they'll honour me
instead I "
Now the Preache r of Dubno was a man of the
people and a merry soul, but he saw the pitfalls
awaiting h is drive r in such an arrangement.
"Suppose I agreed- what then) You know the
rabbi 's clothes don't make a rabbi! Wh at would you
do for learn ing? If they were to ask you to explain
some d ifficult passage in the Law, you'd only make a
fool of yourself, wouldn't your'
"Don't you worry, Rabbi- ! a m willing to take
that chance."
commun ity fled wartime Europe and set up a sy n-
agogue in New York; its offic ial headqua rters are in
the Crow n Heights section of Brooklyn. Menachem
Mendel Sch neerson (1902- 1994), who assumed
the leadership in 1951, turned the movement
'
3 jewish Traditions 121
"In that case," said the preacher, "here are my
clothes."
And the two men u nd ressed and exchanged
clothes as well as their callings.
As they entered the town all the jewish
inhabitants turned out to greet the great preacher.
They conducted h im into the sy nagogue wh ile the
assumed d rive r followed discreetly at a d istance.
Each man came up to the "rabbi " to shake hands
and to say the customary: "Sholom Aleichem, learned
Rabbi!"
The "rabbi" was thrilled with h is reception. He
sat down in the seat of honour surrounded by all the
sch olars a nd dignitaries of the town. In the mea n-
time the preacher from his corner kept h is merry
eyes on the d river to see what would happen.
"Learned Rabbi," suddenly asked a local scholar,
"would you be good enough to explain to us this
passage in the Law we don't understand?"
The preacher in h is corner chuckled, for the pas-
sage was indeed a difficult one. "Now he's sun k I " he
said to h imself.
With kn iued b rows the "rabbi " peered into the
sac red book placed before him, although he could
not understand one word. Then, impatie ntly push -
ing it away from h im, he addressed himself sarcas-
tically to the learned men of the tow n, "A fi ne lot of
sch olars you are! Is th is the most d ifficult question
you could ask me) Why, th is passage is so si mple
even my driver could explain it to you!"
The n he called the Preacher of Dubno: "Drive r,
come he re for a moment and explai n the Law to
these 'scholars'!" (Ausubel 1948 21- 22)
into a dominant force in Judaism by significantly
expandi ng its international activities and fou nd ing
a worldwide organ ization whose goal is to reach out
to jews by sending out shlichim ("ambassadors" in
Hebrew) to promote Chabad- Lubavitch j udaism
World Religions: Western Traditions
within jewish commun ities around the world. In
so doing, lubavitchers believe that they hasten
the com ing of the Messianic Age. In fact, some of
Rebbe Schnee rson's followers believed he was the
j ew ish messiah (although he denied it) and called
him the "Moshiach" (the lubav itcher pronunciation
of "Mashiach"). All lubavitcher homes d isplayed h is
portrait, and followers regularly sought his blessi ng.
Even now, 20 yea rs after h is death, some devotees
still conside r him the messiah, though others fi rmly
reject the idea. The reverence with which he was
treated by h is followers Jed many jewish critics,
from both the right and the left, to decry what ap-
peared to be the personality cult that had developed
around h im. Despite the criticism and the fact that
no successor has yet emerged to replace Schnee rson,
A poster in jerusalem shows the ''Lubavitcher
Rebbe," the late Menachem Mendel Schneerson
(1902- 1994). and proclaims that "The King. the
Messiah Lives! ..
Chabad continues to grow: it now claims more than
200,000 adhe rents, and up to a million j ews attend
Chabad services at least once a year.
Hasidim Versus Mitnagdim
The eighteenth centu ry was a dark time for eastern
European j ews. Poor, downtrodden, and politically
disenfranchised, they needed hope to rev ive them,
and Hasid ism prov ided it. The Baal Shem Tov taught
that everyone, no mauer how impoverished or
uneducated, could commune with God, for God was
everywhere. The Hasid ic emphasis on community
and equality also struck a chord. Hasidic worship
was marked by swaying prayer, ecstatic dancing,
and joyous singing to melodies that would eventu-
ally shape the musical styles of synagogues across
denominational lines, as well as secular j ew ish
music (especially klezmer).
Initially, learned scholars resisted Hasid ism.
A group called Mitnagdim ("Opponents" in
Heb rew) objected in particula r to the introduction
of Kabbalah- traditionally the preserve of Talmu-
dic maste rs and mystical adepts- into the daily
li fe of the masses, saw the tzaddik as a th reat to
the authority of the rabbis, and were disturbed that
the Hasidim paid little attention eithe r to Torah
study or to dignified deportment du ring prayer. To
curtail the spread of the movement, the Mitnagdim
urged jewish communities to shun Hasid im. But
thei r efforts were in vain. By the ea rly nineteenth
centu ry almost two-th irds of eastern Eu ropean
jewry had joined the movement, and today Hasi-
dim make up an important component of Orthodox
judaism (explained in the following section).
~ The Modern Period
Haskalah : The Jewish
Enlightenment
In the eighteenth century, a numbe r of Eu ropean
philosophers a rticulated a program for fostering
the rad ical freedom of indiv idual thought. At a time

when Europe was dominated by monarch1c govern-
ments m league with Christian authonues, Enhght-
enment thmkers argued that md1v1duals should
be able to judge for themselves what was nght and
wrong. The French Revolution (1789-1799) ended
feudal ism and overturned the Catholic all iance with
the French monarchy in favor of freedom, equal-
ity, and brotherhood. As the Enlightenment swept
through western Europe,Jews benefited from its em-
phasis on reason, tolerance, and matenal progress.
Restncuons were lifted: the walls of the ghettos fell.
and jews were free to li"e where they w1shed. Some
countnes gave jews cilizensh1p, wh1ch opened up
opportumues for them to vote, auend umvers1ues,
and choose the1r own occupations m ltfe.
It was in response to these developments that
one of the most important movements in the his-
tory of Eu ropean jewry was launched: the Haskalah
Uewish Enlightenment). As doors began open-
ing for jews. leaders of the Haskalah advocated a
restructunng of jewish education to devote less time
to the Talmud and more to other subjects. such as
modern languages and practical sk1lls, that would
help jews Integrate (without ass1m1laung) mto
European SOCiety. The German ph1losopher Moses
Mendelssohn (1729- 1786) recogmzed that, after so
many years of hving behind ghetto walls, jews had
become mward-looking and segregated from the rest
of society. He urged his fellow German jews "to be a
jew at home and a German on the street" and encour-
aged them to speak German rather than Yiddish-a
language he considered to be a degraded form of
German. To facilitate the latter shift, Mendelssohn
pubhshed his own German translauon of the Bible
(in Hebrew characters), along wnh a Hebrew com-
mentary. The ·new jew" envisioned by proponents of
the Haskalah would be both a commuted adherent
of juda1sm and a full participant tn modern culture.
Modern Branches of judaism
The adaptation o f traditional Jewish thought and
practice to the mode rn world laid the fou 11dation
for the emergence of the diverse movements that we
know today as the Reform, Orthodox, Conservative,
3 jewish Traditions
Reconstrucuomst, and Humamsuc branches of Ju-
daism. Each of these movements ongmated as part
of an effort to reconc1le centuries-old traditions
with the new ways of thtnktng and living promoted
by the European Enhghtenment.
Reform judaism
The roots of Reform judaism can be found in the
writings of Moses Mendelssohn and other like-
mindedJewish thtnkers who sought to make Jewish
practices meamngful for Jews hvmg m eighteenth-
century Germany. These p10neers explicitly sup-
ported Enlightenment 1deals and drew anention to
their compatibihty With juda1sm. The man known
as the father of Reform judaism was Israel Jacob-
son (1768- 1828), who in 1809 opened hi s Jewish
Consistory (Consistorialschule) in Kassel, Ge rmany,
co ntain ing a synagogue in wh ich se rmons and
pa n s of prayers were given in German and in 1810
inaugurated a synagogue m Seesen, Germany, in
a ceremony in wh1ch organ mus1c accompanied a
choir singing hymns tn German. In 1818 the New
Israelite Temple Assoc1auon opened the Hamburg
Temple for Sabbath serv1ces that used the every-
day German of the commumty rather than Hebrew,
eliminated the ltturgy's tradittonal references to
the hoped-for restorauon of the Temple in Jerusa-
le m, and again featured choral music with organ
accompaniment. The use of a n o rga n and a choir
in synagogue services was quite a daring innova-
tion: although music, vocal and instrumental, h ad
been a part of Jewish worsh1p as long as the Temple
stood, instrumental mus1c had been banned after
us destruction as a s1gn of mourning. It took two
generations for Reform juda1sm to find its niche
among German congregattons, however. Reform
synagogues did not have a meanmgful presence in
Germany unul the 1830s, and a German-language
prayer book was not mtroduced until 1848.
The spiritual leader of the Reform movement
was Abraham Geiger (1810-1874). A scholar of Near
Eastern languages and philosophy, he devoted his
life to the history of judaism, using his scholarship
to argue that jew1sh culture had been adapting to
World Religions: Western Traditions
its surroundings throughout history, and hence that
reform was natu ral to Judaism. Geige r used critical
textual analysis to argue that the contents of the
Hebrew Bible reOected the conce rns and perspectives
of postbiblical jewish movements. He also demon-
strated the connections among the th ree major mono-
theistic faiths of Judais m, Christianity, and Islam.
Today Reform jews do not ge nerally observe
the d ieta ry laws (see "Dietary Laws" box), although
over the last decade growi ng numbe rs have been
becoming more observant. The Reform branch u n-
derstands j udaism tO be a Oexible, Jiv ing religion
that remai ns relevant tO its adherents because it
evolves as the realities of human li fe change. Inter-
faith dialogue is encou raged in order to ach ieve u n-
derstanding and peaceful interaction among those
In April 2013. while attending the mont hly women's prayer service at the Western Wall. this woman was
arrested for wearing a tallit (prayer shawl). w hich t he Haredi community insists is reserved for men. Four other
women were also detained.
of di fferent religions. Refo rm Judais m also allows
women to se rve as rabbis; in 1972, when Sally Prie-
sand became the first female rabbi in North Amer-
ica, it was a Reform seminary- Hebrew Union
College in Ci ncin nati, Oh io- that ordai ned her.
Orthodox judaism
It was the spread of Reform Judaism that stimulated
the establish ment of the Orthodox branch, a tradi-
tionalist reaction that was la rgely spearheaded by
Samson Raphael Hi rsch (1808- 1888). Hirsch sought
to prove that trad itional Judaism was compatible
with modern ity and coi ned the Hebrew phrase Torah
im derekh erets ("Torah with the way of the land ")
to refer to the application of Torah in all aspects of

Focus
Dietary Laws
Some jews jokingly suggest that judaism is a way of
eating. That may not be far from the truth. Food-
and how it is prepared and eaten- is an essential
pan of jewish observance. jew ish dietary laws
(kashrut) stipulate the foods that are acceptable for
consumption and those that must be avoided, as well
as how to cook the acceptable foods and the types
of food that can be eaten together in the same meal.
Food is considered koshe r if it is "fit" or "proper" in
accordance with jewish law. The term is not limited
to food: a tallit (prayer shawl) with its fringes cut off
would no longer be kosher.
There are two places in the Torah where the
types of food jews can eat are discussed: Leviticus
ll and Deuteronomy 14:2- 2 1. These verses instruct
that among land animals , only those that have split
hooves and chew their own cud are acceptable (this
means that cows and goats can be eaten, but pigs
and rabbits cannot). Among sea creatures, only those
with both scales and fins are perm iued; thus mus-
sels and crustaceans such as shrimp are prohibited.
When it comes to birds, the Torah simply lists the
species that are acceptable (chicken, turkey, goose,
and duck) and those that are not (birds of prey such
as the vulture, owl, and hawk). The products of non-
acceptable an imals are likewise considered unko-
sher (except for honey, which is understood to derive
from nowers rather than bees, which fall into the
forbidden category of "winged swarming things").
Even meat that is permiued must be prepared
and cooked correctly if it is to be considered kosher.
For example, an animal that has died a natural death
is not to be eaten; only animals that are slaughtered
everyday life. The term "Orthodox" was not used tO
distinguish trad itional jews from those associated
with Reform judaism until the next century.
Orthodoxjews believe that the Hebrew Bible is the
revealed word of God and understand the Mishnah
3 jewish Traditions
in accordance with the Law are acceptable. Th is
means that an an imal must be put to death hu-
manely by sliu ing the throat with a sharp knife. The
blood from the carcass must be drained completely
either by soaking and salting the meat or by grilling
it until no trace of blood rema ins.
Once the meat is prepared in accordance with the
Law, there are rules about how tO eat it. For example,
meat is not to be consumed at the same time as dairy.
Thus cheeseburgers are never on the menu for obser-
vantjews. This stipulation is drawn from an instruc-
tion that appears three times in the Torah: "You shall
not boil a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 23:19
and 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21). It was the rabbis
who interpreted th is rule as forbidding the combi-
nation of meat and dairy, and from it they derived
a number of additional laws, such as the rule that
one must wait bet ween one and six hours, depend-
ing on the cultural tradition, after eating meat before
having (for example) ice cream for dessert. Some
jews consider it so important to keep meat and dairy
separate that they have two sets of dishes and cutlery
(one for meat, one for dairy), as well as two sinks and
two dishwashers to clean them.
Manufacturers of kosher food or drink prod-
ucts use various symbols to inform consumers of
the product's status. One of the most common is a
capital U (for "Union of O rthodox jewish Congre-
gat ions") inside a circle. This ind icates not that a
rabbi has said a blessing over the food- a common
misconception among non-j ews- but that a body of
rabbis has inspected the plant at wh ich the product
was prepared and deemed it to be kosher.
and two versions of the Talmud to be wriuen forms
of Oral Law that originated with Moses; they follow
rabbinic Halakhah and obse rve the laws of Torah.
The most conservative members of the Orthodox
branch are called Haredim, "trembling ones" (from
World Religions: Western Traditions
Isaiah 66:5: "Hear the word of the Lord, you who
tremble at h is word"). While all Orthodox jews are
rigorously observant, the more liberal among them
do participate to some degree in non-jewish soci-
ety. By contrast, Haredi jews tend to live and work
in segregated communities, and every pan of their
lives, without exception, is governed by Halakhah.
The Hasidim are a subgroup of the Hared im.
Conservative judaism
The third branch of Judaism to emerge in the
mid-n ineteenth century was founded by Zacharias
Frankel (1801- 1875) under the name "Positive-
HistOrical judaism." An auempt to find middle
ground between rigid Orthodoxy and the radical
liberalism of Reform judaism, it eventually devel-
oped into what is known today as Conservative
judaism. Frankel argued that the core teach ings
of judaism (e.g., the oneness of God) were div inely
revealed, but at the same time he acknowledged
that Judaism had developed within history, and
therefore that its traditions were open to moderate
reinterpretation and modification. Conservative
jews interpret the text more literally than do their
Reform counterparts, but more liberally than the
Orthodox. In contrast to Reform jews, Conservative
jews typically do follow the dietary laws. Since they
are not Orthodox, however, they also allow for some
Focus
Kosher Cola
Rabbi Tobias Geffen (1870 - 1970) was an Ortho-
dox rabbi who lived nea r the Coca-Cola head-
q ua rters in Atlanta, Georgia. In response to
ma ny inquiries he received from rabbis across the
United States ask ing whether Coke was koshe r
for Passover, Rabbi Geffen asked the company
fo r a list of the ingredients and was given the
restructuring in order to keep current and relevant
in modern times. Conservative sy nagogues vary
in their attitudes tOward women's roles: the more
liberal Conservative congregations allow female
rabbis and full female participation in sy nagogue
se rvices, whereas the more traditional ones do not.
Reconstructionism
Whereas the Reform, Orthodox, and Conserva-
tive movements all originated in Germany, the
Reconstruction ist movement was launched in
North Ame rica. Its founder, Mordechai Kaplan
(1881- 1983), began his career as an Orthodox rabbi
but soon grew uncomfortable with the Orthodox
movement. He then obtained a teach ing position
at the Jewish Theological Seminary, a Conserva-
tive institution, which he kept until 1963 while at
the same time work ing as a rabbi at the Society for
the Advancement of Judaism, a Reconstructionist
sy nagogue that he established in 1922. His book
Judaism as a Civi/izaLion (1934), in which he argues
that judaism was not s upernaturally revealed but
is an ever-changing religious civilization involving
language, literature , an, soc ial organization, and
sy mbols as well as ce rta in beliefs and practices,
provided the fundamental framework for the Re-
construction ist movement. Kaplan called for the
sy nagogue to be a social and cultural center (rather
sec ret formula on the condition that he not d is -
close it. After persuading the company to replace
a nonkoshe r glyce rin with a vegetable-based
substitute and to use a sweetener that was not
derived from g ra in , Geffen in 1935 declared that
Coca-Cola was kosher for yea r-round consu mp -
tion by observant Jews.

than a religious one), and he int roduced the idea of
the j ew ish commun ity center- an institution that
has become a regula r part of the North American
j ew ish environ ment. He also argued that the scrip-
tures were not divinely revealed but created by the
j ew ish people themselves, and that the traditions
existed for the people, not the other way around ,
a nd so could be modified. As an exa mple, in 1922
Kaplan marked h is daughter Judith's coming of age
by conducting the world's first bat mitzvah for he r;
th is ceremonial equivalent to the bar mitzvah cer-
emony for boys is now practiced regularly not on ly
by Reconstructionists, but in Reform a nd Conse rva-
tive sy nagogues as well. Thus Kaplan's inOuence is
felt well beyond the movement he established.
Since the Reconstructionist movement devel-
oped prima rily out of the Conservative moveme nt
(Kaplan had in fact inte nded to cha nge Conser-
vative judaism from within rather than launch a n
entirely new movement), it preserved a number of
trad itional features, such as the dieta ry laws a nd the
custom of wearing the hippah (skullcap) for men,
as well as the inclusion of a significant amount of
Hebrew in the litu rgy. As a consequence, its practice
tends to look very much like Conservative practice.
But its rejection of the idea of the j ews as the chosen
people, its gender-neutral prayer book, a nd the fact
that some of its adherents may well desc ribe them-
selves as atheists clearly d istinguish Reconstruc-
tionism from Conservative judaism. W hat matters
to Reconstruction ists more than indiv idual faith is
active participation in a community and the effort tO
hono r jewish history by reta in ing meaningful sy m-
bols and customs .
Humanistic judaism
The American rabbi Sherwi n Wi ne (1929 - 2007)
LOok Kaplan's ideas several steps fu rthe r, remov-
ing God from the picture altogethe r. Wine initially
served as a rabbi in a Reform synagogue, but as h is
belief in the existence of God waned, he looked
for a more congenial community. Finding none, in
1963 he established a secular cong regation called
the Birmi ngham Tem ple that continues tO function
3 jewish Traditions
today with some 400 members in Farmington Hills,
Mich igan. In 1969 this congregation un ited with
seve ral like-minded others to form the Society for
Humanistic judaism (SHJ), which now includes
congregations from across North America. Accord-
ing to its website, the goal of the SHJ is "to foster
a positive j ew ish identity, intellectual integrity, and
eth ical behaviou r."
Over the yea rs W ine developed a new liturgy, in
both Hebrew and English, that makes no reference
to God. He also fou nd new focal points for the var-
iou s jewish hol idays (e.g., the Humanist Passove r
Sede r ritual includes readi ngs from a new Haggadah
that links aspects of the Exodus story to contempo-
ra r y social concerns). Humanistic jews welcome ev-
eryone to participate in their services, regardless of
gender, sexual orientation, or religious background.
From the perspective of Human ists, jewish iden-
tity is largely a pe rsonal decision. Not surpris ingly,
Humanist rabbis and Madrichs or Madrichas (trained
"guides") will officiate at ma rriages betwee n jews
and non-j ews.
The Modern Synagogue
The synagogue is at the heart of the jewish religious
com munity: it is a place for prayer and study of sac red
texts, a venue for com munal worsh ip, and a place tO
lea rn. It also functions as a center for social interac-
tion and cha ritable activity (e.g., ce rtai n synagogues
run soup kitchens and offe r beds for the homeless).
In Hebrew it is called a Beit K'nesset (lite rally, "house
of assembly"); "sy nagogue" is the Greek equivalent.
Orthodox and Hasidic j ews typically use the Yidd ish
term shu/ (from the German for "school") and em-
phasize the synagogue's role as an intellectual hub.
Conservative jews use the terms "shul" and "syn-
agogue ," while Reform jews tend to call their local
place of assembly a "temple" because they cons ider
it to have defi nitively replaced the Temple in Jeru-
salem (though the use of "temple" is not restricted
to Reform usage: there are Conservative synagogues
that also include th is word in their names).
Typically, a board o f di rectO rs made up of
laypeople is responsible for supe rvisi ng the
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
The High Holidays
The High Holidays, also called the High Holy Days
and the Days of Awe, encompass the 10 days from
the beginning of Rosh Hashanah through the end
of Yom Kippur. Rosh Hasha nah is considered the
jewish New Year and usually falls in September or
October. On this day God is said to open the "Book
of life," in wh ich he will inscribe the individual's rate
for the year on Yom Kippur. This is the time of the
year when Jews are supposed to examine the ir con-
sc iences. At intervals throughout Rosh Hashanah
synagogue serv ices, the shofar (usually a ram's horn)
is sounded. Th is trad ition has been ascribed many
symbolic meanings, including a "wake-up" call to
renect on one's sinfulness and need for repentance,
a summons to war against evil inclinations, and a
rem inder of the ram that God told Abraham to sac-
rifice instead of his son Isaac.
Rosh Hashanah is followed by "10 days of pen-
itence" that culminate on the Day of Atonement,
Yom Kip pur. In the Babylonian Talmud, God says:
"On Rosh Hashanah I open the book of life and at
the end of Yom Kippur I shall close it again, and
your fate will be sealed for the com ing year!" Histor-
ically, this was the only time when the d ivine name
of God was pronounced- by the high priest before
the Ark in the jerusalem Temple's most sacred place,
the Holy of Holies- in order to make atonement for
the people. Apples d ipped in honey are customar-
ily eaten at Rosh Hashanah as an expression of the
hope for a "sweet" new year. The trad itional greeting
during this time is L'shanah tova tikatevu ("May you
be inscribed for a good new year").
sy nagogue and all its activities, as well as h iring
a rabbi for the community. Although most syna-
gogues have a rabbi, some do not; instead , they
inv ite d ifferent members of the commun ity to
lead the service. Synagogues tend to derive the
Nowadays Yom Kippur is spent at the synagogue
in prayer and supplication, asking for God's for-
g iveness. Fasting from sundown on the evening of
Yom Kippur until the follow ing nightfall (a period
of 25 hours) is compulsory for adults, with three
exceptions: pregnant women, the elderly, and the
ill are exempt. It is understood that God forgives
sins against himself; however, if a family member
or neighbor has been wronged, that person must
be asked for forgiveness. The word for "sin" is chet,
wh ich means "missing the mark," as in archery.
Thus one can think of a sin as a "missed opportu-
n ity" for a k ind word or a righteous act. The liturgy
during the High Holy Days makes frequent refer-
ences to the many ways in wh ich human beings
hu rt each other through unkindness and lack of
generosity, both in speech and in action. The time
between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is meant
for contemplative renection on one's own words
and behav ior. Yet these days of penitence are not
intended to be sad, because jews are supposed to
have confidence in the power of repentance and the
mercy of God.
Most members of the Jewish community, includ-
ing those who are not very observant, mark Yom
Kippur to some degree, and many go to synagogue
on it, even if they will not go again for the rest of
the year. The shofar is sounded once at the end of
the final service, when the last prayers of repentence
are delivered. The plaintive sound of the shofar is
one of the most stirring aspects of Yom Kippur for
many Jews.
majority o f their financial income from annual
membersh ip dues, voluntary donations, fees for
memorial plaques to be hung on the walls of the
sanctuary in honor of deceased relatives, and the
sale of tickets for seats at serv ices during the High

Document
The Shema
Among the prayers recited daily in judaism, the oldest
and most highly revered is the Shema. Composed of three
paragraphs from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4- 9 and
11:13- 21 and Numbers 15:37- 41), it is known by its first
word: "Shema" ("Hear"). The Shema commands that
these Torah passages be recited "morning and night," and
from days of old, jews have fulfilled this commandment
by reciting the Shema twice a day, once in the morning
and once at night.
Hear, 0 Israel: The l ord is our God, the l ord alone.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart ,
and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Keep these words that I am commanding you today
in you r heart. Recite them to your child ren and talk
about them when you are at home and when you are
away, when you lie dow n and when you rise. Bi nd
them as a sign on your h and, fix them as an emblem
on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts
of your house a nd on your gates.
If you will only heed h is every commandment
that I am commanding you tOday- lovi ng the lord
your God, and serv ing him with all your heart and
with all your soul- then he will give the rain for
your land in its season, the early rain and the later
rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine,
and your oil; and he will give grass in your fields for
your livestock, and you will eat your fill. Take care, or
Holidays, when the buildi ng ca n become very
c rowded.
Synagogues do not have to be a particular shape
o r size; nor is there any architectural style require-
ment. Usually the build ing is designed so that mem-
bers of the cong regation face Jerusalem when they
pray, although Reform synagogues tend to be o ri-
ented tO suit the land on which they sit. There a re
'
3 jewish Traditions 129
you will be seduced into turning away, serving othe r
gods and worshipping them, for then the anger of the
Lord will be kindled agai nst you and he will shut
up the heave ns, so that there will be no rain and the
land will yield no fruit; then you will perish quickly
from the good land that the Lord is givi ng you.
You shall put these words of mine in your heart
and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your
hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.
Teach them tO your ch ildren, tal king about them
when you are at home and when you are away, when
you lie down and when you rise. Write them on
the: doorposts of your house and on your gates, so
tha t your days and the days of your children may be
multiplied in the land that the lord swore to your
ancestOrs to give them, as long as the heavens are
above the earth .
The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the Israelites,
and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their
garments throughout their generations and to put a
blue cord on the fringe at each corner. You have the
fringe so that, when you see it, you will remember
all the com mand ments of the Lord and do them, and
not follow the lust of your ow n heart a nd your own
eyes. So you shall remember and do all my com-
mandments, and you shall be holy to your God. I am
the: lord you r God, who brought you out of the land
of Egypt, to be your God: I am the lord your God.
seve ral ritual objects that will be found in any sy n-
agogue, no matter the branch of Judaism to which
it belongs. In modern sy nagogues the Holy Ark (or
Ark of the Covenant) in which the Torah scrolls a re
kept symbolizes the place that stored the tablets
given to Moses at Mount Sinai. It can be a cabinet or
even a hollow indentation in the wall , a nd different
people are given the honor of opening and closing
World Religions: Western Traditions
The yad ("hand .. in Hebrew) is a pointer that ta pers into the shape of a closed hand with an index finger
extended. Often quite ornate and made of silver. it is used to guide t he reader of t he Torah scrolls in a syn-
gagogue service.
it. Usually it is situated at the front of the room a nd
has doors as well as an inner curtain that a re open ed
o r closed during ce rtain prayers. When the Ark is
ope ned, all members o f the congregation stand. In
liberal (i.e., Reform and most Conse rvative) syna-
gogues, whe re the rabbi leads the service, the bimah,
o r pulpit, is set before the Ark, fac ing the congrega-
tion. By contrast, in synagogues whe re the cantor
(hazzan in Hebrew) leads the worsh ip and faces in
the same d irection as the congregation, the bimah
is set in the cente r of the room. In front of the Ark
is the ner tamid ("Eternal l amp"), wh ich represents
the fulfillment of the command ment (i n Exodus
27:20- 21) tO future generations o f Is raelites tO keep
a light perpetually bu rning outside the curta in
covering t he Holy Ark in the tent of meeting- the
place where the Israelites met with God.
O nce the Torah sc rolls are opened, a pointer is
used to aid in the reading; often designed in the
shape of a ha nd , this pointer is called a yad (" hand " in
Hebrew). Human ha nds neve r touch the parch ment,
si nce sweat contains acids t hat could damage it. The
sc rolls are stored in a fabric cove r (often velvet) that
may be ornately decorated with silver or gold .
Prayer Services
jew ish prayers take two forms: preset (dete rmined
in adva nce, typically from the ancient period) and
spontaneous (created on the spot by the ind ividual

j ew). Prayer services revolve around the former
type. Three times a day practicing jews daven
(Yiddish for "pray") in communal worship se rvices,
know n in the evening as Ma'ariv, in the morning as
Shacha rit, and in the afternoon as Mi nchah. These
services correspond to the th ree daily sacrifices that
were performed at the Temple in jerusalem. A book
called a siddur, which mea ns "order" (and is related
to the word for the Passover meal, Seder), contains
a collection of prayers in the order in which they
are recited th roughout the week. Prayers are also
rec ited during mundane activities, such as when
getti ng up in the morn ing and before washing one's
hands, as well as before and afte r eating.
Every Sabbath morning service includes read-
ings from the Torah a nd the Prophets (the latte r
read ings a re called haftarah, "conclusion," because
they conclude the worship service). The Torah has
54 sections (parashot), each of wh ich is read and
stud ied for a week, so that the entire Torah is cove red
in an an nual cycle (sometimes 2 o f the 54 portions
a re read together so all a re read with in the 52 weeks
of a year). Every parasha is further divided into
seve n sections (aliyah), all of wh ich a re read during
the Sabbath morning service. (Although the Torah
is also read on Monday and Thursday morn ings
as well as Saturday afternoon, only one aliyah of
the seven is recited at those services.) On the days
when the Torah is read, there is a formal ritual in
which the sc rolls are paraded a round the room and
the n placed on the bimah. On the Sabbath , each of
the seve n readi ngs is preceded a nd followed by a
special blessing; to be asked to recite one of them
is an honor.
A regula r wee kday morn ing service in a n
Orthodox synagogue lasts about an hour; the
a fte rnoon and eve ning weekday se rvices (which a re
usually pe rformed back-to-back) are about half that
long. A Shabbat o r holiday morning service will
usua lly sta rt early and run for th ree or fou r hours;
even ing services on Shabbat (Friday night) and fes-
tivals are about 45 minutes. Conse rvative se rvices
a re ve ry si milar, though there may be minor vari-
ations in the content of the prayers; for example,
instead of praying for the restoration of the Temple
'
3 j ewish Traditions 131
with its "offerings and praye rs," Conservative jews
pray only for the resto ration of its prayers. Reform
se r vices a re usually shorter but follow the same
basic str ucture.
Tradition teaches that it is better to pray in a
group than alone. Thus in Orthodox practice at least
lO adult males are needed to make up a quorum for
public praye r; this group of 10 is called a minyan
("number" in Hebrew). Ce rtain Conse rvative
sy nagogues allow women to be part of the minyan,
and Reform judaism does not requ ire a minyan at all.
In most Conservative and Orthodox syna-
gogues, male membe rs of the cong regation wear
the skullcap known as a kippah in Hebrew and a
yar mu lke in Yiddish. The ta llit is a fringed prayer
shawl typically worn by men during the morning
prayers (the only time it is worn in the evening is on
Yom Kippur). The tallit fulfills the commandment
to the Israelites to "make fringes on the corners of
their garments th roughout thei r gene rations and to
put a blue cord on the fri nge at each corne r" so that
they will "remembe r all the commandments of the
Lord and do them" (Numbers 15:37- 41). Likewise,
for weekday morning prayer men put on tefillin
(or phylacteries), small black leather boxes con-
ta in ing words of scripture (Exodus 13:1- 10, ll- 16;
Deuteronomy 6:4- 9, 11:13- 21) that are tied to the
for.ehead and upper arm by leather thongs. Worn in
literal fulfillment of the instruction in the Shema to
"bind [these words] as a sign on you r hand, fix them
as an emblem on your forehead," the te fill in must
be wrapped onto the forehead and arm in a partic-
ula r way, in orde r to conce ntrate the mind, and the
box on the a rm is then held toward the hea rt du ring
prayer. Traditionally, only men have worn the tallit
and tefillin, but in modern times some Conse rva-
tive women have begun wearing them as well. In
Rerorm congregations, more and more women as
well as men are now wea ring the tallit and kippah,
although the tefillin ritual is not gene rally prac-
ticed by eithe r sex. This could change, however:
riwal obse rvance has been increasing in the Reform
movement in recent years.
In Reform and Conservative synagogues, all mem-
bers of the congregation sit together, but Orthodox
World Religions: Western Traditions
As this storefront display in jerusalem shows. the kippah (skullcap: literally" dome" in Hebrew) can be a col-
orful and creative vehicle for personal expression. incl uding expressions of support for favorite sports teams.
men are not permitted to pray in the presence of
women, lest they be d istracted from thei r prayers. For
this reason Orthodox women have their own section
at the back or side of the room or in an upper-floor
balcony that is separated from t he men's section by
a wall or a curtai n. Language is another area of d if-
fe rence. In O rthodox and many Conservative syna-
gogues, eve ry part of the se rvice is in Hebrew, b ut
Reform serv ices in North America a re conducted
mainly in English- although the use o f Hebrew h as
been increasing in the last t wo decades or so.
Finally, it is interesting to note that Conservative
and Reform services are more tightly organized th an
their O rthodox counterparts. This m ight seem odd,
but in Conservative and Reform synagogues, peop le
tend to arrive at the begin ning o f the service, a nd
those who arrive late simply joi n in with the rest of
the g roup. The O rthodox service is more relaxed a nd
fluid and may even look like a free-for-all to the fi rst-
time observer. People arrive on t hei r own schedule
and catch up to t he group at their own pace, so the re
tends to be a loud din of both praye r and talk and a
lot of movement as people enter and leave the sanc-
tua ry. Still, those who get used to t his sometimes say
that they find it more natural to pray t his way than
to try to offe r all praye rs in un ison.
Anti-Semitism
In the aftermath of the Enlightenment, the nineteenth
century at first seemed to offer jews a better life: as they
moved out of the ghettos throughout western Europe,

they began to participate more fully in the culture and
society around them. But a new debate soon arose over
what came to be known as "the jewish Question." In
an 1843 essay on the subject, a German Protestant
theologian named Bruno Bauer claimed that jews as
a group were scheming against the rest of the world ,
and that they were to blame for the hostility they
encountered in modern society because they refused
to relinquish their ancestral culture. Underpinning
these accusations was the long-stand ing Christian
practice of disparaging the jews as "Ch rist killers." In
fact, European society was undergoing major changes
in the second half of the nineteenth century, and with
those changes came severe tensions. \1./orkers were be-
ginning to demand more rights as well as better living
and working conditions, while middle-class shop-
keepers and skilled workers we re watching the growth
of department stores and factories with mounting
concern. Competition among England, France, and
Germany was increasing, and nationalism and racism
added to the tensions lead ing up to the outbreak of the
First World War.
At a time of anxiety and div is ion , commonali-
ties were needed to bring d ifferent sectors of society
togethe r, and politicians used opposition to Jews
to uni fy d ispa rate groups in society. In central and
weste rn Europe, political pa rties from ac ross the
spectrum exploited people's anxieties to gain votes
and popu lar support. No matte r how illogical and
contradictory the cha rges, Jews were to blame,
whethe r for Marxism, libe ralism, commun ism, or
rampant capitalism. And even if they were not pin-
pointed as the catalysts beh ind the unsettling sh ifts
in Eu ropean society.Jews we re said to be completely
undeserving of the benefits of emancipation.
Pol itical parties were established specifically to
promote anti-Semitism; jews were openly derided and
caricatured in cartoons, posters, and pamphletS all
ove r Europe. Germany produced more of this propa-
ganda than any other country, and the organizations
that distributed it were located not on the periphery of
society, but at its very center. In this way ami-Semitic
attitudes were made acceptable, even respectable.
The central di fference between the anti-Judaism
of the ancient world (includ ing that of early Chris -
tians) and the anti-Semitism of the modern world
'
3 jewish Traditions 133
was the racial dimension associated with the latter.
In t he modern world, Jews were publicly auacked
for being racially "other": whereas ancient writers
had focused on t he d istinctive religious practices
and customs of the jews, n ineteenth-century p ro -
paganda portrayed them as racially alien. Thus,
even when they convened to Christianity, t hey we re
believed to remain racially ta inted.
The German writer credited with coining the
term "anti-Semitism," Wilhelm Marr (1819- 1904),
noted that j ew ish fi nancial investors eme rged from
the economic depression of 1873 in bette r shape
than non-Jew ish investOrs and suggested in h is
book The Victory of the jews over the Germans (1879)
that the problem was not that j ews lacked connec-
tion with European society, but rathe r that they
we re so well integrated into it t hat they were taking
it over. These views were p romoted in various ways
and places, includ ing the First International Ami-
Semites' Congress held in Dresden in 1882.
The Dreyfus Affair
In France, hostility towa rd the changes brought
about by the Revolution of 1789 and nostalgia for
the strong mona rchy, nobil ity, and chu rch of the
past were reOected in anti-Semitic attitudes. French
Jews, who had been granted legal equality in 1791,
came to be seen as symbols of all that was wrong
with postrevolutionary France, and anti-Semitism
se r ved as a rallyi ng point for the d iscontented. In
1894 a Jew ish army officer named Alfred Dreyfus
(1859- 1935) was falsely accused of spy ing for
Germany in a case based on forged documents and
a military cover-up. The "Dreyfus Affai r," as it came
to be known , was motivated by overt anti-Semitism.
Dreyfus asserted his innocence but was found guilty
and sentenced to life imprisonment. Fou r years
later, h is cause was taken up by the novelist Emile
Zola in an open lette r ("]'accuse I") to the president of
the French Republic in wh ich he cha rged the French
a rmy with a cover-up. The army tried Dreyfus agai n ,
and aga in he was found guilty, but t his time unde r
"extenuating circumstances" (Efron et al. 2009:
378). In 1899, afte r the details of the army cover-up
we re made public, he was granted a pardon, and
World Religions: Western Traditions
eventually he was restored to his former military
rank and awarded the legion of Honor.
The Russian Context
Anti-Semitism in Russia spilled over into violence.
In tsarist Russia, church and state alike labeled Jews
both as outsiders to Russian society and as enemies
of Christianity. jews, most of whom lived in poverty
in small towns and cities, became ta rgets of violent
popula r persecutions called pogroms, especially in
the political chaos that followed the assassination of
Tsar Alexander II in 1881. In southern Russia, Jews
were beaten, tortured, and killed; their houses were
burned and their businesses ransacked. The govern-
ment did not organize these pogroms, but neither did
it intervene to stop them. Russia's most lasting con-
tribution to modern anti-Semitism, however, was The
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fiction created by mem-
bers of the Russian secret police sometime between
1896 and 1898 that purported to be the minutes of
a meeting at which members of a jewish conspi racy
had discussed a secret plan for global domination. The
Protocols enjoyed widespread distribution in western
Europe, especially in the years afte r the Fi rst Wo rld
War, and was published in the United States by the
automobile entrepreneur Henry Ford. Although it
was exposed as fraudulent not long after itS com-
position, the document resonated with anti-Semi.tes
around the world and is still in ci rculation today.
Zionism
The pogroms and poverty faced by jews in east-
ern Europe and the growth of political and racial
anti-Semitism in western Europe triggered the
development of the movement called Zionis m, which
sought to return jews to the ancient land of Israel
to establish a nation there. The idea was not a new
one: the words of the Passover Seder, "Next year in
jerusalem," indicate an enduring desire for return to
the ancient land of Israel, whether in the present or in
the future Messianic Age. Zion is the biblical name of
a hilltop in Jerusalem that is described as God's dwell-
ing place and is known today as the Temple Mount;
the formation known as Mount Zion is a hill just out-
side the walls of the Old City of jerusalem. In ancient
times the name "Zion" had a variety of associations and
could be used to refe r to the land around jerusalem, its
people, or thei r religious and political traditions.
jewish Nationalism
Zionism as a political movement was formally
established by the Austro-Hungarian journalist and
playw right Theodor Herzl (1860- 1904) in 1897,
follow ing the publication of his book Der ]udenstaat
(The jewish State). Herzl had become persuaded
that a Zionist movement was necessary while serv-
ing as the Paris correspondent of a daily pape r in
Vienna during the Dreyfus Affai r and the resulting
rise in anti-jewish sentiment. In August of that year
he spearheaded the fi rst Zionist Congress, held in
Basel, Sw itzerland, which attracted 200 people.
Out of that meeting came a platform calling for
a jewish national home in what was at the time
Ottoman-controlled Palestine. In 1903 the British
government offered pa n s of Uganda to the Jews for
settlement, but after some investigation, that offer
was rejected. O ther places, including Australia and
Canada, were also considered. But Herzl insisted
that Palestine was the only suitable location, and
that the future state would have tO be recogn ized by
international law. It was to be half a century before
that State- Israel- was established, by which time
the need for it could no longer be d isputed.
~ The Holocaust
(1933-1945)
Of all the adversities that the jewish people have
experienced in thei r long history, the most shauering
took place between 1933 and 1945 unde r Adolf Hit-
ler's National Socialist German Workers' Party, the
NSDAP, soon beuer known as the "Nazi" Party (from
the fi rst two syllables of the German word for "Na-
tional," Nazional ). By the end of the Second World
War at least 6 million Jews were dead, and the vi-
brant Ashkenazic and Sephard ic cultures established

on European soil over the previous millen nia had
been all but eradicated. Now widely know n as the
Holocaust (from the Greek terms mean ing "whole"
and "burnt"), the Nazi program of genoc ide is re-
fe rred to in Hebrew as the Shoah ("catastrophe").
The Rise of Hitler
In the aftershock of Germa ny's defeat in 1918 and the
grim economic conditions that followed as a result of
the humiliating reparations demanded by the Allies,
the Nazi Party attracted enthusiastic popular sup-
port. Radical anti-Semitism was central to Hitler's
political platform from the start: he placed the blame
for Germany's defeat in the war squarely on the jews,
and he was determined to teach them a lesson.
During one of his stays in prison (for a failed
attempt to seize power in Munich), Hitler began
to write the StOry of his li fe and thought. The first
volume of that book, called Meirt Kampf (My Struggle),
was published in 1925. In it Hitler recounts how, as a
young man in Vienna before 1914, he learned about
a supposed jewish conspiracy to use the Social Dem-
ocratic Party to infiltrate German politics in orde r tO
destroy the "Aryan" world. The term "Aryan" was in
fact a linguistic term refe rring to the Indo-European
family of languages, but it had already been given
a racial meaning by other late-nineteenth-century
writers and been used to argue for the supremacy of
Aryans over people of Semitic stock ("Semitic" too
originally refe rred to languages, including Hebrew,
Arabic, and Aramaic). Hitler associated "Aryan" with
purity and "Semitic" with impurity. His goal, outlined
in Mein Kampf, was first to reveal the threat that the
j ews posed to Aryans and then to destroy that threat.
He cast h is project as an act of service to God: "In
sta ndi ng g uard agai nst the jew I am defending the
handiwork of the lord" (cited in Gilbert 1985 28).
As soon as Hitler became cha ncellor of
Germa ny, on j anuary 30, 1933, he began enacting
legislation designed tO overtu rn the emanc ipation
of Germany's j ews, eli minate them from public life,
a nd divest them of their citizenship. On Ma rch 11
j ew ish -owned department StOres were ransacked in
Braunschweig, and two days later all jewish lawye rs
3 j ewish Traditions
we re expelled from court in Breslau. On April 1
the government orchestrated a day-long boycou of
j ew ish-owned stores and businesses, during which
Hitler's soldie rs, the stormtroope rs, stOod on the
street with signs advising "Germans" not to ente r
shops ow ned by jews a nd wrote Jude ('jew") across
those establishments' windows, ofte n with a Star of
David (the si x-pointed sta r being a jewish sy mbol).
New discriminatory laws were introduced almost
daily therea fte r: on April4, for exa mple, the German
Boxing Assoc iation excluded all j ew ish boxers; on
April 5, the systematic dismissal of jewish faculty
and teaching assistants at the unive rsities began; on
April 7, the government announced the "retirement"
of all civ il servants who were "not of Aryan descent"
(Gilbert 1985: 36); and on May 10, books wriuen by
j ews were publicly burned at universities ac ross the
country (Efron et al. 2009: 377- 378).
Some jews began making plans to leave the
country, but as yet the re was no widespread pa nic:
of the roughly 525,000 jews in Germany in 1933,
only 37,000 left in that yea r (Efron et al. 2009 378).
Those who remained hoped that the wave of per-
secution would subside. Given Mein Kampfs ref-
erences to jews as "cockroaches," "maggots," a nd
Untermenschen ("subhumans"), they hoped in vain.
A new phase in Hitler's offensive against the jews
was introduced with the passage of the Nurembe rg
laws on September 15, 1935. These edicts revoked
jews' German citizenship, deprived them of legal and
economic rightS, and prohibited intermarriage between
people of allegedly "pure" Nord ic blood and jews. On
Oc tober 20, 1935, the New York Times reported that a
jewish doctor named Hans Sere!man, who had trans-
fused his own blood tO save the li fe of a non-jew, had
been charged with "race defilement" and sent to a con-
centration camp for seven months (Gilbert 1985: 50).
jewish busi nesses were taken ove r by "Aryans"-
whom the Nazis called the "master race"- in two
stages. From 1933 to 1938 jews could "voluntarily"
tra ns fer their businesses; afte r November 1938, they
were compelled to hand them ove r. Again, many
j ews left Germany, but agai n, many othe rs stayed.
Although the Nazi programs also targeted gays and
lesbians, Roma (Gypsy) people, communists, a nd
World Religions: Western Traditions
the disabled, all of Germany's hardships were de-
scribed as the fault of the jews alone.
The fi rst burning of a synagogue tOok place in
Mun ich on j une 9, 1938; afterwards, more than
2,000 jews were incarcerated throughout Germany.
In Octobe r of the same year, approximately 17,000
Polish jews were expelled from German territo ry;
Poland then refused them entry, leav ing them in a
no-man's-land. Barely a week later, on November 6,
17-year-old Hershel Grynszpan, whose parents had
been among the deponed Polish jews, entered the
German embassy in Paris and assassinated the thi rd
secretary. In revenge for the murder, Hitler ordered
that free rein be given to "spontaneous" anti-jewish
demonstrations, and on the night of November 9 a
series of riots tOok place across Germany that came
to be known as Krista!lnacht, the "Night of Broken
Glass." More than 1,000 synagogues were plundered
and some 300 burned;jewish homes and businesses
were destroyed by stormtroopers and o rdinary
German citizens. Ninety-one j ews were killed , and
approx imately 26,000 were rounded up and placed
in concentration camps (Efron et al. 2009: 384).
The S.S. St. Louis
Thousands of jews left Germany over the months
that followed. In May 1939, the German passenger
ship St. Louis left Hamburg for Cuba with 936 j ews
aboard seeking asylum from Nazi persecution. Al-
though all had paid $150 for a tOurist visa, on thei r
arrival the Cuban government refused them entry
eithe r as tourists (laws related tO tourist visas had re-
cently been changed) or as refugees unless they paid
an add itional fee of $500 each- money that most of
the refugees d id not have. Captain Gustav Schroder,
the non-j ew ish commande r of the ship, dec ided to
sail tO Florida in hopes that the United States would
accept his passengers, but ultimately the United
States too refused , having enacted quotas on immi-
grants from eastern and southern Europe in 1924.
When the St. Louis was turned away from the
Un ited States, a g roup of academics and clergy in
Canada tried to persuade Prime Min ister Mackenzie
King to offe r the passengers sanctua ry, as the ship
was a mere two days from Halifax. But Canadian
imm igration officials and cabinet ministers opposed
to j ewish immigration pe rsuaded King not tO in-
tervene. Among the officials was Frede rick Charles
Blair, d irectOr of the country's imm igration b ranch,
who argued that Canada "had al ready done too
much forthejews" and that "the line must be d rawn
somewhere" (Abella and Troper 1991: 8, 64).
Thus the ship returned tO Europe, docking at
Antwerp, Belgium , in June 1939. Various Eu ropean
countries (the United Kingdom , France, Belgium,
and Holland) agreed to prov ide refuge to the pas-
senge rs, and they seemed to be safe. But in 1940
Germany invaded Belgium and France, putting the
lives of all the jews in those countries in jeopardy. It
is estimated that of the 936 refugees who returned
to Europe, 227 were killed by the Nazis in concen-
tration camps (Thomas and W itts 1974: 135- 217).
The Second World Wa r
The Second World War began on Friday, September 1,
1939, when , in the early morning hours, German
forces invaded Poland. Immediately Poland's j ews
were subjected to random public humiliation. By
the end of September they were being herded into
ghettos that were essentially prisons, surrounded
by fences or walls that were locked from the outside
by German gua rds. Typhus, tuberculosis, and dys-
entery ran rampant because of ove rcrowding and,
along with starvation, killed many inhabitants.
In Germany the enactment of anti-Semitic laws
continued. jews increasingly were moved into "jews'
Houses; which were separate apartment build ings;
Germans writing Ph.D. d issertations were permitted
to quote jews only when unavoidable, and jewish au-
thors had to be listed in a separate bibliography. As of
November 23, 1939, all Polish jews over the age of 10
were requi red tO wear a yellow badge in the shape of
the Star of David to identify them, and on September 1,
1941, German jews were ordered to follow suit.
The Death Camps
To facil itate what they called the "final solution
to the jewish problem," the Nazis built a net work
of large-scale death camps in Poland. There were

Focus
Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day, or Yom HaShoah, was
inaugurated in 1953. It falls on the twenty-seventh
day of the Hebrew month o f Nisan (usually in March
o r April, accordi ng to the Gregorian cale ndar). Most
j ew ish communities ac ross the world hold a solem n
ce remony on th is day, but there is no institutional-
ized ritual that is accepted by all j ews. In Israel, Yom
HaShoah begins at sundow n with a state ceremony
at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel's official memo-
rial tO the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The na-
tional nag iS lowered LO half-maSt, the president and
prime min ister both deliver speeches, Holocaust
su rvivors light six torches symbolizing the approx-
imately 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust,
and the ch ief rabbis recite prayers. At !0 a.m. the
next day, sire ns are sounded th roughout Israel for
During the two-minute siren that sounds throughout Israel on Holocaust Memorial Day. people cease whatever they
are doing-including driving-to stand at attention and honor those who died during the Holocaust.
'
3 jewish Traditions 137
two minutes, during which people cease whateve r
they are doing and stand at auention. Cars stop and
drivers emerge from them , even on the h ighways,
and the whole country comes to a halt as Israelis
pay silent tribute to the dead. Ce remonies and ser-
vic-es are held at schools, military bases, and othe r
community institutions. Places of public ente rtain-
ment are closed by law, telev is ion broadcasters air
Holocaust-related documentaries and talk shows,
and subdued songs are played on the rad io. In the
Diaspora, commemorations range from sy nagogue
se rvices LO communal vigils and educational pro-
grams featuring talks by Holocaust survivors or
their descendants and recitation of appropriate
psalms, as well as Holocaust-themed songs, read-
ings, and films.
World Religions: Western Traditions

Rabbi Shlomo Bistritzky, Chief Rabbi of Ham-

burg, Germany
When the new j ew ish school in Hambu rg, Germany,
opened in 2007, there was considerable fanfare and
media attention. Local journalists came, wok photos,
and wrote articles. It was an event! Given Germa-
ny's World Wa r II h istory, such occurrences today
garner much attention. Rabbi Sh lomo Bistritzky, in
fact, wishes that this were not the case.
Nazi atrocities ca rried out du ring the Holo-
caust decimated the Hamburg jewish popula-
tion and destroyed most jewish institutions. The
j ewish population of Hamburg in 1938, prior to
the Second World Wa r, was between 20,000 and
25,000; it was a robust community with numerous
j ewish-owned and j ewish-run businesses. Today
there are approximately 8 ,000 Jews living in Ham-
burg. Multiple stolpersteine (Ge rman for "stumbling
stones") commemorate jewish (and othe r) victims
of the Holocaust throughout the city (see "Stolper-
steine" box).
Ch ief rabbi of Hambu rg since 2012, Rab bi
Bistritzky is a member of the Chabad-Lubavitch When, in 2007, Rabbi Sh lomo Bistritzky reopened
movement. He was born and raised in Israel but has the school- in the same build ing it had occupied
lived in Hamburg with h is wife and eight ch ild ren prior to the war- it was a poignant moment for the
for the past 14 years. He was sent from Israel as a family. Twelve child ren were registered as students,
shaliach ("ambassador") of the Lubavitcher move- and one of them was Rabbi Bistritzky's daughter.
ment to help reestablish jewish life in Hamburg. Yehuda Bistritzky called h is granddaughter on he r
One of Rabbi Bistritzky's goals is to make it so th at first day of school. He told her that while he was
j ew ish life in the city can be lived as normally as not able to complete h is studies there, he was pro-
possible. "In New York, when a new j ew ish school foundly pleased that she would be able to do so.
opens, there is no fanfare or media cove rage," he Today, the re are 160 ch ildren in the school. The
said. "I'd like jewish life in Hamburg to be the same: jewish community of Hambu rg is growing.
just a regular pan of life in the city." In 2012, Rabbi Bistritzky's grandfather was 87
In fact, Rabbi Bistritzky's grand father, Yehuda years old, and, despite swearing that he would never
Bistritzky, was born in Hamburg and was 12 yea rs step foot in Ge rmany again, he auended h is grand-
old when he fled the city in 1938 because of the son's installation as the chief rabbi of Hamburg. "This
Nazis. Th is meant, of cou rse, that Yehuda's stud ies is the best response to the Holocaust," he declared.
at the Hamburg Talmud Torah School were inter- For Rabbi Bistritzky, being chief rabbi and work-
rupted. The family was able to escape to Rouerdam ing to reestablish jewish life in Hamburg is extraor-
and eventually settled in New York. dinarily meaningful. When asked what message he

would like to share with non-jews, h is response
was to quote from the Mishnah: "Do not judge your
fellow until you have stood in his place" (Pirkei Avot
2:5). "It is easy to make qu ick judgements of others,"
he said, "but if you do not fully understand another
person's life, you should not judge that person." Re-
spect for others is key, he added, and that includes
respect for other peoples' religious trad itions. "The
diversity with in judaism is not well understood;
often non-jews judge Orthodox jews, for example,
based on their own backgrounds rather than truly
Focus
Stolpersteine
Stolpersteine (singular: stolperstein) is the German
word for "stumbling stones." Today, it is used to de-
scribe cobblestone-size square brass plates that are
inscribed with the names and birth and death dates
of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution.
German artist Gunter Demnig began this project in
1992 as a means of commemorating victims at their
last freely chosen place of residence before they fell
victim to the Nazis. Most of the plates begin with the
words "Hier wolmte" (German for "Here lived . . ."),
which poignantly communicates how every victim
hundreds of Nazi concentration and labor camps
across Europe, but only six extermination camps,
all of them in Poland. The gassing of jews began at
the Chelmno camp in December 1941. One after
another, groups of jewish and Roma prisoners were
placed in a sealed van and driven away to be gassed
by the exhaust fumes that were channeled back into
the compartment where they were held. In this way
many were k illed, but not fast enough for the Nazis.
The first camp to use gas chambers was Belzec, in
southeaste rn Poland, in March I942. But the larg-
est extermination camp was Auschwitz-Birkenau,
where more than 1 million jews as well as tens of
'
3 jewish Traditions 139
understanding Orthodox judaism," he noted. "It is
difficult to understand a tradition to which one does
not belong personally. Rather than j udging, I wish
there to be respect." Rabbi Bistritzky endeavors to
follow this precept himself and has cultivated posi-
tive, respectful relationsh ips with leaders of Chris-
tian and Muslim communities in Germany.
While much work remains before jewish life is
once again considered a regular part of Hamburg,
rna ny affLrmative steps have already been taken in that
direction. Rabbi Bistritzky is optimistic about the future.
had a life before it was torn from him or her. While
the majority of the plaques memorialize jewish vic-
tims of the Holocaust, others commemorate victims
I'
•
I
terrorized by the Nazis such as homosexuals, Romani
people, resistance fighters, and the physically or men-
.. -
tally disabled. Stolpersteine can be found in over 610
places in Germany, as well as in Austria, Hungary, the
Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Norway,
and the Ukraine. Altogether, over 56,000 stolpersteine
so far have been laid, making this the largest com-
t_:a::_-
~·
memorative memorial of this nature in the world.
thousands of Roma, Poles, and Sov iet prisoners of
war were killed using Zyklon B, a cyanide-based in-
secticide. Up tO 7,000 jews were gassed each day at
Auschw itz-Birkenau alone. Scholars estimate that
60 percent of Holocaust victims were murdered in
the six death camps. When it became clear that the
Allied forces were advancing on Poland in the winter
of 1944, prisoners were removed from the Polish
concentration camps and sent back to Germany both
by train and on foot; such "death marches" killed
approx imately 250,000 prisoners. British and Amer-
ican forces liberated the rest of the camps between
Apri l and May 1945 (Efron et aL 2009 385- 405).
World Religions: Western Traditions

HIER WOH
HANNCH E
SCHOLl NUS
'GEB.HARTNIG
JG. 18 9 7
DEPORTII;RT 1944
THERES I E.NS~A'OT
ERMIORDET I

This stolperstein ("stumbling stone") commemorates Ms. Hannchen Scholinus. a jewish

victim of the Holocaust. The plaque states: "Here lived Hannchen Scholinus. maiden
name Hartwig, born in 1897. deported in 1944 to Theresienstadt. died in Auschwitz.··

Sites
The Great Synagogue of Aleppo. Syria
IL is hard to imagine today, but the city of Aleppo was
once one of judaism's most important intellectual and
spiritual centers. jews had lived there since biblical
Limes, and the city was home to several synagogues.
Although they had nourished in the past, however,
li fe became di fficult for Syrian jews in the twentieth
century. After the founding of the State of Israel in
1948, jews in Syria were not only banned from gov-
ernment employment and political office but virtu-
ally forbidden to leave the country (both out of fear
that they would immigrate to Israel and because the
president thought that the presence of jews in Syria
would prevent Israel from auacking it). Of all the mi-
norities in Syria they were the only ones to have thei r
religion identified on thei r passportS and identity
cards. When the travel restriction was finally lifted in
1992 (at the urging of the United States), an estimated
In March of 201 1. prior to the start of the Syrian war. the author took this photo of the Great Synagogue of Aleppo through
a barred window. As of the writing of this text. the building still stands. but the condition of its interior is not known.
'
3 j ewish Traditions 141
4,000 jews immediately left for Turkey, Europe, and
North America. By 2011 there were no more than
150 jews remain ing in Sy ria, most of them elde rly
and liv ing in and around the city of Damascus.
Before the outbreak of civil war in 2011, the Great
Synagogue of Aleppo stood as a testament to an ear-
lier time. Peering through the bars on the windows,
a visitor could see dusty, broken lamps and a plaque
engraved with the Decalogue. IL was in th is syna-
gogue that the Aleppo Codex,the earliest manuscript
containing the entirety of the Tanakh, was stored for
approx imate ly six centuries (c. 1400 - 1947). When
the synagogue was burned by ami-Zionist groups in
1947, the codex was rescued, but it remained h idden
unti l 1958, when it was smuggled out of Aleppo and
presented to the president of Israel. Several pages of
the codex, however, are missing.
World Religions: Western Traditions
The State of Israel
W hen the horrors perpetrated agai nst the jews of
Eu rope came to light, the United Nations voted to
create a jewish state in Palestine. The decision to
provide a physical refuge for the thousands d is -
placed by the Nazis gave hope to jews around the
world . 1L c reated a new refugee problem, however,
for the indigenous Palestinia n Arab people livi ng in
the territory, many of whom would be forced out of
Sites
jerusalem
j erusalem, nestled with in the mounta ins of judea
between the Med iterranean Sea and the northern
side of the Dead Sea, is one of the most beguili ng
o f the world's great cities. With in its bou ndaries
a re monuments sacred to all three Abraham ic faiths
Qudais m, Christianity, and Isla m). 1L was this city
that, accordi ng to the Bible, King Dav id captu red
and made his capital at the begin ning of the tenth
century BCE, and in wh ich his son Solomon bu ilt
the First Temple. Destroyed in 586 BCE by the Bab-
ylonia ns, the Temple was rebu ilt under the Persian
ruler Cy rus the Great and reded icated in 515 BCE.
But in 70 CE the Second Temple too was destroyed,
and now the Western Wall is all that remai ns of th is
holy site. The city became a center of worsh ip for
Christians with the constr uction of the Chu rch of
the Holy Sepulch re, begun in 326. Then , in 637,
j erusalem fell to the new power of Islam, and in 691
the Muslim shrine know n as the Dome of the Rock
was completed on the Temple Mount.
jerusalem has three sections, each possessi ng
its own d isti nctive character: the ancie nt Old City,
with its four quarters Oewish, Muslim, Christian ,
and Armen ian); East j erusalem, the population of
wh ich is predom inantly Arab; and the Israeli New
City, wh ich is also known as West jerusalem.
Frequent sociopolitical turbulence makes the at-
mosphere o f day-to-day life in the city vibrant a nd
their homes. The original UN pla n partitioned the
land of Palestine between the jews and the Arabs,
with jerusalem to be admi niste red by the United
Nations Trusteeship Council for the fi rst decade,
a fter wh ich the city's fate would be negotiated. Nei-
the r the Palestin ian Arab commun ity nor the Arab
League accepted the partition plan, and j ew ish lead-
ers themselves had rese rvations, although they ac-
cepted it because the need for a j ew ish homeland
was so great.
inte nse. j erusalem is Israel's la rgest city in both pop -
ulation and area. It is also the country's capital. Up
until recently it was not inte rnationally recognized
as such. The latter changed on Decembe r 6, 2017,
when U.S. Preside nt Donald Trump extended Amer-
ican recognition of jerusalem as the capital of the
state of Israel and annou nced that the Un ited States
Embassy would soon relocate to jerusalem from Tel
Av iv. The new embassy was opened in jerusalem on
May 14,2018
The status of jerusalem remai ns one of the
most contentious issues in the Israeli- Palestinian
con nict. During the 1948 Arab- Israeli Wa r, West
je rusalem was among the areas captured and late r
an nexed by Israel, wh ile East jerusalem, includi ng
the Old City, was captu red by jordan. Al most two
decades later Israe l took East j erusalem during the
1967 Six-Day War and subsequently app ropriated
it; some 300,000 Israelis now live in these an nexed
a reas o f j erusalem. Although Is raelis call jerusalem
Is rael's "undiv ided capital," Palesti nians view East
je rusalem as occupied territory and claim it, with
its approximately 300,000 Arab residents, for the
capital o f thei r state. The maj ority of the interna-
tional community likew ise has rejected the Israeli
an nexation of East j erusalem as illegal and con-
side rs it Palestin ian te rritory held under military
occupation.

ldan Raichel is an Israeli singer-songwriter and musician whose group. the ldan Raichel Project. sings in
Amharic. Arabic. Spanish. and Swahili as well as Hebrew.
The j ewish state of Israel came into be ing on
May 14, 1948 , and was attacked the following day
by an Arab coalition led by Egypt, j ordan, Syria,
a nd Iraq. Th is was the sta rt of decades o f battles be-
t wee n Israel and the Palestinians , as well as neigh-
boring Arab cou ntries. W hile peace treaties have
been signed with Egypt a nd jordan and some of
the territory that Israelis gained in late r con fl icts
has been g iven back to its prior ow ners, the region
continues to be extremely volatile. Most residents
o f the te rritory, whether Israeli or Palestinian ,
now support a two -state solution. Negotiating the
boundaries and ha ndling the secu rity challenges
o f each state, howeve r, continues to be inordinately
difficult. O ne of the central complicating factOrs is
the increasing number of jewish Israeli settle ments
'
3 jewish Traditions 143
bei ng established on what is unde rstOod by the
international com munity 10 be occupied land .
Israel began its occupation of the West Bank and
East jerusalem in 1967 as a result of the Six-Day
War. Faced with huge numbers of Arab troops on its
southern , easte rn, and northern borders, it dec ided
on a preemptive strike. On j une 5, 1967, Israel began
a su rprise campaign that would devastate the Egy p-
tian air force and destroy the Egyptian, Jordanian,
and Sy rian armies in the Sinai Peninsula, the West
Bank , and the Golan Heights, respectively. By the end
of the war, under the leadersh ip of Prime Minister
Levi Eshkol, Israel controlled three times as much ter-
ritory as the UN had originally given it, and at least 2
mill ion Palestinian Arabs inhabiting East jerusalem,
the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip were now under
World Religions: Western Traditions
its control. The Western Wall also now came under
strictly jewish control; prior to the war, the West
Bank and East jerusalem, where the Western Wall is
located, were occupied by Jordanian forces.
More than 400,000 Israeli jews currently live in
the occupied West Bank. These settlers comprise
mainly right-wing Orthodox jews who dispute that
the land is illegally occupied and instead see it as
part of the jewish people's d ivine territorial inher-
itance. They refe r to the land not as the West Bank
but as judea and Samaria, its biblical name. While
settlers build more homes in occupied/d isputed
territOries, Israeli sold iers control the movement of
Palestinians through numerous checkpoints. Pal-
estinians must even ask the permission of the Is-
raeli military to travel for such essentials as medical
treatment. They live unde r military occupation sur-
rounded by miles of walls and fences.
Many jewish Israelis oppose the settler move-
ment. For example, a numbe r of Israeli women
volunteer at checkpoints to help Palestinians pass
through safely, and Israeli academics have pub-
lished research that undermines the agenda of t he
settlers. Is raeli courts , in fact, periodically rule in
favor of Palestinians over the settlers. Some fir-st-
hand accounts of Israeli soldiers serving in the oc-
cupied te rritories show their misery in suppressi ng
the Palestinian population.
Is raelis too live under the constant threat of ter-
rorism, enduring sometimes daily assaults that in
the past have included bombs and more recently
have been in the form of attackers wielding knives
o r driving cars into crowds. The Palestinian author-
ities honor such terrorists as "martyrs" and reward
their fam il ies with financial compensation. The sit-
uation for both sides is extremely difficult.
The electoral system in Israel is based on pro-
portional representation, which means that even the
most popular parties never win a clear majority of
the seats. Thus, to form a government, the party with
the most votes must gain the support of one or more
smaller parties, usually in return for promises of spe-
cial t reatment. This makes for a rather unpredictable
and insecure political system and tends to give reli-
gious parties influence well beyond thei r size.
In 1950 the Israeli government adopted the law
of Return, which granted "every Jew ... the right tO
immigrate to the country." The Israel Central Bureau
of Statistics put the country's 2017 population at
approximately 8.7 million, of whom perhaps 75 per-
cent are jews and just over 20 percent Arabs. In the
early years most jewish Israelis were of European Ash-
kenazi descent, but demographics have changed, and
now the majority are of Middle Eastern origin (te rmed
"Mizrachi" since the 1990s). just over a million Israeli
jews are immigrants from the former Soviet Union;
they are now well established in the country both so-
cially and politically, with thei r own political parties
and Russian-language media. Another 130,000 Israeli
jews are Beta Israel ("House of Israel"), or Ethiopian,
jews, many of whom were evacuated to Israel by the
Israeli government between the late 1970s and 1991.
Although the process of integration has not been easy,
especially for older people, the community now has
a strong presence in Israeli society- a presence that
is reflected in the fact that popular entertainers such
as the !dan Raiche! Project now include songs in the
Ethiopian language, Amharic, in their repertoire.
~ Life-Cycle Events
How jews Deal with Death
jews consider death to be a natural part of the life cycle.
As Ecclesiastes 3:1- 2 says, "To everything there is a
season, and a time to every purpose under heaven-
a time to be born, and a time to die." Death is to be
faced head-on, with unflinching realism. If possible,
members of the immediate family should maintain a
constant presence in the room of a dying person. The
reasoning behind this custom is that we do not enter the
world alone and therefore ought not to depart it alone.
Many jewish customs are associated with the be-
reavement process, and very few jews follow all of
them. The rituals are highly Structured and serve a
twofold purpose. First, they allow mourners the op-
portunity to express their grief at being separated from
their loved ones; second, they facilitate the mourners'
return to regular life. Friends and relatives outSide the

Map 3.2 j ewish Populations Around the World
deceased person's immed iate family- spouse, broth-
ers and sisters, parents, and child ren- are expected
to comfon the be reaved and provide for thei r needs.
Preburial Customs
The mourn ing is divided into two stages: befo re and
after burial. The ritual of kiriah ("tearing") is done
during the first stage; numerous biblical stories de-
sc ribe Israelites tearing thei r garments to express
thei r anguish and grief- for example, in 2 Samuel
1:11, when David hears about Saul's death. Eventu-
ally this custom auained the force of law, and now-
adays Orthodox mourners rend the ir sh irts, while
liberal jews make a tear in a black ribbon supplied by
the funeral home. The ripping is done while stand-
ing, on the left side of the body when the deceased is
one's parent, and the right side for all others.
Preparation of the Body
j ewish law and tradition requi re that the body be
buried as soon as possible after death, preferably
'
3 jewish Traditions 145
within 24 hours. After death, the eyes and mouth
of the deceased are closed and a sheet is placed over
the body and pulled up over the face. Membe rs of
the local bu rial society then wash and dry the body
while reciting prayers and psalms and then wrap it
in a simple white shroud. Out of respect, the body is
always kept face up. Ca re is also taken to ensure that
the feet face toward the door, and that any standing
wa ter in the house is poured out. The Iauer customs
probably renect trad itional supe rstitions: in the first
case, the belief that if the eyes of the corpse were lO
look back into the home , the spi rit might decide to
remain the re; in the second, the belief that spirits
cannot cross water, which means that the spirit of
the deceased could be trapped in the house if the re
we re any water blocking the exit path. Candles,
sy mbolic of the resplendent soul, are lit and placed
at t he head of the body, and the body is never left
alone. Until the time of the funeral, an auendant
is hi red to stand by and read psalms continuously;
Psalm 91, which refers to God taking humans
"under the shelter of his wings," is considered par-
ticularly approp riate at this time of sorrow and loss.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sites
The Old jewish Cemetery of Prague
The Old jewish Cemete ry in Prague is one of the
oldest jewish cemeteries in Europe and one of t he
most visited h istorical sites in the city of Prague.
The ea rliest tOmbstone dates to 1439 and the latest
to 1787, with over 112,000 headstones located in
the cemete ry. Because of lack of space in the city
and the Jewish custom of not removi ng old burial
places, d uring its th ree centu ries of usage additional
soil was brought into the cemete ry so that burials
could be layered on top of one another. In certa in
a reas, the g raves a re stacked 12 laye rs deep, and
it is speculated that there are as many as 100,000
ind ividuals actually buried here. One of the most
Burial
No consolation visits are made before the funeral,
and there is no public view ing of the body. The
deceased is si mply buried in the ground, in accor-
dance with Genesis 3:19: "You a re dust, and to dust
you shall retu rn." The corpse is not embalmed, as that
would be considered a desec ration of the body, and
if a coffin is used, it is expected to be simple, made
of plai n wood. In Israel, coffins are rarely used: t he
body is simply lowered into the ground on a stretcher
or a bed of reeds. Instead of purchasing flowers for
the fune ral or for the mourne rs, comforters will often
make a charitable donation in honor of the deceased:
jews liv ing in the Diaspora, for example, will often
contribute to the planting of a tree in Israel.
The funeral can take place entirely at the graveside,
but part of the service may be conducted at a funeral
home. The eulogy, or hesped, is an important part of
the mourning process and may be delivered either by
family and friends or by the officiating rabbi. A memo-
rial prayer is recited as the congregation stands, and at
the graveside the liturgy Tsidduk Hadin , "j ustification
of the d ivine judgment," is delivered. After the body
we ll-known jews buried within t he cemetery is
Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, a Talmudic schola r
and Kabbalist who wrote ove r 20 books and d ied
at nearly 100 yea rs old in 1609. According to tradi-
tion, Rabbi Loew created t he supernaturally pow-
ered Golem out of clay in order to p rotect the jewish
gheuo in Prague. Inte restingly, it is t hanks to t he
Nazis that this cemetery has been preserved. It was
Hitler's wish that, after t he elimination of the Jews,
the Prague cemete ry be put on exh ibit as part of a
museum, and hence it was ne ithe r destroyed nor
deeply damaged, unlike other jewish cemeteries
controlled by the Nazis.
is lowered into the grave, the fi rst shovels of earth are
placed on it by the bereaved, followed by the com fort-
ers. After the burial, the children of the deceased (in
Orthodox famil ies, only the sons) recite the Kaddish,
a prayer that is part of every sy nagogue service but
since the Middle Ages has also been used as a mourn-
er's prayer; intriguingly, it does not mention death or
loss but praises the name of God.
What if the deceased commiued suic ide? Since
jewish law forbids the taking of one's own life, it was
traditiona l, especially among Orthodox jews, not to
give those who had committed suic ide a full funeral
se rvice, and to bury them in an a rea of the ceme-
tery that was at least six feet from other graves. More
recently, however, as understand ing of suicide and
mental illness has increased, even t raditional j ews
have begun providing full fune ral se rvices and reg-
ular burial for those who have taken their own lives.
Postburial Rituals
Afte r the funeral, the mourne rs and comforters
gather for what is called the "meal of consolation."
In the Talmud, the rabbis stipulate that friends

Document
The Kaddish Prayer
Reader: Hallowed and enhanced may He be through-
out the world of His own creation. May He cause His
sovereignty soon to be accepted, during our life and
the life of all Israel. And let us say: Amen.
Congregation and Reader: May He be praised through-
out all time.
Reader: Glorified and celebrated, lauded and wor-
shiped, acclaimed and honored, extOlled and ex-
alted may the Holy One be, praised beyond all song
must provide the first meal for the bereaved after
the burial of a loved one. Typically the food offered
is simple and easy to digest, in order LO encourage
mourners- who often have no desire to eat and
may even wish LOdie themselves- tO partake of the
food and gently to begin LO engage with life again.
The postburial period has three stages. During
the seven days of "sitting shiva" (from the Hebrew
word for "seven"), the mourning family members
receive visitors who wish LO pay their respects.
These visits are considered an important pan of the
healing process. Typically, visitOrs stay for no more
than 30 or 40 minutes, and thei r primary duty is LO
listen: jewish trad ition encou rages them LO remain
silent until the bereaved pe rson has spoken. It is
recognized that sile nce can often be healing and
calming for those suffering profound emotional d is-
tress. Especially at this time, fam ily and friends try
to help the bereaved family by cooking and d rop-
ping off food or taking ca re of other mundane re-
spons ibil ities so that the mourners are free tO focus
on the ir grief. Mourners do not go LO work and
are not expected LO keep up appearances; the mi r-
rors in the home are covered to reinforce the idea
that they need not care about how they look. The
'
3 jewish Traditions 147
and psalm, beyond all tributes that mortals can
utter. And let us say: Amen.
May the prayers and praise of the whole House
of Israel be accepted by our Father in Heaven. And
let us say: Amen.
Let there be abundant peace from Heaven, with
life's goodness for us and for all the people Israel.
And let us say: Amen.
He who brings peace to His universe will bring
peace to us and to all the people Israel. And let us
say: Amen.
women do not put on makeup, and the men do not
shave du ring this Lime. lL is customary (particu larly
among Orthodox jews) for members of the immed i-
ate family to sit on low swols or even on the noor.
The second stage of mourning consists of the
30 days (including the 7 days of shiva) that follow
the burial. The bereaved are not expected to abruptly
return to regular life after only seven days. For the
month of slteloshim, the mourners return to work but
do not participate in social activities.
With the end of the month, the standard
mourning period is considered complete, with only
the children of the deceased expected to observe
the third stage. A brief memorial service is held,
during which a few words are spoken about the
deceased and the Kaddish is rec ited; then mourn-
ers may return to a full schedule of work and social
life. Children of the deceased , however, recite the
Kaddish every day for a year. In the Orthodox con-
text, sons are expected to attend synagogue every
day to rec ite the Kaddish, and social restrictions
remain in force for both sons and daughters for the
entire year.
Mourning rituals do not continue beyond the
fi rst anniversary; indeed, a fter a year, the mourners
World Religions: Western Traditions

are expected to return to living a full life. Widows in a home, a synagogue, a hotel, or outdoors. A rabbi
may remarry afte r 90 days- the minimum time must be present in a legal capacity to make sure that
required to determine the paternity of a child born the marriage contract, called the ketubah, is prop-
soon after the death of the husband. W idowers a re erly prepared and the appropriate procedu res fol-
to wait until three festivals pass, or about seven lowed. The early rabbis introduced th is cont ract in
months. The shorter time period for women who particular to protect the economic rights of wives.
lose their husbands probably renects the recogni- To prov ide for a woman in the case of a divorce, or
tion in ancient times that women without husbands if he r husband died before her, the contract would
were particularly vulnerable to poverty. stipulate a "bride price" tO be paid to her from the
Yltarzeit- "anniversary" in both Yiddish and husband's estate. The ketubah also established the
German- is the annual commemoration of a loved dowry (such as bedding and linens) that the bride's
one's death. lighting a 24-hour yharzeit candle on fam ily would prov ide to help the young couple set
the eve of the ann iversary is a common practice, even up a home. Today the dowry and bride-price cus-
among othe rwise non-practicing j ews, though for toms are no longer observed, since wedding gifts
safety reasons many people today use electric candles.
Typically this ritual is performed at home rather than
in a communal setting. However, the name of the de-
ceased is read aloud during a service, and a memo-
rial plaque bearing h is or her name is illum inated on
the anniversary of the death. Other ways to mark the
date include fasting, reciting the Kaddish, visiti ng the
grave, and making a donation to a charity in the name
of the loved one. To mark their visits to a gravesite,
jews place small stones on top of the tombstone.

-· ______
.~-,...,~7'"":

Marriage r:r~E~1.~~~-::
..--,...,.,_.... .,.,__...
Marriage in judaism is regarded as a natural and __
, .._, ___,._,.. ______ _
_ _.. .., ____ ,.. _.. ..... _ ... t;V>..,..._..~
:::.:...":.:z.te:.:...:._-=~.:.=.:=-=
~""t":-::;;::==.:::::zr.:,..~.:;..'"';!;...-.::
highly desirable state for human beings. Indeed, as
has been seen, the rabbis conside red Yahweh 's ve ry
....
-...-,..
,_~<"'-,-~~::'---

-
-..-·
................. .. ....
~,.,-
........ -·fl•#'/1"

first mitzvah or commandment to humans to be "Be

fru itful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Genesis
1:28); thus, everyone is encouraged to marry and
ra ise children. Sexual relations within the sancti-
fied bounds of marriage are encouraged both for the
purpose of reproduction and for the pleasu re they
bring to the couple; as noted ea rlier, sexual fulfill-
ment is generally conside red someth ing that a hus-
band owes to his wife.
A beautiful ketubah is a work of art that is often
The Ketubah framed and hung prominently in the home as a
reminder of the spouses· vows and responsibili-
jewish marriages are occasions for happy celeb ra- ties to each other. Today even non-jewish cou-
tion in a framework of religious seriousness and ples are commissioning ketubahs.
sanctity. A wedding can take place almost anywhere:

a nd savi ngs are used to help establish new house-
holds, and t he ketubah does not have much official
powe r in North America, since t he legal obligations
of spouses are set by the laws of the land. However,
trad itional jews continue to sign a ketubah w ritten
in Aramaic (the lingua franca in the era when the
ketubah was fi rst created), while liberal jews sign a
more mode rn version of the contract.
Under the Chuppah
For the marriage ceremony, the couple stands under
a chuppah, a wedding canopy supported by four
poles that may be either freestanding or held by
friends. Its origi ns a re not certai n, but t he chuppah
is most often understood to symbolize the home
that the couple will create. The canopy itself can be
plai n or ornately decorated a nd is sometimes made
of a tall it. In O rthodox and Conse rvative weddings,
the bride and her family circle the groom under the
chuppah either t hree or seven times; this custom
derives from the instruction in jeremiah 3 1:22 that
"a woman shall court a man," which the rabbis in-
terpreted to mean that she should "go around" him.
Traditionally a r ing is placed on the index finger
of the bride's righ t hand, because the index is the
most prominent finger and can be seen by the official
witnesses to the wedd ing; the ring is moved to the
more familia r position (thi rd finger of the left hand)
after the ceremony. The rabbi , cantor, or frie nds then
recite the sheva berachot, "seven blessings; which in-
clude a blessi ng over a cup of wine and expressions
of hope for the futu re happiness of the couple; then
the bride and groom drink from the cup.
The conclusion o f the wedding comes with one
of the best-known rituals associated with jewish
weddings: the breaking of the glass. At Orthodox
and some Conse rvative wedd ings the glass is broken
under the foot of the groom , while at Reform, Re-
constructionist, and Humanistic wedd ings both of
the newlyweds typically step on a glass (or some-
times a light bulb) w rapped in a napkin. The sound
of the shatteri ng glass is g reeted with joyful shouts
of "Maze! tOv!" ("Congratulations!") th roughout
the wedding place. The glass-breaking ritual has
'
3 jewish Traditions 149
multiple interpretations: some understand it to be a
remi nder of the destruction of the jewish Temple and
the realization that even in happy times one must be
aware that life also brings sadness and pain; others
suggest that in the breaking of the glass the couple
is reminded that life and love a re fragile and must be
protected. At Orthodox and some Conservative wed-
dings, the newlyweds spend a few minutes alone after
the ceremony, sha ring some bread and wine before
join ing their family and friends at the reception.
Divorce
Divorce is mentioned several times in the Bible
(particularly in Deuteronomy 24:1- 4), a nd j udaism
accepts it as a legal institution. The Bible gives the
power of d ivorce to the husba nd , and today it re-
mains the case that a divorce must be initiated by
the husband ofh isow n free will. The husband pres-
ents the divorce decree, called a get, tO the wife. Ob-
ta in ing a d ivorce was traditionally rather easy under
j ew ish law ; on the other hand , no woman can be
divorced aga inst her will , as mutual consent is re-
quired. In practice, divorce is strongly d iscouraged,
and t his contributes, at least in part, to the fact t hat
in North Ame rica d ivorce rates a re lowe r among
j ews than in the gene ral population.
The text of the get often stipulates a financ ial set-
tlement and provisions for the return of property
that rightfully belongs to t he wife. Among nonreli-
gious and many liberal jews, civil divorce is deemed
sufficient a nd a get is not pursued. Orthodox and
Conservative jews must obtain a get if either party
wishes to remarry, but it is not provided until the
civil divorce is completed.
The Agunah: A Woman Chained
The fact that granting a get remains within the powe r
of the husband places ce rtain observant women in
a ''ery un fortu nate situation. These women are re-
fe rred to as Agunot (from agunah, literally "chai ned"
or "anchored"). Historically, a wi fe could find hersel f
"chained" tO he r marriage if her husband had left on
a journey and not returned, had d ied in battle and
World Religions: Western Traditions

Focus
The Mezuzah
Ma ny j ewish h omes have a mezuzah ("doorpost")
affixed beside t he front entra nce as a reminder of
God's presence a nd God's command ments. This is
done to fu lfill in a literal way the comma nd ment
to write God's laws "on the d oorposts o f you r
house and upon you r gates" (De ute ronomy 6:9).
Inside t he decorative container is a piece of rolled
parch ment (ani mal s kin) insc ribed wi th hand -
wriuen verses from the She ma praye r (see "The
Shem a" b ox).

Inside the decorative container of the mezuzah is a piece of rolled parchment with handwritten verses from the Shema
prayer. Religiously observant jews touch the mezuzah and then kiss their fingers as they pass through the doorway.

not been found, or had become mentally incapaci-
tated. Nowadays, many agunah cases ar ise because
the husband refuses to gram his wife a get even
when ordered to do so by a rabbi nic court. The re
may be several motivations for refusal; for example,
the husband m ight want to obta in a beuer d ivorce
settlement or deal h is wife a vindictive paning blow.
An agunah cannot remarry, and if she has a
child with another man, that child is considered
a mamzer- a child of forbidden relations. Mamzer

status is attached to anyone born of incest, of adul-
tery between a married jewish woman and a jewish
man who is not her husband, or of a parent who is a
mamzer. But it is not synonymous with illegitimacy,
since it does not apply to a child born to an unma rried
woman. jewish men are not permitted to marry before
being divorced either, but because polygamy was
practiced in the past (even quite recently in certai n
Sephardic and Mizrahi communities), a ch ild born tO
a man who has not granted a divorce to his wife will
not be considered a mamztr. Although mamzerim (the
plural form of"mamztr") are not disadvantaged in any
other way, they do face restrictions with respect to
marriage: for example, a mamzer is not permitted tO
marry someone with a priestly lineage.
Va rious agunah groups have been formed to sup-
port women in these pai nful situations. So far no
solution has found widespread acceptance, although
the "P renuptial Agreement for the Prevention of
Get-Refusal" is one remedy that mode rn Orthodox
j ew ish com munities use, and it is accepted by mod-
erate rabbi nic authorities as well.
Focus
Conversion to Judaism
Although j udaism for most of its h istory has not
actively sought to conve rt non-j ews, a person who
wishes to become a j ew may do so. The conversion
process depends on which branch o f j udais m one is
joining. The Orthodox process is the most rigorous
and can take betwee n one and three yea rs of study
with a rabbi, wh ile the more liberal branches typi-
cally require roughly one year of study. Ultimately,
though, the time required for an individ ual to con-
vert is determined by the supervisi ng rabbi. Rabbinic
law establishes th ree requirements for conversion:
circumcision (for men), imme rsion in a mikveh (the
ritual bath), and acceptance of the yoke of the com-
mandments. When the student is ready, the fi rst
step for a male is the circumcision ritual. If he is
'
3 jewish Traditions IS I
~ Recent Developments
In the cou rse of its history, judaism became the
foundation for two othe r m~ or monotheistic
rehgions. Christianity and Isla m, like j udais m, a re
referred tO as "Abraham ic trad itions" because they
too trace their spiritual lineage back to the biblical
Ab raham. judaism is by fa r the smallest o f the th ree,
with only 1 to 2 percent the number of adherents
that Christian ity and Islam have. In total, there a re
approxi mately 14 million j ews in the world, the vast
majority of whom live in either the United States
or Israel. Each of the latter has a jewish population
of a round 6 million. There are about 1.5 million
j ews in Europe (includ ing more than 100,000 in
Germany), 400,000 in Latin Ame rica, and 375,000
in Canada, which has the fourth-largest jewish pop-
ulation after Israel, the Un ited States, and France.
Toronto, Montreal, and Va ncouve r are home to the
largest Canad ian jewish commu nities (in descend-
ing order).
already circumcised, he must nonetheless undergo a
ritual in wh ich a symbolic d rop of blood is d rawn .
It may be because of th is operation tha t conve rsion
to Judaism has generally been more com mon among
women tha n men. To fulfill the second requirement,
a court of rabbis (typically three) is called to meet at
the mikveh; if any of the rabbis are not of the same
sex as the conve rt, they gather in a room adj oi ning
the bath. Then, as the convert stands in the wate r
of the mikveh, the rabbis pose questions (if neces-
sar y from the adj oi ning room) to confirm h is or he r
knowledge o f judaism. After the questioning, the
con vert fully imme rses h im- or he rself in the wate r
and eme rges as a jew to receive the Hebrew name
that he or she has selected.
World Religions: Western Traditions
The Jewish Bloodline
One issue of concern in Jewish communities today
is patrilineal versus matril ineal descent. According
to Halakhah, it is the mothe r's Status as a jew that
determines the status of her children: to be a Jew
by birth, one must be born to a jewish mother.
Orthodox and Conservative branches consider
Halakhic rules binding and thus accept a child as
jewish only if the mother is jewish either by bi rth
or by conversion in an Orthodox or Conservative
synagogue. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism
do not conside r the Halakhic rules binding. They
accept a child as jewish if either parent is jewish,
as long as the child is raised as a Jew and adop ts
a Jewish identity. Because d ifferent branches of
Judaism follow d ifferent conversion processes, con-
versions performed by more liberal denominations
are not accepted by rigorously observant g roups.
Conversion has been a matter of contention in
jewish commun ities around the world, but perhaps
particularly in Israel, where the chief rabbinate, an
institution dominated by Orthodox Judaism, has
jurisdiction over many personal status issues, in-
cluding marriage and conversion. The chief rabbin-
ate does not accept non-Orthodox converts, nor may
rabbis perform a marriage involving converts from
non-Orthodox branches of Judaism. For this reason
many Israelis choose to marry outside Israel, often
in nearby Cyprus. Secular lsraelis- the m~ority of
the country's jewish population- as well as jews
from non-Orthodox branches have expressed strong
objections to the chief rabbinate's strict control over
weddings, divorce proceedings, conversions, and
rulings as to who qualifies as j ewish for the pur-
pose of immigration. In May 2012, the auorney gen-
eral of Israel consented to recognize Miri Gold, a
Reform rabbi, as the first rabbi of a non-Orthodox
congregation in the h istory of Israel. Th is means
that Rabbi Gold can receive payment for her wo rk,
in the same way that thousands of Orthodox rabbis
do, and that the state will recognize her as a rabbi.
It is believed that this decision will help to pave the
way for dozens of Reform and Conservative rabbis
in Israel to receive a salary from the government
for thei r work, and that it is a step toward leveling
the play ing field between the Orthodox and non-
Orthodox branches of Judaism in Israel.
Attitudes Toward Gays
and Lesbians
Another subject of contention in modern Judaism has
been aLtitudes toward gays and lesbians. Trad ition-
ally, male homosexual intercourse has been consid-
ered unacceptable (based on leviticus 18:22; 20:13),
and this is still the Orthodox position. The Reform
and Reconstructionist branches, however, advocate
full equality and accept both same-sex marriage and
ord ination of gays and lesbians as rabbis. The Conser-
vative branch's Committee on jewish law and Stan-
dards took the same view as the Orthodox branch
until recently, but since 2006 has recognized multi-
ple positions in support of its pluralistic philosophy.
One position upholds the Orthodox view, but an-
other is sign ificantly more relaxed regarding homo-
sexual sex and relationsh ips, although it continues to
regard certain sexual acts as prohibited.
The Hebrew Bible makes no reference to lesbi-
an ism, and rabbinic tradition considers it a minor
offense: an example of immoral behavior, but no-
where near as serious a transgression as male ho-
mosexuality. This is a reflection of the and rocentric
perspective of rabbinic law. Since, from the rabbinic
perspective, the defin ition of a sexual act is penetra-
tion by the male member, sexual activ ity between
women cannot violate the l aw.
Gender Equality:
A Distance Yet to Go
Finally, extraordinary Strides have been taken in
the last several decades toward full gender egalita r-
ianism. The Conservative, Reform, and Reconstruc-
tionist branches now regularly ordain women to the
rabbinate and allow full female participation in syn-
agogue worsh ip.
Positive changes also are taking place in the
Orthodox branch of Judaism, and specifically ce r-
tain modern Orthodox synagogues, with regard to

the ord ination o f female rabbis, but the practice re-
mai ns extremely controversial (see "lila Kagedan ,
Female Mode rn O rthodox Rabbi" box). Many in the
O rthodox religious establish ment condemn such
actions because they understa nd the ordaining of
female rabbis to violate j ew ish law. In October 2015,
the mai n assoc iation of modern O rthodox rabbis,
the Rabbi nical Cou ncil of Ame rica (RCA), passed
a resolution reaffirming its opposition tO the ord i-
nation of female clergy and ba rring membe r rabbis
lrw omen in tfte Trad'i~tons
Two Influential j ewish Leaders
In January 2016, lila Kagedan , who was born and
raised in Montreal, Q uebec, officially became the
first female modern Orthodox rabbi in the United
States of America when the Modern O rthodox Mount
Rabbi Lila Kagedan
'
3 jewish Traditions 153
from h iring women with clergy-like titles. In most
O rthodox synagogues, wome n do not count as
members of a minya n, and t hey ca nnot be called
to read from t he Torah in synagogue services. Yet
inc reasi ng numbe rs are studyi ng Torah with othe r
women- an activ ity forme rly limited to males. As
j ew ish femin ists point out, gende r equality means
that gende red traditions, images, regulations,
rites, and rit uals deeply embedded in J udaism
mu st be re-created in the spirit o f gende r equality.
. ~ -( I
Freedom jewish Center in Randolph, New j ersey,
h ired her. Rabbi Kagedan had graduated the year
prio r from Yeshiva! Maharat, an O rthodox rabbini-
cal school for women founded by Rabbi Avi Weiss in
New York City. Kagedan was the fi rst graduate to use
the title "Rabbi"; up until her decision to do so, other
graduates used the titles of either maharat (an acro-
nym for manhigah hilchatit ntchanit Toranit, "a teacher
or leader of jewish law and spirituality" in Hebrew),
morateinu ("our teacher" in Hebrew), or rabba (a female
version of the term "rabbi"). As Rabbi Kagedan noted
in a n article that she wrote for Canadian jewish News,
"I o ften wonder what would happen if a woman grad-
uated from med ical school but did not assume the
title 'doctor.' What would happen when she went tO
see her patientS) How would they know what she was
the re to do?" She has pointed out that the Bible de-
scribes jewish women- such as Deborah, Yael, and
Mir iam- taking on crucial leadership positions and
has suggested that she, and other O rthodox women
who feel called to be spiritual leaders in their commu-
nities, are following in thei r footsteps (Kagedan 20 15).
O ne of the most in nuential rabbis in the United
States tOday is female. Rabbi Sharon Brous, co-founder
of l KAR (the Hebrew word for "esse nce") and cur-
rently based in Los Angeles, California, has d rawn
continued
 World Religions: Western Traditions

both jews forme rly disconnected from j udaism

and non-j ews into a vibrant community that cares
deeply about social justice and seeks to make a posi-
tive d ifference in the world. Rabbi Brous led a p rayer
during President Obama's second inaugural p raye r
service, and her TED Talk, "Reclaiming Religion ,"
has been viewed by more than 1 million people and
translated into 14 languages.
Rabbi Brous has wriuen and spoken out against
the flou rish ing of racism and violence in America
since the election of Donald]. Trump as U.S. pres-
ident; she also has addressed the concomitant in-
crease in anti-Semitism.
Indeed, j ew ish community cente rs in 33 U.S.
states and two Canadian p rov inces have altogethe r
received ove r 100 bomb th reats s ince Tr ump's elec-
tion . Jew ish cemeteries, furthermore, have been
the targets of vandalism. In an encou raging sh ow
of interfaith support , Muslim- Ame rican activist s
Li nda Sarsour and Ta rek El-Messidi began a fund -
raisi ng effort to help pay for the repair of top -
pled headstones in a St. l ou is Jewish cemetery.
The goal was to ra ise $20,000, but close to seven
times that amount was provided by donors . l n
Ph iladelph ia, membe rs of the Ahmad iyya Muslim
Communi ty USA group - an Ame rican- Muslim Rabbi Sharon Brous
organi zation- visited the jewish cemetery that
had experienced vandalism and assisted in the
cleanup efforts.

This process of transformation is underway in all and written texts has been d iscussed, as have the di-
branches of Judaism and is far from fin ished. verse types of literature produced through the centu-
ries by jewish communities. The history of the Jewish

~Summary
This chapter has examined the development of ju-
daism from its sacred beginnings as recorded in the
Bible through its varied expressions during the Second
Temple period to the innovations introduced in late
antiquity by the rabbis. The importance of both oral
people, and their often-creative responses to difficult
times, has also been described. Finally, this chapter
has shown how the challenges of the Enlightenment
and modernity were reflected in the development of
the multiple, frequently incompatible, approaches to
jewish law, practice, and identity that are manifest in
the various branches of Judaism that exiSt today.
 3 jewish Traditions

Religion Text Revision U se

judaism Hebrew Bible (Tanakh):
24 books organized in
three sections: Teaching or
Law (Torah). the Prophets
(Neui'im). and Writings
(Ketuuim)
Mishnah
Babylonian Talmud
Zohar
Written in the first Canon fixed sometime Doctrinal. inspi rational .
millennium BCE between 200 BCE and educational. liturgical
IOOCE
Teachings of rabbis Compiled by Rabbi One of the foundations
in the land of Israel Judah the Prince c. or jewish law: the object
between 100 BCEand 220 CE or ongoing study
220 CE
Teachings of rabbis in Compiled in Babylonia Another foundation of
the land or lsra.el and in in 6th century CE jewish law: also the
Babylonia between 100 object or ongoing study
BCE and 500 BCE
Mystical teachings of Edited in the 13th Study. inspiration.
various rabbis from the century contemplation
13th century

Discussion Questions
l. Explai n how Jewish identity ca n be based on religiou s, ethn ic, or cultural elements- or any
combination of them.
2. The Jew ish Exile in Babylonia is of para mount importa nce in Israelite- Jew ish history. Describe
how the theme of exile reverberates in Hebrew literature and how it provides a framework for
dealing with the displacement and feeling of alienation from their homelands that Jews have
dealt with th roughout their histor y.
3. How did the Enlighten ment affect Jews liv ing in Europe?
4. W hat is anti-Semitism, and how does it di ffer from anti-Judaism) What were some of the
circumstances in Europe in the nineteenth and early twe ntieth centuries that gave rise tO
anti-Semitism?
5. Describe the li fe-cycle rituals that p rov ide a "framework of meaning" for Jews as they pass
th rough different stages of thei r lives.
6. W hat are some of the religious traditions that Jew ish women today are challengi ng)
7. How do di fferent Jewish rituals a nd practices reOect the importance that Judais m attributes
to its h istoric past?
I 56 World Religions: Western Traditions
Glossary
Aggadah Anecdotal or narrative
material in the Talmud; see also
Halakhah.
agunalt (Hebrew, "chained" or •an-
chored"; plural, agunol) A jewish
woman who is "chained" to her mar-
riage because her husband refuses to
give her a d ivorce (get).
apocalyptic Refers to the belief that
the world is under the control of evil
forces, but that God will intervene
and defeat the powers of darkness at
the end of time; from "apocalypse," a
Greek term meaning "unveiling" (the
latin equivalent is •revelation"). Apoc-
alyptic literature nourished in the Hel-
lenistic era.
Ashkenazim jews of central and
eastern European ancestry, as dis-
tinguished from Sephard im and
Mizrahim.
Baal Shem Tov (Hebrew, "Master
of the good name") Rabbi Israel ben
Eliezer (1698-1760), the founder of
Hasidism; also known as "the Besht"
(an acronym).
Babylonian Talmud Consists of the
Mishnah and the commentary on the
Mishnah (known as the gemarah) pro-
duced by the jewish community living
in Babylonia and was compiled in ap-
proximately 500 CE.
bar mitzvah (Hebrew, "son of the
commandment") The title given to a
13-year-old boy when he is initiated
into adult ritual responsibilities; some
branches of judaism also celebrate a
bat mitzvah for girls.
bris The Yiddish form of the Hebrew
brit.
brit (Hebrew, "treaty" or, most com-
monly, "covenant") The special rela-
tionship between God and the jewish
people. Brit milah is the covenant of
circumcision .
cantor The liturgical specialist who
leads the musical chams in synagogue
services; hazzan in Hebrew.
covenant See brit.
Diaspora A collective term for jews
living outside the land of ancient
Israel; from the Greek meaning "dis-
persal." The Oiaspora began with the
Babylonian Exile, from which not all
jews returned to Judea.
Documentary Hypothesis The theory,
proposed by the German scholar julius
Wellhausen in 1883, that the Penta-
teuch was not wriuen by one person
(Moses) but compiled over a long period
of time from mult iple sources.
Exile The deportation of jewish lead-
ers from jerusalem to Mesopotamia
by the conquering Babylonians in 586
BCE; by disruptting local Israelite po-
litical, ritual, and agricultural insti-
tutions, it marked the transition from
Israelite religion to Judaism.
Exodus The migration of Hebrews
from Egypt under the leadership of
Moses, understood in later Hebrew
thought as marking the birth of the
Israelite nation.
Gaonim (singuLar, "Gaon") The senior
rabbinical authorities in Mesopotamia
under Persian and Muslim rule.
Gemarah From the Hebrew word for
"completion," it is the body of Aramaic
commentary attached to the Hebrew
text of the Mishnah, which together
make up the Talmud (both the jerusa-
lem and Babylon ian versions).
get The jewish divorce document
given by a husband to his wife to end
their marriage.
Haggadah The liturgy for the ritual
Passover dinner.
Halakhah Material in the Talmud of a
legal nature; see .also Aggadah.
Haredim A rigoTously observant sub-
group of Orthodox judaism.
Hasidism (Hebrew, "pious ones")
Movement founded in eastern Europe
by the eighteenth-century mystic
known as the Ba al Shem Tov. Today
the movement encompasses many
subgroups, each of which has its own
charismatic leader. The Hasidim make
up a significant part of Orthodox
judaism.
Haskalah The jewish Enlightenment.
Hebrew Bible The sacred canon of
jewish texts, known to Jews as the
Tanakh and to Christians as the Old
Testament.
Hekhalot (Hebrew, "palaces," refer-
ring to visions of ascent into heav-
enly palaces) A genre of esoteric and
revelatory writing produced sometime
between late antiquity and the early
Middle Ages.
Holocaust The mass murder of
approximately 6 million European
jews by the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler
during the Second World War; from
the Greek words meaning "whole" and
"burnt." The Hebrew term is Shoah
("catastrophe").
Israelites The biblical people of Israel.
Jerusalem Talmud Also referred to
as the Palestinian Talmud; consistS of
the Mishnah and the commentary on
the Mishnah (known as the gemarah)
produced and compiled by the jewish
community living in Palestine-
probably in the region of the Galilee,
in the fourth century CE.
Kabbalah The medieval jewish mys-
tical tradition; its central text is a
commentary on scripture called the
Zohar, which is thought to have been
written by Moses de leon (d. 1305)
but is attributed to Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochai, a famous second-century
rabbinic mystic and wonder-worker.
Karaites (Hebrew, "Scripturalists")
An eighth-century anti rabbinic move-
ment that rejected the Talmud, taking
only the Bible as authoritative.
kippah (Hebrew, "dome" or "cap")
The skullcap that jewish men wear;
see also yarmulke .
kosher Term for food that is ritually
acceptable, indicating that all rabbinic
regulations regarding animal slaughter
and the like have been observed in its
preparation.

ladino A language composed mainly
of old Spanish and Hebrew, spoken by
some Sephardic jews.
Luria, Isaac (1534-1572) InOuential
scholar of the Kabbalah who was born
in jerusalem and eventually taught in
the northern Palestinian city of Safed.
l\·l aimonides, Moses l atinized name
of Moses ben Maimon (1135-1204),
one of the most famous jewish philos-
ophers and legal scholars of the Islamic
age, identified in religious texts as
"Rambam" (from R-M-B-M, the acro-
nym of "Rabbi Moses ben Maimon").
menorah The seven-branched oil
lamp that has been a jewish symbol
since ancient times, well before the
widespread adoption of the six-
pointed star; the nine-branched me-
norah used at Hanukkah is sometimes
called a hannukiah .
messiah From the Hebrew mashiach,
"anointed (one)" (see I Samuel 24:6),
a title used for the king, servant, or
other representative of God (priest,
prophet, or even non-Israelite Cyrus
in Isaiah 45:1). The Greek translation
is "Christos," from which the English
term "Christ" is derived . In the
Tanakh, mashiach does not refer to an
eschatological figure.
midrash Rabbinic commentary on
scripture.
minyan The quorum of 10 required
for a prayer service in the synagogue.
In more rigorously observant syn-
agogues, only adult males qualify
for inclusion in the minyan; in more
liberal synagogues, adult women may
also participate.
Mishnah The Oral l aw-inherited
from Pharisaism and ascribed to
Moses-written down and codified by
topic ; edited by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi
around 220 CE, its authority parallels
that of the written Torah.
Mishneh Torah A topically arranged
code of Jewish law written in the
twelfth century by Maimon ides.
mitzvah (plural, "mitzvoth ") A com-
mandment; in the Roman era, the rab-
binic movement identified exactly 613
specific commandments contained
within the Torah.
Mizrahim jews of Middle East-
ern ancestry, as dist inguished from
Ashkenazim and Sephard im .
moltel A ritual circumciser.
Passover A major spring festival that
began as a celebration of agricultural
rebirth but came to commemorate the
supposed liberation of the Israelites
from slavery in Egypt under Moses's
leadership.
Pentateuch The Greek name for the
first five books of the Hebrew Bible,
ascribed by tradition to Moses but
regarded by modern scholars as the
product of several centuries of later
literary activity.
phylacteries The usual English term
for tefi !lin.
Pogrom Means "devastation" in Rus-
sian, refers to the state-sanctioned
massacre of jews (or other ethnic
groups).
Purim (Hebrew, "lms") The holiday
commemorating the escape of the jews
of Persia from an evil plot of a Persian
official named Haman, as described in
the Book of Esther. Haman used a lot-
tery system to determine the date for
the destruction of the Jews-hence the
name of this holiday.
rabbi literally "teacher," but by the
second century CE the official title
of an expert on the interpretation of
Torah; once priestly sacrifices had
ended with the destruction of the
Second Temple in 70 CE. the rabbi
became the scholar[y and spiritual
leader of a jewish congregation.
rabbinic movement The continuation
of Pharisaic teachings by non-priestly
religious leaders who became the dom-
inant voices in judaism after the de-
struction of the Temple in 70 CE.
Rebbe The Yiddish form of the
Hebrew word "rabbi," and the term
used by Hasidic jews to address their
spiritual leaders.
responsa (from l atin, "answers") Ac-
cumulated rulings on issues of legal
interpretation issued by rabbinical
3 jewish Traditions I57
authorities in response to questions
from rabbis.
Rosh Hashanah The new year fes-
tival, generally falling in September;
the day when God is said to open the
Book of life in which he will inscribe
the individual's fate for the year on
Yom Kippur.
Sabbath The seventh day of the week,
observed since ancient times as a day
of rest from ordinary activity.
Seder (Hebrew, "Order") The ritual
Passover dinner celebrated in the
home; the six divisions of the Mishnah
are also called orders or Seders.
Sephardim Jews of Spanish-Portuguese
ancestry, as distinguished from
Ashkenazim and Mizrahim.
Septuagint The Greek translation of
the Hebrew scriptures, made in Alex-
andria during the Hellenistic period,
beginning in the third century BCE.
Shavuot A festival lasting one day in
Israel and two days in the Diaspora
(except for Reform and Reconstruc-
tionist jews) in late May or early june
that celebrates the revelation of the
Torah by God to Moses on Mount
Sinai; also known as the Festival of
Weeks for the seven weeks that sep-
arate the second day of Passover and
the day before Shavuot.
Shema The oldest and most sacred
fixed daily prayer in judaism, found in
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 and
Numbers 15:37-41. "Shema" ("Hear")
is its first word.
Shoah (Hebrew, "catastrophe") The
Hebrew term for the Holocaust.
sidelocks long curls of hair in front
of the ears worn by some Orthodox
men and boys in literal fulfillment
of the command in l eviticus 19:27
against shaving the "corners" of one's
head.
Simcltat Bat (Hebrew, "joy of a daugh-
ter") The naming ceremony for girls
that more liberal branches of judaism
have adopted as an equivalent to the
brit ceremony conducted for boys.
Sukkot (Hebrew, "tabernacles" or
"booths") A feast probably named
I 58 World Religions: Western Traditions

for the temporary shelters that were
constructed by farmers in autumn to
protect their ripening crops and later
given a historical interpretation com-
memorating the wanderings of the
Israelites in the wilderness after the
Exodus.
synagogue (from Greek, "gathering
together") The local place of assem-
bly for congregational worship, which
became central to Jewish tradition
after the destruction of the jerusalem
Temple.
rail it A shawl with fringes at the cor-
ners, worn for prayer; usually white
with blue stripes.
Tanakh The entire Hebrew Bible,
consisting of the Torah (l aw), Nevi'im
(Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings);
the name is an acronym of the initial
letters of those three terms.
tefillin Small black leather boxes,
also termed phylacteries, containing
parchment scrolls on which the words
of four paragraphs from the Torah
(Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16; Deuteron-
omy 6:4-9, 13-21) are written, tied to
the forehead and upper arm by leather
thongs.
Tetragrammaton "Four-letter" word,
the personal name of the jewish deity,
consisting of the four Hebrew letters
yod, hay, vav, hay (YHWH); conven-
tionally written as '·Yahweh."
tikkun olam (Hebrew, "Restoration of
the world") The Kabbalistic concept,
introduced by Isaac Luria, that the
world can be restored through prayer,
study, meditation, and the observance
of commandments.
Tisha b'Av (Hebrew, "Ninth day
of Av") A day of mourning for the
destruction of both the First and
Second Temples.
tZ(Iddik (Hebrew, "righteous person";
plural, tzaddikim) A title conveying the
Hasidic ideal for a teacher or spiritual
leader.
yarmulke The Yiddish word for the
kippah or skullcap worn by Orthodox
jewish males.
yharzeit (Yiddish and German,
"anniversary") The anniversary of a
person's death.
yeshiva A traditional school for the
study of the scriptures and jewish Jaw.
Yiddish The language spoken by
many central and eastern European
jews in recent centuries; although it
is written in Hebrew characters and
contains some words derived from
Hebrew, it is essentially German in its
structure and vocabulary.
Yom Kippur (Hebrew, "Day of Atone-
ment") A holy day dedicated to solemn
renection and examination of one's
conduct; falls 10 days after Rosh
Hashanah, usually in September.
Zion In biblical times, the hi ll in
jerusalem where the Temple stood as
God's dwelling place; by extension,
the land of the Israelites as the place of
God's favor; in modern times, the goal
of jewish migration and nation-state
settlement (Zionism).
Zionism The modern movement, ini-
tiated by the Austro-Hungarian jour-
nalist and playwright Theodor Herzl
in 1897, fora jewish nation-state in the
ancient land of Israel.
Zvi, Sabbatai A student of l urianic
Kabbalah who was declared the mes-
siah in the year 1666; given the choice
between death and conversion to
Islam, he chose to convert.

Further Reading
Abella, Irving, and Harold Troper. 1991. None Is Too Many
Canada and the }eM of Europe 19.33- 1948. Toronro: lester
Publishing. An eye-opening must-read for Canadrans.
Ausubel, Nathan, ed. 1948. A Treasur)' of Jewish Follllore: Tlae
Stories. Legends, Hurnor, Wisdom and Folk Songs of theJewish
People. New York: Crown Publishers. A work that offers a
sense of the Jewish penchanr for storytelling.
Baskin, Judith, ed. I999.Jewish \\1ornen in Historical Perspecti\'e.
Detroit: \\layne State University Press. A collecuon o£
msightful research.
Berlin, Adele, and Marc Zvi Brertler, eds. 2004. TheJewish Stud)'
Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The best translation
of the Hebrew scriptures currently available.
Biale, Rachel. 1984. Women and jewish Law: Tire Essential Texts,
Their Histor)' and Their Rele\lance for Today. New York:
Schocken Books. An excellent source of insight imo issues o£
concern to observant Jewish women.
Brooten, Bernadene J. 1982. \\1ornen Leaders in lite Ancient
Synagogue: Inscriptional E\•idenct and Background Issues.
Chico, CA: Scholars Press. Groundbreaking research that
argues against the long-standing assumpuon that women could
not have held leadershrp roles in the Judaism of late anuquny.
Cohen, Martin 5., and Michael Katz, eds. 2012. The Obser.ant
Life: Tire Wisdom of Conservati\•e)udaismfor Conltml>orary
jews. New York: Rabbinical Assembly. A thorough and acces-
Sible source for everything about Conservative Judaism.
De lange, Nicholas. 2003. Judaism. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. An accesstble overview of Jewish history.
Diamant, Anita. 1997. The Red Tent. New York: Wyatt Books for
St. Martin's Press. A historical novel that cemers on a minor
female character in the Book of Genes1s and provides a fasci-
nating glimpse into what hfe might have been li ke for girls and
women in the time of the ancient Israelites.
Diamant, Anita, and Howard Cooper. 1991. Living a jewish Life:
Jewish Traditions, Customs and Values for Today's Families.
New York: HarperCollins. An easy-to-read gUJde w ritten from
a hberal perspective.
Goldstein, Elyse. 1998. ReVisions: Suing Torah Through a
Fen1inist Lens. Toronto: Key Porter Books. An msightful,
accessrble analysis ofbrbhcal wnungs by a female Refo rm rabbi.
- - - . ed. 2009. New Jewish Feminism: Probing lite Past, Forg·
ing tire Future. Woodstock, VT: Jewish lights. An excellent
anthology of£erninisL writings from a vanety of denommational
perspect1ves.
 3 jewish Traditions 159

Greenberg, Irving. 1988. The jewish Way: Living tlte Holidays.
New York: Simon & Schuster. A comprehensiVe exploration
o£ Judaism through its holy days.
Magness, Jodi. 2012. The Arcltaeology of tlte Holy Land: From
tlte DestruClion of Solomon's Temple to the MusJim Conquest.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A lucid, engaging
overview or the archaeology of ancient Palestine by a speciahst.
Plaskow, Jud ith. 1991. Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from
a Feminist Perspecti\'£. New York: Harper One. A classtc of
jew1sh femmism.
Scholem, Gershom G. 1974. Kabbalah. Jerusalem: Keter.
A survey o£ Lhe medieval mystical Lradiuon by one of ns mosL
respected modern interpreters.
Spiegelman, Art. 1986, 1992. Maus I and ll. New York: Pantheon
Books. A powerful graphic novel that tells the story o£ Spiegel-
man's father, a surv1vor of the Holocaust.
Steinsaltz, A. 1989. The Talmud, the Steinsaltz Edition: A Refer-
ence Guide. New York: Random House. The ..go·LO" source for
understandmg the Talmud.
Wiesel, Elie. 1960. Night. New York: Bantam. A short, compelling
memou by a writer who as a teenager surviVed the concentra-
tion camps at Auschwitz. Buna, and Buchenwald.

Recommended Websites
www.centuryone .com/hstjrslm.html www.jewishfilm.com
A chronological history ofJerusalem. A sne thaL publishes an annual hst of films concerning Jewish
themes and issues.
www.ushmm .com
The official site of the United States HolocausL f>.•lemorial l\•luseum. www.t iklcun.org
Tildwn magazme is an e.xcellem source of articles on pohtics, rehgton,
www.idanrai chelproject.com/en and creating a meaningful life from a progressiVe Jewish perspecLive.
The website of the mustcal group the !dan Raiche! Project, which
performs in multiple languages, mcludmg Arabic, Amhanc, and www.jwa .org
Swah11i as well as Hebrew, and has been descnbed as providing a A comprehensive archiVe of Jewish women's issues.
-window omo the young, tolerant. multi~eLhnic Israel Laking shape
away from the headhnes• (Boston Globe). www.myjewishlearning.com
A site provtdmg useful information on Jewish life.
www.jbooks.com
The websne of the O nhne Jewish Book Community. www.jewishvirtuaHibrary.org
A vast collection o£ in formation and resources, wnh more than
13,000 entnes and 6,000 photos.

References
Abella, Irving, and Harold Troper. 1991. None Is Too Many:
Canada and the jews of Europe 1933-1948. Toronto: Lester
Pub lishing.
Ausubel, Nathan , ed. 1948. A Treasury ofjewL<h Follllore: The Stories,
Legends, Humor, Wisdom and Folh Songs of tlte jewish People. New
York: Crown Publishers.
Efron, John, SLeven \Veitzman, fo.<fanhias Lehmann, and Joshua
Holo. 2009. Theje~;s: A History. Upper Saddle River, N): Pearson
Educauon.
Gilbert, Martin. 1985. The Holocaust: A History of the jews of Europe
During tlte Second World War. New York : Holt, Rinehart and
Winston.
Hallo, Wtlliam W., ed. 2003. The Context of Scripture. Vol. 2, Monu-
mentallrL<crip!ionsfrom the Biblical World. Le iden : Brill.
Hertz, Joseph H. 1960. The Authorised Daily Prayer Book New York:
Bloch Publishing Company.
Josephus, Flavius. 1930-1965. Jewish Antiquitie.<, Book 13 (9). Trans.
Ralph Marcus. Cambndge, MA: Loeb Classical Ltbrary, Harvard
UniversiLy Press.
Kagedan, Lila. 2015. "Why Orthodox Juda.sm Needs Female
Rabbrs." Canadian jewish News, November 25. hLLp://www.
cjnews.com/culture/jewish.tearning/why.orthodox-judaism-
needs-female-rabbis (accessed March 6, 2018).
Stern, David, and Mark Jay Mirsky, eds. 1990. Rabbinic Fanta-
sies: Imaginative Narrati\·e.s from Classical Hebrew Literature.
Ph iladelphra: Jewish Publication Society.
T homas, Gordon, and Max Morgan-Witts. 1974. Voyage of the
Damned. london: Hodder & Stoughton .
Twersky, Isadore. 1972. A Maimonides Reader. New York: Behrman
House.
Wylen, Stephen M. 1989. Settings of Silver: AnlntroduCiion to judaism.
New York: Paulist Press.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Traditions at a Glance
Numbers
There are about 2 .2 billion Chris tians a rou nd the
world today.
Distribution
Christians constitute the majority o f the populmion
in Eu rope and the Ame ricas, Oceania, sub-Saharan
Africa, Russia, and the Philippines and nearly a
qua n er of the population of Asia.
founders and leaders
Christianity was founded by the followers of jesus
of Nazareth, called the Ch rist, on the basis of h is
teach ings and resurrection. Among the ea rly found-
ers, the apostles Peter and Paul were especially
imponanL.
Deity
Christians worship one God, called "God " or "Lord."
In this chapter you will lea rn about:
• The development of Ch ristianity from the be-
ginnings o f the j esus movement th rough the
Greco-Roman period to the modern era
• Christian lite rature, incl ud ing the Gospels,
Paul, and theological writi ngs from di fferent
pe riods of Ch ristian h istOry
• Issues relating LO church structure, includi ng
gove rnance, authority, and the relationship
between church a nd state
• The debate over "right belief," which occupied
the fi rst several councils of the church, conclud-
ing with the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE
• How Ch ristia ns use outward expression s,
such as litu rgy, an, and architecture, to ex-
press the ir faith and theological beliefs
~ Christ in Majesty: detail of a thi rteenth-century mosaic in Hagia Sophia. Istanbul (© Cultura Creative (Rf)/Aiamy)
Authoritative Texts
The Ch ristia n Bible consists of the Old Testament
(the Hebrew Bible) a nd the New Testame nt. The
Roma n Cath olic and Orthodox churches include
as pan of the Old Testament a numbe r of books
from the Septuagi nt (the Greek translation of the
Hebrew Bible) th at Protestants set apart as apoc-
rypha. In addition, Ro ma n Catholics hold the
teach ing office (magiste riu m) of the church LO be
authoritaLive.
Noteworthy Teachings
Accord ing to the doctrine of the Trinity, God exists
in three pe rsons, as Father, Son , and Holy SpiriL
jesus, the second person o f the Trinity, is tr uly God
as well as truly man, and h is resu rrection is the sign
that those who believe in h im will have ete rnal li fe.
The authority of the church is believed to have been
passed down from the apostles.
• The changi ng role of women in the ch urch
• How Ch ristian ity has adapted to the chal-
lenges of the mode rn era
Christianity as we know it today is the product of
what could be characte rized as a 2 ,000 -year-long
conversmion in d iversity. From its begi nnings as a
small movement with in Palestin ian judaism, Chris -
tian ity has grow n to become the world's largest re-
ligion. But it is far from homogeneous. Comprisi ng
more than 25,000 distinct denominational g roups
whose ethnic and cultural d iversity reOects thei r
wide geographic distribution , wday's Ch ristianity
is a study in complexity and adaptmion. This is not
new. From the beginn ing, Ch ristian ity has evolved
th rough the negotiation of di fferences in belief,
practice, and ecclesiastical form.

Those who identify themselves as Christia ns
profess the faith comm it ment that jesus o f Na za-
reth was the Son of God , both huma n and d ivine,
the lord a nd sav ior of the world ; that he died o n
a cross for the s ins of all; a nd that he was res-
urrected two days later, demonstrati ng the power
o f God ove r death. From these propositions an
"ato nement theology" was developed according to
wh ich jesus's sufferi ng and death atoned for the
s ins of the world and in so doing reconciled hu-
manity with God , thus assu ring the possib ility of
what Christia ns call salvation: goi ng home to God
afte r death. What that faith commitment mea ns
a nd how it is exp ressed have varied widely de-
pend ing on historical period, sociopolitical con-
text, geographic location, theological perspective,
a nd cultural-ethnic identity. Nevertheless, there
a re two rituals that virtually all Christia ns prac-
tice. These rituals, known as sacra men ts (u nde r-
stOod as outwa rd a nd visible signs of God 's grace
a nd action), are baptism , the rite of initiation into
the commu nity, and the Euchari st (also known as
Holy Commu nion or the Mass), which com me mo-
rates the last meal that jesus shared with his dis-
c iples before his death.
~Origins
Given the importance of the figu re of j esus to
Christia nity, some consideration of his life and
work is a necessa ry starting point. The re is very
liule that we ca n say defi nitively about the histor-
ical j esus. Howeve r, it is ge ne rally ag reed that he
was born in Palestine around the year 3 BCE, was
raised as a jew in a n Aramaic-speaking fam ily,
a nd began his public ministry around the age of
30. From the Gospels written some yea rs a fter
his death, we can conclude that he was a n itin-
e ra nt teacher in the p rophetic tradition of his
day. He both chose a nd gathered followers who
accompa nied him as he moved from place to
place, teaching and preaching, as well as he ali ng,
casti ng out demons, a nd o n occasion ra ising the
4 Christian Traditions
dead- activities that were relatively common for
the itinerant religious leade rs of the age. At the
age of about 33, he was arrested by the Romans
a nd se ntenced to death by c rucifi xion. The
nat ure of his c rime is unclear. Po ntius Pilate, the
Roman official who presided ove r his trial, found
him gu ilty of nothing. Howeve r, those who had
handed him ove r tO Pilate insisted he be put to
death for the blasphemy of claiming to be the Son
o f God. What distinguished jesus fro m othe r pro-
phetic leade rs o f his type was his followers' claim
that two days a fter his exec ution he rose from the
dead a nd showed himself to them, commission-
ing them tO ca rry on the work he had begun.
The b roade r story o f jesus's life as recorded
in the Christian s cript ures sets him up as a
figu re of historical import immediately through
the narratives that describe his birth. In these
accounts, he was conceived by a young woman
named Mary through the intervention o f God.
Her betrothed, joseph, was instructed by a n an -
gel ic bei ng to conti nue in his com mitment to
hH, wh ich he did, raisi ng j esus as his ow n so n.
Afte r a sho rt sojou rn with his parents in Egypt
to escape a violent king who had pledged to
wipe out all you ng male childre n o f the Is rael-
ite people for fea r that a messiah had bee n born
who would g row up to challenge secular politi -
cal authority, jesus was raised in Na za reth as the
son o f a ca rpen ter. However, from a young age
he showed signs of uniqueness. At the age o f 12
he stood up in the jewish Temple and e xhorted
the communi ty in a way that set the cou rse fo r
his adult wo rk. leav ing home roughly around
the age o f 30, he spent three years traveli ng the
countryside sharing his message about the free
fo rgive ness and love of God. His preaching a nd
teaching drew large crowds and ofte n-violent
a ntagonism fro m the religious establishment.
As we ll as la rge crowds, jesus gathe red a g roup
o f disciples, o r committed followers, who we nt
wit h him to learn more closely from him. The
Christian sc riptu res record many stories o f their
World Religions: Western Traditions
q uestions a nd h is a nswers as a p rimary vehicle
fo r communicating the meaning o f j esus's life. As
he traveled and taught, ma ny people flocked to
him asking for miraculous inte rve ntions: heal-
ing, casting out demo ns, and sometimes even
resurrection a fter death. These requests re fl ected
the worldv iew of the day that such th ings were
not only possible but in some ways normative.
j esus was not the only iti nerant teache r a nd
p rophet know n for enac ti ng mi racles. Through -
out his travels j esus consistently shared a p ro -
phetic message that c ritiqued the religious
establish me nt of his day, s tressing that access to
God was immediate a nd possible fo r all, and that
the Kingdom o f God was not a future state but
had already a rrived. He stressed that all persons
o f faith could know the love and mercy of God
now, in the prese nt. This was d isconcerti ng to
the religion o f which he was a part , as it was bu ilt
a round a highly evolved sacrificial a nd religious
system that mediated the presence o f God in t he
wo rld for religio us ad herents. Eve nt ually the po-
litical establishment of his day found his mes-
sages too cont rove rs ia l to be sustai ned, and his
ti me of teaching a nd acti ng in the world ended
through execution by the Roma n govern ment o f
the day. Howeve r, the story of Chr istianity really
begins with the experience that h is disciples had
after his death. Christians have debated in more
recent years whethe r o r not j esus's resurrection
was a historical res urrectio n. Whateve r position
o ne takes o n this q uestio n, we do know that t he
people who lived most closely with j es us a nd rol-
lowed him to the end expe rie nced his resurrec-
tion a nd the n devoted their lives to sha ring that
ex perience more broadly. Sha ring the good news
o f j esus's resurrectio n was, in fac t, what the j esus
movement was a II about.
The main sources o f in fo rmation on the life,
teachings, and inte nt ions o f jesus a re found in
the w ritings that make up the New Testa ment,
espec ially the four Gos pels (Matthew, Mark,
Lu ke, a nd j ohn) and the Pauli ne Ep istles (lette rs
from the Apostle Paul to the Christia n com-
munities a round the Med ite rra nean). The fi rst
Gospel, Mark , was like ly w ritte n at least 30 yea rs
after j esus's death , and ove rlapping the mes,
words , a nd phrases indicate that it was the basis
fo r Matthew a nd Luke. As a co nsequence, these
three books a re know n as the "sy noptic" Gospels
(fro m the Greek syn, "togethe r," and optic, "see n").
Although they we re named a fter three followe rs
o f j esus, their ac tual authors a re not known, a nd
it was o nly in the second century that they came
to be associated with eyewitnesses to the events
they recount. They we re writte n not to p rovide
historians with a n acc u rate biog raph y o f jesus,
but to sustai n a nd inform a late r ge ne ratio n o f
Christia n believers. Neve rtheless, sc hola rs agree
that so me o f the material they contain does go
back to j esus o f Nazareth, s uc h as certai n say-
ings, pa rab les (sim ple sto ries illust rating a mo ral
o r s piritual lesson), and accounts of his miracles,
as well as sto ries o f his death and resu rrection.
The fact that the say ings and pa rables rec ur,
o ften ve rbati m but in d iffe ring conte xts, in Mat-
thew and Luke has Jed schola rs to h ypothesi ze
a n ea rly common sou rce named Q (fo r Quelle,
Ge rma n for "source") a nd has played a key role
in mode rn efforts to discern the historical figu re
be h ind the Gospels.
Compa red with these na rratives, the Gospel
o f j oh n is a major theological essay. Its purpose
is to set out not just the na rrative of j esus's li fe
a nd death itself but also its cosmic significa nce.
Fa r fro m si mply recou nting the teachings a nd ac -
tions o f jesus, the writer of the Gospel of j oh n
proclaims j esus's identity as messiah and savio r.
The ope ning passage makes the au thor's theolog-
ical interest plain: "In the begin ning," it starts
(recalling the opening wo rds of Genesis in the
Heb rew Bible), "was the logos, a nd the logos was
with God, a nd the logos was God; all thi ngs were
made through him" (john 11) Th is logos is the
"Wo rd" with a capital W, used by j oh n to decla re
j esus to be the incarnation of that div ine Wo rd:
"The logos became Oesh and dwelt among us, full
o f g race and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory
as of the only Son from the Fathe r" (Joh n 114).
As John's Gospel unfolds, jesus and his followe rs
a re conti nually challe nged by j ewish o ppone nts,
a nd j esus pro phesies that his followe rs will be
 4 Christian Traditions

Timeline
c. 3 BCE Birth of jesus
c. 30 CE Death of jesus
c. 65 Death of Paul
312 Constantine·s vision of the cross
325 First Council of Nicaea
c. 384 Augustine·s conversion experience
529 Benedict establishes monastery
842 Iconoclast controversy ends
862 Cyril and Methodius t ravel to Moravia
c. 1033 Birth of Anselm (d. 1109)
1054 Break between Rome and Constantinople
1095 Urban II calls for the First Crusade
c. 1225 Birth of Thomas Aquinas
1517 Lut her posts his 95 Theses
1534 Henry VIII proclaims himself head of the Church of England
1536 Publication of Calvin·s Institutes
1563 Council of Trent concludes
1738 j ohn Wesley's conversion experience
1781 Publication of Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
1830 Publication of Book of Mormon
1859 Publication of Charles Darwin·s On the Origin of Species
1870 First Vatican Council concludes
1910 Publication of The Fundamentals
1944 Florence Li Tim-Oi becomes the first woman ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church
1948 First assembly of the World Council of Churches
1965 Second Vatican Council concludes
1980 Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero killed in El Salvador
1982 " Baptism. Eucharist, and Ministry" (BEM) document published
1984 Archbishop Desmond Tutu awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in opposing apartheid
in South Africa
1988 United Church of Canada declares that homosexuality in itself is not an impediment to ordination
1992 Porvoo Common Statement signed, facilitating cooperation between a number of Lutheran
and Anglican churches
2013 Benedict XVI becomes first pope in 600 years to resign: Pope Francis installed as the first
pope to be elected from a Latin American country: Pope john XXIII approved for canonization

.J
20 15 Libby Lane consecrated bishop of Stockport. t he first woman consecrated as a bishop in the
Church of England
----~.,.
World Religions: Western Traditions
ex pelled from sy nagogues. These details a re i m-
portant because they d raw attention to Christia n-
ity's orig ins as a move ment within j uda ism. For
j oh n, the true inhe ri tOrs of Ab rah am's fa ith are
those who believe that the Wo rd became flesh in
j esus, that the risen jesus lives among them , and
th at it is their mission to decla re those beliefs to a
la rgely hostile world .
The Gospels a re not jou rnalistic biographies.
Their authors selected ce rtai n actions, teachi ngs,
a nd events from the life of jesus to add ress t he
ea rly Christian commu nity's need for a context
in wh ich to u nde rstand the events it professed
to h ave expe rienced. They took particula r care
to sit uate jesus amid con flict and tell stories
th at fo reshadowed h is death and resurrectio n.
The Gospels are especially impo rtant fo r unde r-
stand ing Ch ristianity as it was developing in t he
second h alf of the fi rst century.
The second set of writi ngs central to the New
Testa ment corpus is known as the Paul ine
Epistles, a se ries of letters written by the Apostle
Paul to various early Ch ristia n commu n ities
a rou nd the Med iterranea n world discussing
issues o f theology, commu n ity practice, and dis-
c ipli ne. The man for which they were named , w ho
would come to be know n as St. Paul, had a pro -
fou nd influe nce on the sh ape that ea rly Chr istian
life took. It is wo rth noti ng th at Paul (d. c. 65)
h imself never met the histo rical j esus; in fac t, he
had pe rsec uted Christi ans on behalf o f the Ph a r-
isees. But o ne day, wh ile traveling along the road
to Damascus, he was u nexpectedly ove rco me by
a n expe rie nce o f the rise n Christ, wh ich led him
to believe that j esus was the messiah fo r whom
ma ny j ews had been waiti ng , the So n of God
who h ad been raised from the dead in order to
extend the pro mises that God fi rst made to Is rael
to all who believed that Christ had reconc iled t he
wo rld to God.
Not all the ep istles called Pauline are ac tually
believed to have bee n written by Paul. The un -
d isputed lette rs- Romans, 1 and 2 Co rinthia n s,
Galat ia ns, Philipp ia ns, 1 Thessalonia ns , a nd
Ph ilemo n- emphasize Paul's u nde rstand ing o f
j esus as the jewish messiah a nd d ivi ne So n o f
God whose death and resu rrection were ordained
by God. By cont rast, the disputed e pistles-
Ephesians , Colossia ns , 2 Th essalon ians, and the
Pasto rals (1 a nd 2 Timothy a nd Titus)- focus
o n life in the chu rch a nd the c hu rch 's place in
the la rge r wo rld and were most likely written by
followe rs o f Paul who wa nted to promo te their
inte rp retation of h is message in their ow n com-
mu n ities. Conte mpo rary w ith the Gospels, th ese
doc uments are valuable test imony o f the insti-
tutionalizat ion o f beliefs, prac tices, a nd eme rg-
ing leadersh ip st ructu res occurring in th e ea rly
Ch ristia n commu nity. In them Paul's mo re rad -
ical teachings a re domest icated. W he reas Paul
believed that the end o f the wo rld was imm inent,
the late r lette rs suggest a longer pe rspec tive in
wh ich that p rospect had receded to a relatively
d istant future.
The Pauline Epistles give clea r instructions to
the early followe rs of jesus as to the shape that a
Christian life should take. Paul d id not write a sys-
tematic treatise on his thought; rather, he wrote let-
ters to churches he had founded in orde r to instruct,
admonish, and exhort them to engage in right belief
and practice. Si nce these lette rs address conflicts re-
lated to Paul's teach ings, we know that there was a
variety of opin ions about the meaning of jesus's life,
death, and resurrection. Paul's writings alert us to
some o f the ea rliest featu res o f the new belief syste m,
someti mes quoting hym ns to Ch rist or liturgical
say ings that in due cou rse, together with the Old
Testa ment, the Gospels, a nd other New Testament
materials, would become the basis for Christian the-
ology. Paul is a valuable witness to the extension of
the j esus movement th roughout the Roman Empire.
Although h is beliefs became normative, it is proba-
ble that this ea rly period was marked by dive rsity,
con flict over how to unde rstand j esus's message and
intentions, and di ffe rences in both eth ics and reli-
gious practices.

Document
The Epistles of Paul
The uncontested letters of Paul show his mind in action,
encouraging and exhorting his readers. By contrast, the
contested letters seem more formulaic. The contested
passage from 2 Timothy here, for example, casts Paul as
a hero looking back at his life and celebrating his faith -
fulness; it expresses the esteem in which he was held by
a later generation of believers. And although the passage
from Ephesians presents a version of Paul's thinking
about the importance of faith as opposed to good works,
it lacks the long and often complex arguments character-
istic of the uncontested letters.
Uncontested
Romans 8:38 For I am conv inced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor rule rs, nor th ings
present , nor th ings to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ
j esus our l ord.
1 Corinthians 12:27-32 Now you a re the body of
Ch rist and individually members of it. And God
has appointed in the church first apostles, second
prophets, th ird teache rs; then deeds of power, then
gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of lead-
e rship, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles?
Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work mir-
acles? Do all possess gifts of heali ng? Do all speak
in tongues? Do all interpret) But Strive for the
g reate r gifts .
1 Corinthians 13:1- 3 If I speak in the tongues of
mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have pro-
phetic powe rs, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, a nd if I have all faith , so as to remove
4 Christian Traditions
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If
I give away all my possessions, and if I hand ove r
my body so that I may boast, but do not have love,
I gain noth ing.
Philippians 2:6-11 let t he same mind be in you
that was in Ch rist jesus, who, though he was in
the form of God, d id not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited, but emptied himself,
ta king the form of a slave, being born in human
likeness. And being found in human form, he hum-
bled himself and became obedient to t he point of
death- even death on a c ross. The refore God also
rn
h igh ly exalted him and gave him the name th at
is above eve ry name, so th at at t he name of jesus
mzbrq
every knee should bend, in heaven and on ea rth noflru
and under the earth, and every tongue should con-
fess that jesus Ch r ist is lord, to the glory of God db omr.
the Fathe r.
Contested
2 Timothy 4:6-8 As for me, I am already being
poured out as a libation, and the time of my depar-
ture has come. I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the race, I have kept the faith . From now on
there is rese rved for me the crown of r ighteousness.
n
which the lord, the righteous judge, will give to me
on that day, and not only to me but also to all who
have longed for h is appearing.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been
saved th rough faith, and th is is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God- not the result of works, so that
no one may boast. For we are what he has made us,
created in Ch rist jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sites
Jerusalem
jerusalem, a holy city for all three Abrahamic t ra-
ditions, is sacred to Christians as the place whe re
jesus died. Tradition holds that he carried the cross
An Easter procession passes along the Via Dolorosa.
Documents Beyond Scripture
Many of the documents that we now rely on to help
us interpret the life of the early Christians were not
discove red until the late n ineteenth century, in the
course of the archaeological exploration of the Med-
iterranean world. These documents have shed new
light on early Ch ristian ity.
along the Via Dolorosa to the hill where he was to
be crucified.
The Didache
The document known as the Didache ("Teach ing";
from the first line in the manuscript, "Teaching of
the l ord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles")
was probably wriuen in Syria in the first cent ury
and is the first known example of a chu rch order
(a set of instruct ions for organization and worship

in the ea rly church). Its contents include a litu rgy
(a prescribed form) fo r the sacrame nt of the Eucha-
rist in the context of a fellowsh ip meal and prayers
that a re clearly adapted from ea rlier jewish models.
Apostolic Traditions
The Apostolic Traditions, often attributed to a
th ird -century bishop of Rome named Hippolytus,
gives us our earliest example of the full text of a Eu-
charistic praye r. It indicates that there was still no
fixed liturgical form at the time when it was writte n
(215 CE); whoeve r presided ove r the ritual could ad
lib. It also offers a broad window onto the develop-
ment of the Ch ristian ministry.
The Apostolic Constitutions
The Apostolic Constitutions are eigh t treatises relat-
ing tO chu rch orders, includ ing teachings on disc i-
pline, worship, a nd doctrine. Although the author is
not known, it is gene rally thought that the text was
written by a bishop from Sy ria, probably in Antioch,
in the late fou rth century.
Focus
Christian Sacraments
From the begi nni ng, me mbe rs o f the Ch ris tia n
commun ity gathe red regularly for worship, prayer,
a nd teachi ng by community leade rs. As well , ve ry
ea rly on the Ch ris tians developed the rituals that
they called "sac raments." A sac ra ment is defined
as an out ward and visible sign of an inwa rd a nd
spiritual grace- someth ing seen in the physical
world th at de monstrates the love and ac tion of
God. All Ch ris tians accept baptism a nd the Eu-
cha rist as necessary for the practice of their faith ,
but the Roman Catholic a nd Anglican churches
4 Christian Traditions
Internal Conflicts in the
Early Church
It tOok approxi mately 400 yea rs for Christianity
to evolve from a movement with in judaism to an
organized religion in its own right. The process of
institutional development involved fundamental
questions of identity, authority, belief, and o rgan i-
zalional structu re, and it absorbed much of the time
and auention of early Ch ristians and the ir leaders.
jews or Gentiles?
Orne of the first points of controversy for the eme rg-
ing religion was the matte r of inclusion. Was the
j es us movement only for jews, or could it accom-
modate Gentiles? jesus of Nazareth probably con-
ceived of himself as an emissa ry se nt to Israel alone
(Matthew 10:6; Ma rk 7:19- 29). But h is reinte rpre-
tation of the Torah resulted in a radical reformula-
tion of the idea that God 's covenant applied only
to membe rs of the j ew ish community. Paul dramat-
ically expa nded j esus's teach ings by inte rpreting
them, along with h is crucifixion and resu rrection ,
recogni ze five mo re: ordi nation (the setting apart
of some ind ividuals for particular work o r posi-
tions o f authority in the commu nity), unction (the
anointing of people who a re sick or dyi ng), confi r-
mation (the public con fession of faith in adulthood
by people who we re baptized as in fants o r chil -
dre n), marriage, and pe nance (the confession of
sin s a nd receivi ng of forgiveness). Most sac ra ments
must be adm iniste red by a n ordai ned minis te r of
the church, and each church has its ow n laws reg-
ulating them.
World Religions: Western Traditions
as pa n of a u niversalizing plan whe reby member-
ship in the commun ity of the faith ful would depend
not on adhe rence to laws, but on faith in jesus
(Roma ns 3:21- 31). By the time the Gospels were
written, th is un iversalism had become emblematic
for ce rtain followers: Ma uhew's jesus commands h is
disc iples to baptize Gentiles and teach them what
he taught (Matthew 28:19); in Acts, the disciples a re
com missioned to be j esus's witnesses "to the ends
o f the earth" (Acts 1:6- 9). A movement that began
with a message di rected solely to Israel expanded to
embrace all the peoples of the ea rth as potential fol-
lowe rs, with the consequence that ultimately a fa ith
A member of the Westboro Baptist Chu rch. a
Kansas-based independent Baptist group that is
notorious for its protests against homosexuals
and j ews, pickets a j ewish high school for girls
in los Angeles.
cente red on a jewish prophet was trans formed into
a worldwide religion disti nct from judaism.
A second point of controversy was whether, if
Gentiles were to be included, they should be required
to conform to t raditional j ew ish norms. In th is con-
text, the two most c ritical issues were ci rcumci-
sion and the jewish laws rega rd ing food and ritual
purity. These controve rsies played out most notably
in Paul's epistle to the Galatians (c. SOCE), in which
he provocatively calls dow n a curse on those who
require Gentiles to be ci rcumc ised (Galatia ns 1:9).
The Book of Acts (c. 85), attributed to l uke and writ-
ten by a later follower of Paul, reveals a consensus
that neithe r circumcision nor obse rvance of j ewish
d ietary laws is required of Gentiles. In Galatians
(2:11- 14) Paul accuses Peter of flip-flopping on the
question of the food laws, while in Acts Pete r cham-
pions d is pens ing with them (10:9- 14, 11:1- 11,
15:22- 29). The author of Acts reflects a continuing
debate that raged ove r these matte rs in his own d ay,
and although Paul's inte rpretation prevailed, t he de-
bates continued. Perhaps it is not surprising that a
movement that dispensed with the ch ief ma rkers of
jew ish religious and ethnic identity developed into
a relig ion that is not only separate from judaism but,
tragically, has often bee n actively hostile to jews.
~ Relations Between
Chu rch and Society
The religious climate o f the age into which j esus was
born was, to a significa nt degree, otherworldly and
escapist. Greco-Roman religion was an a malgam
of beliefs and cults from ma ny lands and in many
stages o f c ultural development. O uts ide o f particu-
lar cults , religious practice was largely unorgan ized,
and people were free to worship the gods they
chose. However, at the head of the pagan pantheon
stood the state god s of Rome, most notably the em-
peror h imself. This was not an in novation: as noted
in t he chapter on religions of antiquity, civ ilizations
of the eastern Med iterranean had venerated thei r
rulers as gods for millennia. Designed specifically
to foster the r ight relationsh ip between the gods and

the people, the imperial cult made loyalty to the
empi re a primary social and religious norm.
As monothe ists, jews and Ch ristians could not
acknowledge any god but theirs. Thus they refused
to offer sacr ifices to the emperor, and it was th is re-
fusal, more than anything else, that led to oven acts
of persecution against Christians, particularly in the
th ird century. By refusing to perform this civ ic duty,
the ea rly Ch ristians destabilized the civic order.
Sporadic local incidents aside , the first empire-
wide pe rsecutions of Christians began in 250. By
that time civil wars, barbarian invasions, famines,
and plagues we re widely interpreted as signs that the
gods we re angry at the empire. As a consequence,
the emperor Dec ius ordered that all inhabitants of
the empire make sac rifices to the gods and obta in
official ce rtification that they had done so. Chris -
tians inte rpreted th is edict as a systematic attempt
to enforce universal worship of pagan gods and
the reby tO extirpate Ch ristian ity. Some Ch ristians
convened to paganism, othe rs went into hid ing,
a nd Still others were m ar ty red . Seven yea rs later,
in 257, the emperor Valerian moved tO cut the head
off the emerging institution by o rdering fi rst the de-
portation and then the execution of many Christian
clergy. The result was a serious loss of leade rship for
the young church.
On Valerian's death, h is son Gallienus orde red
the retu rn of depon ed cle rgy a nd the restoration of
vandalized churches and cemeteries. Forty yea rs
of peace followed, during which time the church,
though techn ically illegal, was tOlerated by both
emperors a nd provinc ial governors. This made pos-
sible a consolidation of the church's organization,
a nd regular meetings of regional leaders moved it
tOward greate r unity.
One last g reat persecution would challenge the
Ch ristians when the empe ror Diocletian took power.
In 298 he ordered all members of the imperia l court
to offe r sacrifices to the emperor on pain of flogging.
Throughout the empire, sold iers and civil servants
were requ ired to offer sac rifices or forfeit their jobs,
churches were dismantled, copies of scripture were
confiscated and burned, gatherings of Ch ristians for
worship we re banned, and cle rgy were arrested.
4 Christian Traditions
Constantine
The exte rnal fortunes of Christianity underwent a
sig nificant change in direction in 312, when the em-
pe ro r of the western segment of the Roman Empire,
Consta ntine (c. 272- 337), won a major battle at a
bri.d ge ove r the Tibe r. According to legend, he had
seen the image of a c ross symbol (the Ch i Rho) ove r
his head before t he battle and taken this as a sign
that God would give h im the victOry. W ith the re-
alization of that victo ry, Constantine confirmed his
loyalty tO the Ch ristian God.
Although he was not baptized until shortly
before h is death, Constantine's policies became in-
c reasi ngly favorable to C hristians. Beginn ing in 3 13
he exempted North African clergy from taxation a nd
used imperial money to enla rge churches, laying the
fou ndation for the accumulation of vast ecclesiasti-
cal fortunes. As well, bishops we re give n the same
power as magistrates, a nd a significant number of
Christians were called tO uppe r-level posts in h is
admi nistration.
Between 320 and 330 Constantine thrust the
church to the forefront of public life, guaranteed re-
ligious toleration, a nd forbade both the erection and
the worship of statues of h imself, thus undermin-
ing the essential political function of the pagan re-
ligious system. Later Constantine declared that the
church had the right tO emancipate slaves belonging
to C hr istians a nd empowered its bishops to exer-
cise juridical authority with reference to litigation
am ong its adhe rents.
Fo r these actions Constantine has been rega rded
as the fi rst great Ch ristian empe ror. His impact
on the form and di rection of Ch ristian ity cannot
be overestimated. With Constantine Ch ristianity
began its journey from pe rsecuted sect to force of
power in Weste rn culture. No longer d id affiliation
with Ch ristian ity come with a negative stigma, so-
cially and politically; now, it promised status and
opp ortunity. Membe rship expanded accord ingly,
with t roubling implications for the cl imate with in
a commun ity that until then had been character-
ized by its capac ity for self-sacrifice. In retrospect,
many have raised questions about what it meant for
World Religions: Western Traditions
Portrait medallion of Constantine the Great. c. 320.
The Chi Rho symbol (~) on his headdress is one
of the earliest symbols of the cross used by Chris-
tians. It represents Christ by overlaying the Greek
letters for ch (X) and r (P).
Christianity to become a power-holding pa rtne r of
the state rathe r than a humble se rvant for the world.
~Authority in the Early
Church
With the rapid expans ion of the Christian move-
ment, questions o f authority became a primary focus.
That these questions had bee n less pressi ng in the
early years was a reflec tion of the very private natu re
o f Ch ristia n practice at that stage. In its infancy
Christian worsh ip was conducted in the privacy
o f the household, as d isti nct from the public arena
o f the city. Th is was the norm in the Greco-Roman
pe riod. Even though there were public spaces ded-
icated to religious expression- temples for pagans
and sy nagogues for Jews- devotional activity was
still largely cente red in the home. It was only when
Christianity grew large enough to take up space in
the public realm that formal structures and conven-
tions began to develop.
Authority Structures
and Leadership Roles
From the begi nning, Christians understood thei r
faith to demand active engagement with the world.
To be a follower of Jesus was to live out the mean-
ing of God 's com mandment to love one's neighbor
as oneself. This conc rete expression of an internal
faith was called ministry. Baptism signaled the
Christian's entry into the ministry o f Ch rist h im-
self. In othe r words, membe rsh ip in the community
of Ch ristians implied livi ng a life of self-giving love,
consonant with Ch rist's own. During the lifetimes
of the apostles (those who had seen the risen Ch rist
and received h is commission to continue his work),
ministry was largely a matte r of cha rism, a spi ritual
gi ft that su rfaced in the context o f the local com-
munity. By the end of the fi rst century, howeve r, the
need for a more structured syste m of ministry and a
recognized chain o f authority was ev ident. To cast
the Apostolic and post-Apostolic periods as, respec-
tively, the age of charism and the age of ministry
as office would be to make too sta rk a distinction;
nevertheless, those terms do shed some light on the
di fferences between them.
The early Ch ristians believed that the end -times,
when Jesus would retu rn in the "Second Com ing."
were imminent and organized their communal lives
accord ingly. As it became clea r that Jesus was not
returning in the expected time frame, a broade r
vision became necessa ry, especially as the numbe r
of Ch ristians and the size of the geographical area
involved continued to grow. Together, the exter-
nal th reat of persecution a nd the inte rnal th reat of
theological div is ion made it essential for the early
Christians to standard ize the structures o f thei r in-
stitutional life, as well as their doctrine.
The foundational office in Ch ristianity was the
episcopacy (l iterally, "ove rsight" in Gree k). Perhaps
draw ing on the h istoric notion of the 12 tribes of
Is rael , the write rs of the New Testament named 12
disciples (with the list of names varyi ng slightly
between the Gospels and the Book of Acts) who,
hav ing seen the rise n Ch rist and accepted h is com-
mission, became traveling evangelists who carried

the good news of h is resurrection to new regions.
As they moved from one place to the next, they ap-
pointed local people to ove rsee the nascent commu-
nity of bel ievers. These local leade rs, or episcopoi,
were what the early church came to call bishops.
Although there is no record of literal manum ission
(formal passing of authority th rough the laying on
o f hands in the act of ord ination to a pa rticular
office), this concept became the seed of the church's
structure of authority. The role of bishop as it has
been passed on in Ch ristian tradition is to preach
the Word, preside at sac raments, teach, and ad min-
ister disc ipline, provid ing oversight tO ensure the
continuity and unity of the church.
As the numbe rs of Christians a nd Chris -
tian commu nities grew, individual episcopoi
found that they needed to delegate some of their
autho rity- specifically, the authority tO adm in ister
sacraments- to others. Those othe rs, appointed for
their particular spiritual gifts, were known as pres-
byters (lite rally, "elders" in Greek). Ove r time, the
role of presbyter evolved tO become the role of the
priest as we unde rstand it today. As late as 416, In-
nocent I was explai ning that in the tOwns the bread
a nd wine for the Eucharist should be consec rated
(blessed) by the bishop and sent to parish priests
for distribution, but that in rural areas priests would
have to do the consec rating themselves. In the au-
thority structure of the church , the priest continues
to be subordi nate to the bishop.
A third office that Qudging from the lette rs of
Paul) dates from the earliest days of the church-
even earlier than the office of the bishop- is that of
the deacon (from diahonia, "se rvice" in Greek). The
deacon's work s upported that of the bishops and
often took the form of se rvice to the poor and the
destitute.
Centralized Authority
With regional expans ion, it a lso became neces-
sary tO decide how authorities in different pa rts of
the Christian world should relate to one another.
Five major episcopal a reas, or sees, developed-
Rome , Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and
4 Christian Traditions
j erusalem- whose autho rity renected both their
place in the development of the early church a nd
the adm in istrative structure of the Roman Empire.
From the time of Empe ror justinian I (r. 527- 565),
the eastern regions of the empi re ge nerally accepted
th is penta rchy of authority; however, Rome insisted
on its own primacy from very ea rly on.
ConOict was pa rticularly intense between Rome
and Constantinople, each of wh ich aspired to be the
prlmary cente r of power. The nature of the conOict
was both theological and institutional and eventu-
ally led to a pe rmanent schism between easte rn a nd
western Ch ristianity. Between the fourth and sev-
enth centu ries, as the power of the Roman Empire
declined in the west, the power of the church and its
hierarchy grew, while in the east, which became the
new political cente r of the empire, the world held
steady. This meant that the eastern and western
branches of the church developed in different di rec-
tions and ultimately became institutionally separate.
In the east, a syste m of ove rsight developed in
which the secular empe ror was invested with both
imrerium (sec ular power) a nd sacerdotium (priestly or
religious authority). This led to the concept of a si ngle
society in which the sacred and the secular lived in
harmony, preserved by the Holy Spi rit from all doc-
trinal error and presided over by an emperor who was
the earthly counterpart of the d ivine monarch, God.
In the ancient eastern church , the term pope (papae)
was rese rved for the bishop of Alexandria, but today
it applies tO all Orthodox priests.
Ove r time, the bishop of Rome, whom we iden-
tify today as the pope or the head of the western
(Roman Catholic) church, g radually assumed pri-
mary authority ove r all churches in the west. As
in the east, howeve r, the word papae originally re-
ferred to a ny bishop. Whe n the bishop of Rome re-
buked another bishop for using the title in 988, it
was generally assumed by h is pee rs that he had the
right to object, but it was not until 1073 that Pope
Gregory VII formally prohibited use of the title
by any bishop othe r than himself and h is succes-
sors as bishop of Rome. From that point until the
Protestant Reformation, Rome's clai m to primary
authority in western Ch ristian ity was accepted on
World Religions: Western Traditions
the grounds that the bishop of Rome was the direct
successor of Pete r, the "prince of apostles," who
was said to have arrived in Rome as early as the
year 42. Although there is little or no evidence to
support that tradition, we do know that when Paul
wrote h is epistle to the Romans, around the year
58, there was already a large Christian community
in the city.
Sites
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
St. Pete r's Basilica is a late Renaissance church in
Vatican City that is one of the most sacred places in
the Roman Catholic tradition. The tradition that it
sits on the burial site of St. Peter- the disciple said
The famous square outside St. Pete( s Basilica was designed by the great Baroque sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo
Bernini between 1656 and 1667.
The model of church- state relations that devel-
oped in this period and Oowered in the Middle Ages
was striki ngly di fferent from its eastern counterpart.
In the west a fundamental dualism between sacred
and secular led to a situation in which consistent
antagon ism between religious leaders and secular
princes set the stage for much of both political and
ecclesiastical life.
to have been martyred , along with Paul, du ring the
persecution of 64- makes it a site of pilgrimage for
Catholics from around the world.

Women in Ministry
As the cente r o f Christian ity sh ifted from the pri-
vate household to t he public square, the place of
women in the church also sh ifted, particularly with
respect to leadersh ip roles. In the context of the
household, women held sign ificant authority, in
some cases even buying and sell ing la nd, orchards,
a nd vineyards. However, the separation between
the private and public sphe res meant that as m in is -
tr y and church authority became more deeply em-
bedded in the public world, the roles that women
could fill in and for the church were increasingly
rest ricted.
In the Gospels we see j esus welcoming women as
his followe rs. The letters of Paul indicate that during
the Apostolic Age wome n as well as men performed
diaconal (service) roles for the community. Indi-
vidual women were also acknowledged as prophets
a nd identified by Paul as co-preachers with men in
the work of evangeli zation (Acts 2:17- 18). Paul also
wrote about the equality of all before God , including
male and female.
By the end of the Apostolic Age, howeve r, it
seems that women we re expected to be largely
silent in worship. The extra-Pauline lette rs know n
as the Pastoral Epistles ad mon ish wome n to be
silent in church. And as the th ree o rde rs of min-
istry (bishop, priest, deacon) developed, women
were excluded from all of the m. Two lesser offices
were open to women , however: those of widow a nd
deaconess.
The earliest know n order for women in C hr isti-
a nity, the orde r of widows originated as a response
to the needs of poor widows in the community. Be-
cause the church supported these ind ividuals, only
a limited numbe r of women were allowed to assume
the role of widow within t he church structu re. To
quali fy for th is designation a woman had to be at
least 60 years of age, have no othe r means of sup-
port, have had only one husband, and be known for
her domesticity, compassion, and continence (absti-
nence from se xual activ ity). In return for support,
the widows lived lives of contemplation and inter-
cession, prayi ng for the church.
4 Christian Traditions
Although both took thei r names from diakonia,
deaconesses were not fem ale equivalents o f dea-
cons, a nd it was only over time t hat thei r role devel-
oped into an ecclesiastical office. Different regions
had d ifferent practices, but it is known that by the
th ird century women we re o rdai ned th rough the
layi ng on of hands in the sanctuary (the area a round
the alta r) during the Euchar ist (as were their male
counterpa rts; male subdeacons were ordai ned out-
side the sanctuary). Beyond th is, we know only that
deaconesses assisted with the preparation of female
candidates for baptism, visited sick women and ch il-
dren, and prayed for t he church and for those who
suffered. Essentially, it was a m inist ry sanctioned
by the chu rch for women and child ren. The re we re
no deaconesses in the Greek-speaking world until
the fi fth century, and eve n then the catego ry existed
only as an honorific title. By the sixth century, the
office of deaconess had died out almost entirely. The
idea o f women in ordai ned m inistry would not sur-
face again until t he n ineteenth century.
Ecclesiastical Virgins
In the th ird and fourth centu ries several uppe r-class
Christian wome n established thei r own spi ritual
communities for women. Particularly famous we re
Mac rina, Melan ia the Younger, and Ma rcella. These
women- some widowed, some never married-
used t hei r wealth to support a com munity of female
relatives and friends, as well as o rphaned girls and
poor women with no means of support. The mater
Jamilias was the head of the household and set the
rules for the common life to be lived there; in ad-
dit ion to establishing the schedule for common
prayer, she dete rmined what k inds o f charitable
work t he women performed, as well as t he cottage
industries in wh ich they engaged to support the
community. These women voluntarily withd rew
from society, and thei r consec ration to the religious
life was informal, but thei r asceticism was often rig-
orous. Their households existed under the protec-
tion of the church a nd served as prototypes for the
fe m ale monastic communities th at would emerge in
the Middle Ages.
World Religions: Western Traditions
~ The Development
of Orthodoxy
By the end of the second ce ntury the church was de-
velopi ng an institutional form , but it d id not yet have
a clea rly defined system of doctrine and belief. The
Christ-cente red self-image of the early church meant
that cla rifying its Christology, its understanding of
who jesus was, would be pivotal to all othe r theo-
logical a nd doctrinal activity. Passions ran h igh for
centuries as church leade rs and theologians d is -
puted what would eventually become the church 's
normative theological positions. Early theological
controve rsies were add ressed through the estab-
lish ment of a sc riptu ral ca non, the compilation of
rules of faith based on bishops' teach ings, and the
use of counc ils to settle disputes. The heresies that
engaged the church's attention ranged ac ross many
issues, but all of them in some way touched on the
fundamental question of what would be unde rstood
as authoritative for the emergi ng church.
The Scriptural Canon
To gua rantee the integrity of its tradition and p re-
se rve its legitimacy as the successor to the church of
the apostles, the ea rly chu rch decided to recognize
as "sc ripture" only writings that were associated in
some way with an apostle and were "orthodox in
doctrine" (although orthodoxy itself was still in the
process of bei ng defined). Efforts to ve rify the or-
igins of the various books under consideration re-
Oected the idea that the tradition of the church was
trustworthy in ge neral but could be wrong in detail.
Eventually, 27 books we re recognized as consti-
tuting the official canon of New Testament scrip-
tures. By the early th ird ce ntury, the theologian a nd
biblical scholar Origen was already using the same
27 books that would be con fi rmed as scripture by
Atha nasius, bishop of Alexandria, a century a nd
half later, in 367, and Pope Damasus of Rome in
382. It seems that, from the fourth century in the
west and the fifth centu ry in the east, there was a
general consensus as to which writings would be
conside red authoritative for the Christian tradition.
As well, in both the eastern and western trad itions
the sacred texts of the jew ish people in the form of
the Greek translation known as the Septuagint we re
also conside red authoritative.
Rules of Faith
Early in the life of the com munity, Ch ristian lead-
ers collected the main teachings of the bishops and
compiled them as rules o f faith. This practice was
grounded in the idea that the "monarchial bishop"
was the guarantor of a n o ral tradition that could be
relied upon. The earliest example of such a rule is
fou nd in the writings of lrenaeus, a second-century
bishop of lugdunum in Gaul.
Councils of the Church
Very early in the church's history, bishops began
to meet in councils known as synods to d iscuss
common problems and work out common solutions.
The first synod we know of took place in Asia be-
tween 160 and 175. In time, as noted earlier, five
churches acquired special Status: Rome, Alexa ndria,
Constanti nople, Antioch, and jerusalem. Th is d istri-
bution of authority would hold over many centu ries,
even as the western and eastern branches gradually
evolved into separate entities with thei r own distinct
authority structures: Rome as the center of the west-
ern church and the other four comprising key regions
of what became the easte rn church. It was in councils
that representatives of the five d isti nct churches met
to settle thei r theological disputes, particularly in the
ea rliest centuries of the church's existence.
Fou r councils held between 325 and 451 are
called "ecumenical," from a Greek word meaning
"worldwide," because they we re accepted by both
the eastern and western branches of Ch ristianity as
pa rt of their respective official histo ries.
Council of Nicaea, 325
The first significant agreements as to the nature
of Christ were reached at the Council of Nicaea,

convened by Emperor Constantine in 325. Athana-
sius and Arius represented the two sides of a debate
on the question of whether jesus was of the same sub-
stance (homoousious) as God the Father or of similar
substance (homoiousious). The debate was resolved in
favor of the Athanasians, and a statement of belief was
formulated that came to be called the Nicene Creed .
Councils of Antioch, 341,
and Constantinople, 381
Although it had seemed that the question of jesus's
divine nature was settled at Nicaea, debates contin-
ued to rage, pa rticularly in the eastern ch urches. The
Counc il of Antioch was summoned in the east in a n
attempt to reve rse the decision made at Nicaea and
produce a creedal statement more re flective of the
Arian position, but the result was further d ivision in
Document
The Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed affirms the humanity and the divinity of
jesus in one person, as the second person of the Trinity. In
so doing, it expresses the understanding of his nature that
is shared by all Christian traditions, westem and eastem.
However, the text was modified more than once after the
Council of Nicaea, and the version that follows includes
three words- "and the Son"- that have never been ac-
cepted by the eastem churches. At issue is the nature of the
relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son.
We believe in one God,the Father al mighty, maker of
heaven and earth , and of all th ings visible and invis-
ible; and in one l ord j esus Ch rist, the only-begotten
Son of God, begouen of the Father before all worlds,
God of God, light of light, ve ry God of very God,
begotten not made, being of one substa nce with the
Father, by whom all th ings were made, who for us
4 Christian Traditions
the eastern chu rches. Th is counc il was impactful in
the eastern chu rch but is not see n as one of the fou r
ecu menical councils as the weste rn dioceses d id not
pa rticipate. Four decades later, the Council o f Con-
sta ntinople also failed to resolve the matte r.
Council of Ephesus, 431
The Council of Ephesus was convened by Theodo-
sius I in response to a theological movement called
Nestorianis m, which was eventually declared a
heresy (a belief or practice contrary to the accepted
doctrinal teach ings of the church). Nestorius a nd
his followe rs argued that the inca rnate Ch rist had
two natures, one fully d ivi ne (Ch rist) and one
fully human Oesus), and that the human Ma ry-
the mother of the human jesus- could not be the
mother of God (the d ivine Christ). The Cou ncil of
men and for our salvation came dow n from heaven,
a nd was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgi n
Ma ry, and was made man, and was crucified for us
unde r Pontius Pilate. He su ffered and was bu ried,
a nd the th ird day he rose agai n accord ing to the
scriptures, and asce nded into heaven, and sits on
the right hand of the Father, and he shall come agai n
wit h glory to judge both the living a nd the dead;
whose ki ngdom shall have no end. And we believe
in the Holy Spirit, the l ord and give r of life, who
proceeds from the Fathe r and the Son, who with the
Fathe r and Son together is worsh ipped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets. And we believe in one
holy catholic a nd apostolic chu rch. We acknowledge
one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look
for the resurrection of the dead, a nd the life o f the
wo rld to come.
World Religions: Western Traditions

Focus
Christianity in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Armenia
The Ind1genous Chnsuans of Egypt, the Copts,
beheve that the1r fanh was brought to Egypt by
the Gospel wnter Mark, and that thetr ancestors
were p1oneers m the development of monasticism
(see "The R1se of Monasuc1sm"). After the Islamic
conquest m the seventh century, Egyptians who
remamcd Chnsuan became a mmorily, but a
sigmlicant one. The Copts have retained a sense
of cultura l pride as "ongmal" Egyptia ns. By t he
fou rt h ce nt ury, Copt ic Christian influence had e x-
tended to Eth iopia. A few ce ntu ries late r, Eth iopia
gave asylum to Muslim em igra nts but re main ed
Ch r istian , recognizing the autho rity of t he Coptic
patr iar ch in Cairo and mainta ini ng a window on
the world through its own priests and monks in
j erusalem. The Eth iopian church has re mai n ed
essentially Copuc, though tt has been formally in-
dependent of Ca1ro since the mid-twentieth ce n-
tury. In Armenta, as m Egypt, legend traces t he
mtroductton of Chnsuantty to the m1ss1onar y ac-
tivny of the apostles, tn th1s case Thaddeus and
Bartholomew.
Armentan Chnsuans mamtam that their king,
T1ndates Ill , who was bapuzed by Gregory the JLlu-
mmator around 301, was the first ruler anywhere to
estabhsh Chnsuanny as a state rehg1on.
One of II rock-hewn churches on UNESco·s World Her-
itage list. Bieta Ghiorghis (St. George·s House) in Lalibela.
Ethiopia. was carved from volcanic rock m the thirteenth
century. It is an important pilgrimage site for members of
the Et hiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Ephesus decided against Nestorius, and Ma ry was
affi rmed as Tl1eotohos ("God bearer").
Council of Chalcedon. 45I
The disputes over the nature of jesus were fi nally
resolved at the Counci l of C halcedon , convened in
response LO the argument, advanced by a church-
man from Constanti nople named Eutyches, that
Christ had two natures (human and d ivine) prior to
the incarnation but only one divine nature a fter it.
Eut yches's view was a variation on a position known
as m onophysitis m , according to which Christ had
only one nature (in this case divine). The Council

of Chalcedon affirmed the decisions of both Nicaea
a nd Ephesus and adopted as orthodoxy for both the
western and easte rn Ch ristian churches the posi-
tion know n as dyophysitis m , wh ich mai nta ined
that the two natures of jesus, human and divine, a re
un ited in the second person of the Trinity. Although
monophysitism persisted in breakaway b ranches
such as the Coptic Church, the dyophysite belief a f-
firmed at Chalcedon became normative the reafter.
Other Early Heresies
Nestorianism was not the only movement that came to
be defmed as heretical as the church gradually worked
out what constituted Christian orthodoxy. Other her-
esies involved not only Christology but views of salva-
tion and matters of institutional authority.
Gnosticism
Gnosticism was a worldview that innuenced many
a ncient religions, includ ing Ch ristianity. The root of
its name is gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Based on
a radical dualism that gave priority to reason and
spi rit over the physical, Gnosticism took Neopla-
tonic metaphysics as its point of departu re for inter-
preting the relationsh ip between God the Father a nd
j esus the Son. Gnostics separated the idea of God
the creator from God the supreme being, positing
that the creator was a lower be ing, or "dem iurge."
This idea contrad icted the developing Christia n
orthodoxy of the Trin ity, wh ich conceived of God
as th ree coequal pe rsons o f one divine substance:
Fathe r, Son, and Holy Spi rit.
Among the texts gene rally conside red Gnostic
gospels today is the "Gospel of Mary," an incom-
plete document discove red in 1896 that recounts
the conversation a female disc iple had with jesus in
a vis ion and the opposition she encountered from
some male d isciples when she told them about it.
Other Gnostic gospels include similar accounts .
Montanism
Montanism was a belief system developed by an apoc-
aly ptic sect in second-century Asia Minor that spread
4 Christian Traditions
rapidly through the Roman Empire and in some
areas persisted until the sixth century. Its founders,
a Christian priest named Montanus and two proph-
etesses named Maxim illa and Priscilla, believed that
the Second Com ing of Ch rist was imminent long past
the time when the mainstream church had aban-
doned that expectation. Its emphasis on the idea that
the end of days was near made it less problematic for
women to hold sign ificant leadership roles.
Docetism
The Ch ristOlogical he resy of docetism, which devel-
oped in the late second a nd th ird centuries, held
that God could not have been humiliated on a cross,
and the refore that the appa rent suffering o f jesus
could not have bee n real. The Counc il of Nicaea cat-
egorically rejected th is position.
Pelagian ism
The early church taught that the sin of the first
humans , Adam and Eve- thei r disobedience of
God's comma nd not to eat of the Tree of Knowl-
edge o f Good and Ev il- was passed down to all
their descendants, and that because of th is original
sin, no human being was capable of living a moral
life without God's grace. The British theologia n Pe-
lagius (35 4- c. 420) rejected that teach ing, arguing
that huma ns were not so tainted as to be unable to
choose the good of their ow n free will. His oppo-
nems , most notably Augustine of Hippo, believed
that Pelagius auributed too much autonomous
agency to humans and promoted too little depen-
dence on God's grace, and in 418 he was declared a
heretic. Pelagian ism was a salvation heresy. Salva-
tion he resies specifically addressed the mechanisms
by wh ich one would achieve salvation: God's action
or human ity's. The orthodox position stressed that
the agency of salvation was God's alone.
Apollinarianism
In the late fourth century, Apoll inaris of l aodicea
maintained that jesus's human ity was not exactly
the same as ou r own, since in addition to a human
World Religions: Western Traditions

Map 4.1 The Spread of Christianity

ATIANTTC
OCEAN

0 Christian areas. ca. 300

0 Areas Christian;zed. 300· 600
~ Ateas Christianized. 600..800
• Centtts of Christian diffusion
Darts indicate period of conversion to Christianity

body and soul, jesus had a d ivine mind. This po-
sition can be classified as one of the monophysite
heresies, denying the two full natures of j esus.
Apoll inaria nism was declared he retical in 381 by
the first Council of Constantinople.
must be a church o f sa ints, not si nners, and that
sac raments adm iniste red by traditores could not be
valid. By contrast, the Roman ch urch held that si n-
ners could be restored to full communion th rough
penance and reconcil iation , and that sacraments ad-
ministe red by resto red penitents we re valid.

Donatism
Donatis m was a n institutional heresy o f the fourth
and fifth centuries related tO authority structures
within the church. The Donatists were a sch ismatic
group from North Africa that had sepa rated from
Rome because they refused 10 recogn ize as valid
consecrations performed by traditores (bishops who
had recanted thei r faith during the Diocletian p er-
secutions). The Donatists argued that the chu rch
St. Augustine of Hippo
The theologian who argued aga inst Pelagius and
the Donatists was Augustine (354- 430), the bishop
of Hippo Regius in North Africa. Among the writ-
ings of Augustine that would do much tO shape the
theological tradition of weste rn Ch ristian ity we re
The City of God, wh ich articulated a vis ion for the
relationship bet ween the sacred and the secula r

in a time when the Roman Empire was in decl ine,
a nd De Trinitale, which laid the foundations for the
basic categories of theology in the west. Augustine's
thought in the a reas of origi nal s in, grace, suffering,
a nd just war shaped the emergi ng scholastic trad i-
tion, which would reach its full Oowe r in the thi r-
teenth century with Thomas Aquinas.
Gregory the Great
The papacy of Gregory the Great (540- 604) was
a wate rshed in the development of the western
church as it moved from antiquity to the med ieval
pe riod. In a sense, Gregory embodied the trans i-
tional characte r of the late si xth centu ry, d rawing
on the traditions of late a ntiquity while he ralding
the Rome-centered clerical culture of the med ieval
west. This is not to suggest that he had some pre-
conceived notion of the Roman church as the leade r
of weste rn Ch ristendom; that idea was developed
slowly and hesitantly over the cou rse of several hun-
dred years. However, Gregory's lette rs do reveal ef-
forts to strengthen Ch ristian authority over secular
rulers in the west, to establish bishops as leaders of
Christian com munities at every level, to erad icate
the habits of crass superstition and idolatry that had
been retained from ancient religious practices, and
to bolster the authority of the see of Rome by pro-
moting the cu lts of St. Peter and St. Paul.
Gregory's measu res we re adopted in piecemeal
fash ion. They did not constitute a master strategy
to ach ieve Roman supremacy, but his strong stance
against temporal authority, his assertion of Roma n
autho rity against Byzantium (where the tradition of
Christianity developed under the leade rsh ip of the
patriarchs of the four eastern sees), his inte rnal con-
solidation of the bureauc racy, and h is careful over-
sight of internal church life did se rve as foundations
for the medieval papacy.
Relations Between East and West
Doctrinal disputes related to the pe rson of Christ
led to powe r struggles ove r primary author-
ity. Although the Counc il o f Chalcedon upheld
•I!~
. :.. i
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4 Christian Traditions 181/ • .. .
a non-Arian Ch ristology, the Arian controversy
pe rsisted, lead ing to a schism between Rome and
Consta ntinople that lasted from 486 to 518. After
the breach was closed, the bishops of Rome we re
deprived of the liberty they had enj oyed du ring the
sch ism. The pressure exerted by Constantinople
was sharply reOected in the actions of the Roman
pope Vigil ius (r 537- 555), who was overtly deferen-
tial to the Byzantine emperor justin ian.
The Lombard invasion o f Italy in 586 se rved to
lim it the control that Byza ntium was able tO exert
on Rome, but it also inaugurated a long pe riod
during wh ich the Roman church had to cope with a
compl icated a nd often violent landscape of secula r
princes. Rome was no longer under the thumb of
Byza ntium, but it had to negotiate powe r with secu-
lar rule rs from the no rth and west. Th is meant that
by the early seventh century, the Byzantine church
was more stable tha n its western counte rpart and
had been able to develop its infrastructure , theol-
ogy, art, institutions, a nd social mission to a degree
that the western church had not.
Constantinople and Rome
After the Council of Chalcedon, Greek and Latin
Christianity grew further and further apart. The
underlying reasons probably had more to do with
politics and cultural differences than with rel igious
ones, but once again a theological formulation pro-
vided a rallying poi nt. At issue was a single word,
filioque (Latin, "and the Son"). Did the Holy Spirit
"proceed" from God the Father alone, as the orig-
ina l version of the Nicene Creed had it, and as the
Greek church conti nued to hold, or from the Father
"and the Son," as the Latin church came to maintain
fro m the time of Charlemagne in the ninth century?
Photius, the patriarch of Constantinople, in 867 de-
nounced both the intrusion o f Latin missionaries
into Bulga ria, which he took to be Greek territory,
and the insertion of filioque into the creed. For the
next two decades, one pa rty in Constantinople re-
pud iated the term and condemned the pope, while
anothe r supported the term and condemned Photius.
Behind the theological niceties lay the basic issue of
 .
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World Religions: Western Traditions
authority, for Rome had added filioq ue to the creed
without the consent of a universal church cou ncil. In
so doing, Rome had staked not only its clai m to be
the center of authority against the Greek view of it as
just one among five equally important patriarchates,
but also the Roman notion of papal authority against
the Greek unde rstanding of authority as vested in
councils of bishops. The fi nal break between Rome
and Constantinople is conventionally dated to 1054,
though it was in the making before then, and at-
tempts were made after that date to heal it.
The filioque was not the only issue that sepa rated
the Orthodox and Roman traditions. In add ition, the
Orthodox tradition venerated icons (see "Icons in
the Orthodox Chu rch "), permitted clergy to ma r ry,
used languages other than Lati n in Bible read ings
and liturgy, and- most important- refused to rec-
ognize the Roman pontiff as sup reme.
Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches
Rome's efforts to recru it new ad herents among Ea st-
ern Orthodox Ch ristians led to the formation of
new chu rches that, even though they we re aligned
with Rome rather than Constantinople , retained i m-
portant elements of the eastern tradition, from the
use of local languages (rather than Latin) to baptism
by im mersion. Significantly, these churches also
continued to have married priests, although thei r
highe r ecclesiastical officers we re generally d rawn
from the celibate clergy. Since most of the ea st-
ern Catholic chu rches had Orthodox roots, most
o f them continue to have Orthodox cou nterparts
today. The exception is the Ma ron ite Chu rch of Leb-
anon. Named a fter its fi fth-century founder, Maron ,
it has always been part of the Roman Catholic rath er
than the Orthodox world.
~ Practice
Worship Spaces
Because Ch ristianity began as a small move me nt ,
private dwell ings we re the logical places to gath er
for worship organized a round a shared meal. Such
gatherings usually took place in the la rger homes
of the group's wealthiest membe rs, although poorer
urban Ch ristians a re know n to have met on the
upper levels of the multifamily dwelli ng spaces
know n as insulae. Th is kind of domestic worship
continued well into the Constantinian era. How-
ever, from that poi nt on the worship spaces used by
Christians became more d ive rse.
From the mid-second centu ry, some houses used
for Ch ristian wo rship were remodeled to accommo-
date as many as 75 people in a s ingle la rge room.
Th is type of build ing is known as a house church
(domus ecclesiae). As well , rooms know n as baptister-
ies were added, p rov iding space for full-imme rsion
baptism rituals. The Dura-Eu ropos house church
in Syria, built in the th ird centu ry, is the earliest
know n example.
Constantine's pro-Christian initiatives led to the
construction of much large r and grander worship
spaces know n as basilicas. (The te rm was adopted
from an earlie r type of buildi ng used to conduct the
busi ness of government.) Constantine had seve ral
of these buildi ngs- in the shape of long recta ngles
with side aisles- constructed as spaces for Chris -
tian worsh ip, usually adorned with wall paintings
and gilded mosaics.
The ea rliest records suggest that two rituals with
their roots in J udaism we re critical to the identity of
the first com munities: baptism, the rite of initiation
into the Ch ristian commun ity, and the Eucha rist,
the shared symbolic meal that became part o f the
weekly worsh ip li fe o f the community.
Baptism
In the Jew ish world of the first centu ry there we re
seve ral rituals involv ing the use of water. Some we re
designed to wash away impurities a nd restore the
worshiper to a state o f fitness for contact with God.
In Jewish commun ities outs ide Palestine, conve rts to
Juda ism would prepa re for reception into the Jew ish
faith through instruction, male circumcision, and
a wate r bath . Although the ea rly Ch ristia ns aban-
doned the Jewish practice of ci rcumcision, they
did reta in the ideas of instruction and imme rsion

Assembly 100m
Figure 4 .1 Diagram of the house church at Dura-Europos. Syria.
in water as a symbolic purification in preparation
for initiation into the faith. Their baptism ritual also
reflected the influence of two Greco-Roman cus-
toms: the newly baptized were anointed with oil,
like athletes (Jewish prophets and leaders we re also
anointed), and they were given milk and honey, like
newborn in fants.
In the Synoptic Gospels, the story of jesus's
baptism by his cousin, a holy man known as j ohn
the Baptist, is gene rally understood to signal the
beginning of h is public ministry. Early Ch ristians
developed their baptism ritual in keeping with the
story of j esus's own baptism. It is in the act of bap-
tism that the Christian life begins and the path of
disc iplesh ip is undertaken.
The mean ing of baptism for early Christians is
usually understood to have been threefold:
• Soteriologica l (involving salvation): Baptism
washes away sin.
4 Christian Traditions
Baptiste!y
• Ch riswlogical: Baptism plunges the initiate
into a new identity in Christ.
• Ecclesiological: Baptism initiates the ind i-
vidual into a new community, the Body of
Chris t.
Eucharist
We know that the early Christians usually gathered
a round a shared meal at which sc riptu re was read,
prayers were offered, and, finally, the consecrated
bread and wine of the Eucharist were d istributed.
Th is structure was modeled on that of jewish gath-
erings for prayer and worship.
The idea of the Eucharist drew on the Synoptic
Gospels' accounts of the night before jesus was ar-
rested . At suppe r with his friends, he wok bread,
gave thanks to God , blessed the bread, broke it, and
shared it with them. He then took a cup of wine,
World Religions: Western Traditions
A fourth-century mosaic in the basilica of Santa Pudenziana in Rome shows jesus teaching the apostles in
the heavenly jerusalem.
gave thanks, blessed it, and sha red it with them as
well. As jesus shared the wine and bread, he said,
"Do this in memory of me." This ritual act of re-
membering jesus's li fe and death became central to
Christian li fe and worship.
Written some time after Paul's letters, the Syn-
optic Gospels reflect the assu mption that the last
suppe r was a Passover meal, although it does not
follow the pattern of a Seder. Ove r time, the form
o f the Eucharist became fai rly predictable, and that
form was then established as litu rg ical practice.
Early Christian Art
The earliest art of the Ch ristian community reflects
the in fluence of classical Greco-Roman models.
Most of what has su rvived is funera ry art: sarcoph-
agi (coffi ns) decorated with scenes from jesus's life,
biblical sto ries o f various kinds, and images of the
deceased; statues rep resenting jesus as the Good
Shepherd ca rrying a lamb ac ross his shou lders; wall
and funera ry plaque inscriptions with na mes and
sy mbols such as the Ch i Ro; peacocks representing
eternal li fe; doves representing peace and happiness
for the soul; the lCHTHYS symbol, representi ng
Christ; portraits of the deceased with their arms
raised in praye r; representations of early Ch ristian
martyrs; and scenes depicting both the Last Suppe r
and the symbolic heave nly banquet at which j esus's
followe rs would gather a fte r the Second Com ing.
These sy mbols suggest the frame of mea ning that
early Ch ristians placed around thei r practice.
The Rise of Monasticism
As the centuries passed, many churches became
substa ntial landowne rs and assumed the responsi -
bil ity of caring for poor membe rs of the commun ity.

Figure 4.2 ICH THYS (Greek. " fish") is an ac·
ronym formed from the initial letters of a Greek
ph rase meaning "jesus Christ. God's Son. Savior."
A caree r in the episcopate became someth ing to
which men might aspi re for reasons not enti rely
rel igious. Bishops became inOuential patrons, ofte n
interceding with the state on behalf of indiv iduals.
From the th ird century forward, questions began to
a rise from some quarte rs with in the Ch ristian com-
mun ity: Should the church occupy a position of in-
Ouence in places of social powe r? Could the chu rch
fill that role without losing some of its moral agency
a nd independence?
Questions such as these contributed to the
rise of the monastic movement. The idea o f livi ng
under ascetic discipline was not un ique to Chris -
tian ity. In the j ewish tradition , some j ews d uring
the Maccabean Revolt refused to fight even to save
their lives; the Esse nes were an ascetic sect with a
rigorous, h igh ly o rgan ized communal lifestyle; and
the Therapeutae practiced seve re discipline, abj ur-
ing money and living in seclusion near Alexa ndria.
Pagan religious traditions had their ow n versions of
ascetic d iscipline: pa rtic ularly a mong philosophers,
the re were ma ny who embraced solitude, a strictly
celibate life, and ofte n a vegeta rian d iet.
External societal factors also contributed to
the rise of monastic life in Christianity. Because
Christians were no longer persec uted, the chances
o f dying a martyr's death- a prospect that many
che rished- were greatly d iminished. The crush-
ing weight of imperial taxes also d rove small land-
holde rs lO abandon their fa rms and nee, often to
the desert. And as the Roman Empi re fragmented,
social, political, and economic ch aos combined with
serious epidem ics LO c reate a climate of instabi lity
4 Christian Traditions
that gave rise LO new ways of both su rvivi ng and
livi ng in community. Among those ways we re two
streams of monastic li fe know n as a nchoritic and
cen obitic.
Anchoritic Monasticism
An anchorite is someone who withd raws from so-
ciety. The term was commonly used to refe r to
hermits, people who devoted their lives to silence,
prayer, a nd sometimes mo rtification of the Oesh.
The fi rst sign ificant Christian example of th is way
of li fe was Anthony of Egypt (251- 356). The son of
wealthy Christian farmers, he is said to have given
up all h is possessions at the age of 18 and retired to
the dese rt, where he aLLracted d isciples who joined
hi m in the ascetic li fe.
Thousands of others, including some women ,
followed suit. The writings of Evagrius Ponticus
(346- 399) give us a window onto the life and wisdom
of the "Desert Fathe rs" a nd "Desert Mothers." From
his work we see that the dese rt path was unde rstood
to b e the way of detachment or letting go. Through a
life of silence, refusal of illusions and othe r forms of
au ach ment (both material and spiritual), recitation
of psalms from the Hebrew Bible, continual prayer,
a si mple lifestyle, hospitality, and self-supporting
work , those who followed the desert path sought to
move more deeply into commun ion with the heart
of God. l ess is known of the Dese rt Mothe rs than
the Fathers. In fact, we have a record of teach ings of
only four Desert Mothe rs: Amma Matrona, Am ma
Sa rah , Amma Suncletica, and Amma Theodora.
They expressed themselves more concisely than d id
some of their ma le counterparts.
Cenobitic Monasticism
"Cenobitic" means "com muna l." The monastic who
chose the cenobitic path lived in community with
oth ers committed LO the religious li fe. The fou nde r
of cenobitic monastic is m is unde rstood to be St.
Pachom ius (290 - 346), who was raised by pagan
pa rents and experienced a conve rsion to Christian-
ity in his mid-20s. He began h is Ch ristia n life as
 ..
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~
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World Religions: Western Traditions
a hermit on the Nile River in Upper Egypt but felt
himself d rawn towa rd commun ity life. Accord ingly,
he built a monaste ry, or community house, and
many came to join h im. By the time of his death
the movement or "orde r" he founded counted n ine
monaste ries and two nunneries. large settlements
that s upported themselves on the income produced
by a variety of trades and occupations, they became
models for the religious communities that would
follow.
In communal monasticism the Bible was the
foundation of all learning. Every member of the com-
mun ity was unde r the d irection of a senior member,
and all wore a standardized form of clothing that
Document
The Desert Fathers and Mothers
Although the Desert Fathers and Mothers lived mainly
as recluses, they would share their wisdom with pilgrims
who sought them out, often in the form of anecdotal sto-
ries and sayings designed to help the person find his or
her own way forward .
Someone asked Abba [Father! Anthony, "What
must one do in order to please God?" The old
man replied, "Pay attention to what I tell you:
whoever you may be, always have God before
your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to
the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in what-
ever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep
these three precepts and you will be saved."
(Anthony the Great in Ward 1975: 2)
One of the old men said, "Whe n Saint Basil
came to the monastery one day, he said to
the abbot, after the customary exhortation,
'Have you a brother he re who is obedient?'
The other replied, 'They are all your se rvants,
eventually became known as a "habit." The tradition
developed further in the east under the inOuence
of St. Basil, bishop of Caesarea (330- 379), and in
the west under St. Benedict (480 - 550). Basil wrote
a ru le (code of discipl ine) of life that still forms the
basis of easte rn monasticism, the fundamenta l aim
of which is to live a common life of devotion to God.
Basil's monaste ries tended to be small (no more than
40 people), and all property and d ress was held in
common. No excesses of asceticism were allowed,
and local bishops maintained control over orders
in their area. Finally, each Basilian commun ity was
expected to be of service to the large r community
a round it.
master, and strive for their salvation.' But he
repeated, 'Have you a brother who is really
obed ient?' Then the abbot led a brothe r to
him and Saint Basil used h im to se rve during
the meal. When the meal was ended, the
brother brought h im some wate r for rinsing
his hands and Saint Basil said to him, 'When
I ente r the sanctuary, come, that I may ordain
you deacon.' When this was done, he or-
dained h im priest and took him with him to
the bishop's palace because of h is obedience."
(Basil the Great in Ward 1975: 39- 40)
Amma Theodora wrote , "l et us strive to enter
the narrow gate. just as the trees, if they have
not stood before the winte r's storms cannot
bear fruit, so it is with us; this present age
is a storm and it is only th rough many trials
a nd temptations that we can obtain an in-
herita nce in the kingdom o f heaven." (Amma
Theodora in Ward 1975: 15)

Mo re than a century later, Benedict developed
the protOtype for monastic com munities in the west.
Liule is know n of h im except that he lived first as
a hermit, but after 12 mon ks had gathe red a rou nd
him, he developed a rule to govern their communal
life. Be nedict's Rule was grounded in the principle
that the central activ ity of the commu nity was the
divi ne o ffice , the devotional services held at speci-
fied hou rs th roughout the day and the night. As in
the east, all possessions were held in com mon , and
moderation a nd balance were key aspects of the re-
ligious life.
~ Eastern Orthodoxy
The Cappadocian Fathers
As important as Augustine was to the weste rn tra-
dition , so the Cappadocian Fathers we re to the
development of easte rn Ch ristian theology. The
Cappadoc ians ca me from a region of what is now
Turkey that was known for its desert monasti-
cism. Basil , the fou nde r of eastern monasticism, h is
younger brother Gregory of Nyssa (332- 395), and
their friend Gregory o f Na nz ianz us (329- 389), who
became the patriarch of Consta ntinople, all made
significant contributions LO the theology of East-
ern Orthodoxy. As a theologian, Basil supported
the opposition to the Arians and their monophysite
Chriswlogy. He was also know n for h is preach ing,
work with the poor, and care for the sick . Gregory
o f Nyssa, the most sign ificant of the th ree in terms
o f theology, was innue nced by the ea rlier work of
Origen. He wrote on the Trinity, unive rsal salvation
(the resurrection of all people at the end-ti me), and
theological anth ropology, defendi ng the capac ity of
human beings tO move closer to God. Gregory of
Na nzia nz us was a prolific writer who cont ributed
much to the development of dyophysite ChristOl-
ogy and furthe red th inki ng about the doctrine
o f the Trin ity th rough h is origi nal a rgument for
the relationship between the Holy Spirit and God
the Father.
4 Christian Traditions
The Greek Orthodox Tradition
Most of the Greek-speaking Byzantine (or Eastern
Roman) Empire remai ned orthodox in the te rms of
Ch alcedon's doctrinal formulation: j esus was the
Son of God, both human and divi ne, of the same
substance as h is Fathe r. The eastern Mediterra nean
was a comparatively stable a nd prosperous region
in the seventh and eighth centu ries, and therefore
it was far more conduc ive to intellectual life than
its western counterpart , which was still struggli ng
a fte r the barbarian invasions. Byza ntium lasted
mo re tha n 1,000 years after Constantine. Eve n the
slow but steady spread of the Turks, who wok con-
trol of Consta ntinople in 1453, did not mean the
end of the Greek church. Formally tolerated u nde r
Is lam, though forbidden to proselytize, Orthodox
Christians became a self-governing religious com-
mu n ity unde r the Ottoman Turks, with the patri-
arch as thei r civ il ruler.
Theology
Represe ntative o f the eastern Medite rranean's cul-
tural sophistication was the Greek theologian
j oh n of Damascus (c. 675- c. 749), who for a time
followed in h is father's footsteps as the represen-
tati ve of the Ch ristia ns to the Muslim caliph. His
most importa nt work, Pege gnoseos (The Fountain of
Wisdom), is a comprehensive treatise on theological
topics. Medieval Byzantine theology included a rich
vein of devotional p ractice and mystic ism. Si meon
(94 9- 1022), who headed a monastery in Constanti-
nople, wrote of the profundities o f the spiritual life.
A pervasive theme in h is work is God's close ness to
the faith ful:
I know that the Immovable comes down;
I know that the Invisible appears to me;
I know that he who is far outside the
whole creation
Takes me into h imself and hides me in his
arms.
 '
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· ·~8 . World Religions: Western Traditions
I know that I shall not die, for I am within
the life,
I have the whole of life springing up as a
fountai n with in me.
He is in my heart, he is in heaven.
(McManners 1990: 147- 148)
By the fou rteenth century a group calling them-
selves the Hesychasts (from a Greek word meani ng
"inner stillness") had developed a devotional prac-
tice cente red on the repetition of a mantra-like for-
mula known as the jesus Prayer: "Lord jesus Christ,
son of God, have me rcy on me, a sinner." When
their practical spiritual disc ipline was challenged
by Barlaam the Calabrian, a philosopher who held
that one could know God directly only in the next
life, another great Byzantine theologian came to
their defense. Gregory PaJamas distinguished be-
tween God's essence and his energies, agree ing with
Barlaam that God transcends th is realm but argui ng
that God's energies come through tO humans li ke
the radiance of the transfigured Christ described in
Mark 9 and Matthew 17. PaJamas held d ivine tran-
scendence and divine contact with humans in bal-
ance: "He is being and not be ing; he is eve rywhere
and nowhere; he has many names and cannot be
named; he is both in perpetual movement and i m-
movable; he is absolutely everything and nothing of
that which is" (Meye ndorff 1964: 209).
Christianizing the Slavs
Eastern Orthodoxy is the form of Christianity that
was ca rried from Byzantium to various peoples in
eastern Europe. Orthodox missionaries to the Slavic
peoples made sign ificant headway in the ninth cen-
tury. Language played an important part in their
success, for they used local vernaculars rathe r
than Greek, and this encouraged the development
of independent local churches with a strong sense
o f national identity based on language. This m is-
sionary effort was pionee red by two brothers, Cyril
(826- 869) and Method ius (c. 815- 885). In 862 they
traveled tO Moravia (the region of today's Czech
Republic), whe re they preached in the vernacu lar
and translated the Bible and litu rgy into Slavon ic.
When, after Cyril's time, a new alphabet (based on
the Greek) was created for Slavic languages such
as Bulgarian, Se rbian, Ukrain ian, and Russian , it
was named Cyrill ic in his honor. Roman ia, which
was originally colonized by Rome as the province
of Dac ia, was Christian from the fourth century
and adopted the Latin alphabet, but its church
was eventually brought into the Eastern Ortho-
dox orbit during a period of Bulgarian rule. Other
pans of eastern Europe were convened by Roman
Catholic missionaries, who instituted a Latin lit-
urgy and more cent ralized church control. Thus the
languages of mainly Catholic peoples such as the
Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Lithua-
nians, and Hungarians use the Latin alphabet.
The early center of Russian Orthodoxy was Kiev,
in Ukraine, whose non-Christian ruler Vladimir ap-
parently convened in order tO marry the sister of
the Byzantine emperor and thereby form an advan-
tageous alliance. Whatever his motives, he became
a vigorous promoter of Christianity, though it seems
the methods he used among his subjects may have
been more coercive than persuasive. It was only after
Kiev fell to Mongol invaders in 1237 that Moscow
replaced it as the center of Russian religion and pol-
itics. Russian ecclesiastical and diplomatic inte rests
coincided in the nineteenth century when, as part
of its effort to establish a presence in the Holy Land,
the Patriarchate of Moscow established churches
and convents there while strengthening diplomatic
ties with the Turkish Empire. likewise, Russian po-
litical expansion in Siberia was aided by mission-
a ries to the Indigenous peoples of the region. From
1917 to 1989 the Commun ist State was hostile to
religion of any kind. But Christianity survived, often
transmitted from grandmother to grandchild. After
1989, the Russian Orthodox Church slowly reas-
se rted its traditional role as the church favored by
the state, while Catholics and Protestants were al-
lowed more freedom. Since the late 1990s, however,
the state has been less than welcoming to foreign
missionaries. A 2006 law brought the bank accounts
of foreign-backed organizations unde r sc rutiny, in
effect cutting off most outside support for missionary

work in Russia. In protest aga inst the Catholic
Church's "expansion ism," Russian Orthodox Patri-
arch Alexy II refused to meet with Pope Benedict
XVI during his 2007 trip to Russia. Protestants find
their religious life even more restricted in the former
Soviet republics of Belarus and Uzbekistan.
Secular Yugoslavia disintegrated in the 1990s
into religio-eth nic strife among Catholic Croats,
Muslim Bosnians and Albanians, and Orthodox
Se rbs. Today the leade rsh ip of the Se rbian Ortho-
dox Church continues to espouse Serbian nation-
alist policies, while the civil government pushes for
good relations with its ne ighbors and close r integra-
tion with the European Union. To appease the in-
nuential Orthodox cle rgy, the Se rbian gove rnment
has introduced religious instruction in the school
system by Orthodox priests or othe rs they approve.
In 2006 a Jaw was passed to return the properties
of all religious commun ities previously nationalized
under the Nazi or Commun ist regimes. The jew ish
commun ity alone has requested the denationaliza-
tion of more than 500 prope rties confiscated during
the Nazi period. So far, however, only the Orthodox
Church has regai ned possession of its properties.
Worship in the Greek Church
In the fi rst centuries of Christianity, religious ser-
vices must have included chanting. The evidence
is only fragmentary, but similarities in med ieval
Roman Catholic, Gree k Orthodox, Muslim, and
j ew ish melodies and harmonies point to a common
background, and the signs used for musical nota-
tion in the Byzantine era are virtually identical to
those recordi ng jewish cantorial trad itions in medi-
eval Hebrew manusc ripts .
Many Christians celeb rate the eve of Easter
with a vigil se rvice in which a name symbolizing
j esus's resurrection is passed from candle to candle
among the congregation. The ce remony is partic-
ula rly spectacular in the Greek Orthodox service
at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in jerusalem.
Hundreds of worshipe rs, each carrying a candle,
pack the church 's rotunda. The priest is ritually
searched to ensure that he is carrying no matches.
4 Christian Traditions
He then enters the chambe r at the ce nter of the ro -
tunda, which marks the traditional site of jesus's
tomb. After a time he extends h is arm from the
chambe r with a miraculously burning taper. The
people closest to h im light thei r candles from h is
and then sha re the fi re with others, so that with in
moments the vast rotunda is a sea of name. Outside
the church, the fire is carried by runners to Ortho-
dox congregations elsewhere. Th is ritual graph ically
sy mbolizes the spread ing of the Easter light and the
going forth of the gospel message.
Byzantine Art
The innuence of the Byzantine imperial tradition
can be seen in pictorial representations of jesus.
After Constantine made Ch ristianity mainstream,
j es us began to appear in art not as the young shep-
herd of the early ce nturies, but as an older, bearded
man, a king or a j udge, auired in robes renecting
the dignity of h is office. It was also around th is
time that he began to be depicted with a halo or
nimbus represe nting the glory a nd radia nce of the
sun. (Halo imagery goes back a long way: third - to
seventh -century Sasanian kings we re portrayed
with halos; si milar imagery was used th roughout
Asia in representations of the Buddha.) By the sixth
century, Byzantine mosaics were depicting Christ
enth roned in heave n as the ruler of creation. Usually
located in a place of honor, such as directly above
an alta r, these formal Byzantine representations
position Ch rist in the ce nter, nanked by auendant
figures in a kind of heraldic symmetry. Depictions
of Ch rist as cosmic ruler gene rally give him a fa r
more mature and distingu ished appearance than
those portrayi ng him as the young preacher from
Na za reth who was c rucified.
Icons in the Orthodox Church
The Orthodox churches developed a distinctive form
of portraiture for depictingjesus, Ma ry, and other re-
ligious figures. These portraits are known as icons,
fro m the Gree k word for "image." An icon might be
an entirely two-dimensional painting, often on a
World Religions: Western Traditions
piece of wood, or it might be overlaid in low relief,
in wood or precious metal, and ornamented with
jewels. While the robes clothi ng the figure were
generally executed in relief, the hands and face were
typically two-dimens ional, so that the parts of the
image representing Oesh appeared to exist on a dif-
fe rent plane from the material world around them.
Nevertheless, in the seventh and eighth centu ries
these images became the subject of a heated dispute
known as the iconoclastic controversy.
PiLLing a faction called the iconoclasts ("icon
breakers") against one called the iconodules ("icon
worshipers"), the controversy served in part as a
vehicle for other antagonisms (political, region al,
etc.). But points of principle were also at stake, and
Byzantine intellectuals engaged in se rious theolog-
ical discussions concerning the role of images in
A shop selling religious icons in Monastiraki. Athens.
worship. In the end the Second Council of Nicaea in
787 dec ided that icons were pe rmissible and could
be venerated, as long as the faithful did not actually
worship them.
Some historians continue to wonde r whether
the dispute might also have had someth ing to do
with the success of Islam, wh ich rejects any kind
of iconography, since the iconoclastic movement
seems LO have been particularly strong in the re-
gions bordering Syria. In any event, thei r opponents
prevailed in the end, and eastern Christendom re-
tained its distinctive trad ition. In Orthodox sanc-
tuaries wday, a massive screen in from of the altar
shields it from the main portion of the sanctu-
a ry. The sc reen is called an iconostasis ("place for
icons") and is designed to hold a row of la rge icons.
Smalle r icons are hung in private homes; some, as

small as a pocket d ia ry, are equipped with foldi ng
cove rs so that they can be ca rried on the person,
especially when traveling.
"' Medieval Christianity
Decline and Expansion
The first widespread decline in Ch ristian influence
began about the year 600 and continued until the
mid-tenth century. lL was not rapid, nor was it with-
out spurts of revival, but by 950 Ch ristianity was far
less prominent in the west than it had been in 500.
Both inte rnal and external factors contributed
to the decline. Internally, the western church was
weakened by poor leadership and various forms of
corruption. External factors included the decline of
the Roman Empire, the ensuing sociopolitical and
economic turmoil, and Islam's rise to power in va ri-
ous pans of the Euro-Med iterranean theater.
The rapid spread of Islam followi ng the death of
the Prophet Muhammad in 632 cha nged the reli-
gious map. After only th ree centuries the religion
was as geographically widespread as Christian-
ity and was the official faith of states much more
powe rful tha n many that professed to be Ch ristian.
Byzantine Christia nity in particular struggled in the
face of Islam.
And then the tide turned. Near the end of the
tenth century, the invasions that had racked west-
ern Europe for 500 years si mply ceased. The re were
no further incursions of non-Christians into west-
ern Christendom, even though Muslim populations
were well established on the Iberia n Pe ninsula.
Later invasions by the Ottoma n Turks and the Mon-
gols d id not penetrate substantially beyond the east-
ern a nd southern borde rs of Europe. The resulting
stability was conducive tO econom ic growth , the de-
velopment of commerce and wealth , the beginn ings
of modern states, and an increase in the number
a nd population of cities.
Between 950 and 1050 CE, Ch ristian ity made
the g reatest geograph ic adva nces in its h istory.
Scandinav ia- comprising Denmark, Norway, and
pa rts of Sweden, Iceland, and Greenland- which
4 Christian Traditions
had formerly been a passionate ene my of Ch ristian-
ity, was converted. Czech s, Poles, and Hungarians
were Ch ristianized, as were all the inhabitants of
Kiev, and Sicily and northern Spain were "recov-
ered" from Islam. This is not to say that by 1050 all
inhabitants of western and central Europe thought
of themselves as Christians ; Ch ristians coexisted
with Muslims, jews, and occasional enclaves of pa-
ganism. By 1350, however, most o f Europe had con-
verted tO Ch ristianity except for the Lithuanians,
the: Fi nns , and the remain ing jew ish a nd Muslim
communities in Spai n.
In western Europe, nascent nations we re eme rg-
ing from feudalism. In 9 11 Ge rmanic tribal princes
elected a king, in 987 French feudal princes chose
the ir own king, and in 1066 Will iam the Con-
queror began establishing a strong state in England.
Across territories previously conquered by Islam,
political power shifted from Muslim to Ch ristian
r ule rs, who exe rcised political control over discrete
te rritOries.
The Crusades
After the Arab Muslims captured j erusalem in 637,
the Christians who lived there were tolerated, and
Christian pilgrims from outs ide the Islamic world
were still allowed to vis it. In 107 1, however, the
city was captured by the Seljuq Turks, who as
rece nt converts to Islam were less accom modati ng
than the Arabs had been. The Byzantine emperors
felt threatened and appealed tO the west for help.
In 1095 Pope Urban !! responded by proclaiming
what wou ld become the first in a se ries o f "cru-
sades" to liberate the holy places of Palestine. Par-
tic ipation was framed as a sacred pilgrimage and
encou raged by prom ises that those who died in the
aue mpt to free the Holy Land would be honored as
martyrs- a prospect that was still h ighly valued. At
the same time, the prospect of worldly adventure
and profit encouraged both peasants and nobles tO
"ta ke the cross."
In all, the Crusades spanned nearly four cen-
turies, but the most sign ificant period ended in
1204, when crusaders headed for Egypt attacked
World Religions: Western Traditions
the Ch ristian city o f Constantinople instead, plu n-
dering it and placing a rule r from Flanders on the
th rone. Although the Byzantines recaptu red the
city in I26I, relations between western and eastern
Christians did not recove r.
Punishing Heresy
The use o f viole nce by the ch urc h in the Middle
Ages was not limited to action agai nst "in fidels"
(non-Ch ristians). Begin ning in the th irteenth ce n-
tury, the ch u rch also undertook to discover and
pu nish those- both theologia ns and ord ina ry
believers- whose views d iffered from chu rch
teac h ing. Th is chapte r in Ch ristia n h isto ry is
know n as the time o f the Inqu isitions. Like t he
Crusades, the Inqu isitions un folded in various re-
g ions over h und reds o f years. Until the twelfth
century the punishment fo r he resy was exco m-
munication, exclusion from participation in t he
Christian commun ity. By the ea rly th irtee nth
centu ry, however, the attit ude o f the church had
ch anged, la rgely because the sec ular powe rs were
now closely aligned with it in effo rts to mai nta in
the social orde r. Th is gave the chu rch access to
state power, including milita ry powe r, to enforce
its dec isions.
The first Inquisition was established in I232,
a fter Emperor Frede ric k II issued an ed ict entrust-
ing the hunt for he retics to state officials. Pope
Gregory IX, fearing Frede rick's ambitions, clai med
th is responsibility for the church and appointed
papal inquisitors to travel the countryside admon-
ishing those guilty o f he resy to confess voluntarily,
in wh ic h case they would be required to do pen-
a nce. After about a month o f g race during wh ich
the accused were given the opportunity to confess,
ac tual trials began. The inquisitor was assisted by
a j ury, and evidence was hea rd from at least two
witnesses. The famous Spa nish Inqu is ition had a
different character, as it was established by the state
specifically to investigate jewish and Muslim con-
verts to Ch ristianity. Its Gra nd Inqu isitor, Tomas de
Torq uemada, o rde red more th an 2,000 exec utio ns
a nd was a major force beh ind the expulsion of the
j ews and Muslims from Spain in 1492. Penalties
for those found g uilty of heresy ra nged from con-
fiscation of goods to imp risonment to, in the worst
case, exec ution; those sentenced to death were
handed ove r to secular authorities and burned
at the stake.
The Inquis ition in Toulouse, France , established
a trial procedure that lasted for centuries. Those
accused of he resy, even by anonymous in formers,
were presumed guilty u nless they could prove their
innoce nce. Those who confessed we re assigned
penances and penalties, but those who mainta ined
their innocence were retu rned to prison to "d is-
cover" their he resy. In I252 Pope Innocent IV ruled
that tortu re could be used and that heretics handed
over to the secular authorities should be executed
within five days.
The same pope who made Torquemada the Grand
Inquisitor, Innocent Vlll, also issued a papal bull
calling for the eradication of witchc raft. To that end,
a Ge rman Dominican named Hein rich Kraemer,
with the assistance of j ohann Sprenge r, published a
handbook for Christian witch-hunti ng entitled the
Malleus Malejicarum (Hammer of Witches) in 1486.
Peasant supe rstition contributed to the tendency to
identify certain ind ividuals as practitioners o f ma-
levolent magic, agents of the devil who had inti mate
sexual relations with him. O ften, personal grudges
led to accusations o f witchcraft. In sixteenth- and
seventeenth-century England, the most frequent
cha rge was that the alleged witch , usually a neigh -
bor a nd often an old woman, had caused some
misfortu ne to befall the accuse r. Widows and
women with knowledge of herbal cures were par-
ticularly likely to attract accusations of witchc raft.
(It is possible that the symptoms of "demonic
possession" suffered by some accusers may have
been physiological; records of the witchc raft trials
of I692 in Salem, Massachusetts, have suggested
to some modern researchers that the accusers
were accide ntally poisoned by e rgot- a g rain
fungus that produces a halluc inogen simila r to LSD.
People who ingest ergot-in fected g rai n ofte n d ie, but
those who su rvive report strange experiences and
wild vis ions.

Development of Papal Authority
Innocent Ill
One of the most sign ificant popes of the Middle
Ages was Innoce nt Ill (c. 1160- 1216). After sev-
e ral weak predecessors, he asserted the author-
ity of the papacy ove r sec ula r powe r, a nd unde r
h is leade rsh ip the activities of the church became
more organi zed. The re was a rapid developme nt of
the bureaucracy and systems of ecclesiastical gov-
e rnment. The papacy became a consultative focal
point for the chu rch , maintain ing commu nicatio n
with church men across Eu rope, Byzantium, and
Russia.
Boniface VIII
By the later Middle Ages, howeve r, the pope a nd
church councils we re competing for power and au-
thority with in the church. Th is dynamic also had
implications for contests between the sacred and the
secula r, as cou ncils allowed opportunities for secu-
lar challenges tO papal authority.
Some of the strongest clai ms for papal author-
ity in the temporal as well as the spiritual realm
were made by Pope Boniface VIJI (1235 - 1303). He
immediately asserted h is authority by imprison-
ing h is ineffectual predecessor, who had resigned,
a nd involving h imself in foreign affai rs of a secular
nature. In the papal bull Unam Sanctam, issued in
1302, Boniface proclaimed it "absolutely necessary
for salvation that eve ry huma n creature be subject
to the Roman pontiff." This pronouncement, along
with Boniface's involvement in secular maue rs, led
to connict with sec ular rulers, most notably King
Ph ilip IV of France.
During th is pe riod the monarchs of Europe were
competi ng for powe r, and the kings of both England
a nd France dec reed that church reve nues in their
countries should be used tO support the ir respective
governments (and he lp pay for thei r wars against
one a nother). Boniface issued the bull Clericos Laicos
(1296) in an effort to prevent these kings from
appropriati ng church mon ies, but both Phil ip IV
of France and Edward I of England asserted their
..
tl!~ !,; i ~
·~'7--·· ~- ..
4 Christian Traditions 193 ..... #.
4-.J_I 1.:
highe r authority to exact tax payments from the
church. In response to Clericos Laicos, Ph ilip pro-
hibited the export of gold, silver, precious stones,
or food from France to the Papal States, which c ut
off major revenue sou rces for the papacy. Eventually
a more moderate bull, Etsi de Statu (1297), decreed
that kings could tax the church in an eme rgency.
Despite the comprom ise, this struggle demonstrates
the extent to which the battle for preeminence be-
tween church a nd state occupied the medieval
imagination.
The Auignon Papacy
When Boniface's successor d ied afte r only eight
months in office, the conclave 10 choose h is suc-
cessor was deadloc ked for nearly a yea r before fi-
nally electi ng Clement V in 1305. Clement, who
was French, refused to move to Rome and had the
papal cou rt moved 10 Avignon in southern France.
The Avignon period continued for 67 yea rs, du ring
which papal adm inistration was increasingly innu-
enced by the French Crown.
Finally, in 1377, Pope Gregory XI chose to return
the papacy to Rome. On h is death, however, the
cardinals (se nior clergy) established a second line of
popes in Av ignon while Gregory's successor, Urban
VI, remai ned in Rome. Although the church con-
side red them illegitimate, the new Av ignon pope
and his successor were able to stay in powe r until
1398, when the Iaue r lost the support of the French
king. The "western sch is m" would not be officially
brought to an end until the Council of Constance
in 1417
The Conciliar Movement
The Avignon years gave rise 10 a critique of papal
authority in the church itsel f. For exa mple, a theo-
logian named Ma rsili us of Padua (1290- 1343) held
that the pope could teach salvation and right be-
hav ior but h ad no right to command obedience.
Speaki ng against the misuse of papal power, he
a rgued that the apostles had elected Peter as their
spokespe rson, not as the all-powerful authority that
 .
'1.6!"· :.. i
·~--.... -. -.
~ 1.?4 . World Religions: Western Traditions
the bishop of Rome had become. Marsil ius took the
view that power nowed from God to the people a nd
then from the people to the king in the realm of
worldly affairs and from the people to the pope w ith
reference to spiritual matters.
W ith Marsilius we see the kernel of medieval
conc iliar theory, according to wh ich the counc ils of
the chu rch represented the people and the popes
depended on the councils for thei r powe r. In the o ld
model, God invested both spi ritual and worldly a u-
thority in the pope, who in tu rn invested worldly
powe r in the secula r rule r; the n the two o f the m,
each in his own sphere, ruled the people. In the new
model, the direction was reversed so that powe r
traveled from God to the people th rough the coun-
cils to the pope.
It was the Council o f Consta nce that, with the
decree Sacrosancta (1415), declared the council
itself the supreme authority within the church . It
then used its new power to demonstrate conciliar
authority ove r the papacy, deposing the competi ng
popes and electi ng a single successor. Concludi ng
that the only guarantees of reform in the chu rch
were constant vigila nce and frequent com munica-
tion, the Consta nce council also dec reed that a new
cou ncil should be called with in 5 to 7 years a nd
every 10 years therea fte r.
The concilia r theory was not sy nonymous with
lay en franch isement. However, it did provide fo r a
more broadly based sharing of power. The relatio n-
ship between the counc ils of the church and the
pope after the investitu re of authority was not dear,
the theory was neve r fully developed as a wo rki ng
model of power sharing and accountabil ity, and the
movement had been crushed by a revived papal
monarchy by the mid-fifteenth centur y. Neverth e-
less, the Council of Consta nce would in nuence both
the development of representative governments in
eme rging nation-states and the th in king of religio us
reforme rs, both inside and outside the Catholic
Church , over the centu ries that followed.
The more rad ical Council of Basel in 1431 in-
troduced a model of the people's right to en force
standards of conduct for both political and religio us
rulers. The paradox of th is model was that leaders
within the conciliar movement we re committed to
Strong papal authority, as iS renected by the fact
that a counc il was used to depose a pope only as a
last resort. Inte restingly, canon law, as a mirror of
Roman law, had always anticipated the possibility
of cle rical abuses and had preserved the principle
that the people were the ultimate source of a rule r's
absolute power.
Reason and Revelation
The most critical intellectual issue of the Middle
Ages was framed as an epistemological q uestion:
How do we know what we know? That q uestion was
answered by two competing (or compleme nta ry)
perspectives: scholasticism and mystic is m.
Scholasticism
Scholasticism was a school of thought that devel-
oped as part of an effort to reconcile the philosophy
of anc ient Greece and then Rome with Ch ristian
theology. In effect, it was a method of ph ilosophical
and theological speculation that came to charac-
terize medieval learning. Institutionally, scholasti-
cism is defined as the teach ing of the clergy in the
"schools"- that is, the emerging un iversities. The-
ology was a central part of the cur ricu lum in the
great schools of Paris, Bologna, and Oxford. The
1,000-yea r-old clerical fou ndations of scholarship
a re renected in the academic hood s and gowns, sim-
ila r to monks' robes, that are still common today.
Intellectually, howeve r, scholastic is m is charac-
terized in terms of its assumptions and goals . Faith
and reason for scholastics were mutually confi rming;
ph ilosophy was called the "handmaid" o f theology.
The idea that theology was "faith seek ing under-
standi ng" can be see n in the early-fi fth-century
work of Augustine a nd the early-sixth-century writ-
ings of the Italian gove rnme nt administrator Boe-
thius, who u rged h is reade rs, "As far as you are able,
join faith to reason." Boeth ius was perhaps the last
important layman in Ch ristian ph ilosophy for 1,000
yea rs, for in 529 the empe ro r justinian d osed the
Platonic academy in Athens, and in the same year

Be nedict founded h is abbey at Monte Cassino. The
intellectual cente r of g ravity sh ifted tO the cle rgy as
custodia ns of faith and learni ng.
john Scotus Erigena, who was born in Ireland
arou nd 810 and taught in Paris, expanded on
Augusti ne's understanding of the relationsh ip be-
t wee n reason and scriptural revelation. For Erigena,
sc riptu re was the source of authority, but it was the
duty of reason to exami ne and expound it. Early
scholastic teach ing was based on the readi ng of
scriptu re in an effort to ar rive at a rational grasp of
its mean ing. In time, howeve r, scholastic teaching
developed a d ialectical structure in which a propo-
sition of doctrine was stated and then objections tO
it were raised and systematically add ressed.
Some two centuries late r, An selm (c. 1033- 1109)
moved away from the principle of scriptural author-
ity, asserting that faith itself has a kind of rational-
ity. One of the formulations for which he is famous
is the statement "I believe so that I may unde rstand."
The most tantalizing of the medieval proofs for the
existence of God is Anselm's ontolog ica l a rg umen t.
Unlike late r proofs that infe r God's existence from
inspection of the un iverse, Anselm's reason ing finds
his existe nce implied in the ve ry idea of God.
Thomas Aquinas
As scholastic thinking developed, so did the philo-
soph ical resources at its disposal, including contri-
butions from jewish and Muslim schola rs such as
Maimon ides, Avicenna (Ibn Sina), and Averroes (Ibn
Rushd). The tradition on which the early scholastics
relied came through Augustine and Boethius; based
on the thought of Plato, it was dom inated by ab-
stract ideas. In the twelfth century, howeve r, Latin
Christianity discovered th rough Muslim translators
a nd commentators the thought of Plato's contempo-
rary Aristotle, who developed a model of rational
a rgument that gave more scope for examination of
the material world. The g reatest of the Aristotelia n
scholastics was the Dominican Thomas Aqu inas
(1225- 1274)
In h is Summa Theologiae (Summation of Theology)
a nd other writings, Aquinas shar pened the distinc-
tion between reason a nd faith. He believed some
4 Christian Traditions
Christian faith assertions, such as the doctrine of
the Trinity and the incarnation of God in Ch rist, tO
lie beyond reason in the real m of faith (though that
did not mean they we re contrary to reason). Othe r
Christian affirmations, however, such as the exis -
tence of God, he d id think tO be provable by reason.
Aquinas identified five "ways" of prov ing God's ex-
iste nce, most of which involved desc ribing some
fea ture of the material world and arguing that such
a world could not exist without a God. For example,
for h is second proof he a rgued that the pattern of
cause and effect necessarily implies the existence of
a first cause that itself is uncaused, and that that
fi rst cause must be God.
Because the new rational approach was based on
logic fi rst, rathe r tha n faith, its exponents sometimes
became suspect in the eyes of church authorities.
Shortly afte r Aqu inas died, the archbishop of Paris
formally condem ned a list of propositions rem in is-
cent of h is. Nevertheless, Aquinas's approach was
used to explore the key theological questions of the
age: How can reason be present in the soul? 'v\lhat
is the right relationsh ip between reason and revela-
tion? What is the basis of knowledge?
Mysticism
The fourteenth-century reaction to Aquinas's views
included furthe r discussion of the lim its of reason
in mauers of faith. But the re was another develop -
ment afoot that rende red those lim its to some extent
irrelevant. The late Middle Ages saw a remarkable
flowering of mysticism.
To desc ribe someth ing as "mystical" is not
simply tO say that it involves mystery. Mysticis m
is a specific tradition that emphasizes the certa inty
of profound pe rsonal experience. Typically, mystics
a re certa in of God not because of some logical proof
but because they have experienced a moment of in-
tense, viv id awa reness. At such a moment they may
experience ecstasy (from the Greek for "sta ndi ng
outs ide oneself"), a displacement from the ord inary
mode of awareness. One cha racteristic of that expe-
rience is a se nse of union with the div ine th rough
a te mporar y dissolv ing or bridging of the gulf that
World Religions: Western Traditions
normally sepa rates the human person from God.
The mystic then reengages ord inary t ime with new
pe rspectives. Accounts of mystical experience a re
inevitably w riuen from memory, after the moment
of ecstasy has passed.
A numbe r of med ieval Ch ristian mystics never-
theless described in vivid deta il what t hey had ex-
pe rienced. Medieval mysticism was pa n of a long
trad ition of cultivation of the interior life. In Chris -
tian ity, that life is usually termed "spirituality." It
complements the ethical life, in which virtue is
practiced in one's relationship w ith othe rs. In spi r-
ituality, the heart or conscience opens itself to the
divine through prayer and contemplation.
For many Ch ristians, spirituality is t he essence
of religious experience. T hey c red it it to t he action of
the Holy Spi rit on the individual self or soul. Christian
spi rituality had roots in the Jew ish tradition of con-
templating the myste ry of God's presence with h is
people. It was cultivated by the Desert Fathers and
Mothers, whose ascetic practice was t he foundation
of medieval monasticism, and was central to t he
monastic li fe.
In medieval Europe, one of the most notable
systematizers of mystical thought was the German
Dominican johannes ("Meister") Eckhart (c. 1260- 1327).
Eckha rt believed t hat human bei ngs are created
in the image of God, but that our div ine nature is
obscured because our life is fin ite and creaturely.
However, the mind of the spi ritual person permits
an actualization of t he divine nature that the human
soul conta ins. The indiv idual mystic becomes awa re
of the d ivinity of his or her being. Eckhart's mys-
ticism was unitive, seeking to d issolve distinctions
between sel f and God.
In t he fourteenth centu ry, the Flemish mystic
Jan van Ruysbroeck took up the problem of differ-
entiation and related it tO the persons of the Trinil y.
God as Fathe r, he said, is the One. But the othe r
pans of the Trinity are related to t he movement of
creation in the cosmos and a movement of awa re-
ness in the self.
Whe reas Eckhart and Ruysbroeck sought tO iden-
tify the self with the image of God, othe rs saw God
in the nearness of humanity. T he French Cistercian
Bernard of Clair vau x likened the awareness of
God tO the awareness of one's beloved. Un ity of the
spirit with God, he said, is a concurrence of wills,
not a union of essences. like the ecstasy of love,
this union is Oeeting, but no less intensely experi-
enced: "To lose you rself so that you are as though
you were not, to be unaware of yourself and emptied
of yourself, to be, as it we re, brought to nothing-
this pertains to heavenly exchanges, not tO human
affection" (O'Brien 1964: 122). In the same vein ,
Bonaventure (122 1- 1274), an Italian Franciscan
who taught at Paris, wrote a text entitled journey of
the Mind to God in which meditation on the human-
ity of Ch rist becomes the point of expe riential con-
tact with the divine.
Female Mystics
A striking feature of late med ieval mystic ism was
the scope it afforded women. Although they we re
forbidden to participate fully in cle rical activities
and we re lim ited to supporting roles even in female
religious orde rs, there was no lim it to the experien-
tial depth and profundity they could auain in their
devotion.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179) was a Bened ic-
tine abbess who had a creative life in w riting and
music but was also involved in politics and diplo-
macy. Feudal nobles as well as cle rgy sought the
advice of the "Sybil of the Rhine ," as she was called.
When she became an abbess in 1141, she had a
vision of tongues of name from the heavens settling
on he r, and over the next lO years she w rote a book
of visions entitled Sci vias (Know the Ways (of God}).
Elsewhere, Catherine of Siena (1333 or 1347- 1380)
in Italy was a member of a Dominican lay order. She
was actively involved in the religious politics of the
day, but he r Dialogue records her mystical visions.
The English mystic Julian of Norwich (c 1342-c. 1413)
was 30 when she expe rienced a series of visions
during a severe illness. After two decades of re-
Oection , she wrote an analysis of he r vis ions in he r
Showings (also known as Sixteen Revelations of Divine
Love). To Julian , evil was a distortion introduced by
the human will that se rved to reveal the divine love
of God all the more clearly.

Document
julian of Norw ich. Showings
The written texts recording the revelations received by
Julian of Norwich have attracted new attention in recent
years, as the wisdom they carry speaks to the anxiety so
prevalent in the world today. Her revelations gave her
assurance that all that is created is known, loved, and
held by God. The following text from the Showi ngs uses
the image of the hazelnut to express this understanding.
And at the same time I saw this corporeal sight, our
Lord showed me a spiritual sight of h is familiar love.
I saw that he is to us everything which is good and
comfoning in our help. He is our clOLhing, for he is
that love which wraps and enfolds us, embraces us
Medieval Religious Communities
Monastic Orders
Monastic communities developed a high ly struc-
tured religious d isc ipli ne in the medieval period.
Monks (male) a nd nuns (female) we re required
to take solem n vows o f poveny, chastity, and
obed ience; to stay with in the physical preci ncts
o f the commu n ity; and to follow its code of
d isc ipline.
Mon ks played an importa nt pan in both the
Greek and Latin traditio ns. Tech nically, since mo-
nasticism had begun as an alte rnative tO estab-
lished religion, monks were layme n rather tha n
priests, but a demand ing sched ule of prayer and
worsh ip was central to thei r practice. A d istinc-
tion was draw n between "religious" (or " regular")
clergy, who followed a monaStic rule, and "secular"
clergy, who worked in the world a nd in the Greek
Onhodox Chu rch (unlike the Roman one) we re
pe rmitted tO marry. (Members of the ecclesiasti-
cal hiera rchy we re always celibate, however.) An
4 Christian Traditions
and guides us, surrounds us for his love, which is so
tende r that he may never desen us. And so in th is
sigh t ! saw truly that he is everyth ing which is good,
as I understand. And in th is he showed me something
sm all, no bigger than a hazel nut, lying in the palm
of h is hand, and I perceived that it was as round as
a ball. I looked at it and thought: What can this be?
And I was given this general answer: It is everything
wh ich is made. . In this little th ing I saw three
pro perties. The fi rst is that God made it, the second
that he loves it, the third is that God preserves it. It is
that God is the Creator and the lover and the protec-
tor. (Colledge and Walsh 1978: 130- 131)
importa nt cente r of Byzantine s pirituality still ex-
isting today is Mount Athos, a pe nins ula in nonh -
ern Greece that projects into the Aegean Sea and is
dotted by 20 monaste ries founded at d iffe rent times
ove r the last 1,000 years. The entire pen insula is a
preserve of male mon ks, and women a re not pe r-
miu ed the re even tOday.
Cluniac Fathers
Founded in 910 by W illiam the Pious, Duke of
Aquitai ne, the monastery at Cluny, nonh of Lyon in
France, became the cente r of a move ment to reform
Benedictine monasticism by bringing its institu-
tion s under the control of religious rather tha n sec-
ula r authorities. Cluny became a center o f monastic
revitalization that inspired other efforts at renewal;
over the next two and a half centu ries, the Cluniac
order established a net work o f more than 300 sat-
ellite houses across Europe. W ithin a century of its
found ing, howeve r, Cluny itself began to g row rich
and abandon the rigo rous simplicity for wh ich Ben-
edict had called.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Cistercians
Robert of Molesmes responded to the changes
at Cluny by found ing an auste re new order at
Citeaux, north of Clu ny near Dijon , in 1098.
The Cistercian s (from the latin for Ctteaux) wo re
simple undyed wool habits, ate no meat, and wor-
shiped in sparsely decorated chu rches. W ith in a
century there we re 500 Cis tercian abbeys. Though
the Cistercians had refused lav ish endowmernts,
rising land values in the more ma rginal a reas whe re
they established themselves eventually made thei r
o rder wealthy. O ne group of Ciste rcia ns in partic-
ular became known for their rule of silence. The
Cistercians of the Strict Observance, or Trappists,
were founded in the 1600s by Arma nd de Rance,
abbot of the monaste ry of La Trappe in Norma ndy.
Founded in 1929 by Capuchin friars. the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit now serves 2,000 people a day
in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. In 1997 the friars founded a farm that in 2011 harvested nearly
6,000 pounds of produce for the soup kitchen.
The best-know n Trappist of the twentieth ce ntury
was the mystic Thomas Me rton (1915 - 1968), who
became interested in Asian spi rituality, espec ially
Zen Buddh is m, and was active in social protest in
the 1960s. Other Ciste rcians helped to found spiri-
tual orders of kn ights such as the Knights Templar,
the Kn ights o f St. j ohn , a nd the Teuton ic order.
The ir membe rs made pilgrimages tO the Holy land
and wok as thei r biblical model t he Maccabees, the
jew ish patr iots of the second centu ry BCE.
Carthusians
Also in fluenced by Robe rt was a Ge rman named
Bruno, who t urned to the religious li fe in h is mid -
40s and followed Robert's spi ritual direction before
found ing h is own orde r in 1084. The Car thusian

o rder (named a fte r its base at La Grande Chartreuse,
near Grenoble in France) demanded a vow of silence
a nd considerable auste rity from its membe rs. Like
the Benedictine abbey of Fecamp, near the English
Channel, the Chartreuse abbey supported itself in
part by making and se lling a famous liqueur, in th is
instance the brillia nt gree n one that gave its name to
the color chartreuse.
Mendicant Orders
The monastic response to the secular world had
been to withdraw from it- eve n if that withd rawal
turned out to be more a matter of theory than of
practice. With the g rowth of towns a nd cities in
Europe, howeve r, came a significant new problem:
urban poverty. To respond to the needs of the urban
poor, a new type o f religious orde r emerged whose
members- called friars , from the Latin Jrater
("brother")- dedicated themselves to pastoral work
serving the poor. There we re mend icant orders for
women and laypeople as well as men. Thei r mem-
bers either worked or begged for their living and
were not bound to one convent.
Franciscans
Francis of Assis i (1 182- 1226) grew up as the priv i-
leged son of a wealthy cloth merchant in central Italy,
but a se rious illness in his 20s led him to rethink h is
life. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he was so moved by
the beggars outside St. Peter's Basilica that he ex-
changed clothes with one of them and spent the day
begging for alms. When he returned to Assisi, he
dedicated his life to se rving the poor. Gradually at-
tracti ng a small group of like-minded companions,
he established a rule of life emphasi zing poverty,
which received papal approval in 1209. With in a
few yea rs, Cla ra of Assisi had formed a Franciscan
women's o rde r known as the Poor Clares. An off-
shoot of the Franciscans called the Capuchins d rew
up thei r own rule in 1529 and are Still known today
for their soup kitchens , which offer free meals in
impoverished neighborhoods.
In 1224 Francis experie nced a vision of an angel
from whom he received the "stigmata ," wou nds in
4 Christian Traditions
his ow n body replicating those suffered by Christ
on the c ross. Proclaimed a saint in 1228- just
two years a fter h is death- he qu ic kly became a
beloved figure and the subj ect of many legends,
a mong them seve ral that emphasized h is love of
the natural wo rld . In one of the most famous ta les,
he is said to have preached to a nock of birds, tell-
ing them how fortunate they we re to be prov ided
for by God.
Dominicans
In 1216- 1217 a priest from northern Spai n na med
Dominic Gu zman received a papal mandate to es-
tablish a preach ing orde r dedicated to combating
the "Aibigensian heresy." (Named for the city of
Albi in southweste rn France, Albigensian ism was
a dualistic doctrine , not unli ke Manichaeis m, that
ce nte red on a view of existence as a struggle be-
tween light and da rkness; it was also highly crit-
ica l o f Roman Catholicism.) Dominicans such
as Aqu inas rapidly established their inOuence as
iti nerant preachers of doctrine in unive rsity tow ns
s uc h as Pa ris.
Carmelites
The Ca rmelites, or hermi ts of Mount Ca rmel, we re
organized in Palestine in 1154, during the Crusades,
and given a rule by the patriarch of jerusalem. As the
numbers of crusade rs in the Holy Land decl ined , the
Ca rmelites established themselves in Europe and
England, whe re they we re termed "W hite Friars."
Celibacy
The insistence that priests be celibate became stron-
ger in the Middle Ages, and much stronge r in Latin
Catholic is m than in Greek O rthodoxy. Rationales
for priestly ce libacy included the spiritual benefit of
surmounting world ly desires and the practical ben-
efit of freedom from the responsibilities of marriage
and pa renthood. In addition, si nce it made a hered i-
ta ry priesthood impossible, celibacy worked agai nst
the tendency for institutional inOue nce to become
concentrated in particular families.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Women in Medieval Catholicism
The tradition of women's engagement in a conse-
crated religious life with in Ch ristian ity had roots
in the early church. However, its most significant
pe riod of development was in the Middle Ages. Var-
ious forms of religious life for women nourished
th roughout the pe riod.
Vita Canonica
We have already seen that informal g roups of
women liv ing a religious life we re organized in the
time of the ea rly church. Eventually th is way of li fe
came to be known as the Vita Canonica. In response
to women's requests for direction on how to orde r
a com mon religious life, local bishops would w r ite
rules ("canons") for them. Com munities of "cano n-
esses" were characte rized by thei r d iversity, lack of
Structure, and relative autonomy.
Nuns
The rules governi ng fe male monastic communilies
pa ralleled those for male com munities. Normally,
each woman ente ring t he convent as a "bride of
Christ" was required to furnish a dowry a nd re-
linquish all private prope rty. Nu ns lived togethe r
under one roof and traditionally took vows of pov-
erty, conti nence, and obedience t hat were ir revo-
cable, reOecti ng a pe rmanent commitment to the
religious life. The formal consecration ended with
the vow to live always as the bride o f Ch rist.
Over time, it became common for women's co m-
mun ities tO separate themselves entirely from contact
with t he world; by the th irteenth centu ry, t he male
hierarchy of the church had imposed th is practice,
know n as cloiste ring, on all women's com mun iti.es.
The abbesses who presided ove r these institutions
were quite powerful. In addition to making a nd
enforci ng the commun ity's laws, the abbess was re-
sponsible for its land holdings, wh ich in ma ny cases
were quite extens ive, and so played a significa nt role
in the feudal system. She ad ministered the finan-
cial affairs o f the estate and also oversaw the lives of
tenants who lived on and fa rmed it. Some abbesses
had monks as well as nuns under their care in what
were know n as double monasteries.
Neve rtheless, the power o f t he abbess and the
fe male monastic community had declined by the
later Middle Ages. Church property had become im-
portant to the wealth of society, a nd secular princes
an xious to limit t he autonomy of the church int ro -
duced the princ iple of double investiture, accordi ng
to which secular and ecclesiastical powers alike had
an interest in local la nds and events . In the twelfth
centu ry, Gratium's Decretum enforced the legal prin-
ciple that no laype rson could exercise control ove r a
cle ric. Since no woman could be ordai ned, even an
abbess was by defi nition a laype rson and the refore
forbidden to exercise authority over a male cle ric,
however jun ior. Th is put an end to the phenome-
non of double monasteries. Increased strictures on
cloiste ring also meant that abbesses, unlike abbots,
were not able to leave their monaste ries to conduct
the business of their communities. Meanwhile, in-
creasing external control by the male h ierarchy
meant that some fe male commun ities disappea red
altogether.
Beguines and Beghards
Begui nes were groups o f unconsecrated women
who chose to live a freer type of religious life. They
did not follow any of the t raditional rules of con-
secrated religious life, and the fact that thei r com-
munities d id not live under the authority of local
bishops automatically made them suspect. This new
style of religious life also attracted some men, though
in smaller numbe rs. Like their female counte rparts,
these men (known as Beghards) ca me together in
small groups, mainly in urban envi ronments, in
order to live their lives in pove rty, celibacy, prayer,
and service, a fte r the model of the Gospels.
A number of Beguines are known for their writ-
ing in the tradition of love mysticism. Among them
are Mechthild of Magdeburg in Saxony (1207- 1297),
whose work was collected under the title The Flowing
Light of the Godhead, and Hadjewich, a Beguine from
Flanders who wrote many letters as well as poems

and accountS of visions. A common theme in these
works was the supremacy of love. Begui ne love poetry
celebrates the ecstatic union of the soul with God.
A th ird notable female mystic who is widely
thought to have been a Beguine was Marguerite
Porete, who was bu rned at the sta ke for heresy in
1310- the fi rst person tO be put to death in the
Paris Inquisition. Condemned by church authori-
ties, her book The Mirror of Simple Souls in fluenced
Christian mystics for centu ries.
Saints
The expansion of Ch ristian ity into Africa, Asia, and
easte rn Europe was facilitated by its emphasis on
the miracu lous power o f sai nts.
Sainthood
Over the centu ries the church developed criteria for
sainthood (including the pe rformance of attested
miracles), a canonical list o f saints, and a rigorous
procedu re for sc ree ning new nominees for the title.
The fi rst pe rson to become a saint by papal decree
was a Ge rman bishop, in 993.
Document
Mechthild of Magdeburg, "Of the Nine Choirs and How They Sing"
The nine orders or "choirs" of angels were a standard part of
the religious imagery of Mechthild's day. The idea that there
was a hierarchy of angels was well established from the fifth
century, when Pseudo-Dionysius the Aereopagite named
the nine orders in his booh On the Celestial Hierarchy.
Now listen, my love. Hea r with spiritual ears what
the nine choirs sing.
We praise You, 0 lord.
4 Christian Traditions
The sai nts collective ly came to be regarded as a
kind of heavenly senate or honor society. They we re
thought to possess me rit or virtue, a pe rsonal credit
in the economy of blessed ness that could be d rawn
on by believe rs who wanted them to inte rcede with
God on thei r behalf. By prayi ng to ce rtain saints or
ma ki ng pilgrimages tO the ir sh rines, one might win
release from pun ish ment in the next existe nce a nd
from gu ilt in th is one. In short, the sa ints could be
powerful allies in the quest for spi ritual benefit.
Particular saints came to be associated with spe-
cific conditions or occupations. St. Ch ristopher, for
example, who was said to have carried the child
j es us across a dangerous rive r, is one o f seve ral
patron saints of travelers, a nd St. Cecilia is the
patron of musicia ns because she sang a song to God
on he r deathbed.
Pa rticular saints also came to be associated with
pa rticular symbols. Visitors tO Ve nice, for instance,
learn that the lion symbolizes the Gospel author
St. Mark. Simila rly, a bishop portrayed carryi ng
a beeh ive is likely St. Ambrose, the fi fth-century
bishop o f Milan, whose name connotes necta r (am-
brosia); repo rtedly, Ambrose's mother d reamed
that as a boy he swallowed a bee, which made h im
For you have sought us in you r humility,
Saved us by your compassion,
Ho nored us by you r hu manity,
led us by your gentleness,
O rdered us by your wisdom,
Pro tected us by your powe r,
Sanctified us by your holiness,
Jllu mined us by your intimacy,
Raised us by your love. (Mad igan 1998: 138)
World Religions: Western Traditions
sweet of speech. But the beeh ive is also associated
with Bernard of Cla irvaux, who was called the
"honey-mouthed teache r." Keys represent the Apos-
tle Peter, tO whom (in a famous passage in Matthew
16) j esus prom ised the keys to earth and heaven,
but there are at least nine other saints who have
also been represented with keys. And the orb ap-
pears not only with God but also with Dom inic, the
twelfth-centu ry founder of the Dominican order,
whose mission it was to bring light to the world.
In some places the traditions of particular
saints include elements of pre-Christian customs
and symbolism. In the eighth century, the English
church historian known as the Vene rable Bede re-
poned correspondence from Gregory the GreatlOO
yea rs before him:
On the day of the ded ication or the festi-
vals of the holy martyrs, whose relics are
deposited there, let them make themselves
huts from the branches of trees a round the
churches which have been converted out of
shrines, and let them celebrate the solemnity
with religious feasts. Do not let them sacri-
fice animals to the devil, but let them slaugh-
ter animals for thei r own food to the praise
of God. (Colgrave and Mynors 1969: 109)
St. Ursula was depicted as sail ing the Rhine in the
fash ion of the earlier Teutonic moon goddess Ur-
schel. And St. Ch ristopher, "Christ-bearer," was said
to have felt he was bearing the weight of the un iverse
when he ca rried the child jesus on his shoulder, re-
calling Hercules and Atlas, who bore the weighL of
the world in classical mythology.
The Virgin Mary
Preeminent among the Christian saints was Ma r y,
the virgin who was chosen by God to become the
mother of jesus. By the later Midd le Ages it was
thought that someone so near to Christ must have
shared especially closely in his redeeming wo rk,
that she embodied the virtue of compassion, and
that as the Mothe r of God she would be ready to
plead with her son on behalf of sinners. The result-
ing increase in devotion tO Mary reflected a broader
theological shift toward a g reater concern with the
person or humanity of jesus.
In latin Europe, artistic depictions of Mary re-
flected a particular set of conventions. Although
some of them can be traced tO the cult of the
pre-Christian goddess Isis, Mary's role was not lim-
ited to that of the devoted young mother. She was
also portrayed as the matu re woman who grieved at
the ma rtyrdom of her adult son and as the model of
purity and incorruptibility, of devotion and fidelity,
of sorrow and compassion. Many statues and paint-
ings of the sorrowful Mary present her as a model of
selflessness to wh ich all- male as well as female-
might aspire.
Worship in the Medieval Church
liturgical reforms in the early medieval pe riod fun-
damentally changed the nature of worsh ip in the
western Chu rch, limiting the opportunities for or-
dinary people to participate and reserving them for
the cle rgy. Portions of the liturgy that until then had
been spoken in the vernacular were increasingly per-
formed in latin. At the same time, the rules govern-
ing the Eucharist were tightened to require a complex
process of con fession and penitence before reception
of the sac rament. This meant that priests could re-
ceive commun ion frequently, but laypeople pe rhaps
only once a year. In addition, only the clergy were
allowed to receive the wine (the blood of Ch rist); lay-
people were given only the bread (the body).
Church music also became less accessible to the av-
erage person. Gregorian chant or plainsong had been
simple and easy for congregations to Jearn by rote, but
as musical forms became more complex, using sev-
eral voices, participation was increasingly restricted to
formal choirs made up of monks and clergy.
Chu rch architecture contributed to the distanc-
ing oflaypeople from the life of the chu rch. Between
the nave (the main body of the church, where the
worshipe rs gathe red) and the alta r, another section
of seats (the chancel) was added for the choir, and
by the later med ieval period worshipers' view of the

alta r had been further obstructed by rood sc reens
erected between the nave and the chancel. Finally,
the altar was pushed up against the wall, so that in-
stead of sta ndi ng beh ind it, facing the people, while
celeb rating the Eucharist, the priest now tu rned h is
back on them. Th is change had a theological basis:
now the priest was offering the sacrifice on behalf
of the people rather than presiding at the Eucha-
ristic banquet of the whole people of God, as when
he had faced the people. At the same time, ongo-
ing arch itectural changes- from the basilica form
to the Roma ne sque to the Gothic- also contributed
to the inc reasing separation between the alta r and
the people.
"' The Early Modern Era
Humanism
In the cou rse of the fourteenth century, Europe
c rossed the watershed that d ivided the med ieval
from the early modern world. After centuries de-
scribed by one of the first Renaissance human ists,
the poet Petra rch , as the "dark ages," Weste rn cul-
ture began to rediscover the ph ilosophy, science, art,
a nd poetry of Greek and Roman antiqu ity. Among
the conseque nces of th is rediscove ry was a renewed
emphasis on life in th is world, the celebration of
beauty, and the capacity of human beings to govern
themselves. This put the humanists in conOict with
a church that had traditionally understood itself tO
be the primary inte rpreter and mediator of human
expe rience.
Erasmus (/466-1536)
Erasmus of Rotterda m in the Netherlands laid much
of the groundwork for later reform-minded theolo-
gians. O rdained a priest in the Augustinian orde r
in 1488, he had studied at the Un iversity of Paris,
which was zealous in its enthusiasm for reform of
trad itional Catholic teach ings in seve ral a reas. He
was critical of the church's abuses and called for de-
manding new standards of schola rsh ip in theology
based on new translations of the o riginal sources.
4 Christian Traditions
In itself, huma nism posed no real th reat to the
church. However, the exte rnal force of humanism
was met with a push tOward internal reform from
within the church itself. Together, these external
and internal forces for change led to the sch ism
within western Ch ristian ity that came to be known
as the Protestant Reformation.
The Protestant Reformation
The English Reformation, although not unrelated to
the various strains of reform ing activ ity on the con-
tinent, was uniquely linked to the British political
context; therefore, it is discussed sepa rately from
the Reformation that occurred on the European
continent (see "The English Reformation").
The Continental Reformation
In the early sixteenth century the inOuence of the
church in Europe was all-pervasive. Collectively
the church was Europe's largest land holde r. Cle rgy
played more than one vital role in European soc iety,
not only dispens ing the sacraments a nd, with them,
forg iveness and the hope of salvation, but prov idi ng
social services such as med ical care and education.
The religious enthusiasm of the laity was reOected
in pilgrimages, ostentatious public devotions, a nd
huge investments in the church th rough paid fu-
neral Ma sses and the purchase of indulgences, re-
leases from the time that the soul was required tO
spe nd in purgatory (a kind of holdi ng a rea for the
departed in the cou rse of thei r passage from death
to the next existence).
At the same time , this pe riod was one of unprec-
edented advances in lay literacy and engagement in
matters of worsh ip and theology. However, the re
were also conce rns among the laity with the church,
particularly in Germany. Many German cle rgy we re
pen niless and poorly educated, while German bish-
ops we re ofte n princes from very wealthy families
who used their ecclesiastical positions to reinforce
their social Status, political power, and wealth . The
combi nation of a changi ng intellectual world, more
engaged religious practice, dissatisfaction with the
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sites
Wittenberg. Germany
lt was on the doors of what is now All Saints'
Lutheran Church in Wittenberg, Ger many, that
Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses. Today the
church houses Luther's tomb.
This bronze statue by johann Gottfried Schadow.
erected in W ittenberg's town square in 1821. was
the first public monument to Luther.
church, and the mvenuon of the printing press set
the stage for the events of the Reformation.
Marlin Luther (1483-1546)
Martin Luther as understood to be the father of the
Protestant Reformation. The son of a miner from
Saxony, Germany, Luther offe red h imse lf at a young
age for the religious life as an Augustinian friar. In
1512 he was made a doctor o f theology and profes-
sor of scripture at the Umversity ofWiuenberg.
Luther struggled wath the theological issues of
salvauon. In the complex system of clerical medaa-
lion between God and smner that charactenzed the
early church, he feared that he would not be found
worthy of salvauon. In the course of his struggle,
however, he had a sudden revelation, known as has
"tower experience," which conv inced him of the "es-
sence of the gospel": that humans are justified (set
right with God) only by faith, which itself is a gift of
God's grace: there arc no "works" that can be done
to earn that justilicataon. His anxieties relieved,
from thas pomt forward he argued that if a person
has fanh, then he or she is assured of salvauon.
In October 1517 Luther posted a list of"95 Theses"
against mdulgences on the door of the church m
\Viuenberg. Thas act of public protest sparked a
conflact wath the larger church, which eventually
led to Luther's excommunication by the pope and
his emergence as the primary agent of the Protes-
tant Reformation, a schism that split the church into
many differing g roups, among them one named for
Luther himself.
Luther's core doctrine was justification by faith
alone, through grace alone: the idea that salvauon
is a gtft of grace that can be received only through
faith, and that there as nothmg the sinner can do to
earn 11. However, the Lutheran theological tradl!lon
also emphastzes the adea, developed by the Apostle
Paul, of the pnesthood of all belie,·ers, whereby all
persons have direct access to God through the power
of the Holy Spa rit , without the need of mediation
by a priest. This notion led to the development of a
church that was much less clerical than its Catholic
counterpart and less dependent on the tradiuonal
threefold order of mmisters, particularly bishops.

luthe r's theology of church- state relations is
defined by his doctrine of t he "two kingdoms ." As
an Augustinian, luther had bee n in Ouenced by
Augustine's theology of the city of God as distinct from
the city of the profane. Thus he argued that huma n
soc iety was d ivided into two realms that should not
be confused. In this view, the whole world belongs
to God, but he designates oversight of the secular
kingdom to secular princes who administer the rule
of law. The second kingdom of God is the place where
grace rules in the spi rit. This theoretical separation
led luther to support secular princes in their effortS
to maintain orde r. This stance was most pointedly
reOected in a t ract he wrote in 1525 in response LO
the peasant revolts going on in pans of Germany and
elsewhere. luther's fear of anarchy was so great that
he advocated ruthless suppression of the peasants.
Jean Calvin (1509-1564)
jean Calvin represents the second stage of the Ref-
o rmation. A French Protesta nt theologian who was
t rained as a lawyer, he was unwelcome in Catholic
Fra nce and so became a refugee who attempted to
proclaim his version of Ch ristianity in Geneva be-
twee n 1536 and 1538. Although t hat first attempt
failed, in 1541 he returned and became t he undis -
puted master of the Ge nevan Reformation.
Calv in's theology was not expressly innovative.
His views remained constant from the beginning
to the end of his theological caree r. like luther, he
affi rmed the importance of scriptu re in the Chris -
tian life of faith. Indeed, he attributed primary au-
thority to scripture- the Word of God- rather tha n
clergy. Also like luthe r, he affirmed the justification
of the sinne r by faith alone. Where Calvin differed
from luther was in h is theology of si n a nd salva-
tion. Calvin believed that, si nce the fall of Adam, no
human could eve r freely choose faith a nd t hereby
realize h is own salvation; only God could bring that
about, and even before the creation, he had predes-
tined some of h is creatu res to damnation and some
to salvation. By contrast, luther believed that the
death and resur rection of Ch rist made the gift of
faith by grace available to all. Calvin's notion of ab-
solute predestination, which echoed Augustine's,
4 Christian Traditions
emphasized the absolute om nipotence of God. After
Calvi n's death, his teach ings were developed in a
number of emergi ng Protestant t raditions .
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of
Calvi n was his effort to establish a theocracy in
Ge neva. A theocracy is a state ruled by God th rough
rehgious authorities. Effectively, Geneva reOected
Calvi n's vision o f a reform com munity, with regula r
preach ing, religious instruction for adults and chil-
dren, and close church regulation of the business
and moral life of the community.
Under Calv in, the Genevans hoped to convert
France to Protestantism. However, the fi rst in a
decades-longseriesof"Wa rs ofReligion"broke out in
1562 between French Roman Catholics and French
Protestants (known as Huguenots), who were heavily
in Ouenced by Calvin. Facing persecution in the sev-
enteenth and eighteenth centuries, the Huguenots
sought refuge in Protestant lands th roughout Europe
and as far afield as present-day South Africa and the
13 colonies that would become the Un ited States,
spreadi ng Calvinist theology around the world . A
variety of denom inational traditions, usually iden-
tified as "Reformed" or "Presbyte ria n," resulted from
this diaspora.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
The father of the Sw iss Reformation, Ulrich Zwingli
had been ordai ned a Roman Catholic priest in 1506.
His ruptu re with Rome came g radually, expressed
in early critiques of the church that were inOuenced
by Erasmus. Inspired by luther's theology, Zwingli
argued that the gospel is the sole basis of t ruth , and
in so doing he rejected the authority of the pope.
Until 1522 he accepted the traditional Roman Cath-
olic view of the Eucharist as a ritual of tra ns ubstan-
tiation in which the bread and wine of the Eucharist
cease being bread and wine and become the literal
body and blood of jesus. However, by 1524 he was
arguing that the meaning of the Euchar ist is strictly
sy mbolic. All notion of the real presence of Ch rist was
rejected. Th is stand on the mean ing of t he Eucha rist
meant that un ion with other Protestant churches was
not possible, as most accepted the idea of the real
presence of Ch rist in the sacrament in some form.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sixteenth-Century Denominations
The Reformation was marked by d ivision and diver-
sity. Early reformers often advocated their breakaway
doctrines with an ideological stridency that was no
less authoritarian than the chu rch they had rejected.
At a practical level, redundancy and confusion devel-
oped as independent bodies competed for ad herems.
A denominationally fragmented church has been t he
legacy of the Protestant Reformation dow n to t he
present day. In continental Europe, two main theo-
logical d irections lead ing to the formation of new
denominations eme rged in the sixteenth centu ry:
Lutheran and Calvinist. There we re also a number
of more extreme Protestant movements such as t he
Anabaptists, the forerunners of denominations such
as the Men nonites and, eventually, the Baptists who
made up what is known as the "rad ical Reformation."
Lutherans
The followers o f Luther flou rished in Germany a nd
Scandinav ia. Like h im, they st ressed the author ity
o f scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spir it.
Luthera nism allowed ample scope for rational a nd
intellectual argument in the exposition o f scrip-
tu re, but it also encouraged a deep sense of personal
piety. Images of God as a friend and companion a re
just as freque nt in the texts of Luthe ran hymns as
images of God as a warrior or j udge.
In worsh ip and in ecclesiastical organiza-
tion, Luthe rans depa rted in only some respects
from the Roman Catholic Church. They reta ined
a Eucharist-like sacrament , but they celebrated it
in the ve rnac ular rather than Latin , and they he ld
that Christ's body was present along with the bread
and wine but was not produced out of them. The
Luthera n priesthood conti nued lO be governed by
bishops, but membe rs o f the cle rgy we re permit-
ted to ma rry. (O nly in recent years have Luthernn
women been o rdained as priests.)
In most parts of Ge rma ny and Sca nd inavia, Lu-
theran Ch ristia nity beca me the state religion. T he
Evangelical Chu rch, as it is called in Germany, is
dom inant in the north of the cou ntry, wh ile Ca-
tholic ism is st ro nge r in the south . To th is day,
Ge rmany prov ides basic fu nd ing fo r ch urches out
o f tax reve nues. All tax paye rs, includ ing nonbe -
lieve rs , pay a fiat rate , and t he money is directed
to Evangelical or Catholic t reasu ries, depend ing
on t he taxpayer's affiliation. Outside Ge rma ny
a nd Sca ndi navia, Lutheranism has s pread t h rough
m igration a nd missionary activity. lL was ca rried
to North America in the ninetee nth century by
Ge rmans who settled in pl aces such as Pe nnsyl-
va nia , O hio, Missouri, and Ontar io and by Sca n-
d inav ia ns who la rgely settled in Minnesota and
Wisconsin. The ethnic characte r of the North
American Lutheran chu rches has become d iluted
ove r time, except in places whe re it has been re-
freshed by conti nuing immigration.
Reformed Churches
From the 1520s to t he 1560s, the Reformation
movement in and a rou nd Sw itzerla nd departed
from Luthe r's position on several points. W hile
Zwi ngli in Zurich d is puted Luther's Eucharistic the-
ology, Ma rtin Bucer in Strasbou rg promoted a more
active role for laypeople as ministe rs, elders, dea-
cons, and teachers.
From Calvin's Geneva the ideas of the Swiss Ref-
ormation spread to other lands, notably France, the
Nethe rlands, Hungary, England, a nd Scotland. In
the Netherlands, Calvi n's teaching of predestina-
tion was cha llenged by j acobus Arminius, who be-
lieved t hat God's sove reignty was compatible with
human free will. Arminian views were conde mned
by an asse mbly in Dord recht (Don ) in 1518, wh ich
sente nced the ir supporter, the scholar and j urist
Hugo Grotius, to life imprisonment. (Grotius es-
caped in a box of books being shipped to his wi fe
and settled for a time in Pa ris.) In the Netherlands
and Hunga ry, the Calv in ist chu rches are know n as
Re formed churches.
In England the Refo rmed t radition was called
Presbyte rian because of its form of government
by lay elders, or "presbyte rs"; for the same reason ,
the established state church o f Scotland is te rmed
Presbyte rian. Reformed churches do not have bish -
ops; instead, the regional representative assembly,
the presbytery, corporately performs the t raditional

tasks o f a bishop, includi ng the supervision , exam-
ination, and ord ination of candidates for min istry.
Through migration Presbyte rianism has taken root
on other continents. Presbyterians from England
a nd Scotland settled in easte rn Canada and the
Middle Atlantic Ame rican states, as well as in New
Zealand and Australia. Dutch Reformed settlers car-
r ied their t radition to South Africa, New Amster-
dam (New York), and Mich igan.
In the nineteenth and twentieth ce nturies, Pres-
byteria n m issions from Brita in a nd No rth Amer-
ica reached many parts of Asia a nd Africa, but in
most cases the churches they founded remained
small , and in Isla mic regions they found most of
their rec ruits among Eastern O rthodox Christia ns.
The Presby terians d id become a sizable m inority in
Korea, however.
Anabaptists
The radical Reformation rejected t he b roader Prot-
estant movements' affiliations with secula r power.
Groups such as the Anabaptists sh unned politics,
m ilitary se rvice, and even the taki ng of oaths. Be-
lieving that baptism should be active ly sough t on
the basis of matu re personal com m itme nt, the Ana-
baptists p racticed adult rather than in fant baptis m.
They also sought tO restOre t he close-knit sense of
com mun ity of the ApostOlic Age.
Anabaptist groups rely on lay preachers rather than
trained cle rgy, and in times of war they have tended
toward pacifism. Essentially anti-establish ment in
orientation, the Anabaptist movement emerged in re-
sponse to dissatisfaction with the pace of change in
the fi rst decade of the Reformation. O ne of the fi rst
breaks with the "establishment" Reformation came
in 1525, when some of the more radical followers of
Zwingli began administe ring adult baptism in defi-
ance of Zw ingli himself.
A decade late r, in the northweste rn Germa n
tow n of Munster, Anabaptist efforts tO establish the
Ki ngdom of God by force prompted a crackdown
by Catholic and Protestant authorities alike. There-
afte r a former Dutch priest named Men no Simons
led the move ment into a largely otherworldly
a nd nonviolent pat h. Since the re was virtually no
~I!' ~ i
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4 Christian Traditions 20t~
.. •'
chance of remov ing the autho rities, he urged his
followe rs to remove themselves from soc iety. Some
of h is followe rs- called the Mennonites- settled
in the Netherla nds, where they enjoyed tole ration
and by the m iddle of the nineteenth ce ntury had
largely assimilated to the secular cli mate of the
En lighte nment. As the moveme nt spread eastwa rd
thr ough Ge rmany and Austria to t he Ukrai ne, how-
ever, hardsh ip and persecution led some to remove
themselves from Eu rope altogether.
Men nonites who m igrated tO the Americas set-
tled main ly in Pen nsylvania, whe re they came to
be know n as Pennsylvan ia Dutch (from Deutsch,
meaning "Germa n"), and, late r, O nta rio a nd the
Ca nadian prairies. Today most Men nonites a re
fully part of the modern world. Nevertheless, some
bra nches, such as the Old O rder Amish fa rme rs in
Pennsylvania and O nta rio, prefer trad itional modes
of dress and conduc t. They conti nue to farm with
the dra ft an imals and sim ple wols o f a century ago,
resisti ng more modern machinery and gadgetry as
pan of the moral temptation and corruption of the
secular world.
Unitarians
Un ita rianism rejects the doctrine of the Trin ity. As
early as 1527 in Strasbourg, Ma rtin Cellarius pre-
fe r red to speak of God as a si ngle person. Others
expressed sim ilar views. Subsequently, Unitarian
communities eme rged in several la nds, includ-
ing Poland a nd Hu ngary. In Engla nd , j oh n Biddle
began tO publish Un itarian tracts in 1652, but a
Un ita rian congregation was not orga nized until
1773- 1774, when Theophilus Li ndsey resigned
from t he Chu rch of England and opened a Unitarian
chapel in l ondon.
In the U nited States, Unitarian is m represented
a left-wing theological b reak with Cong regational-
ists (see late r section entitled "Congregationalists").
Will iam Ellery Chann ing preached a sermon in Bal-
timore in 1819 that American Unita rians have ta ken
as a ki nd of denomi national ma nifestO. However,
Cha nning did not think of the Unitarians as a sepa-
rate group and claimed tO belong "not to a sect, but
to t he com mun ity of free m inds."
 '
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.208 . World Religions: Western Traditions
In North America, Unita rianism has appealed
mai nly to people of a humanist and rationalist be nt,
o ften in university ci rcles. In 1961, the Unita ria ns
me rged with a kindred g roup, the Universalists. Be-
cause of its minimal creedal demands, Unita rian-
ism has often bee n the denomination o f choice for
j ew ish- Ch ristian couples.
Women and the Continental Reformation
Although the reformers did not take an egalitarian
view of women, their emphasis on the individ ual
believer's d irect relationship with God would have
huge significance for women over time. For exa m-
ple, although Luther argued that women we re infe-
rior to men, he conceded that women might prea ch
if no men were available. Eventually, many Protes-
ta nt trad itions would move tO allow the full pa rtic i-
pation of women in the leadershi p of thei r chu rches.
But that is a story for the mode rn era.
In the sixteenth century, one of the more conse-
quential refo rm arguments was that celibacy is not
the natu ral state for human be ings. Ove r the course
o f the Reformation, many convents and monas-
teries were closed, and although most nuns d id
not renounce their vocations, some d id leave a nd
marry, ofte n with forme r monks. The new role of
the "clergy wi fe" was born. Martin Luther himself
married a forme r nun by the name of Katherine Von
Bora. Togethe r they made their home a cente r for
the new movement, a place both of hospitality a nd
o f theological debate a nd teach ing.
Luther advocated public education for both boys
and gi rls tO ensu re the basic lite racy required for un-
mediated access to scripture. The invention of the
printing press only a few decades be fore the starL of
the Reformation made that sc ripture accessible to
the people in a way that could not have been imag-
ined in the era when all wriLLen material had LO be
hand-copied by scribes. Luther's commitment to the
idea that ord inary people should have access tO scr ip-
ture also led him lO translate the Latin Bible, known
as the Vulgate, into the German vernacular of the
people. As well, worsh ip services in the new Protes-
tant chu rches we re conducted in the local language
rather than the Latin that had limited the possibility
of unde rstandi ng the litu rgy to the educated few.
The Counter-Reformation
The Protesta nt Reformation had the effect of stim-
ulati ng reform from within the Roman Catholic
Church , which led to its revitalization as an insti-
tution. This phe nomenon is know n as the Counter-
Reformation. From the mid -1500s lO the Thirty
Years' War (1618 - 1648), the reforming chu rch was
rei nvigorated by the developme nt of new religious
orders, the Cou ncil of Trent, and a rev italized sense
of spi rituality.
The de fining religious order of the Cou nter-
Reformation was the Society of j esus Oesuits),
fou nded by Ignatius Loyola (1491- 1563), a knight
from a noble Span ish family who had a conve rsion
experience after being wounded in baule. After sev-
eral yea rs as a hermit, in 1534 he joi ned with six
companions to form the Society of jesus. Characte r-
ized by a rigorous discipli ne that reOected Loyola's
mil ita ry background, the jesuits became the spear-
head o f the missionary forces that carried Christi-
an ity to both the Americas and Asia. Loyola is also
know n for havi ng wriLLen the Ignatian Spiritual Ex-
ercises, a tract that guided the spiritual practice of
ge nerations of Ch ristia ns.
The Council of Trent (1545- 1563), the church 's
nineteenth ecumenical council, was the first to be
convened since the Council of Consta nce in 1417.
Meeti ng in three separate sessions over 18 years,
it laid a solid foundation for the renewal o f both
the discipl ine and the spiritual li fe of the church.
It would be 300 years before the next ecume nical
council was convened. Th us Trent was a watershed
that ma rked the begi nning of early modern Roman
Catholic practice.
Counter-Reformation Mysticism
Du ring the Counter-Reformation many religious
orders expe rienced a revitalization of spiritual life.
The most notable figures in this revitalization were the
Spanish mystics Teresa of Avila and john of the Cross.

Teresa of Avila (1515- 1582)
Teresa o f Avila lived in what has come to be known
as the golden age of Spanish mysticism. Educated
by Augustinian nuns, she entered a Carmelite con-
vent in 1535. Her pe rsonal expe rience of God fi red
her with a reforming zeal that led he r to establish
seve ral houses within her o rde r. Teresa wrote exten-
sively about he r religious expe rience. All her spiri-
tual teach ings we re grou nded in inte nse personal
expe rience o f revelation or div ine illu mination; she
expe rienced the immed iacy o f God's presence in a
physical as well as a spiritual sense. The fact that
her writings we re received with enthusiasm eve n in
her ow n day is significant, as he r time was one of
extreme repression for wome n.
Teresa's primary themes we re self-knowledge,
the importance of identify ing the attachments that
keep people from joi ning with God , the need for
awa reness of one's ow n weakness and vulnerability,
the reality of God present always to all li fe, a nd the
ce rtainty of God's prom ise of forgive ness and trans -
formation th rough Christ. Fo r Te resa mysticism was
not an escape from reality. \Vhat was hu man was
not left behind; rather, humanity was tra nsformed
Document
Teresa of Avila and john of the Cross
From Teresa of Avila, The Inte rior Castle
Now let us come to imaginative visions, for
they say the devil meddles more in these than
in the ones mentioned, and it must be so.
But when these imaginative visions are from
our Lo rd , they in some way seem to me more
be nefic ial because they are in greater confor-
mity with our nature. I'm exclud ing from that
compa rison the visions the Lord shows in the
last dwelling place. No other visions a re com-
parable to these. (Mad igan 1998: 250)
•I!~
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4 Christian Traditions 209" · .. .
by the un itive experience, set free to be for God
and others. From su ffering came compassion, and
th rough prayer the pe rson who practiced looki ng
inward would be transfigured, released to live a life
of active love.
In her most famous work , The Way of Perfection,
she desc ribed the spiritual path to u nion with God.
She wrote of being inundated with spiritual delight
and sweetness as he r soul joi ned with God in the
bliss of the unitive life and desc ribed the marriage
of the soul to its divine love as two candlesticks
join ing in one flame. Ten years a fte r writing the
Way, Te resa wrote The Interior Castle, wh ich more
fully elaborated the path toward the u nitive state
as a journey th rough seven "dwell ing places," the
last o f wh ich is the inte rior castle where God resides
in the sel f. Acco rding to Teresa, such an encounte r
with God fundamentally changes an individual's
pe rception of reality: values and priorities sh ift, the
attach ment to material th ings weakens, knowledge
is attai ned of the virtue of calm and peace in the
soul even in the face of surrou nd ing turmoil , and
the understa ndi ng of God a nd the self in relation to
God expands.
From john of the Cross, The Dark Night o f the Soul
However greatly the soul itself labors, it
cannot actively purify itself so as to be in the
least degree prepared for the Divine union o f
pe rfection of love, if God takes not its hand
a nd purges it not in that d ark fire. (John o f
the Cross n.d .: book I, ch. 3)
 "
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'.210
- · - ~ .:'11
World Religions: Western Traditions
john of the Cross (1542- 1591)
j ohn of the Cross was also a Carmelite, and with
Teresa he founded a reform order called the Dis -
calced ("Barefoot") Carmelites. He is best known
for the beauty of his writings, wh ich are considered
the summit of mystical Spanish literature. His most
famous concept is that of the "dark n ight of the soul."
Like Te resa,John experienced the movement tOward
God as a journey of many stages. The "dark night"
comes when the soul, longing for God, becomes dis-
oriented and loses its way. This pan of the spi ritual
journey is painful and can last for years, but it is a
necessary stage on the way to union with God.
The English Reformation
The relationship of the English Reformation to the
continental Reformation is complex. England had
been acquainted with Christianity since the fourth
century, and by the seventh century it was fully em-
bedded in the ecclesiastical system of the western
trad ition. However, it was predisposed to the prin-
ciples beh ind the continental Reformation.
A century and a half before Luther posted h is
95 Theses, j ohn Wycliffe (1320- 1384) had written
against indulgences as well as the wealth and power
of the papacy. Well-trained in the scholastic trad i-
tion, Wycliffe used his intellectual skills tO raise
fundamental questions about key aspects of the ec-
clesiastical traditions of his day. Perhaps most sig-
nificantly, he was an early advocate for the use of the
vernacula r in both sc ripture and worship, and he
promoted an early translation of the Bible into the
language of o rdinary people. Today it is gene rally
believed that the English translation from the Latin
Vulgate known as "Wycliffe's Bible" was not act u-
ally made by Wycliffe h imself, although he was the
main force beh ind its production. Even though pos-
session of Wycl iffe's Bible could lead to a death sen-
tence, many copies were made between the 1380s
and the 1530s, when it was superseded by a new
translation, from the original Hebrew and Greek,
that had the benefit of the printing press (as did Lu-
ther's German Bible). The main author of that work
was Will iam Tyndale (1492- 1536). Having left the
still-Catholic England of Henry VIII in the 1520s
to pursue h is translation on the continent, he was
a rrested in the Netherlands and put tO death as a
heretic before he could complete it. just three years
later, however, Henry h imse lf authorized a di fferent
English translation. What had changed)
The English Reformation was as much politi-
cal as it was theological (some would say more so).
When the continental Reformation began, Henry
VIII defended the papacy against the reformers and
their teach ings, put h is name on an anti-Lutheran
tract, sentenced priests with reform sympathies to
death, and, through Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas
More, took an active role in supp ressing Protestant
heresies when they appeared in England. However,
things changed when Henry needed a divorce from
his wi fe Catherine of Aragon so that he cou ld marry
Anne Boleyn, who herself was significantly inOu-
enced by Protestant th inking. The pope's refusal to
grant the divorce eventually Jed to a schism between
England and Rome. The Chu rch of England was es-
tablished as an autonomous entity in 1534, no longer
subject to the authority of the bishop of Rome.
The concept of chu rch- state relations that devel-
oped in England was di fferent from the configu ra-
tion of that relationsh ip in Roman Catholic lands.
In England, Henry declared h imself the head of the
church as well as the head of state. This model was
based on the idea that temporal and spiritual au-
thority were united in the person of the monarch.
Religion in this system was "established" as the of-
ficial religion of the State, supported by the state in
all ways, including econom ically, and any changes
to it were required tO be passed into law by the par-
liament of the country.
To demonstrate his authority in ecclesiastical mat-
ters, and at the same time appropriate their wealth
for the Crown, Henry suppressed the monasteries in
two waves. First, an act of Parliament in 1536 dis-
solved the smaller monasteries and confiscated their
property. Then, with the passage in November 1539
of an act investing the Crown with all monastic pos-
sessions, the larger, wealthier monastic houses began
to surrende r and dissolve themselves by agreement;
the last house sur rende red in 1540.

Engla nd rema ined Protestant unde r Hen ry's
you ng son, Edwa rd VI, but with the succession of
Edward 's h alf-s is te r Mary I (r 1553 - 1558) England
o nce agai n became officially Catholic. The contest
for power was violent. It was not untiI the fifth
a nd last monarch of the Tudor dynasty, Elizabeth I
(r. 1558- 1603), negotiated what came to be known
as the Elizabethan Settlement th at the situation
began to stabilize. The Act of Supremacy passed in
1559 reestablished the English Church 's indepen-
dence from Rome and co nferred on Elizabeth the
title "Supreme Gove rnor of the Chu rch of England."
It also reestablished the litu rgy contained in the
Book of Common Prayer (BCP) as the standard for
the new church.
First published in 1549 and revised several
times in its fi rst decade, the BCP was produced
under the di rection of Thomas Cra nmer (1489-
1556), who had been appointed archbishop of
Canterbury (the sen ior episcopal seat in England)
by Henry VJIJ and also served under Edward VI and
(brieny) the staunchly Catholic Ma ry I. Ma ry had
Cra nmer burned at the stake for treason and heresy.
Nevertheless, the BCP renects h is comm itment to
negotiated compromise betwee n varyi ng theological
positions. Thus many strains of theology, Catholic
as well as Protestant, became foundational in the
BCP. Indeed, Anglicanism itself represents a com-
prom ise or middle way between Roma n Catholic
a nd Protestant theologies and worship forms.
Puritans
The Pu rita ns embraced a more extreme form of
Protestantism than that offered by Anglicanism and
sought furthe r pu rification of the church along Cal-
vi nist lines. The Puritans were never a majority, but
they held considerable econom ic and political power
a nd were innuential in the ecclesiastical landscape
of sixteenth -century England. They condemned
all forms of church ornamentation, the elaborate
robes worn by cle rgy, and the use of organ music, as
well as gestures such as the sign of the cross, while
calli ng for an emphasis on preach ing rathe r than
sacraments a nd strict obse rvance of Sunday as the
.1!' .
-;.~ - .i
4 Christian Traditions 211/ ~ .
Sabbath. As well, Puritans upheld the authority of
sc ripture ove r clergy and insisted on the Calvinist
principle that eve ry indiv idual was predestined by
God for eithe r salvation or dam nation. The most
problematic commitment of the Puritans, however,
was their insistence, follow ing Calvin, that the state
should be subject to the church- the inve rse of the
English insistence that the church was subject to
the state through the headship of the monarch. This
sta nce would eventually lead to cha rges of treason
agai nst the Puritans.
Seventeenth-Century Denominations
Quakers
Also sign ificantly at odds with the established
Church of England was the Religious Society of
Friends, bette r know n as the Quakers, a group
founded almost sponta neously as people came to
adopt the princ iples and practices of a man named
George Fox (1624- 1691). Fox came of age during the
upheaval of the English Civ il War, which created a
context for the reemerge nce of religious radicalism
such as had been see n in the Reformation. In that
context, Fox developed a pacifist approach to li fe
as a Ch ristian. Opposi ng the established religion of
the day, he traveled the countryside as a d issent-
ing (non- Chu rch of England) preacher advocating a
Christianity stripped of nonessential trappi ngs, in-
cluding cle rgy, ceremonial rites, church buildings,
and special holy days.
The name "Quaker" referred to the Friends' ten-
dency to tremble when overnow ing with the spi rit
within. Following the princ iples outlined by Fox,
Friends worshiped together without paid cle rgy and
sat in sile nce unless the spirit moved a member to
speak. They refused to pay tithes to support the es-
tablished chu rch, to take legal oaths (because one
should always tell the truth), and to se rve in the mil-
itary (on the biblical princ iple that we should love
our enemies). Embraci ng si mplic ity and love of one's
neighbor as a way o f life, the Quakers cultivated a
practical understanding of mystic ism in which
union with God was meaningful only insofar as it
furthered the goal of se rvice to othe rs.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Cong regationalists
The Congregational churches trace thei r rOOLS to
"separatist" clergy in the time of Elizabeth I, but
they d id not become a significant force in England
until the time of Oliver Cromwell, in the mid -1600s.
As far as doctrine is concerned, there is little to
distinguish Congregationalism from Presbyterian
Calvinism. Whe re they d iffer is in their form of gov-
ernance. Carrying the notion of the priesthood of all
believers tO its logical conclusion, Congregational-
ists reject the idea of elders and accord each indiv id-
ual congregation the ultimate authority tO manage
its theological and institutional affai rs; for them, the
only higher power is God.
In England, Congregational churches formed a
Congregational Union in 1832 and were active in polit-
ical and missionary causes th roughout the nineteenth
century. But the tradition's stronghold was Massa-
chusettS, where Congregationalists founded Harvard
University in 1637 in order not "to leave an illiterate
ministry to the churches, when our present ministers
shall lie in the dust." Yale University (founded 1701)
and othe r educational institutions in the American
Northeast were also founded by Congregationalists.
Baptists
Like the Anabaptists in continental Europe, the
English Baptists practiced the baptism of mature be-
lievers rather than in fants , but they were much more
intimately connected with the Puritan movement in
England than with the Anabaptists. They believed
that people should choose their religion rather than
be born into it, and that the individual's choice
ought tO be private and beyond any interference by
the state. By the 1640s, the English Baptist move-
ment had two branches. Calv in ist, or "Particular,"
Baptists rese rved redemption for a particular sector
of human ity, whereas "General" Baptists proclaimed
a gene ral redemption for human ity as a whole.
The first Baptist churches in the United States
were established as early as 1639, but the Baptist pr-es-
ence remained small until the revival movement of
1740- 1743 known as the Great Awakening. Though
the Baptists were not among its principal protago-
nists, they made massive numerical gains in its wake.
They positioned themselves tO become the la rgest
American Protestant denomination partly through
their successful appeal to the black population; by
the middle of the twentieth century, two out of every
three African American Ch ristians were Baptists.
Pietism
The term Pietis m designates not a denom ination
but a movement that rippled th rough various Prot-
estant denominations, includ ing the Lutherans in
Germany and the Reformed (Calvinist) churches in
the Nethe rlands, beginn ing in the late 1600s. Dis-
satisfied with the doctrinal and institutional rigidity
they perceived in the Protestant churches emerging
from the Reformation, Pietists sought a spontaneous
renewal of faith accompanied by a feeling of cer-
ta inty of divine forgiveness and acceptance.
For many, that feeling of certainty was all the ev-
idence they needed to validate their faith. This posi-
tion set PietistS against the emerging rationalism of
the eighteenth-century Enlightenment but would find
intellectual expansion in the emphasis laid on feeling
by the German philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher
(1768- 1834). Pietism spread in lutheran ci rcles both
in Europe and in the Americas. In the form articulated
by the Moravian Brethren- who traced their origins
to the early Czech reformer john Hus- it also influ-
enced the Wesleyan movement in England and con-
tributed to the development of Methodism.
Worship and the Protestant
Reformation
Given that the crisis of the Reformation laid bare cri-
tiques of the hierarch ical authority that had come tO
characterize western Christian ity, it was to be ex-
pected that the worship life of the newly eme rging
movement would change. Du ring the medieval era,
worship had been increasingly removed from ord i-
nary people. Protestant reformers such as l uther,
Zwingli, and Calv in all advocated changes tO wor-
ship forms that would reduce mediation by clergy
and give the people more direct access to God.

Although each of the denominational traditions
that grew from the Reformation developed its own
liturgical forms, all emphasized the use of the ver-
nacular so that people could worsh ip in their own
languages rather than the Latin of the clergy.
New forms of music were designed for full congre-
gational participation, the frequency of communion
increased, and in the Lutheran and Anglican tradi-
tions, the clergy and congregation shared in both the
bread and the wine. As well, worship spaces were re-
configured, especially in the traditions inOuenced by
Calvin, putting clergy and people together in a less hi-
erarchical arrangement that allowed full participation
for all. In some trad itions, altars were moved away
from the wall; in others, they were decentered entirely
and the idea of a movable commun ion table was intro-
duced. These changes were designed to communicate
the theological point that all the baptized have d irect
access to God, and that the relationship of the disciple
to God does not need mediation by clergy.
"' The Modern Era
The Enlightenment
By the end of the eighteenth century Christianity
was no longer at the center of Western civilization,
and the ties between church and state had been sig-
nificantly loosened. The intellectual movement re-
spons ible for these changes is generally known as
the Enlightenment. At the heart of the Enlighten-
ment was a grow ing confidence in human reason.
The precise beginning of the En lightenment is
hard to identify, but a crucial early moment came in
1543, when the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Coper-
nicus proposed that the universe revolved around
the sun rather than the earth. Half a centu ry later,
the Italian mathematician Galileo Galilei confirmed
that theory th rough observation. The chu rch re-
sponded by add ing Copernicus's book on his theory
to its list of prohibited writings and, in 1633, bring-
ing Galileo to trial before the Inquisition. Found
guilty of heresy, he was forced to "abjure, curse, and
detest" his supposed errors, and to live the remain-
ing eight years of h is life under house arrest.
4 Christian Traditions
Deism
The grow ing importance of science was reOected in
the rise of De ism. Recognizing that the universe man-
ifests regular patterns or "laws of nature," the Deists
did not believe that those laws could be suspended
by d ivine intervention, but they could env is ion the
universe as the product of a divine intelligence. They
saw their creator God as a divine clockmaker, who
assembled the universe and then left it to run on its
own. The idea that if one can observe a design, then
one can infer the existence of a designer goes back
to .ancient Greece and is known as the teleological
arg ument , or argument from design.
The English philosopher W illiam Paley offered
the following example of the Deist position in h is
Natural Theology, published in 1802 If we found a
watch on a desert island, we would not need to have
see n any other watch in order to posit the existence
of a maker; the watch would not even have to work
perfectly, nor would we have to understand the func-
tion of every part. The same is true of the universe
as evidence for God: even if the creation is imperfect
or not fully comprehensible, humans can still rea-
sonably posit the existence of a perfect creator deity.
Philosophy
At the same time, the eighteenth century was a
pe riod of philosophical skepticism about claims
for the transcendent. Particularly decisive were
the critiques of the Scotsman David Hume and the
German Immanuel Kant. Thomas Aqu inas's argu-
ment for God as the first cause cannot be proved; as
Kant a rgued, causality is not pan of the data of the
physical world but pan of the framework of thought
in which human minds interpret those data. But
what Kant showed to be in princ iple unprovable is
by the same token not disprovable. Whereas earlie r
th inke rs sought to prove the existence of the d ivine
or transcendent itself, many philosophers of religion
since Kant have focused instead on experience and
feeling- that is, the human response to the tran-
scendent. In the early nineteenth century, Schleier-
macher characterized religion as an "intu itive sense
World Religions: Western Traditions
o f absolute dependence": if we cannot prove the ex-
istence of what we intuitively feel that we depend
on, at least we can desc ribe that intuition.
Schleiermacher also contributed to a "subjective"
understanding of Christ's atonement. In the trad i-
tional Ch ristian u nde rsta nd ing, it is th rough Ch rist's
sacrifice that humanity is saved and restored to its
proper relationsh ip with God. Fo r Schleie rmacher,
however, jesus functions as a moral example, an
embodi ment of h uman awareness of God; salvation
comes first as a change in spiritual awareness, a nd
then atonement follows as a d ivine- human recon-
cil iation. From Sch leiermache r the school of theol-
ogy known as "liberal" theology was born.
Evolution
At the begi nning o f the n inetee nth century, the sc i-
entific worldv iew was "creationist." Scientists he ld
Anti-evolution literature for sale at an outdoor stand in Dayton . Ten nessee, in 1925. The creation vs. evolution
debate continues to rage, particularly where school curricula are concerned.
that every species on ea rth had been created by God
with specific cha racteristics. Th is view was chal-
lenged by Cha rles Darwin , whose theory of evolu-
tion proposed that new types o f organisms were not
created by a de ity but developed ove r time th rough
a process he called natural selection. Da rwin's
epoch -making study On the Origin of Species was
published in 1859, more than 20 years afte r he had
worked out the basic components of h is theory.
Refining h is a rgument clea rly took time, but
Darwin may have been especially cautious because
he had studied t heology and was well aware of
the resista nce he would encounte r. He needed not
me rely to make a credible case for evolution , but to
refute t he basic tenets of biological creation ism. He
also knew that natu ral selection was antithetical to
the teleological argument from design. If the natu ral
world was completely self-regulating, the re was no
need for a supervisi ng de ity.

Because of Darwin, modern Christian theolo-
gians assessing the place of human beings in the
universe have tended to locate human distinc-
tiveness not in a special physical creation but in a
unique intellectual and spiritual capacity for tran-
scendence. For religious thinkers persuaded by Dar-
win's d iscoveries, what matters is not so much where
humans came from as where humanity is going.
Sociopolitical Context
Follow ing the intellectual shi fts of the Enlighten-
ment, major changes wok place in the econom ic and
political landscape of the Western world. Social,
political, and economic revolutions prec ipitated
a fundamental sh ift in the relationship between
church and society, which in turn s purred signif-
icant internal changes for Christianity. It has been
argued that the French Revolution , wh ich began in
1789, dealt a fatal blow to the trad itional alliance
between chu rch and state in western Christendom.
As the great dividing line in European political h is-
tory, the French Revolution represents a watershed
bet ween the past and modern political systems. The
medieval ancien regime, in which the monarch and
the church held power as partne rs in the project of
social cohesion, d isappeared under the onslaught of
new ways of imagin ing human beings and their re-
lationsh ip to power.
The idea that all men (women were not included
at this junctu re) should have a voice in the political
process carried the day. The violent overthrow of the
French monarchy destabilized the church, which
lost its partne r in powe r. Meanwhile, England's
th irteen colonies in North America had already
thrown off the histo ric control of the British gov-
ernment and demanded their right tO exist as a sov-
ereign nation, overthrowing the Church of England
as the established church. From that point forward,
rel igion would be a choice based on the principle
of volunteerism. Running paralle l to these political
revolutions was the economic revolution whereby
an agrarian or property-based system changed to a
money-based economy fueled by consumerism and
made possible through the mechan ization of indus-
trial production. Th is shift precipitated several other
•I!~
. :.. i
~.......... ... "
4 Christian Traditions 215" . .. .
changes that also affected the role of the chu rch in
the community.
Demographic migration from rural to urban
a reas, the breakdown of extended family un its, and
a (paradoxical) slight improvement in the economic
situation of many workers intensified exploitation,
which created greater job and social insecurity and
generally contributed to the increase of human
suffering. All of these factors affected the church,
which was decentered from its role as the focal point
of community and social norms. At the same time,
the increasing exploitation of workers Jed tO the de-
velopment of a working-class consciousness, which
in turn Jed to the creation of labor unions. Unions
became the primary champions of quality of life for
the industrial working class, reduc ing the role of the
churches. As well, most denominations d id little 10
respond in a proactive way to the suffering of the in-
dustrial poor, which meant that organized religion
became predominantly the preserve of the emerging
middle class. All these contextual changes contrib-
uted to the declining sign ificance of Christian ity in
\Vestern culture.
Evangelical Great Awakenings
In the face of its declining s ignificance in the West-
ern world , Christianity paradoxically experienced
several waves of religious revival in the early years
of the modern era. Known as the Great Awaken-
ings, these revivals unfolded in th ree stages. The
fi rst Great Awakening was a movement for religious
revitalization that swept Protestant Europe and
British America in the 1730s and 1740s. Focusing
mainly on people who were al ready churchgoing
bel ievers, it summoned them tO participate actively
in the imperatives of the Protestant Reformation,
including the divine outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
the proclamation of the Word, and the expression
of God's love in the world. There was a theologi-
cal split between preachers of a Calvinist bent and
those who took an Arminian perspective. However,
all were united in their desire tO set the hearts of
God's people on fire with love of his gospel.
The second Great Awakening, beginning around
1800, was slightly d ifferent in its goals, focused on
 .
'1.6!"· :.. i
·~--.... -. -.
'.216 ..,
- ·~ '
World Religions: Western Traditions
bringing nonbelievers to Christ. Many significant mis-
sionary organizations trace their origins to this time.
The thi rd Great Awaken ing spanned the pe riod
from 1858 to the beginning of the First World War
in 1914. In 1858, after two centuries of self-imposed
isolation, japan allowed the fi rst Christian m is -
sionary of modern times to ente r the country, and
David Livingstone published h is Missionary Trav-
els and Researches in South Africa, which fueled e n-
thusiasm for global missions. The principle of the
priesthood of all believers summoned all disciples of
Ch rist to become active agents of God's saving wo rk.
This time the emphasis was on social engagement,
whether in the form of lay involvement at the grass-
roots level, religious education, distribution of the
Bible, or social reform (including prohibition of alco-
hol as protection for the family). Both the movement
for women's suffrage and the modern ecumenical
movement had the ir roots in this wave of revival.
john Wesley (/703- 1791)
The primary cata lyst of the fi rst Great Awakeni ng
was john Wesley. The fifteenth child of the Reverend
Samuel and Susannah Wesley, at the age of 25 he
followed in his father's footsteps and was o rdain ed
an Anglican priest. While studying theology at
Oxford, he formed a small study group with h is
brother Charles Wesley and fellow student George
Whitefield that was nicknamed the "Methodists"
for their methodical study of thinkers such as the
seventeenth-century cleric j eremy Taylor.
Wesley spent some time in the mission field in
Georgia in 1735, but after a love interest went wrong
he found himsel f on a boat sailing back to Europe.
It was du ring that voyage that h is life was changed
by an encounter with a group of Morav ians from
Germany. Heavily influenced by seventeenth-centu ry
Pietism, the Moravians reflected a lively and heart-
felt faith that john had not experienced in the An-
glican world.
Once back in England, Wesley had a transforma-
tive religious expe rience that he would later refe r to as
the moment when his heart "was strangely warmed."
From then on, it became his mission to summon
practitioners of a lukewarm religion to an engaged
experience with the living Christ. Wesley's theology
reflected h is Anglican heritage in that (l ike luther)
he rejected the Calvinist theory of predestination
in favor of the Armin ian view that all who believed
would be saved by grace. Unl ike l uther, however,
Wesley also believed that all who had been saved by
faith should continue to become more visibly holy as
evidence of thei r salvation. This notion of "sanctifi-
cation" was extended into the arena of works. If one
was saved, one's work would reflect the transfigura-
tion of one's heart by the saving grace of God.
It had not been Wesley's intention to break with
the Church of England, but he found that his new
way of preaching and teaching was not welcome
the re. In h is commitment to theology as experience,
Wesley developed a new expression of Christianity
that became known as Methodism, a denom ina-
tion that has since spread around the globe. Giving
priority to the preach ing of the Word and the in-
volvement of laypersons at all levels of ministry, the
Methodists emphasize engagement with the world
as the place where the Kingdom of God is to be
made real. The notion of progressive sanctification
became central to the denomination.
jonathan Edwards (/703 - 1758)
Edwards was an American-born revivalist preacher
from Puritan Calv in ist roots who sparked enthusi-
asm for the gospel throughout the 13 colon ies. An
itinerant preacher, like most in the revivalist mode,
he traveled from community to community inspi r-
ing new enthusiasm for faith with his d ramatic and
emotional style.
Where Edwards and Wesley differed was in their
primary theological commitment. Wesley was an Ar-
minian, emphasizing (as luther had) that all could
be saved through faith. Edwards, by contrast, was a
Calvinist whose theology of salvation was grounded
in the assumptions that only some were predestined
to be saved, and that God alone knew who they were.
Although Edwards died early (from a smallpox inoc-
ulation), he made a major contribution to American
revivalism not only th rough his preaching but

th rough h is ma ny writings, which remained pop-
ular well into the nineteenth century and inspi red
thousands to pursue a m issiona ry vocation.
Holiness Churches
In time the mai n Methodist bodies in Ame rica
became more organized and conventional, more
sedate and mainline. But new independent churches
a nd movements conti nued to spring from Method-
ism's rev ivalist roots. Because of t hei r emphasis on
the conversion experie nce, in wh ich they believed
that the g ift of holi ness or sanctification was re-
ceived, t hese congregations have often been called
Holiness churches.
Like t he early Methodists, membe rs of the Holi-
ness movement believed that if one's heart had been
changed by God, one's outwa rd behav ior would
become progressively more holy as a sign of one's
eventual salvation. As Hol iness preache rs promoted
th is theology at revival meetings, people attracted tO
it b roke away from t hei r more mai nstream denom i-
nations to form their ow n Holiness churches.
Women and Revivalism
Like the Reformation, t he Great Awakenings em-
phasized the ministry of all the baptized and in so
doing created openings for Protestant women to par-
tic ipate more actively in their churches. Although
the majority of revivalist preachers we re male, most
o f the people who filled the tent meetings we re
women , and once the visiting preachers had moved
on, it was the women who found new ways to live
thei r faith , inspi red by their expe rience in the tents.
This ope nness tO the religious experience of re-
vival was rein forced by t he gende r assumptions of
the day, whereby men we re expected tO toil in the
o ften-corr upt public world of business wh ile wome n
made the private world of t he home and family a
haven of vi rtue and tenderness.
led mai nly by m iddle-class women who could
afford to take the time away from t hei r household
responsibilities, new volu ntary associations we re
developed with a wide range of foci, includ ing the
4 Christian Traditions
Sunday School movement; the development of m is -
sio na ry societies (wh ich sent both male and female
m issiona ries into the field); t he resu rrection of the
O rde r of Deaconesses, based on the ea rly church
model; support for the paid employment of single
laywomen in a variety of church ministry contexts;
and the mainte nance of connections with othe r
women's groups, both nationally and globally.
All these activ ities helped to lay t he groundwork
for later advances, includi ng recognition of women's
right to vote in church cou ncils and , eventually,
their right to be ordai ned. The women of t he rev ival
era empowe red themselves as they learned the skills
requi red for organ ization buildi ng, fund raisi ng and
disbursement, and strategic planning for the imple-
mentation of m issionary visions. At the same time,
their chu rches gradually became accustomed tO the
idea of women in various leadership roles.
Missions
Missionar y activity was hardly a new phenomenon.
From its beginn ings Ch ristian ity has been essen-
tially a m issiona ry religion, from early evangeliza-
tion efforts in the time of t he Apostle Paul th rough
the Ch ristian ization of the Roman Empi re and early
European expa nsion as more of the continent was
converted to Ch ristian ity to t he Age of Discovery,
wh en European empires began to explore the world,
taking Christianity with them. W hat was new in
the era o f t he G reat Awakenings was that now the
m issionar ies included zealous Protestants as well
as Cat holics. The fi rst English-speak ing Protestant
to e nter t he global m ission field was William Ca rey
(1761- 1834) of t he Baptist Missiona ry Society, who
left for Ind ia with h is fam ily in 1793. O the r denom -
ina tions followed suit, and soon several missionary
organi zations were competing for converts abroad.
Although mission societies reOecting their de-
nom inational traditions we re particular in their
scope and focus, several cha racteristics were typ-
ica I of the work. These included strong adherence
to t he exclusive claims of Ch ristia nity; commitment
to the view t hat the religions of m issionized people
we re t he work of t he "devil"; emphasis on preaching
World Religions: Western Traditions
a gospel of conve rsion and distributing Bibles, with
liule social outreach; translation of the Christian
sc riptures, particularly into the languages of Asia
and Southeast Asia; and, in the early years, training
of Indigenous clergy (an activ ity that declined as the
European notion of the "noble savage" was replaced
by colonial stereotypes of Ind igenous people as child-
like and in need of both education and civilization).
By the third Great Awakening, both Protestant
and Catholic missionaries we re not only proselytiz-
ing but actively promoting the Christianization of
their own society. This led va rious h istoric colonial
churches to work with the governments of the day
on p rojects of cultural assimilation. In the case of
new imm igrants, conversion to Ch ristianity and ad-
aptation to the cultural norms of the host society
were often presented as one and the same thing. As
well, in places such as Canada, the Un ited States,
and Australia, the h istoric colon ial chu rches collab-
orated with thei r respective governments tO promote
the assimilation of Indigenous people. The most d is-
tu rbing example of this collabo ration is found in the
Focus
Black Elk ( 1863-1950}
In North America, some today argue that the ha rm
Christianity caused th rough its role in the process
of colonization means that it has no value for the
present and future of Indigenous people and com-
munities. However, there have been Aboriginal
leade rs who have believed that Indigenous wisdom
and Ch ristian belief are complementary. An Oglala
Lakota man by the name of Black Elk was perhaps
the most sign ificant of those who held this view. At
the age of nine he fell ill and du ring his illness was
given a vision for his people that was late r affi rmed
by Lakota elders as one of great spiritual powe r. He
became a medicine man (heale r) among his people.
As an adult , he was convened to Christianity by
Roman Catholic missionaries, but throughout h is
partnership agreements between governments and
churches to operate residential or board ing school
systems. In such partnerships the government set
the policies and paid the churches per capita fees
to strip Indigenous children of thei r cu lture and
assimilate them to Eu ropean norms. Togethe r, the
loss of culture and the abuse suffered by these chil-
dren harmed seve ral generations of Indigenous
people. One of the key challenges that now face the
churches h istOrically involved in th is work is to find
ways to repair the damage that was done and mend
the broken relationships that have been the result.
Theological Controversies
and Denominational Splitting
As we have seen, the intellectual advances of the
modern era created a crisis for Christianity in the
West. Theologians struggled to find ways of adapt-
ing theology to emerging methods of inquiry. The
development of historical biblical criticism and
life he continued to rece ive visions that confirmed
the experience of his youth, and over time he came to
articulate the parallels between Lakota wisdom and
Ch ristian teach ing. Thus Black Elk insisted that the
"Great Spirit" or Creator of the lakota tradition was
ana logous to the creator God of the Christian Trin-
ity and mainta ined that the traditional pipe given to
the Lakota people was a way of knowing God prior to
the introduction of Ch rist among Native Americans.
In his view, the path of all creation, known as the
"Red Road" in lakota teach ing, was indeed the
Ch rist he had met when he was conve n ed to Ch ris-
tianity. Today h is vis ions and his theology continue
to play a significant pa n in the conversation be-
tween Ind igenous elders and Christian theologians.

"modernist" theology led to the splitting of denom i-
nations and the creation of new trad itions.
The th ree schools of thought that shaped the
drama of denominational splitti ng can be identified
as liberalism, evangelicalism, and fundamentalism.
All three we re broad global movements that affected
Christianity eve rywhere in the West. The term "mod-
ernist" was fi rst used to refer to a g roup of Roman
Catholic theologians who, tOward the end of the nine-
teenth centu ry, had adopted a critical and skeptical
attitude towa rd trad itional Christian doctrines, es-
pecially with refe rence to ChristOlogy (the examina-
tion of who jesus is) and soteriology (the theology of
salvation). Th is movement fostered a positive attitude
tOward radical biblical criticism and stressed the eth-
ical rather than the doctrinal dimensions of faith. The
term migrated into North American Protestantism
fai rly rapidly. By the turn of the twentieth centu ry,
mainstream Protestant denom inations were bei ng in-
creasingly in fluenced by "modernist attitudes," as re-
flected in a rethin king of the doctri ne of creation, an
Focus
Christianity in Nazi Germany
W hen the National Socialists rose to power under
Hitle r in 1932 , the religious landscape in Ge rmany
sh ifted d ramatically. Early in the Nazi regime the re
was increasing pressure on the Chris tian ch urches
to welcome Hitle r as their Fuh rer. Most Ch ristian
chu rches acceded to this direc tive, with some even
forming the "Ge rman Church," wh ich was di-
rectly accou ntable to Hitler. However, a significant
numbe r of Protestant pastOrs (ordained ministe rs)
resisted. They banded togethe r to form what they
called the Confessi ng Church , and in 1934 they
produced the Ba rme n Declaration, proclai ming
that jesus Ch rist and no othe r was the Lord o f the
chu rch- an ac t of resista nce to Hitler's insistence
that he commanded primary loyalty in the German
state and that the church should be subject to him.
4 Christian Traditions
emphasis on God's presence in creation rather than
his transcendence, and a shift in atonement theology
toward Schleiermacher's view, in which the emphasis
is less on Christ's sacrifice as the means to human sal-
vation and more on the example he set for humanity
and a consequent emphasis on moral mean ing and
teaching ("What would jesus do7").
Historical Biblical Criticism
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries witnessed
the emergence of h istory as a ruling intellectual
disc ipline. During th is period the Bible came to
be studied not as a depositOry of doctrinal truth s,
but as a h istorical document like any other. Histor-
ical criticism, the product o f th is development , is a
method of inte rpretation in wh ich the true meaning
of a given text is seen as depending on the context of
its composition. Thus to unde rsta nd the meaning of
a biblical passage requires knowledge not of Chris-
tian doctrine but rathe r of the histOrical and social
The in fluential theologian Karl Barth was a leade r
in the Con fessing Chu rch movement , and one of
the great heroes of twe ntieth -century Christian ity,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Luthe ran pastor and theo-
logia n, was among the signato ries of the decla ra-
tion . Unli ke Barth , howeve r, Bonhoeffer tOok his
insistence on adhe rence tO Christian principles to
a p oint of resistance that led to his a rrest in 1942.
Bonhoe ffer spent the rest o f h is li fe imp risoned by
the Nazis and was executed in April 1945 at the
age of 39. Continuing tO write while imprisoned,
he argued th at tO say "jesus is Lord " with words
was insufficient: all Ch ristians a re called to live
the mean ing of "jesus is Lord," even to the poi nt of
self-sac rifice for love o f the othe r, modeled on the
example of jesus.
World Religions: Western Traditions
cond itions in wh ich it was w ritten. Many C hr istia ns
saw the rise o f h istOrical c riticism as the enemy of
Christianity, as it unde rmined the "absolute truth"
claims of Ch ristian doctrine and appeared to m a ke
faith cond itional on h istOrical ci rcumstance.
Hagiography
Through much of the story of Ch ristian h istory a
dom inant form of h istOrical record was h agiogra-
phy. Hagiography is literally the story of the lives of
the saints. However, the te rm refers at least as much
to a perspective and way of doi ng history as it does
to the literal record. The C hr istian tradition has
o ften inte rpreted its story th rough the vene ration of
key figu res, o ften reOecting a subjective focus on t he
positive di mensions of thei r contributions rathe r
than a critical analysis of their roles in history. The
rise of c ritical h istOry begi nning in the nineteenth
century was in part a reaction agains t hagiography
in its most unc ritical forms.
The Historical jesus
Some scholars saw in history a means of freeing
Christianity from developments that, in thei r view,
jesus and h is earliest followers never intended.
Nineteenth-century European theologians used h is-
torical methods to write biograph ies of jesus that
were free of Ch ristian dogma. These scholars were
confident that the Gospels, though written at least
30 years a fter h is death, contained enough accurate
in formation to constitute t rue biograph ical accounts
of the historical jesus. The German theologian a nd
humanist Albert Schweitzer (1875- 1965) noticed
that the many lives of j esus w riuen in the nineteenth
century coincidentally affirmed the values of h is
biographers. He named such accounts "libe ral lives
of jesus" to signal that the jesus of these h istoria ns
conformed to nineteenth-century hopes for a mo re
liberal society. Schweitzer himself found in the Gos-
pels evidence of an apocalyptic jesus who was virtu-
ally un recognizable to a modern world so fa r removed
from the one in which jesus lived. Schweitzer con-
demned what he called the "quest for the historical
jesus" as a largely failed project. After the Second
World War, howeve r, this q uest was rev ived with the
help of new d iscoveries about t he judaism of jesus's
day, and in 1985 the j esus Seminar was formed by
150 scholars who gathered regularly to study each of
the sayings and deeds attributed to j esus and to dis-
cuss and debate whether they origi nated with jesus
or were auributed to h im by later followers. Like the
earlie r questers, these more recent scholars have been
criticized for "d iscovering" a jesus who conforms to
the ideals of liberal democracy.
Reactions to Modernism
Evangelicalism
Reactions against modernist theology took two pri-
mary forms: evangelicalism and fundamentalism.
Evangelical Protestants' resistance to modernism is
reOected in their emphasis on the necessity of per-
sonal conversion, the desi re for personal sanctification
ove rOowing into the desi re to work for a beuer society,
lay leadership, and the importance of scripture and
preaching. Unlike fundamentalists, however, they
have generally not insisted on the literal inerrancy
of scripture. In the twentieth century, evangelicalism
in Ouenced many Protestant denominations but was
most significant among the Reformed churches.
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalis m representS another theological re-
sponse to modernism. The term refers to a movement
within various Protestant bodies in North America
that began at the turn of the twentieth century. In re-
action to historical biblical criticism and the theory
of evolution, fundamentalistS sponsored a series of
Bible conferences in various parts of the United States.
The most famous, the Niagara Conference, issued a
statement of belief containi ng what later came to be
know n as the "Five Points of Fundamentals." These
five points, wh ich became the defi ning commitments
of fundamentalism, were the inerrancy of scripture,
the divinity of jesus Ch rist, the virgin birth, the sub-
stitutionary theory of the atonement (the idea that

Christ died in humanity's place and in so doing paid
the debt humans owe God for their sins), and the
physical resur rection and Second Coming of Ch rist.
The term " fundamentalism" derives from a series
o f 12 tracts entitled "The Fundamenta ls;· wh ich
first appeared in 1909. W ritte n by eminent evan-
gelical leaders, they were widely distributed in the
English -speaking world with the aid of America n
money. Fundamentalism affected a va riety of de-
nom inations and contributed to denom inational
splitting by inspiring theological conOicts that
became too intense to be contained with in a single
denominational group.
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism should not be confused with funda-
mentalism; they a re separate movementS with d iffer-
ent emphases. Pentecostalism has more in common
with the Holiness movement of the nineteenth cen-
tury. It takes its name from an episode in the Book of
ActS in wh ich the Holy Spirit visits a gathering of the
apostles and some others on the Feast of the Pentecost
(the fiftieth day after Easter) and bestows on them the
gi ft of glossolalia , or "speaking in tongues."
The movement that gave rise to Pentecostalism
was led by Charles Parham, an American evangelist
Focus
Secularism
The d ramatic decline of Ch ristian ity in Europe and
North America has bee n fueled by a rising secular-
ism. Inc reasingly, people are looking beyond orga-
nized religion to answer the q uestions of purpose
and ultimate meaning in their lives. This te nde ncy
can be seen in all major religious groups in the
Northern Hem is phe re. As the nu mbers of people
embrac ing a religious worldview have declined, the
numbe rs embracing other perspectives have grown.
Most notable among those other perspec tives are
Ma rxism, a political philosophy that au ributes all
4 Christian Traditions
who taught that speaking in tongues was evidence
of t he "baptism of the spirit." O ne of his students, an
Akican American pastor named William ]. Seymour
(1870- 1922), adapted his message to be inclusive
across racial and gender lines and began preaching
the imminent return of jesus to mixed-race crowds in
Los Angeles in 1906. Seymour's "Azusa Street Revival"
was so popular that it sparked similar meetings across
the United States and eventually a round the world.
Speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues,
divine healings, and prophecy were interpreted as gifts
of t he Holy Spirit and signs to community membe rs
tha t God was with them. Many new denominations
we re born from this renewal movement, including
the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal Fellowship,
and the Church of God. Today Pentecostalism is the
fastest-growing sector of Christianity in the world and
is especially prevalent in the global South.
The Social Gospel
Bot h evangelical and liberal ProtestantS developed a
keen sense of active faith. Early in the twentieth cen-
tury, an American Baptist minister named \.Valter
Rauschenbusch (1861- 1918) argued t hat Ch ristian ity
is by nature revolutionary, and that realizing t he King-
dom of God that jesus talked about is not a matter of
causation in huma n society to econom ic factors, and
psychology, wh ich conside rs hu man actions and
beh av iors as reOections of the psyche. O ne of the
great theological challenges of the modern era has
been to de fine the place of Chris tianity and orga-
nized religion gene rally in a world where questions
of ultimate meaning can be so readily answered by
alte rnative modes of thought. Some argue that con-
sumerism itself is replacing organized religion as the
veh icle th rough wh ich people attempt to fi nd mean-
ing in their lives.
World Religions: Western Traditions

Focus
Aimee Semple McPherson ( 1890- 1944)
Spirit-based movements such as Pentecostalism have se rvice. She also founded an early Pentecostal de-
been more likely than more mainstream denomi na- nomination known as the Four Square Gospel
tions to offe r women opportun ities as preachers and Church, wh ich still exists today. The media-based
leaders. The reason for this unusual openness has to min istry that she pionee red se rved as a p rototype
do with the idea that if God gave someone a gift for a for later forms of North American Pentecostalism.
particular kind of min istry, then the chu rch should
a ffi rm that gift.
Aimee Semple McPherson was an important ex-
ample of th is phenomenon . Born in O ntario and
converted to Pentecostalism in he r teens, she Col-
lowed her passion to preach all the way to los An-
geles, where in time she became the most famous
evangelist of he r ge neration. Unlike other early
Pentecostals, she very q uickly realized the poten-
tial of mode rn media (espec ially radio) as vehicles
for evangelization. McPhe rson became renowned
for both he r preaching a nd the divi ne healings th at
we re reported to take place at her revival meetings
when, as she saw it, God broke into people's lives
and demonstrated his love and mercy by heali ng
them both physica lly and spiritually. Eventually she Aimee Semple McPherson prays enthusiastically with
built a large church know n as the Angeles Temple, her congregation at Tom Noonan's Chinatown mission
which was filled by the thousands for every worsh ip in New York in 1933

individuals getting to heaven but of transforming life
on earth into the harmony of heaven. He focused on
social sin rather than indiv idual sin, with particular
attention to religious bigotry, graft, and the corruption
of justice as a perversion of God's intention. This way
of approaching the relationship of the gospel to the
world captured the imagination of Christians across
theological and denominational lines and inspired a
new emphasis on social engagement in a wide range
of Christian communities.
This "social gospel" was enthusiastically embraced
in Canada as well as the United States. However, the
two nations developed the theology d ifferently. Under
Rauschenbusch's leadership, the American social
gospel movement acquired a pol itical d imension that
led it to side with labor against big business. By con-
trast, the Canadian churches tried to encourage busi-
nesspeople to treat their workers fai rly and humanely.
Although this strategy was largely unsuccessful in ef-
fecting social change, several significant leaders from
the Canadian churches carried a message that was
essentially the social gospel into the pol itical arena.
The best known of those leaders was Tommy Douglas
(1904- 1986), a Baptist minister who eventually left
the ministry to enter politics. As premier of Saskatch-
ewan, he led the way to socialized med icine, and the
Saskatchewan plan for universal health care was even-
tually duplicated across Canada.

Focus
Global Pentecostalism
Of the more than 2 billion Christians in the world
today, more than one-quarter are Pentecostal or
"charismatic." Many Latin Americans, Native
Americans, Africans, and Asians say that Pentecostal
interpretations of Christian ity are more in keeping
with their cu ltural worldviews than other forms of
Christianity. However, current studies indicate that
Theological Diversity
in the Modern/Postmodern Era
The rise of liberal theology gave impetus to the de-
velopment of both fundamentalism and Pentecos-
talism. Yet there was also a rapid proliferation of
theological diversity with in the liberal camp. Par-
ticularly in North America, theologians took the
basic commitments of liberal theology and devel-
oped new forms of theological expression. These
included the application of existential philosophy to
theology, as in the work of Paul Tillich (1886- 1995);
the development, by Alfred North Whitehead (1861-
1947), Charles Hartshorne (1897- 2000), and others, of
process theology, which drew on physics to argue
for a God who is in some respectS changeable, in
ongoing relationship with the unfolding universe;
and the rise of liberation theologies of various kinds,
which focus on the particular concerns of oppressed
groups, including women, Indigenous people, African
Americans, and, in Latin America, the poor and po-
litically violated.
In the face of this explosion of d ive rsity among
libe ral theologies, an opposing theological direction
emerged in the period between the two world wars.
The primary architect of this "neo-onhodoxy" was
the Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886- 1968), who
emphasized the transcendence of God and the inabil-
ity of human beings to work out thei r own salvation.
Barth's radical doctrine of sin and grace found reso-
nance among the Reformed churches in particular.
4 Christian Traditions
the experience of divine healing is the single most
important reason for the growth of Pentecostalism.
In pan s of the world where access to health care is
out of reach for most people, Pentecostalism thrives.
In addition, Pentecostal churches (unlike the h is -
toric colon ial churches) have a t radition of offering
their congregations help with everyday problems.
The Changing Place
of Women
The modern era has seen significant changes in the
roles and participation of women in Christian com-
mu nities. As surely as the nineteenth century saw
the rise of women's leadership in the voluntary and
missionary arenas, the twentieth saw questions arise
concerning women's roles in the churches. This shift
was in large measure precipitated by shi ftS in cul-
tural understandings of women's roles and place in
society. In other words, women were included as
full persons under the law, with the right to vote,
before their churches began to address the matter of
female ordination.
Even today, only a minority of Christians belong
to a church that allows women to participate fully
in leadersh ip roles. More than half of the world's
Christian population is Roman Catholic, another
significant sector is Eastern O rthodox, and yet
another is conservative Protestant. \Vith minor
var-iations that reflect the particularities of their de-
nom inational theologies, women in these churches
do not have full ecclesiastical voting rights and a re
not eligible for ordination. Most historic colonial or
mainline Protestant denominations and some evan-
gel ical churches do permit women to vote and be
ordained on an equal footing with their male col-
leagues. Yet there are still lim itations on the roles
that women can play in some mainline denomina-
tions. For example, the Anglican Chu rch of Canada
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
The Catholic Worker Movement and Dorothy Day ( 1897-1980)
The twentieth century saw the binh of many
Ch ristian-inspired soc ial movements. Roman Cath-
olics have been panicularly devOLed to improvjng
life for the poor and oppressed. The Catholic Worker
movement in the Un ited States is an example of this
phenomenon. Dorothy Day was a journalist and
social activ ist, heavily inOuenced by Marxist thought,
who as a young woman had a conve rsion experience
in a Roman Catholic worship setting that trans-
formed her from an atheist to a devout Cathol ic while
remaining a Marxist. W ith her friend Peter Maurin,
she established a movement that spread across t he
Un ited States and continues today. This movement
inspired the creation of "houses of hospitality" in
which persons committed to the poor lived w ith
Dorothy Day (center. seated). founder of t he Catholic Worker. moderates a discussion about
the problems of segregation during a radio broadcast at the Louisville Public Library on
September 10, 1954.
them as companions and friends, sharing thei r food
and shelter and offering respite from the harsh edge of
urban poverty. Persons com miLLed to this movement
also worked unceasingly for social change on behal f
of the poor and consistently spoke against war. To
serve as a platform for this advocacy, Day and Maurin
started their own small newspaper; named the Cath-
olic Worker, it is still available today at the original
price of one penny per copy. The pacifist anarchism
that characterized Day's theology meant that she was
often in conOict with the American government, and
the movement often had to defend itself against accu-
sations of un-American activity. Dorothy Day is cur-
rently being considered for canon ization (elevation tO
sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church).

has permitted ord ination of women as bishops,
priests, and deacons si nce 1976. After almost a cen-
tury of debate wome n in the Ch urch of England may
now serve as deacons, priests, a nd, si nce November
2014, bishops (the fi rst female bishop in the Church
of England, Libby lane, was consecrated january
26, 2015, as the bishop of Stockport), but there a re
dioceses and regions with in the Anglican Commu-
nion such as the Province of Central Africa that still
refuse to ordain women (the Anglican Com munion
is the term wh ich refe rs to the worldwide associa-
tion of Anglican churches formed th rough the d is -
pe rsion of the Anglican trad ition th rough the British
Empire to various places around the globe).
Progress toward gender parity has tended tO
follow a standard pattern: first, women are give n
voting rights in all the gove rning bodies of thei r
churches, and then the question of o rdination is
tackled. In most denom inations those changes wok
place betwee n the 1960s and the 1990s.
Bishop Barbara Harris of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts at her ordination as the first female bishop
in the Anglican Communion in 1989.
4 Christian Traditions
liberal Protestant denominations in North America
were ordai ning women as cle rgy by the middle of the
twentieth centu ry, and the Anglican Communion
began doing so not long afte r that. Several American
and Canad ian denominations have had women as
presiding office rs. The first woman to be ordained
a bishop in the Anglican Communion was Barba ra
Harris, who served as an Episcopalian bishop in
Ma ssachusetts from 1989 to 2003. lois Wilson, a
minister and forme r moderator of the United Church
of Canada, was a president o f the World Council
of Churches from 1983 to 1991, as was Madeleine
Barot, from France, from 1954 to 1960.
The fact that the Roman Catholic and Easte rn Or-
thodox churches, some conservative evangelical de-
nominations, and some Indigenous denominations
in Africa, Asia, and latin Ame rica refuse to ordain
women at all hearkens back tO the early church's po-
sition with regard to the proper place and function of
women in Christian leade rsh ip, though in some cases
 World Religions: Western Traditions
•~ "
\Nomen · t11' e ~
Ln ~
, ra dL·~tons
The Mothers' Union
As pa n of the women's voluntary movements of t he
late nineteenth century, the MOLhe rs' Un ion was
begun within the Chu rch of England. O riginally
bi rthed in England in the face of emergent indus-
trialization, th is organ ization was framed arou nd
p rotection of the family and family values. How-
eve r, as the various traumas of the twentieth cen-
tury un folded and the Anglican Communion spread
globally, most notably in Africa, th is organization
rose to prominence as a force for social reconstruc-
tion. In seve ral countries, as soc ial d islocation, civil
war, the AIDS pandemic, and other challenges con-
fronted local society, the Mothers' Union organized
it also reOects current views on gender. Although the
arguments against the ordination of women vary
with theological perspective, both Roman Catholic
and Orthodox theologians have argued that women
cannot represent Christ because Christ was male.
Other justifications for women's exclusion d raw on
select passages from scripture and the fact that the
early church d id not ordain women to the threefold
order of min istry.
Twentieth-Century Movements
for Social Change
In the twentieth centu ry, Ch ristians played an active
pan in several grassroots movements for social
change, including the anti-apartheid movement in
South Africa, the Communidades de Base movement
in latin America, and the civil rights movement in
the United States. However, it is interesting to note
that in each of these situations there were Chris-
tians on both sides of the debate. The churches in
question were used both to reinforce the status quo
and to demand change in cases involv ing injustice
and oppression, particularly of the poor.
i. ~ •", I
resources to reclaim and redevelop communities by
build ing bridges ac ross the horrors of tribal geno-
cides in Rwanda and Burundi, ca ring for orphans in
Uganda, advocating for AIDS medications in South
Africa, lobbying for the rights of women and gi rls,
speaking against human trafficking, and working for
health ca re and an end to poverty in local commu-
nities everywhe re. Committed to the well-be ing of
the next generation, membe rs of the Mothers' Union
also r un various initiatives such as literacy p rojects,
development initiatives, and church-building and
microfinance initiatives. Currently the Un ion com-
prises ove r 1.3 million members in Africa alone.
The extent to which theological location across the
spectrum of denominations determined social engage-
ment for Christians was interestingly reOected in the
case of South Africa. The Depression of the 1930s and
the Second World War brought increasing economic
challenges to South Africa. In 1948 the "Afrikaner"
party won the general election and began the process
of implementing racial segregation as a matter of law.
New laws demanded racial segregation of the "White"
minority from the "Black" majority and the division of
black South Africans against themselves along tribal
lines. The violent enforcement of the apartheid system
lasted 50 years in South Africa despite increasing in-
ternational pressure to unmake the system as a viola-
tion of basic human rightS. Throughout the 50-year
struggle to end apartheid, Christian churches did
little to actively resist the system. Indeed, the Dutch
Reformed Church provided a theological j ustification
for apartheid, claiming it was the will of God and sup-
ported by the Christian Scriptures. It was not until
1998 that the DRC officially recogn ized apartheid as
"wrong". However, other churches, such as the rela-
tively numerically small Anglican Church of South
Africa, through the leadership of Archbishop Des-
mond Tutu, LOok a stand actively opposing apartheid

from the 1970s. The rationale for this political position
was also theological: Christian Scriptu res demanded
that all human beings be treated with respect and
dignity as creatures of God- that all human beings
were loved and valued equally by God. It should be
noted, however, that even within the denomination
there we re those at the grassroots level who opposed
the church's resistance to apartheid. Method ism, also
imported from England , quickly became an over-
whelmingly black denomi nation with an openly
ami-apartheid stance, although the aggressive activ-
ism of its leaders cost it support from those who feared
the power of the apartheid State. The Roman Catholic
Church in South Africa opposed apartheid as well,
but a group calling itSelf the South African Catholic
Defense l eague condem ned the church 's political in-
volvement and denounced school integration.
In latin America the Roman Catholic Church
was si mila rly an agent both of change and of resis-
ta nce to change. As the official chu rch of Spain , the
colon ial powe r that dominated latin America from
the fifteenth century to the nineteenth, it allied itself
with the state in regimes of control and repression,
a pattern that occu rred in processes of coloniza-
tion everywhere. However, with decolonization , the
church- state relationsh ip shifted. When economic
c rises from the 1960s to the 1990s pe rmitted the
rise of military d ictatorships, the poor faced crush-
ing poverty and extreme violations of human rights.
Although some local church leaders stood with the
mil ita ry regimes, most positioned themselves in sol-
idarity with the poor and suffe ring. In 1968, three
important documents were gene rated at the second
con ference of latin American bishops in Bogota
and Medellin. Entitled "Justice," "Peace," and "Pov-
erty of the Church ," they shattered the centu ries-old
alliance between the church , the military, and the
wealthy. The key words that eme rged as blueprints
for the future were "libe ration" and "participation."
The church pledged itself to participate in the dy-
namic action of an awakened community in resis-
ta nce to the forces that oppressed and denied life.
This consciousness-raising was reflected in the
Communidades de Base, g rassroots Christian "base
communities" located in the poorest slums of latin
America that were often supported by local priests.
~I!' ~ i
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4 Christian Traditions 22t~
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Offering Bible study, prayer, a nd fellowsh ip, they
became the focal points of both communal resis-
tance and communal renovation, expressions of the
church's theological commitment to t he dignity of
all human beings. Many church leaders paid with
thei r lives for thei r commitment to the poor. The
most notable example was Bishop Osca r Rome ro of
El Salvador. Although before h is appointment he had
been a mild-mannered academic uninvolved in the
country's political turmoil, as a bishop he developed
a passion for solidarity with the poor and became a
recognized leade r o f the nonviolent resista nce to the
milita ry dictatorship of the day. His assassination,
while presiding over worship on March 24, 1980, in-
spired many othe rs to take up the cause of defending
the human rights of political resiste rs and the poor.
In the United States, the civil rights movement,
which demanded equal rightS under the law for per-
sons of color after centuries of slavery and segregation,
was largely driven by the black churches. Historically,
through the era of slavery and beyond , black churches
had served as focal points for communal li fe and em-
powerment. Thus, when the time came for resistance
to white repression, the black churches and their
pastors were pivotal in gathering the community and
providi ng leadership in the form of both inspiration
and strategy. Most notable of all was the Reverend Dr.
Martin luthe r King.Jr. (1929- 1968), a Baptist pastor
whose skills as an orator and insistence on nonviolent
resistance made him the principal spokesman for the
civil rights movement until he was murdered at the
age of 39. The Ch ristian principle that all people are
made in the image of God animated social resistance
in a world where a significant proportion of the popu-
lation was not accorded the most basic human rightS.
Vatican II
The election of the Italian cardinal Angelo Giuseppe
Roncalli as pope in 1958 sparked significant change
in the Roman Catholic Church. Though al ready in
his late 70s, john XXlll (the name he chose upon his
election) proved to have a vision for his church and a
fea rless openness to change. Calling for aggiomamenlo,
Italia n for "updating," j ohn XXlll convoked the Second
Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965.
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World Religions: Western Traditions
The changes set in motion at the council ushered
in a new era for Catholicism. Latin was replaced by
the vernacular as the language of the Mass, and the
officiating priest now turned to face the congregation
(although the doctrine of transubstantiation was re-
tained). The dress of priests and nuns was modern-
ized, and in many cases religious dress was set aside
for particular occasions. Whereas the First Vatican
Council (1869- 1870) had emphasized the monarchi-
cal aspect of the pope's role, Vatican II emphasized
the more collegial nature of his role in counci l with
the bishops. Efforts were also made to improve rela-
tions with other branches of Christianity and other
religious traditions, especially judaism and Islam.
The Church of Rome Today
More than 50 years later, the council's agenda still
has not been completed, and pressing problems
remain. The priesthood today is under serious threat
as the numbers of cand idates continue to decl ine.
Furthe rmore, stands on several other key issues
have affected the response of persons in the West to
the Catholic Church.
A major breach developed in the church shortly
after the Second Vatican Council, in 1968, when
John's successor, Pope Paul VI, in his encycl ical
Humanae Vitae ("O n Human Life") prohibited the
use of artific ial birth control by Catholics. Prior to
the last century, contraception was condemned by all
branches of Christianity, but throughout the twenti-
eth century, Protestant Christianity for the most pan
adjusted its views to make space for modern methods
of birth control in contemporary li fe. In Catholicism,
the gap between the church's official stand on sexu-
ality and the actual practice of the faithful has only
widened in the intervening decades. Many Catholics
have ceased to follow teachings they consider out of
date. But the matter had other implications as well.
Humanae Vitae intensified the theological tensions be-
tween the reform-minded and traditionalist wings of
the church's hierarchy. Progressive Catholics saw the
encyclical as an attempt to turn back the dock and
reaffi rm the papal authority established at Vatican 1.
Likew ise, the Catholic Church, along with certain
evangelical Protestant denominations and branches
of Eastern Orthodoxy, has continued to reject the
remarriage of d ivorced persons as antithetical to
Christian teaching. Depending on the denomination,
Anglicans and other h istoric Protestant denomina-
tions have allowed this practice since the 1960s and
1970s. Clearly, each of these issues and the debates
that auend them reOect the grow ing polarization in
Christianity globally and in Catholicism particularly.
Theological issues have concrete, applied implica-
tions for the life of local communities and individuals.
Sexual Abuse
The sexual abuse of children by religious profession-
als is not uniquely a phenomenon of the modern era
or of the Roman Catholic Church alone. However, in
recent years the latter has been shaken by a series of
scandals involv ing its clergy and children. Beginning
in 2001, such cases were required to be reponed to
Rome, rather than handled by local church officials,
as had prev iously been allowed. Cases that were tried
in secular criminal courts received significant med ia
attention in Canada, the United States, and Ireland
in particu lar, with a preponderance of charges being
made in the United States. As well, thousands of civil
lawsuits have been filed against the church seeking
compensation for damages. According to the Assoc i-
ated Press, restitution payments made between 1950
and 2012 are estimated at more than $3 bill ion. As
a consequence, eight dioceses in the United States
declared bankruptcy between 2004 and 2011, and
by 2013 another five had filed for bankruptcy pro-
tection. Even more significant than the financial im-
plications are the challenges that these cases have
posed to the credibility and authority of the church.
Changes in the Papal Office
In February 2013 Pope Benedict XVI announced
that he would resign from the papal office. The last
time a pope had resigned from h is office was in 1415,
when Pope Gregory XII resigned to end the great
western sch ism. At the age of 86, Benedict said that
he no longer had the physical strength to perform
his duties adequately. The following month jorge
Bergoglio, archbishop of Argentina, was elected as

the first pope from the global South and took the
name Francis I. Pope Francis is known for his sol-
idarity with the poor and for his comm itment to
social j ustice. His election sparked hope in the hearts
of Catholics around the world that positive change
for the church was not only possible but imminent.
Howeve r, hopes for widespread change from with in
the Roman Catholic Church have remained largely
unmet. An increasing d ivide between trad itionalists
(those who prize doctrinal certainty over adaptation
to changing times) and othe rs in the church has
meant that widespread change in Vatican policy and
practice has not been possible. Recent movements to
return the liturgies of the church to a pre- Vatican ll
form , resist sign ificant changes related to the place
of women in chu rch leadership, limit the church's
response to sexual abuse scandals, oppose endorse-
ment of the remarriage of divorced persons, and con-
tinue the exclusion of homosexual persons have all
lim ited hoped-for change from the pontifical office.
"' Recent Developments
Changing Demographics
For seve ral decades the mainline denominations in
Europe and North America have been declining, even
as Christianity grows rapidly in the global South. In
Focus
lndigenization of Christian Liturgy
Christian liturgy is understood to reflect the pa rtic-
ular culture in which it develops. Thus as cultures
evolve over time , so do thei r liturgies. And as new
commun ities adopt Christian ity, they adapt the
litu rgies they have been given to reflect their ow n
culture, ta king key aspects of the faith and inte-
g rating them into local li fe in a recip rocal conver-
sation between h istory and the present. Th is basic
process of adaptation, or ind igenization, ca n be
seen at work today in several places. In Africa, for
4 Christian Traditions
response to thei r decline , the traditional churches
have been reevaluati ng the forms and structures of
thei r worship and organ izational life and their rela-
tionsh ip to Western cultu re. Meanwhile, new groups
such as those within the Emergent Church move-
ment are expe rimenting with new ways of express-
ing Christian belief, new forms of urban monastic
community, house churches, and participation in
environmental and social projects as forms of faith
expression. Although continuing immigration from
Asia and the global South is likely to slow the decline
to some degree, it will also almost certainly lead to
changes in church life in the next gene ration.
Ecurnenisrn
The historical divisions with in Euro -American
Christianity made liule sense when they were ex-
ported to Africa and Asia. For more than a century
the mainline Protesta nt denominations have been
working to ove rcome the precedi ng four centuries
of sepa ration.
Part of this movement was rooted in missionary
collaboration, beginn ing with the World Missionary
Con ference held in Edinbu rgh in 1910. Denomina-
tional mission boards agreed to div ide ove rseas ter-
ritories among the va rious denominations to reduce
redundancy and competition. Also significant was
ins ta nce, h istoric colon ial denominations are adapt-
ing thei r liturgies to include traditional local songs
and d rumming. In Canada, Indigenous Anglicans in
various pans of the cou ntry have developed se rvices
in their own languages, incorporating traditional
musical forms and words. And in New Zealand, the
Anglican Church has developed a prayer book that
conta ins worship se rvices in English , Polynesian,
and Maori, with content that reflects the sy mbol
systems of all th ree cultures.
World Religions: Western Traditions
collaboration in youth work th rough orga nizatio ns
such as the interdenominational Student Ch ristian
Move ment. In the United States, the Federal Coun-
cil of Chu rches was particularly devoted to collabo-
ration on economic and social issues.
By midcentury, a generation of leaders who had
grown up with interdenominationalism had moved
into positions of responsibility in their own churches.
The time was ripe for worldw ide collaboration, a nd
in 1948 the World Council of Churches was formed,
with representation from most major Protestant a nd
Orthodox bodies. Ecumenis m (from the Greek mean-
ing "inhabited world ") offered a climate of mutual
acceptance and common purpose, an emphasis on
unity in dive rsity. However, Protestants agreed to
continue disagreeing on many issues that h istorically
had separated them, such as Eucharistic theology a nd
church d iscipline (how members of the commun ity
are expected to conduct themselves in matters involv-
ing eth ics). It was much easier to affi rm one another's
agendas regarding social justice (or, later, ecological
concern) than to take Communion together.
Nonetheless, a number of denominational me rg-
ers did take place in the twentieth centu ry. In 1925
Canadian Methodists, CongregationalistS, and a maj or-
ity of the country's Presbyte rians formed the United
Chu rch of Canada. A si milar group of churches
joined to form the Uniting Church in Australia in
1977. In England in 1972, the Presbyterians and Con-
gregationalists merged to form the United Reformed
Chu rch. In the United States, a multiple merger in
1961 produced the Un ited Church of Ch rist.
But more ambitious twentieth-century attemp ts
at church union remained unconsummated. Con-
sultations in the Un ited States and New Zeala nd
involving Anglicans, Presbyte rians, and others
were unable to resolve di fferences ove r ord ination
and the Eucharist. Anglica ns hesitated to rush into
union with Reformed chu rches, partly because th ey
also wanted to conduct conversations with Luth er-
ans and the Roma n Catholic Chu rch . However,
the Church of South India was formed in 1947 by
a variety of Protestant denom inations, includi ng
Anglicans, and it was followed by a number of re-
gionally defined unions in northern Ind ia, Pakistan ,
and Bangladesh. And Episcopalians and Luthe ra ns
in the United States moved part of the way towa rd
union in 1999.
Among the most significant advances have been
the theological agreements reached between various
churches. In 1982 the Faith and Order Commission
of the World Cou ncil of Chu rches produced a docu-
ment entitled "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry," now
widely referred to as "BEM," which reOects a signifi-
cant degree of consensus among membe r churches of
the World Council on these key a reas of church life
while also identifying areas of ongoing d ifference in
belief and practice. In 1992 the Anglican churches of
England and Ireland; the Church in Wales; the Epis-
copal Church of Scotland; the churches of Denmark ,
Norway, and Sweden; and the Evangelical lutheran
churches of Estonia, Finland , Iceland , latvia, and
lithuania overcame their theological diffe rences to
ratify the Porvoo Common Statement, which allowed
for cooperation between Anglicans and Lutherans in
areas such as Communion and cle rgy.
Rome's twe ntieth-century move into ecumenism
is assoc iated primarily with the papacy o f j ohn
XXlll. A permanent Sec retariat for the Promotion
of Christian Un ity was established in 1960. An im-
portant item on the agenda of the Second Vatican
Council was the drafting of documents a nd declara-
tions that might bring about a rapprochement with
othe r Ch ristians. The spirit of reun ion was in the air.
By the end of the 1960s, Protestant and Catholic in-
stitutions for the study of theology and the trai ning
of clergy were ente ring into collaborative a rrange-
ments of all son s, wh ile thei r studentS were auend-
ing the same lectures and readi ng the same books.
Liturgical Renewal
Th rough the centuries of Christianity, the questions
of how to pray and how to reOect in ritual prac-
tice the core beliefs of the community have been
questions o f immed iate significance. Th roughout
the twentieth century they have been particula rly
acute. W ith in Roman Catholicism the li turgical
renewal sparked by Vatican !1 served as a catalyst
for litu rgical cha nge a nd innovation with in var-
ious branches o f the Protesta nt Christian world.
The effort to adapt forms of prayer a nd communal

worship tO reOect the diverse theological views of
the denomination in the context of contempora ry
setti ngs led to the development of new liturgies in
many denom inations. Easte rn Orthodoxy, in keep-
ing with the commitment to unchangi ng tradition ,
largely resisted th is di rection.
Theological Education
and Leadership Training
As the place of Ch ristianity within Western cul-
ture has sh ifted, forms of training leadership have
adapted. Declin ing membe rsh ip has meant dimin-
ish ing need for paid full-time cle rgy. Denominational
specificity has meant that inc reasingly de nomina-
tions within the evangelical world demand clergy
formed very specifically within thei r context. This
has led to a variety of changes with in the world of
theological education. The former standard in North
America, the Maste r of Divin ity, is now decreasing in
popularity, and other forms of theological education
and clergy train ing a re rising. Large evangelical de-
nom inations now often have their ow n "seminaries"
with in megachurches, wh ile historic mainline Prot-
estant denominations are developing new forms of
education at the local level. Roma n Catholic semi-
naries continue with diminishing student numbers.
Fission and Fusion
The modern era can be characterized as a pe riod of
fission and fusion within Christianity. ReOecting the
explosion o f theological diversity and the rapid global
expansion of Christianity through mode rn mission-
a ry activity, historic colonial denominations seeded
new churches that developed in thei r own ways. Cur-
rently, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia,
there are more than 20,000 d istinct denom inational
famil ies in the world, most of which have come into
being in the last 100 years (Barrett, Currian , and
j ohnson 2001). Perhaps iron ically, the ecumenical
movement, wh ich called for fusion, in fact contrib-
uted to division, as complicated union negotiations
have often left some pa rties behind , thus creating
both a new fused denomination and the persistent
..1!'' " i
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4 Christian Traditions 231/ ' . .
remnants of the forme r denominations, as was the
case with the United Church of Canada.
Currently, the single largest Christian denom i-
nat ion in the world is Roman Catholicis m, and the
fastest-grow ing dimens ion of Ch ristian ity is Pen-
tecostalism (not as a de nomination , but as a way
of being Ch ristian in a variety of denominations).
These two factors have Jed demographer Ph illip
j en kins (2007) to conclude that with in seve ral de-
cades, despite the rapid explosion o f denom inational
diversity, only two basic forms of Ch ristian ity will
remai n: Roman Catholicism and Pentecostalism.
Together, the rapid expansion of Ch ristianity in
the global South a nd its rapid decl ine in the North
and West have reshaped the face of Christian mis-
sio ns. In prior ce nturies, Europea n and North
Ame rican de nom inations sent missiona ries to the
Fa r East a nd the global South . Today, howeve r, the
largest numbers o f ministe rs know n as missiona r-
ies are be ing sent from Africa, Lati n Ame rica, and
Korea to take the Ch ristian message to the la rgely
de- Christian ized contine nts of Eu rope and North
America. These missions a re heav ily reminiscent of
mission activity in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, in that thei r purpose is conve rsion . Thus,
wh ile in the North and West that model has been
eschewed in favor of partnersh ip and respect for
religious pluralism, missiona ries from the global
Sou th are reintroduc ing a co nve rsionist model of
Christianity to the Northern Hemisphe re.
Left-Right Split
The primary div is ion eme rging in the Ch ristian
world today is not between diffe ring denominations
but betwee n theological liberals and theological con-
se r vatives. Th is is true both within Roman Cathol-
icism a nd with in the Protestant world. Arguably, a
libe ral Protestant and a liberal Roman Catholic now
have more in common with each othe r tha n they
would with those occupying a conservative theolog-
ical position with in their ow n de nominations . This
trend has fueled the phenomenon of fission, or split-
ting, and the emergence of breakaway groups with in
denom inations to a degree not seen si nce the era of
the Protestant Reformation. At issue is the extent
 "
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World Religions: Western Traditions
to which trad itional doctrines are mai ntained a nd
cultural adapt ion is allowed.
Christianity in Africa Today
The growth of Ch ristianity in Africa is responsible for
the overall growth of th is religious group in the global
South. With Ch ristianity now the majority religion in
Africa, the conti nent has seen a shift in the last few de-
cades from a population in which the majority prac-
ticed traditional or Ind igenous religions to one made
up of Christians (80 percent of the population) a nd
Muslims (20 percent) (Pew Research Center 2017).
Ch ristianity a rrived in North Africa in the fi rst cen-
tury CE, but it was not until the evangelical mission-
ary movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries that Christianity captured the continental
imagination and exploded demographically. Accord-
ing to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public U fe,
Religious landscape Study, 147 million African Ch<is-
tians are "renewalists" (Pentecostals or charismatics)
(2014). Demographer David Barrett noted in 1995
that most of the 552,000 congregations in 11,500
denom inations throughout Africa are completely un-
know n in the West, con firming the thesis that most of
African Christianity has arisen ind igenously. Of these
now over 13,000 distinct denominations, many are in
some way syncretist, combining a version of Christi-
anity with other religious expressions.
Christianity in Latin America
l atin America is currently home to more th an
425 million Catholics, comprising more than
40 percent of the tOtal population of Catholics
in the world today. Between 1900 and 1960 mo re
than 90 percent of l atin America's population was
Roman Catholic. Today approximately 69 percent
of the latin American population self-identifies as
Roman Catholic, while 84 percent say they were
raised Catholic. While only 9 percent were raised in
a Protestant church, currently one out of five now
identify as Protestants (Pew Research Centre 2014).
The most currently cited reason for denominational
sw itch ing is the desire for a more immediate a nd
personal relationship with God. The personalization
of Christianity has also Jed to a less act.ive and activist
Christian engagement in the social fabric of the society.
Emerging Church Movement
In the latter part of the twentieth century a grass-
roots Christian movement that spanned theological
divisions and de nominational bounda ries surfaced
around the world. Beginning in North America and
the Un ited Kingdom, this movement quickly spread tO
other parts of the English-speaking world , including
Australia, New Zealand , and Africa. The movement
is not de fined by a si ngle expression of Ch ristianity
but rather understands itself as trans-theological and
trans-denom inational. l abels used by its followers tO
self-designate include conservative, Protestant and
post-Protestant, liberal and postliberal, reformed,
cha rismatic, and nee-charismatic. Th is expression of
Ch ristianity is decentralized, often located in homes
rather than church build ings, often found in urban
core areas, and conce rned with active engagement
with the poor and d isenfranchised in those neigh-
borhoods. It sometimes focuses on com munal livi ng,
including a pseudomonastic rhythm of li fe for adher-
ents. Prayer is central but often nonliturgical in the
classic sense. Embrac ing poven y is often a feature
of these communities, reminiscent of the Catholic
Worker movement of Dorothy Day, as is livi ng faith
rather t han professing doctrine. The Emerging
Chu rch movement is often a ffirmed by pseudopar-
ent denominational structures as a new expression of
faith for the younger postmode rn generation.
Christianity and Millennials
The decl ine of Christia nity in Western c ulture re-
nects in part the agi ng de mographic t hat has cha r-
acte rized the ch urch ove r the past few decades.
This decli ne is most notable among those identi-
fied by demographers as "millen nials" (also called
Generation Y), a te rm used to desc ribe t hose born
between 1981 and 1996. De mographers note that
in Western culture, people in gene ral are becom ing
less religious, and millenn ials are eve n less likely
 4 Christian Traditions

,., ,' -J, '

Three "Millennials" on Christianity The following Young Man: If God does not exist, God cannot have
interview was conducted with three millennials: two a plan for my life.
sisters raised in a Protestant family in Canada (bom
1992 and 1993) and one young man raised in the Roman Q: What does God look like? Where is God?
Catholic school system in Ireland (bom 1994). Sister 1: God is everywhere. God is right here. God is
never far from any of us.
Q: Were you raised in the church? Sister 2: God is not a person. God is ene rgy. God is
Sisters 1 and 2: We were, with two clergy pa rents. everywhere.
Young Man : No, but I was raised in the Roman Cath- Young Man: I told you-God does not exist.
olic school system.
Q: What does God want for the world?
Q: Are you cur rently a part of a Christian Sister 1: l ove. God is about love. Not judgment and
community? harm . Not viole nce and exclusion in the name of
Sisters 1 and 2: No. religion. love.
Young man: No way! Sister 2: I really don't know.
Young Man : Your question is nonsensical. The ques-
Q: Why? tion is, What do I want for my life, and what will I
Sister 1: I feel a strong desire to be pan of a worship- contribute to the world?
ing commun ity, but not one like the one I was raised
in. It was too much about ritual. I want something
with more emotion, more about God. My parents
also raised me in a very leftist mode of Christian
practice. That d id n't make sense to me t hen and
doesn't now. The fascism of the left limits my choices
as a woman and a mother.
Sister 2: The r itual of the church feels dead to me. I
would be a part of a commun ity if it was more free
form, more about reflection and ideas.
Young Man : The church is r idic ulous. It has no place
in the world I inhabit.

Q: Do you believe in God?

Sisters 1 and 2: Yes.
Young Man: Absolutely not. I am in control of my life.
I choose. I decide. I don't ha nd ove r control of my
life to an old man in the sky.

Q: Do you believe God h as a plan for your life? Millenials interpret their world.
Sisters 1 and 2: Yes.
 ..
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~2J4 . World Religions: Western Traditions
than older Westerne rs LO p ray, attend church regu-
larly, or consider religion an important pan of th ei r
lives. This tende ncy in part reOects the mentor-
ing of their parents, the so-called baby boome rs,
who taught the ir child ren to question authority
a nd th ink for themselves. Mille nnials' lac k of trust
in religious organ izations also mirrors a broade r
mistrust of trad itional o rgans o f societal authority
more gene rally, such as the press, gove rnment, and
soc ial structures broadly defined.
Christianity and Pluralism
By the begin ning of the th ird mille nniu m, d iver-
sity had become pan of the national fabric not only
o f soc ieties built on immigration , like Canada, the
Un ited States, and Australia, but also, inc reasingly,
o f European societies, whe re until recently the great
m~ority of citizens sha red a common cultural bac k-
ground , includi ng the Ch ristian faith.
One of the great opportun ities and challenges of
this generation is the religious diversity that charac-
terizes the global landscape. Christians live side by
side with people of many faiths in ways previously not
known. Th is has opened up a plethora of opportuni-
ties for theological and spiritual engagement bet ween
peoples of different backgrounds. As well, opportuni-
ties abound for Christians to work with thei r neighbors
of d ifferi ng religious commitments for the well-being
of local and global communities. Of course, religious
di fference has also served th roughout h istory to fuel
division and violence. Howeve r, traditional Christian
commitments to love of one's neighbor, compassion,
and mutual respect impel Christian communities, in
their best moments, tOward new ways of authenti-
cally Christian living beside and in partnersh ip with
non-Christian neighbors. Arguably, to learn this d is-
cipline well will be one of the most significant proj-
ects for Christians in the next centuries.
Interreligious Movements and Activities
by Christians
One of the defin ing moveme nts c rossing confes-
sional boundaries within Ch ristian ity has been
the quest for bette r relationships with and deepe r
understand ing of othe r religious traditions. Chris -
tian denominations today actively engage in di-
alogue and sometimes shared soc ial action with
neighbors of d ifferent faith traditions. In the Prot-
estant world , the World Council of Churches has
led this in itiative si nce its inception in 1948. At the
denom inational and national levels, various forms
of dialogue and engagement betwee n Ch ristians
and othe r religions abound. Christians have been
pa rticularly invested in increasi ng understa ndi ng
between themselves a nd the two other "Abraha mic"
faith traditions of Judaism a nd Islam. Within the
Roman Catholic and Orthodox worlds, engagement
with other religious traditions has come somewhat
later but is cur rently on most Ch ristia n age ndas as
an important di mension of Ch ristian li fe a nd work.
In 1965, the Vatican issued its importa nt Nostra
Aetate ("In Our Time") encyclical, which a rticulated
a position o f "ope n encounter" between pe rsons of
othe r faiths. The papal office has conti nued to build
on this foundation through fu rthe r statements such
as its formal apology in 1998 for its prior inaction
regardi ng the Holocaust. Orthodox chu rches are
not as centralized as Roman Catholicism, and as
such, there is more dive rsity in their approach to di-
alogue with othe r religious traditions. Nonetheless,
the responsibility of inte rreligious engagement with
the goal of fu rthering the well-be ing of the world
sits with all Ch ristian chu rches.
Christians Involved in Environmental Issues
HistOrically Christians have understood that human
beings have an obligation of stewa rdsh ip, or care for
creation. This commitment is rooted in the early
creation narratives, in wh ich humanity is charged
with responsibil ity for the rest of creation , includ-
ing nonhuman creatu res. In the twenty-first century,
this com mitment to stewardsh ip has expressed itself
through widespread Ch ristian concern for the envi-
ronment and participation in movements that advo-
cate for environmental sustainability in a variety of
areas: wate r, food security, clean energy and renew-
able power, animal protection , habitat destruction ,
fisheries, and climate change. Across a wide theolog-
ical spectrum, Christian denominations today find

common ground in concern for the env ironment,
with groups across ecclesiastical divides engaging in
advocacy, policy change, lifestyle adaptation, and fi-
nancial support for environmental work.
Human Rights
Ch ristian commitment tO the well-being of the
human community also serves today as a focal
point for find ing common ground across di fference.
A growing consensus in support of basic human
rights as a matte r of Christian concern is observ-
able. This has led to wide partic ipation by many
individual Ch ristians, as well as denominational
g roups, in movements for human rights advocacy.
The limitation on this common comm itment
su rfaces in relation to theological division. For ex-
ample, in churches such as the Russian Orthodox
Church that have taken a strong position against
homosexuality, there is notably less willingness to
pa rtic ipate in advocacy for the human rights of gays
and lesbians compa red to efforts focused on other
Table 4.1 Professing Christians Worldwide, 20 II
Total Christians as percent of world population
Affiliated Christia ns (church members)
Church attendees
Evangelicals
Pentecostals/charismatics/neo·charismatics
Membership by Six Ecclesiastical Megablocs
Roman Catholic
Protestant
Independent
Orthodox
Anglican
Marginal Christian
Note: • includes Great Commission Christians.
Source: Adapud from johnson, Barrell, and Cros<ing 2011: 28-29.
4 Christian Traditions
groups. The ruptu re ove r the issue of homosexuality
is not only between denominations but within them,
reflecting the liberal/conservative divide observed
earlier. The question of whethe r homosexuality is
an acceptable form of expression of human sexual-
ity has surfaced as pe rhaps the most controve rsial
issue in the Ch ristian world tOday. On both sides
of the debate, convictions are passionately held and
apparently largely irresolvable.
~Summary
Th is short consideration of key themes in the h is-
tory of Christianity has suggested both its complex-
ity and its consistency. From its origins as a j ew ish
reform movement, Christianity grew to embrace
the globe, incorporating a range of cultural and
ethn ic experiences and philosophical perspectives
that produced diverse schools of theology and a
wide range of ecclesiastical forms and practices. As
Christianity begins its th ird millennium, it contin-
ues to expand, although di fferently than in earlier
33%
2. 187.138.999
1.523.229.000
965.400.ooo•
612.472.000
1,160.880,000
426.450,000
378.281.000
271 .316.000
87.520.000
35.539.000
 World Religions: Western Traditions
generations. Today, rather than looking back towa rd
Europe, Christia nity is looking toward the global
South as the location of its most pressing concern.
As it navigates the uncharted terrain of the future,
~ ~
Sacr.t.d!Texts of Christianity
Religion Text
Christianity Old Testament
(Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus.
Numbers. Deuteronomy.
joshua. judges. Ruth. I
Samuel. 2 Samuel. I Kings.
2 Kings. I Chronicles. 2
Chronicles. Ezra . Nehemiah.
Esther. job. Psalms. Proverbs.
Ecclesiastes. Song of
Solomon. Isaiah. jeremiah.
Lamentations. Ezekiel. Daniel.
Hosea. joel. Amos. Obadiah.
Jonah. Micah. Nahum.
Habakkuk. Zepha niah.
Haggai. Zechariah. Malachi)
New Testament:
undisputed Pauline Epistles
( I Thessalonia ns. Galatians.
Philippians. I Corinthians.
2 Corinthians. Romans.
Philemon)
New Testament:
disputed Paul ine Epistles
(2 Thessalonians. Colossians.
Ephesians)
New Testament:
Pastoral Epistles
( I Timothy. 2 Timothy. Titus)
Christianity New Testament:
Additional epistolary writings
( I Peter. 2 Peter. james. jude.
I john. 2 john. 3 john)
New Testament:
Hebrews
it will carry with it the central message that is the
gospel of resu rrected life in j esus Christ. It will fash-
ion its next becoming with the tools of its past lea rn-
-
ing, honed in the wo rkshop of negotiated d ifference.
... .... ~
'I ~- ~ r
Composition/Compilation Compilation/ Use
Revision
Composed by various individuals and Individual books Doctrinal. ritual.
schools. from approximately 625 BCE to and sections inspirational.
the 1st century BCE. revised from 6th to educational
I st century BCE.
At the Council of
Yavne (70- 90 CE)
these writings were
brought together
and the canon
reached final form.
However. later
writings suggest
that debates
were ongoing as
to which texts
belonged in the
canon.
Composed between approximately 51 Doctrinal. ritual .
and 63 CE. over the course of Paul 's inspirational.
career in Ephesus. Corinth. Philippi. educational
Macedonia . and Rome.
Composed in Macedonia and Asia Minor Doctrinal. ritual .
between approximately 60 and 85 CE. inspirational.
Scholars doubt t hat these works were educational
actually written by Paul.
Composed in Asia Minor and perhaps Doctrinal. ritual.
Crete between approximately 90 and inspirational.
140 CE. These letters are named alter the educational
people to whom they were addressed and
traditionally attributed to Paul. but their
actual authors are unknown.
Composed in Asia Minor and Rome Doctrinal. ritual.
between 64 and ISO and attributed to inspirational.
the disciples alter whom the texts are educational
named. Their real authors are unknown.
Composed in either Rome or Alexandria Doctrinal. ritual .
in 63 CE by an anonymous author. inspirational.
educational
 4 Christian Traditions

Sa~~gexts
~.....

of C~istianity Y~ontinueaJJa~C
-- ......... --.-.._.-
•
New Testament: Composed in Antioch. southern Syria . or Doctrinal. ritual .
Synoptic Gospels (Matthew. possibly Galilee and Ephesus between 65 inspirational.
Mark. Luke) and 85 CE; attributed to the disciples for educational
whom they are named. but their actual
authors are unknown.
New Testament: Composed in Ephesus or possibly Doctrinal. ritual .
Gospel of john Alexandria in 90 CEand traditionally inspirational.
attributed to jesus's disciple john. son of educational
Zebedee; actual author unknown.
New Testament: Composed in we stem Asia Minor. Doctrinal. ritual .
Act s of the Apostles perhaps Ephesus. between 85 and 140 CE; inspirational.
attributed to Luke the Evangelist. the same educational
disciple named as the author of the Gospel
of Luke; the actual author is unknown.
New Testament: Dated to between 64 and 96 CE and Doctrinal. ritual .
Revelation traditionally attributed to john the inspirational.
Evangelist. writing on the Greek island of educational
Patmos. but the actual author is unknown.

Discussion Questions
l. How has local culture shaped Christian though t and p ractice ove r time and in d ifferent places)
2. How did the sh ift from private to public worship affect Christianity)
3. What are some examples of changes in Ch ristian th ink ing that reOect the changing world in
which Christianity has been practiced?
4. In what contexts has Ch ristian ity been a reform movement? How has it served as a stabilizing
inOuence with in society?
5. Even though Ch ristianity suffered persecution in its own early days, it has acted as a pe rsecutor
in other contexts. Discuss.
6. What factors have inOuenced the place of women in Christianity?
7. How do you imagi ne the future of Ch ristianity will unfold, based on its past?

Glossary
abbesses Powerful nuns who oversaw
the lands owned by their communities,
which in many cases were quite
extensive, and played a significant role
in the feudal manorial landholding
system of the day.
anchoritic monasticism The form of
monasticism practiced by the Desert
Fathers and Mothers, who withdrew
from society to pursue a life of silence,
prayer, and sometimes mortification
of the flesh; anchorites may also be
known as hermits.
Anselm (c. 1033-1109) Eleventh-
century archbishop of Canterbury
who moved away from the principle
of scriptural authority, asserting that
faith itself has a kind of rationality.
His most notable contribution to the
theological discourse of his age was
238 World Religions: Western Traditions
the ontological argument for the ex-
istence of God.
apostles The early followers of jesus
who witnessed his return as the risen
Lord and were sent out into the world
to proclaim him.
Aquinas, Thomas (1225-1274) Do-
minican theologian considered the
greatest of the scholastics, author of
the Summa Theologiae (St~mmalion of
Theology).
Arius The early theologian who
argued (against Athanasius) that j esus
was of like substance with God rather
than the same substance.
Athanasius The bishop of Alexandria
who argued (against Arius) that jesus
was of the same substance as God.
atonement The idea that Christ's
death restored humanity to a right re-
lationship with God, variously inter-
preted as divine victory over demonic
power, satisfaction of divine justice, or
demonstration of a moral example.
Augustine (354-430) Bishop of
Hippo Regius in North Africa, whose
theological writings shaped much of
what would become the theological
tradition of western Christianity.
baptism The ritual of initiation into
the Christian faith; one of the two key
sacraments of Christianity. The details
vary from one tradition to another, but
the ritual typically involves either im-
mersion in water or pouring of water
over the head and the words "I bap-
tize you in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit," although
some denominations baptize in the
name o[Jesus alone.
Beghards Men who, like the Beguines,
came together in small groups, main ly
in urban environments, to live their
lives in poverty, celibacy, prayer, and
service on the model of the gospel.
Beguines Women who adopted a free
style of religious life in many areas of
Europe beginning at the end of the
twelfth century.
Benedict's Rule The prototype for
western monastic life, written in the
first half of the sixth century by St.
Benedict.
Bernard of Clairvaux A monas-
tic leader of the twelfth century who
founded a Cistercian monastery at
Clairvaux and was distinguished by
the perceived holiness of his life.
Bishop The supervising priest of an
ecclesiastical district called a diocese.
Body of Christ Term for the world-
wide Christian community.
Calvin, jean (1509-1564) The French
Protestant theologian, seen as the father
of the Reformed churches, who empha-
sized a radical doctrine of sin and grace.
Canon A standard; a scriptural canon
is the list of books acknowledged as
scripture; the list of acknowledged
saints is likewise called a canon.
Canon law is the accumulated body of
church regulations and discipline.
Cappadocian Fathers Three
theologians-Gregory Nanzianzus,
Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Basil-from
a region in what is now Turkey that
was known for its tradition of desert
monasticism .
Carmelites An ascetic monastic
order of hermits established on Mount
Carmel in Palestine. After the fail-
ure of the Crusades, many members
migrated to Europe and reorganized
themselves as a mendicant order.
Carthusians A monastic order that
demanded a vow of silence and con-
siderable austerity from its members.
cenobitic monasticism The form of
monasticism practiced by religious who
live in community with one another.
charisms Spiritual gifts such as
preaching, healing, speaking in tongues
(glossolalia), and prophesying that
surfaced in local worshiping commu-
nities in the period of the early church.
Movements that emphasize such gifts
are described as "charismatic."
Christ From Christos, the Greek
translation of the Hebrew mashiach
(messiah), "anointed one."
Christolog} A t heory of who jesus
was, by nature and in substance.
Cistercians An austere monastic
order, founded in France in 1098; a
particularly strict branch of Cister-
cians, known as Trappists, observe a
rule of silence.
Cit) of God Work by Augustine of
Hippo that articulated a vision for the
relationship between the sacred and
the secular during the decline of the
Roman Empire.
Cluniac order An order, founded in
910, at the center of a movement to
reform monasticism by bringing its
institutions under the control of reli-
gious rather than secular authorities.
Constantine (c. 272-337) The first
Christian emperor, who convened the
Council of Nicaea in 325 CE.
Council of Chalcedon The fifth-
century church council at which the
controversies over the nature of jesus's
humanity and divinity were finally
resolved.
Council ofKicaea The fourth-century
church council, convened by Co nstan-
tine , that formally established many
beliefs about Christ.
Creeds Brief formal statements
of doctrinal belief, often recited in
unison by congregations,
Crusades A series of military actions
(1095-late 1200s) undertaken by
European Christians to drive Islam out
of the Holy Land .
deacon (Greek diakonia, "service")
The third order of (male) ministry in
the early church.
deaconess The similar, but initially
not equivalent, office for women in
the early church, devoted to serv-
ing women and children in the
community.
Dominicans A mend icant preaching
order formed in the early 1200s to
combat the "Aibigensian heresy:
dyophysitism The belief that the two
natures of jesus, human and divine,
are united in the second person of the
Trinity; affirmed at both Nicaea and
Ephesus and proclaimed as ortho-
doxy for both the western and eastern
Christian churches.
Easter The festival, held in March or
April, celebrating the resurrection of
jesus.
ecumenism The movement for re-
union or collaboration between
previously separate branches of
Christianity.
episcopacy (Greek, "oversight") The
foundational office of authority in
early Christianity. The first episcopoi
were the men to whom the original

apostles delegated local authority in
early Christian communities.
Erasmus (1466-1536) The human-
ist th inker who laid the groundwork
for Reformation theologians such as
Luther.
Eucharist The sacramental meal of
bread and wine that recalls jesus's Last
Supper before his crucifixion; a stan-
dard part of Christian worship.
Evangelical In Germany, a name
for the Lutheran Church. In the
English-speaking world, refers to con-
servative Protestants with a confident
sense of the assurance of divine grace
and the obligation to preach it.
excommunication Formal censure or
expulsion from a church, particularly
the Roman Catholic Church, for doc-
trinal error or moral misconduct.
Franciscans Mendicant order whose
monks live by a rule based on the life
and example of St. Francis of Assisi.
friar A member of a mend icant order
such as the Carmelites, Dominicans,
or Franciscans.
fundamentalism A twentieth-century
reaction to modernity, originally
among Protestants who maintained the
infall ibility of scripture and doctrine.
glossolalia Speaking in '"tongues"; a
distinguishing feature or charismatic
groups such as Pentecostals in which
people who feel filled with the Holy
Spirit begin speaking in what they
believe is a special heavenly language.
The ability to interpret such speech is
also considered a spiritual gift.
Gnosticism A worldview based on a
radical dualism that prioritized reason
and spirit over the physical.
Gospel (Greek evangelion, "good
news") The news of redemption that
the Hebrew prophets had promised.
The Gospels are the accounts ofjesus's
life auribmed to his disciples Mark,
Matthew, Luke, and john.
hagiography Stories of the lives of
saints by literal definition but also
used to refer to the uncritical adulation
of Christian figures and history.
heresy A belief or practice that is con-
trary to the accepted orthodoxy.
Holiness churches Protestant churches
that believe their members have already
received '"holiness" (spiritual perfection)
as a gift from God.
humanism The intellectual move-
ment that is seen as a necessary pre-
cursor to the Protestant Reformation.
icon (From Greek, "image") A distinc-
tive Byzantine form of portraiture used
to depict jesus, Mary, and the saints.
incarnation The embodiment of the
divine in human form; the Christian
teaching that God became human in
the person of jesus.
indulgences Releases from time in
purgatory; the selling or indulgences
by the church was one of the abuses
that Jed to the Protestant Reformation.
liturgy A prescribed form for public
worship.
logos The "Word" in the sense of eter-
nal divine intelligence and purpose.
Luther, Martin (1483-1546) The
father of the Protestant Reformation.
:.tanichaeism An intensely dualistic
religion, founded in the third century,
that grew out of Syrian Christianity
under the influence of Gnosticism.
martyrs Christians who have died for
their faith.
Mary The mother of jesus; a major
saint, deeply venerated by Roman
Catholics in particular.
:.tass The Roman Catholic name for
the Eucharist.
mendicant orders Orders that, instead
of turning their backs on the world and
withdrawing to monasteries, dedicate
themselves to pastoral work, serving
the people; examples include Carmel-
ites, Dominicans, and Franciscans.
monophysitism The belief that Christ
had only one nature, either divine or a
synthesis or divine and human; generally
abandoned in favor of dyophysitism.
mysticism The pursuit of intensely
felt spiritual union with the divine.
Nestorianism The position that there
was one (divine) nature in Christ and
it was separate from the human jesus.
New Testament The collection of
27 books-the Gospels, Acts of the
Apostles, Epistles, and Revelation-
written by various authors in the first
and early second cemuries and deter-
mined to be authoritative by the early
Christian church.
4 Christian Traditions 239
Nicene Creed The statement of faith
agreed on at the Council of Nicaea.
nuns Women living a common life in
a monastic community.
ontological argument Anselm's ar-
gument for the existence of God based
not on observation but on the logic that
such a being must necessarily exist.
original sin The idea that human
beings are inherently sinful because
our earliest ancestors, Adam and Eve,
chose to disobey God.
orthodoxy (Greek, the "straight way")
Correct belief; in any church, the ac-
cepted doctrine.
parables Simple stories told to illus-
trate a Jesson.
patriarchs In the early church, the
five bishops who held primacy of au-
thority by geographical region: Rome,
Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch,
and jerusalem. Today the term refers
to those bishops in the Eastern Ortho-
dox churches who preside over speci fie
geographical regions and/or historical
forms or the churches.
Paul, St. The jewish convert to Chris-
tianity (originally known as Saul of
Tarsus) who founded a number of
Christian communities and wrote
them letters or instruction and
guidance.
Pauline Epistles Letters attributed
to Paul in the New Testament, some
of wh ich were probably written by
others.
Pelagianism A salvation heresy ac-
cording to which human nature was
not so tainted by original sin as to
be incapable of choosing good or evil
without divine assistance.
Pentecost The fiftieth day after
Easter, commemorated as the dramatic
occasion when jesus's followers expe-
rienced the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecostalism Modern Protestant
groups that emphasize glossolalia as
a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit
and hence of the individual 's holiness
or spiritual perfection.
Peter, St. The "prince of apostles"
who was said to have become the first
bishop of Rome.
Pietism A movement that originated
in late-seventeenth-century Lutheran
240 World Religions: Western Traditions

Germany, expressing spontaneous
devotion and a confident certainty of
forgiveness.
pope The head of the Roman Catholic
Church.
predestination The notion that God
anticipates or controls human actions
and foreordains every individual to
either salvation or damnation.
presbyter (Greek, "elder") A key office
that developed in the post-Apostolic
period.
Reformed churches Churches that
are Calvinist in doctrine and often
Presbyterian in governance; histori-
cally strongest in the Netherlands and
Scotland but also found in France,
Switzerland, and Hungary.
rules of faith Compendiums of the
main teachings of bishops.
sacrament A ritual action seen as sig-
nifying divine grace. The most widely
accepted sacraments are baptism and
the Eucharist, although the Catholic
and Anglican churches also recognize
five others.
saints People Tecognized by the
church for their faith and virtue. Most
saints are believed to have worked at
least one miracle .
scriptures The holy writings of Chris-
tianity, consisting of the Hebrew Bible
in Greek translation (the Septuagint),
which Christians called the "Old Tes-
tament." and the New Tes tament ac-
counts of jesus's life and the early years
of the Christian community.
See One of the five major episcopal
areas: Rome, Constantinople, Alexan-
dria, Antioch, and jerusalem, known
as the pentarchy.
soteriological Involving salvation .
Synoptic Gospels The Gospels of Mat-
thew, Mark, and luke, called "synoptic"
(Greek, •seen together") because of their
many overlapping stories and themes.
teleological argument (From Greek
telos, "end" or "purpose") An argument
inferring the existence of God from
the perception of purpose or design in
the universe.
theocracy A state in which all of soci-
ety is controlled by the church or reli-
gious leaders.
Tlteoroko.~ Epithet for Mary as "God
bearer."
transubstantiation The view, held
mainly by Roman Catholics, that
during the Mass the bread and wine of
the Eucharist become the literal body
and blood of jesus.
Trinity The doctrine that God exists
in three "persons" or manifestations:
as Father, as Son, and as Holy Spirit.
widows The earliest known order for
women in Christianity, originally a
response to the social problem of pro-
viding support for poor w idows in the
community.
Zwingli, Ulrich (1484-1531) The
father of the Swiss Reformation.

Further Reading
Barret, David, ed. 2001. World Christian Encyclopedia: A Con•-
parati\f Study of Clwrches and Religions in tllf Modern
\Vorld. l'\ew York: Oxford University Press. The most com.
prehensJVe collection of data and demographics on currenL
world religtons.
Beilby, James, ed. 2009. I l1e Hisroric)esus: fi\'e Vie"s . Downers
Gro"·e, ll: IVP Academic. Five scholars presenL their views of
the h1stonc Jesus.
Benenson, Henry 5., and Chris Maunder, eds. 1999. Documents
of the Christian Church. 3rd ed. London: Oxford University
Press. SLrong on Lhe early church and Anglicanism.
Cross, F. L., and E. A. Li,•inRStone, eds. 2005. I he Oxford Dictionary
of llw Christian Church. 3rd ed. 1\ew York: Oxford University
Press. The best general one-volume reference handbook.
Ehrman, Bart. 2011. I he l\le" Testament: An Historical lntro·
duction to EariJ Clwisrian \\'riti11gs . l'\ew York/Toromo:
Oxford University Press. An overvtew of the Christian scnp-
tures in their h1storical, social. and literary contexts within the
Greco-Roman world.
Farmer, David Hugh. 2004. f11e Oxford Dictionar> of Saints.
New York: Oxford University Press. A comprehensiVe guide.
Hastings, Adrian. 2000, 2007. A World Histor) of Cl1ristianit).
Grand Rapids, Ml: Eerdmans. A detai led history includ-
mg Orthodox, Asian , African. Laun Amencan , and North
American Christianny.
Holder, Arthur, ed. 2005. Black~eff Com11anion to ChristianSI'ir-
ituafity. Oxford, UK, and Malden, MA: Blackwell. Essays by
various scholars, each o£ whom represents a differem perspec-
tive on Christian spirituality and its forms.
Jenkins, Philip. 2007. f11e Next Christianity Iloe Coming of
Global ChristianitJ. New York: Oxford University Press.
Explores the impHcations of the shift in Christianity's center
o£ gravny from Europe and North America to South America,
A£nca. and As1a.
Kraemer, Ross. 1988. Mae1wds, MarlJrS, .Matrons, Monastics: A
Sourcebook on \\'omen's Religions in the Greco-Ranum \\lorld.
Philadelphia: Fortress Press. A collection o£ pnmary texts re-
laung to women's religion in antiquity.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. 2010. Christianity: The first Three Thou-
sand Years. New York: Viking Adult. A large recent work by a
noted Reformauon histonan.
McGinn. Bernard. 2006. The Essenrial \Vrirings of Christian
M)Sticism. l'\ew York: Modern Library. A wtde-ranging
anthology.
McManners, John. 2002. Tlte Oxford lflustrated History of
Cltrisrianit)'. Oxford/Toronto: Oxford Lni\·ersity
Press.
A comprehensive volume deta1ling the development of
Chrisuanity.
Murray, Peter, and linda Murray. 1998. Tile Oxford Companion to
Christian Art and Architecture. New York: Oxford University
Press. An illustrated gutde.
Sakenfeld, Katharine Doob. 2009. Neh· lnrer1Jreter's DictionarJ
of tlte Bible. 5 vols. !\ashville: Abingdon Press. A good refer-
ence work on biblical toptcs.
Schussler-Fiorenza, Elisabeth. 199-l. ln Memory of Her: A Fem·
inisl Tl1eological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. New
York: Crossroad. Classtc exploration of the role of women in
the development of Chnstianity.
 4 Christian Traditions 241

Skmncr Keller, R'l'H"mJr) , und R•'~'·uur) Rad£ord Ruether
lOOb. l:nnt f,,pr,lwvj \\omc·n an,l RC"It,(Wn m \orth .-\mtrica
3 \ol~ Bl0<:1rnmg1on lndaana l niH·r-.11) Prr-.~- A three-
\'Oiume colkcuon of e<>\3)'5 on women's rehgaous expenence m
North Amenc.t, p.tst .md present
\\ hll< l•tn<' lllll lnlro.fucuon to(hri<ttan \\ or >hip 3rd ed :O...a,h·
'rlk Abm~J.m. The luutgiUI htSIOI") oltht Chnsum church.
\ \ 'ilson-Dickson. Andre\\ . lQQ7 lhr ~hH) •'J ( lrrh1111n \lu,u.
From Gregorian Chant to Blad~ (,,,,,,d . An .\hthor~ttlti\C'
lllustraud Gurdr to All tnt· ~faJor lraJuron' of Mu'ic jor
\\orship. Oxford. Uon Publ"hmg. Tr.ctsthe dnclopment of
Chnsuan worship musK

Recommended Websites
www.ccel.ora: www.oikoumene.org
Links to many cbss1c Chrl5ttan 1ex1s Sne of the \\'ortd Councrl of Churches

www.newadvtnt.ora: www.religionbcts.com/christianity/index.htm
A Cathohc sue wuh hnks to many pramary 1ex1s from the ume of A w1de-rangmg source of mformauon on Chnsu:muy as well as
1he early church other rehg1ons.

biblos.com www.vatican.va./phome_en.htm
A tool for Brble study, con~aontng many dtfferem Jranslauons of The English·language veTSJon of the officral Vatican sue
t he Btble.
virtualreligion.net/forum/index.html
www.christilnity.com Site of the Jesus Semmar.
A comprehensive source of an1clcs, v1dcos, and audio resources on
Chnsuan hiStory, theology, and livmg, as well as Btble study tools. www.wicc.org
Site of t he Women's Inter· Church Councrl ol Canada
www.ncccusa.org
Slle of the Nauonal Councrl of Churches USA www.worldevangelica.ls.org
A global as.soclatlon of e\·angehcal ChnsU<mS

References
Barrell, Oand 8 , George T. Curnan , and Todd M johnson. 2001. Madrgan, Shawn, ed 1998 My>l~<>. lfmonancs anJ Ptorhtt~
1\'orld Chnsuan EnC)t l••pcJoa A Coml"ra11>e Surwy of Churches A Hislonca!Aruhology of\\omcn"sSptntual \\'nun~ Mmneopohs
and R<logoons '" tht MoJan \\{>riJ Oxford Oxford l;nl\,.rsuy Fortress Press
Press Mdlanners.)ohn. ed 1990. ThcO.jorJlllttstral<d Hut.:nr4Chrt<turnrry
Colgr.l\·e, Ben..m , and R A. 8 M)·nors 1969 lltdc"s Ealmastt<al Oxford: Oxford t:mversrty Press
HrstOf)' of the Englr>h Pwplc Ox lord Clarendon Press ~1eycndorff, John. 1964 A Stud) of Grtgory P.Jwna' ~ew York·
Colledge. Edmund. and james Wal<h. cd and orans 1978.Juhan of Fauh Books.
Nor~>·l<h. Sho,.tng> Cl>ssocs of \\'estern Sprruualuy ~ew York: Pew Research Center 2014 Rdrgrous Landscape StuJ\ hu pJ/www
PaullSI Press pewforum.orglrehgrous.bndscape-Siudy/ (occcsscd Apr~ I 4 ,
Jenkms, Phrlhp 2007. The Next Chmttndom . :-.ew York: Oxford 2018).
Lmversnr Press Pew Research Center 2017 "\\'orld"s Mushm Populauon ~lore
John of the Cross n .d Dark N1ght of rhc Sc:>ul. Trans E. Alhson Peers. Wrdespread Than You ~hght Thmk" hup 1/www pew research
Chnsuan Clas«cs Ethereal Lrbrary hup//wwwccel.org/cceV orglfacHan k/20 17/01/31/worlds.mushm ·popu la110n· more·
)Ohn_crossldark_mght txt (accessed CXtober 22, 2013). wodespread.than·you·nnght·thmk! (accessed Apr~l 12, 2018).
Johnson, Todd M , Davtd B. Barrell, and Peter F. Crossmg. 2011. O'Bnen, Elmer. 1964. VaneucsofMysti£ E\pc11cnct. t'\ewYork Holt,
"Chnsllamty 2011 Manyrs and 1he Resursence of Rehgron." Rinehart and \Vmston.
lnl<rnatwmrl 8ullrr1n of M1t<lona1 y Rc<ca1Ch 35, no. I Uanuary): Ward, Benedicta. 1975. The Sayings of the Dnw Fat he". Trans Ben·
28-29 ed icta Ward. Trapptst, KY: Ctslercran Pubhcatlons.

Note
I. I am grateful to have been able to mcorporate porllon s of the
late Wrllard Oxtoby's orlgtnal chap1er here.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Traditions at a Glance
Numboers
There are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims a rou nd
the world, including more than 1 million in Canada,
nearly 3 mill ion in Great Britai n, and between 6 a nd
7 million in the United States.
Oi:stributron
Although Isla m originated in Arabia, the la rg-
est Muslim populations today are in Indonesia,
Pakista n, India, and Bangladesh . Muslims a re
the second-largest religious commu nity (beh l nd
Christians) in ma ny Western cou ntries, includi ng
Ca nada, Great Brita in, France, and Ge rmany.
Principal Historical Periods
The most signi ficant h istorica l pe riods in the devel-
opment o f Islam include the li fetime of the Prophet
Muhammad (570- 632), the time of the four caliph s
(632- 661), the pe riod of the Umayyad caliphate
(661- 750), the pe riod o f the 'Abbasid caliphate
(750- 1258), and the period of the Ottoman caliph-
ate (1517- 1924).
founder and Princapal leaders
There are two maj or branches o f Islam: Su nni a nd
Shi'a. All Muslims place authority in Muha mmad as
In this chapter you will lea rn about:
• The Arabian env iron ment in wh ich Islam
eme rged
• The biography of Muhammad and its impor-
ta nce tO Musli ms
• The story of the Qu r'a n and its role in Islam
• The basic religious practices o f Islam
• The distinctions within Islam, including the
Sunn i- Shi'a split and the mystic tradition
(Sufism)
-< An imam at the lmamzadeh Helal·ebne Ali Shrine in Ka.shan. Iran (ZUMA Press. lnc./Aiamy Stock Photo)
the last prophet, but the Shi'a give special authority
a fter Muhammad to h is son-in-law 'Ali and 'Ali's de-
scendants (the Imams).
Deity
Allah is Arabic for "the God" and is cognate with the
Hebrew 'Eioh (plu ral 'Eiohim), "deity." Muslims be-
lieve Allah tO be the same God worsh iped by Chris -
tians, Jews, and other monotheists.
Authoritative Texts
The essential text is the Qu r'a n (lite rally, "The Rec-
ita tion"), believed to have been revealed by God to
Muhammad betwee n the years 610 and 632 CE.
Second in importa nce are the sayings of Muham-
mad, known collectively as the hadith (l iterally,
"narrative").
Noteworthy Doctrin~s
Is lam, like Judais m and Christianity, is a religious
trad ition based on eth ical monotheism. Its prophetic
trad ition began with the first created hu man bei ng
(Adam) and ended with the Prophet Muhammad.
Muslims believe that the first place of worship ded-
icated to the one true God was the Ka'ba in Mecca,
bu ilt by Ab rah am a nd h is son Ish mael.
• The developme nt of Islamic law (shari'ah),
philosophy, and theology
• Contemporary issues faci ng Musl im com mu-
nities in North America
In the yea rs before the terrorist attacks of Sep -
tember 11, 2001, many instructors would begin
the ir courses on Islam with sta ndard h istorical in-
troductions tO the life of Muha mmad and the be-
ginni ngs of Islam. Thei r students o ften knew very
little about either Islam itself or the religious lives

of Muslims before signi ng up for the course. Even
Musli m students in many cases had never h ad a
formal introduction to their faith, and so the uni-
versity course prov ided thei r first opportun ity to
study it. After 9/11, howeve r, some instruc tors
found that students were com ing in with what they
thought was a great deal of knowledge about Islam
a nd the religious lives of Musli ms. Unfortunately,
most of thei r "knowledge" came from the popu-
la r media and was at odds with what the major-
ity of Musli ms unde rstand about thei r faith. As a
result , some instructo rs decided that they had to
begin with a crash course on med ia literacy, espe-
c ially in the context of telev ision news, underlining
that when ratings take priority, the controversial
a nd provocative is privileged ove r the thoughtful
a nd accurate. Th is a necdote shows the powe r of
the media in co nstructi ng unde rstand ings of the
world around us, includi ng, of course, Muslims
a nd Islam. How many of us come to the study of
Islam with our minds already made up, convinced
eithe r that it is a religion of peace that can help to
heal the ills of modern Western society, or that it is
a religion of viole nce and intolera nce, incapable of
coexisting with that society?
Islam is the last of the th ree h istoric mono-
theistic religions that arose in the Middle East,
comi ng after Juda ism and Christian ity. Its name
means "subm ission" in Arabic a nd signifies the
Document
A Hadith (Saying) of the Prophet Muhammad
The followi ng story comes from the earliest hadith col-
lections of ai-Bukhari and Muslim ibn ai-Hajjaj.
A man sinned greatly, and when death came to him
he charged his sons, saying: "When I have died,
burn me, then crush me and scatter my ashes into
the sea. For, by God, if the Lord takes possession of
S Muslim Traditions
comm itment of its adherents to live in total subm is -
sio n to God. A person who professes Isla m is called
a Muslim, meaning "one who submits to God." An
olde r te rm, rarely used today, is "Mohammedan ,"
which mislead ingly- and to Muslims offe nsively-
suggests that Muslims worsh ip the Prophet Mu-
hammad h imself.
The Qu r'an , the Islamic scripture, presents Islam
as the universal and primordial fa ith of all the proph-
ets from Adam to Muhammad, and of all those who
have faith in God, the one sove reign Lord , creator,
and susta ine r o f all th ings. According to the Qur'an,
Isla m is God's ete rnal way for the universe.
Who is a Muslim? Inanimate th ings, plants, an-
ima ls, even the angels, a re all muslims by nature or
instinct. On ly human islam is an islam of choice.
Human beings may voluntarily accept o r willfully
reject God, but on the Day of Judgment they will
face the conseque nces of their choice. They can
expect to be rewa rded for their faith or punished for
their rejection of it.
Most Muslims are born into Muslim fam ilies. But
one can also become a Muslim simply by repeating
before two Muslim witnesses the sltaltadalt, or pro-
fession of faith: "I bear witness that there is no god
except God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is
the messenger of God." Anyone who does this be-
comes legally a Muslim, with all the rights and re-
sponsibilities that th is new identity entai ls.
r,:;;rttco 'li
~~4::;;
/AJut;f.d,
me, God will punish me in a man ner in which God
has punished no one else." So they did that to thei r
,~;;
father. Then God said to the earth "Produce what
you have taken!"- and there was the man. God said
to the man, "What induced you to do what you did1"
fih~Jj
The man replied, "Being afraid of you, 0 my Lord."
Because of that, God forgave the man.
~}!.
World Religions: Western Traditions

Timeline
622 CE Muhammad's hijrah from Mecca to Medina
632 Muhammad dies: leadership passes to the caliph
642 Birth of ai-Hasan ai-Basri. early Sufi ascetic (d. 728}
661 Damascus established as capital of Umayyad caliphate
680 Death of Husayn at Karbala. commemorated as martyrdom by Shi'as
711 Arab armies reach Spain
762 Baghdad established as 'Abbasid cap ita I
80I Death of Rabi'a ai-'Adawiyah of Basra. a famous female Sufi
lOSS Birth of ai-Ghazali. the greatest medieval Muslim theologian (d. I I II)
1071 Seljuq Turks defeat Byzantines in eastern Anatolia
116S Birth of Ibn 'Arabi. philosopher of the mystical unity of being (d. 1240}
1207 Birth of jalal ai-Din Rumi. Persian mystical poet (d. 1273)
12S8 Baghdad falls to Mongol invaders
1492 Ch ristian forces take Granada. t he last Muslim stronghold in Spain
I S29 Ottoman Turks reach Vienna
1602 Muslims officially expelled from Spain
1683 Ottoman Turks again reach Vienna
1703 Birth of Ibn 'Abd ai-Wahhab. leader o f traditionalist revival in Arabia (d. 1792)
1924 Atatiirk. Turkish modernizer and secularizer. abolishes the caliphate
1947 Pakistan established as an Islamic state
1979 Ayatollah Khomeini establishes a revolutionary Islamic regime in Iran
200 1 Osama bin Laden (d. 2011) launches terrorist attacks on America
2006 Orhan Pamuk becomes the second Muslim (after Naguib Mahfouz in 1988} to win t he Nobel
Prize for Literature
2010 Islamic scholars at the Mardin Conference in Turkey issue a ruling against terrorism
2011 The "Arab Spring." in which the governments of Tunisia. Egypt. Yemen. and Libya are
overthrown
2011 Tawakkul Karman. a leader of the Arab Spring in Yemen. becomes the second Muslim woman
(after Shirin Ebadi in 2003} to w in the Nobel Peace Prize
2017 Mahershala Ali. an American Muslim. becomes the first Muslim to win an Academy Award
.J
----~.~

~ Beginnings
Pre-Islamic Arabia
The long penod of pre-Islamic Arab history is
called by the Qur'an the age of jahiliyah (" fooli sh-
ness" or "ignorance"). The te rm designates not so
much a state o f cogn itive ignorance or lack of 'ilm
("knowledge") as a lack of moral consc iousness. The
Arabs before Islam (like the ancient Hebrews) d1d
not behe,·e man afterlife. To them, the only form of
hfe after death was the ghost of a slam man, wh1ch
would hnger m this world unttl revenge was ex-
acted, whether on the killer himself or on any man
of s1m1lar status m his tribe; as a consequence, long
and deadly feuds decimated many tribes. S1nce time
would spare no one, the pre-Is lamic Arabs beheved
that humans ought to make the most of this life
whi le they could. Arab society was t hus focused
on ea rth ly accomplishments and pleasures, valuing
manly prowess and tribal solidarity and pra1smg the
man who made a good name for h1s tribe of wh1ch
he could boast while drowning h1s ex1stenual sor-
rows tn wme, women, and senumental verse.
Allah IS Arab1c for "the God." The Arab:. before
Islam recogmzed Allah as the supreme creator god,
but he was not the only recipient of worsh1p. Among
the many other deities worshiped by t he Arabs in
a nd around the city of Mecca (Ma kkah) were a god
named Hubal ("vapor"), who may origi nally have
been a rain god, and three goddesses wh o were said
to be the daughters of Allah Al-Lat, al-'Uzza h, and
Manat (Manat may have been a version of the god -
dess of love, known to the Greco-Roman world as
Aphrodne or Venus). Although the three goddesses
were worsh1ped as intermedianes who m1ght bnng
de,•otees closer to their father (see Q. 39:3), the
Qur'an repudtates them as mere "names whtch you
[the Arabs] and rour fathers named; God sent down
no authortty concerning them" (53:20-3).
Arabs shared the general Semitic idea of a sacred
place (haram) where no living thing-plant, animal,
or human-could be harmed. For Mecca and most
of Arabia, the chief haram was the shrine called the
Ka'ba, an anctent square building that con tained
S Muslim Traditions
ma ny idols, or tmages of gods and goddesses
(among them some crudely pamted figures that may
represent Jesus and h1s v1rgm mother Mary), and
still contains at one corner an unusual black stone
that most think to be a meteonte. The Ka'ba was
bel ieved to have been built by the biblical patria rch
Ab raham and his son Ishmael (Isaac's brother), who
had seuled w ith h is mother, Hagar, in the valley of
Makkah (see Q. 14:37). Before Islam, then, the Ka'ba
was already a pilgnmage Site to which people came
from far and w1de. The p1lgnmage season was also
the time of a trade fa1r, wh1ch gave Mecca a special
prestige and econom1c status m Arab1a.
When Islam emerged tn the seventh century CE,
Arabia was borde red to the west by the Christian
Byzantine Empire and to the east by the Zoroastrian
Sasa nian Persian Emp1re. The city of Mecca, located
some 40 m iles inland from the Red Sea, was dom i-
nated main ly by one tribe, the Quraysh, but it was
open to a broad range of cu ltural and religious in-
Ouences, includ ing the moral and devotional ideas
of the Jewish and Chrisllan communities that had
been present in the terntory for centuries. There
were also desert hermns who pracuced holiness
and healing and a group of Meccan Arabs known as
han ifs ("pious ones") who shared the ethical mono-
theism of Judatsm and Chnsuanny. The majority
of pre-Islamic Arabian SOCiety, however, was poly-
theistic. Pre-Islamic Arabia was also a tribal society,
with rad ica l class d istinctions and social inequality,
including t he practice or slave ry.
The Life of Muhammad
(570-632 CE)
Muhammad was born mto the Quraysh tribe around
the year 570. HIS father dted before hts birth, and his
mother a few years later. In the patemahstic and tribal
society of pre-IslamiC Arabia, to be without a family
(and especially a father) was to be on the margins of
society, but the orphaned Muhammad was taken in
and cared for by his paternal grandfather, 'Abd al-
Muttalib, and then, after hi s grandfather's death when
the boy was eight years old, by hts uncle Abu Talib.
World Religions: Western Traditions

Sites
Mecca. Saudi Arabia
The place where the Prophet Muhammad was born
and received his first revelations, Mecca is also
home to the Ka'ba, which Muslims believe to have
been the first place of monotheistic worship. Mus-
lims believe that the Ka'ba was built by Abraham
and his son Ishmael , and when they pray, they face
in its d irection. The structure is now surrounded by
the Great Mosque of Mecca (the Masjid al-Haram)
and is the focal point of the annual hajj (pilgrim-
age), when more than 2 million Muslims visit the
site over a period of about 10 days. The entire city is
permanently closed to non-Muslims.
Recent years have seen controversy over the
Saudi government's decision to destroy many h is -
toric Muslim buildings in order to erect a luxury
hotel and a massive clock tower (modeled on l on-
don's Big Ben). Sami Angawi, a Saudi scholar, has
documented th is destruction at his Hajj Research
Centre in the nearby city of jeddah.

During the hajj. as many as 500.000 pilgrims gather in the inner courtyard of the Great Mosque and circumambulate
the Ka'ba. Outside the courtyard but still w ithin the Great Mosque there may be almost 2 million more pilgrims.

liule is known about Muhammad's youth. His
family was in the caravan trade, and Muhammad
joined h is uncle in the family business. By h is mid-
20s, howeve r, he was working as a me rchant for a
rich widow, Khadijah , who proposed marriage to
him. Although she was older than he was and had
been married and widowed before, he accepted.
Early biograph ical sou rces describe h im as a contem-
plative, honest, and mild-man nered young man. He
was called a!-Amin (" the faithful" or "trustworthy")
because of the confidence he inspired in people.
Once a year, during the month of Ramadan ,
Muhammad spent days in seclusion in a cave on
Mount Hira, a short distance from Mecca. Trad i-
tion reports that it was du ring one o f those retreats
that he received the call tO prophethood and the
fi rst revelation of the Qur'an. Accord ing to th is ac-
count, as Muhammad was siuing one n ight in the
solitude of his retreat, a n angel- later identified as
Gab riel Uibril in Arabic)- appeared. Taki ng hold of
him and pressing h im hard, the angel com manded,
"Recite [or read aloud]!" Muhammad answered , "I
cannot read." After repeati ng the command a second
and third time, the angel continued, "Recite in the
name of your l ord who created, created the human
being from a blood clot. Recite, for you r lord is
most magnanimous- who taught by the pen, taught
the human being that which s/he did not know"
(Q. 96 1- 5). Sh ivering with fear and apprehension,
Muhammad ran home and asked the people o f h is
household 10 cover him with a cloak to protect him.
Khadijah was the first one to believe in the truth of
Muhammad's encounte r with Gabriel, but h is young
cousin 'Ali (the son of Abu Talib) also supported him.
The angel returned to h im often, saying, "0 Mu-
hammad, I a m Gabriel, a nd you are the Messenger
o f God." Khadijah consoled and encouraged h im
a nd eventually wok h im to he r cousin, a learned
Christian named Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Waraqah
confirmed Muhammad in h is mission, declaring
him to be a prophet for the Arabs, chosen by God to
deliver a sac red law to his people just as Moses had
to the Jews.
The idea o f a prophet- nabi in both Arabic and
Hebrew- was not unfam iliar to the people of the
S Muslim Traditions
region. But for 12 years, Muhammad the Prophet
of God preached the new faith in the one God with
liule success. The Meccans d id not wish to abandon
the polythe istic ways of the ir ancestors, and they
fea red the implications of the new faith both for
their social customs and for the religious status of
the Ka'ba, which as a pilgrimage cente r brought sig-
nificant economic resources to their city. (In many
ways, pilg rimage was as luc rative for premodern
economies as tou rism is for modern ones.)
Muhammad's message was not only religious but
also moral a nd social. He instructed the Meccans
to give alms, to care for the orphaned, to feed the
hungry, to assist the oppressed and destitute, and to
offer hospitality to the wayfarer. He also warned of
impending doom on the day of the l ast Judgment.
The first to accept the new faith, a fte r h is wife Khad-
ijah, were his cousi n (and future son-in-law) 'Ali ibn
Abu Talib, Muhammad's slave Zayd ibn Harithah
(whom he later freed and adopted), and Muham-
mad's faith ful compan ion Abu Bakr.
Like jesus and h is d isciples, Muhammad and his
followe rs were often vilified. Around 615, one group
of Muslims without tribal protection faced such
seve re persecution from the polytheistic Meccans
that the Prophet advised them to migrate across the
Red Sea to the Christian country of Abyssin ia (Eth i-
opia), where they were well rece ived. In 619 the
Prophet h imself was left without support or protec-
tion when both his wife and his uncle d ied with in
the space of barely two months. Although he late r
entered into a number of polygamous ma rriages (as
was the custom in h is soc iety), the loss of Khad ijah
must have been particula rly hard: they had been
married for almost half his life, she was the mothe r
of thei r four daughters, and she had been the first
pe rson to believe in him. But the death of Abu Talib
must have been almost equally hard, for he was the
only real fathe r figure Muhammad had known, and
with his death Muhammad lost the protection that
his beloved uncle had provided.
It was soon after these losses that Muhammad ex-
perie nced what came to be known as the "night jour-
ney," traveli ng from Mecca to j erusalem in the course
of a single night, and the mi'raj, a miraculous ascent
World Religions: Western Traditions
to heaven , where he met some of t he prophets who
had gone before h im and was granted an audience
with God. For Muslims, these miraculous events
con fi rmed that even in times of trouble, the Proph et
still had the support of God. Even so, it would be a n-
othe r three years be fore he was able to find a place for
the Muslims tO establish their own commun ity, fr ee
of the persecution t hey suffered in Mecca.
The First Muslim Community
Fi nally, in 622 , an invitation was o ffered by t he
city o f Yath rib, about 250 m iles north o f Mec<:a.
The m igration (hijrah) to Yath rib, wh ich t hereafter
came to be known as "the city of t he Prophet" or
Medi na ("the city"), marked the beginn ing of co m-
mun ity life unde r Islam, and thus of Islamic h istory.
In Medina Muham mad established the fi rst Islam ic
com monwealth: a truly theoc ratic state , headed by
a prophet whose rule was believed 10 follow the d ic-
tates of d ivine scripture.
Med ina was a n oasis city with an agricultu ral
economy. Its soc ial structu re was far more hetero -
geneous tha n Mecca's, for its population included a
substantial jewish commu nity as well as two feu d-
ing Arab t ribes, the Aws a nd the Khazraj , whose old
r ival ries had kept the city in a continuous state of
civil st rife. Muhammad was remarkably success ful
at welding these d ispa rate eleme nts into a coh e-
sive social unit. In a brief constitutional document
know n as the Covenant o f Medi na, he stipulated
Focus
Islamic Dates
The m igration to Mecca provided the starting poi nt
for the dating system used th roughout the Muslim
world . Yea rs a re counted backwa rd or forward fro m
the ltyrah and accompan ied by the abbreviation
AH, from t he latin for "yea r of the hijralt." Because
that all the people of the city should form a single
Muslim com monwealth. The covenant granted
the jews full religious freedom and equality with
the Muslims on the condition t hat they support t he
State and refra in from ente ring into a ny all iance
against it, whethe r with the Q uraysh o r with a ny
other tribe.
The Q ur'an's na rratives and worldv iew are closely
akin to the prophetic view of h istory laid out in t he
Hebrew Bible. The Prophet expected the j ews of
Medina, recognizing th is kinsh ip, tO be natural
all ies, and he adopted a number ofj ewish practices,
includ ing the fast of the Day of AtOnement (Yom
Kippu r). But t he Med inan jews rejected both Mu-
ham mad's clai m tO be a prophet a nd the Q ur'a n's
claim to be a sac red book. The resulti ng te nsion
between the two commun ities is re Oected in the
Qur'an's t reatment of the jews. Some references are
clea rly positive- for example, "Among t he People
o f the Book are an uprigh t com mun ity who rec ite
God's revelations in the night, prostrate the mselves
in adoration , believ ing in God a nd the last Day .
these a re o f the r ighteous, whatever good they do,
they shall not be den ied it" (3:113 - 15). Others are
just as clearly negative: "Take not the jews and
Christians for friends" (5:51). Inc reasi ngly, Islam
began to distinguish itself from j udaism, so th at
wit h in two yea rs of the Prophet's a rr ival in Med ina,
the fast o f Ram adan wok precedence over t he fast
o f Yom Kippur, and t he qiblalt (di rection of praye r)
was cha nged from jerusalem tO the Ka'ba in Mecca.
Musli ms use the luna r year- wh ich is ll days
shorte r t ha n the solar year- hijri dates gain 1 year
approx imately eve ry 33 sola r years. Thus the
year 1400 AH was reached in 1979 CE, and the new
year of 1442 will be celebrated in 2020.

Sites
Medina. Saudi Arabia
Medina is the home of the first Muslim commu-
nity and the place where Muhammad was buried.
Unlike Mecca, the city of Medi na is open to
non -Muslims. The Prophet's Mosque (Masjid al-
Nabawi), located in the cente r of the city next to
Muhammad's home, was origi nally q uite s imple.
In the Qur'an the people of Med ina who became
Muslims are called Ansar ("helpers") because they
were the fi rst supporters and protectors of Islam
and the Prophet. As the flow of Muslim immigrants
from Mecca increased, however, a new social
group was added tO an al ready d iverse society. The
new ar rivals, along with those who came with or
shortly after the Prophet, were called Muhajirun
("immigrants").
The Conversion of Mecca
The Muslims who had fled Mecca for Medina had
left all their goods and property beh ind. W ithout the
means to s upport themselves in their new home,
they began raiding Meccan caravans returning from
Syria. In 624, when the Meccans sent an army of
roughly 1,000 men to Medina, they we re met at the
well of Badr by a 300-man detachment of Muslims.
Though poorly equipped and far outnumbered,
the Muslims were h ighly motivated, and they in-
flicted a crushing defeat on the Meccans. The Battle
of Badr, as it came to be called, remains one of the
most memorable events in Muslim h istory. It is cel-
ebrated in the Qur'an as a miraculous proof of the
truth of Islam, with the text declaring: "You (Mu-
hammad] did not shoot the first arrow when you
did shoot it; rather God shot it" (Q. 8:17) and "God
supported you (Muslims] at Badr when you were in
an abased state" (Q. 3:123).
S Muslim Traditions
But over the centuries it was expanded to its pres-
ent form , and it is now one of the la rgest mosques
in the world. The graves of the Prophet's first two
successors as leader of the Muslims, Abu Bakr
and 'Umar ibn al -Khattab, are also located in the
Prophet's Mosque.
To avenge their defeat, the Meccans met the
Muslims the following year by Mount Uhud, not
far from Medina, and this time they prevailed. Fol-
low ing the Battle of Uhud, the jews of Med ina were
expelled from the city on the grounds that they
had formed all iances with the Meccans against the
Muslims. But the real reason may have been that
the Muslims sought to free their state of external
inOuences at this critical stage in its development.
The Muslims were growing in strength. Mean-
while, they continued tO raid the caravans of the
Qu raysh, and before long they received word that
the Meccans were planning to attack Med ina itself.
Om the advice of Salman the Persian, a former slave,
the Prophet had a trench dug around the exposed
parts of the city to prevent the Meccan cavalry from
entering. Thus, when the Quraysh, along with a
large coalition of other tribes, tried tO invade Medina
in 627, the city was able to withstand the attack.
The "Battle of the Trench" marked a tipping point
in relations between the Muslims and the Meccans,
and in 628 the latter were impelled to seek a truce.
Two years later, when the Quraysh breached the
truce, the Prophet set out for Mecca at the head of a
large army. But there was no need to fight. When the
Muslims arrived, the Meccans surrendered to them
and accepted Islam en masse.
Whenever an individual or tribe accepted Islam,
the Prophet had ordered that all hostilities cease and
all enemies be considered brothers and sisters in faith.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Therefore the Prophet granted amnesty to all in the
city. Asked by the Meccans what he intended to do
with them, the Prophet answered, "I will do with you
what j oseph did with his brothers. Go; you are free."
Then he quoted j oseph 's words to h is brothers: "The re
is no blame in you today; God forgive you" (Q. 12:92).
Muhammad tOok no credit for the conquest of
Mecca, attributing the victory solely to God, as pre-
sc ribed in the Qur'an: "When support from God
comes, and victory, and you see people enter into
the religion of God in th rongs, proclaim the praise of
your Lord and seek God's forgiveness, for God is truly
relenting" (Q. 110). He returned to Medina and died
there two years later, in 632, after making a farewell
pilgri mage to Mecca and its sac red shrine, the Ka'ba.
Muhammad was always know n as rasul Allah
("the Messenger of God") rather tha n as a ruler or
milita ry leader. But he was all of these. He waged
wa r and made peace. He laid the fou ndations of
a com munity (umm ah) that was based on Islam ic
principles. He fi rmly established Islam in Arabia
and sent expeditions to Sy ria. With in 80 yea rs the
Muslims would admi nis ter the largest empire the
world had eve r know n , stretch ing from the sout h-
ern borders o f France th rough North Africa and the
Middle East into India and Cent ral Asia.
At the time of his death, however, no one could
have foreseen that future. The majority of Muslims -
the Sunn i, mean ing those who follow the s umtah
(traditions) of the Prophet- believed that he had not
even designated a successor or specified how one
should be chosen. But a minority community, known
as the Shi'a (from the Arabic meaning "party"), be-
lieved that Muham mad had in fact appointed h is
cousin and son-in-law 'Ali to succeed him. Muha m-
mad 's death therefore precipitated a crisis, which
would g row into a permanent ideological rift.
A khalifah is one who represents or actS on
behalf of another and is the basis o f the English
word "caliph." Thus, after Muhammad's death h is
dose companion Abu Bakr became the khalifat
rasul Allah- the "successor" o r "rep resentative" of
the Messenger of God- and Abu Bakr's successor,
'Umar ibn al-Khattab, was at fi rst referred to as the
"successor of the successor o f the Messenger of God."
From the begi nning, the institution of the ca-
li phate had a worldly as well as a religious d imen-
sion. As a successor of the Prophet, the ca liph was a
religious leade r. At the same ti me, as the chief or ad-
ministrative head of the community, he was t he amir,
or com mander, of the Musli ms in times of peace as
well as war. Perhaps conscious o f th is tempo ral di-
mension of his office, 'Uma r is said to have adopted
the title "com mande r o f the faith ful" in place of his
cumbersome origi nal title. Nevertheless, the caliph
continued to function as the ch ief religious leade r
(imam) of the community. In all, there were four ca-
liphs who ruled after Muham mad , from 632 tO 661.
From 661 to 750, the Musl im world was r uled by a
heredita ry dynasty known as the Umayyads. Then
the Umayyads in tu rn we re defeated by the 'Abbasid
dynasty, wh ich ruled from 750 to 1258.
~ Foundations
Prophets and Messengers
Accord ing to the Qu r'an, God ope rates th rough
prophets and messenge rs who convey God's will
in revealed sc riptures and seek to establish God's
sac red law in the lives of their commun ities. From
the Islam ic point of view, therefore, hu man h istory
is prophetic h istOry.
Islam ic tradition mainta ins that, from the time of
Adam to the time of Muhammad, God sent 124,000
prophets into the world to rem ind people of every
community of their obligation to the one and only
sove reign Lord and wa rn them against heedlessness
and disobed ience: "There is not a nation but that
a wa rner was sent tO it" (Q. 26:207). The Qur'an
mentions by name 25 prophets and messengers.
Most are well -know n biblical figures, among them
Abraham , Moses, David , Solomon , Elijah , J onah ,
j oh n the Baptist, and j esus. It also mentions th ree
Arabian prophets: Shu'ayb, Hud , and Salih.
Islam ic tradition distinguishes betwee n proph -
ets and messengers. A prophet (nabi) is one who
conveys a message from God to a specific people
at a specific time. A messenge r (rasul) is also a
prophet sent by God 10 a specific community, but

the message he delivers is a u niversally bindi ng
sacred law (shari'ah). The Torah given to Moses on
Mount Si nai was an exa mple of the latter: though
delivered to the anc ient Hebrews, it remained
binding on all t hose who k new it, Hebrews and
others, until t he a rrival o f the next revelation- the
gospel of jesus. In othe r words, eve ry messenge r
is a prophet, but not every prophet is a messenger.
Among t he messenge r-prophets, five- Noah , Abra-
ham, Moses, j esus, and Muhammad- are called
ulu al-'azm ("prophets of power or fi rm resolve,"
Document
The Qur'an: Abraham Destroys the Idols
In the Quran, the following story is told which highlights
the role ofAbraham as a monotheist among his polytheist
people.
W hen [Abraham] said to h is father and his people,
"What are these idols that you so fervently worship?"
they said, "We found our fathers worshiping them."
He said, "Both you and your fathers are in manifest
error." They said, "Have you come to us with the
truth , or are you one of those who jest?"
He said, "Your lord is indeed the lord of the heav-
ens and the earth, for your l ord originated them; and to
this ! am one of those who bear witness. By God, 1shall
confound your idols as soon as you t urn your backs."
He thus destroyed them utterly except for the chief
one, so that t he people might t urn to it [for petition].
They said, "Who d id th is to our gods? He is
s urely a w rongdoer."
Some sa id, "We heard a youth called Abraham
speaking o f them."
O the rs said, "Bring him here in the sight o f the
people, so that they may all witness."
They said, "Did you do this to our gods, 0 Abraham?"
S Muslim Traditions
Q. 46:35). Their special significance lies in their having
received un iversally binding revelations from God.
Abraham
Accord ing tO t he Qu r'an, it was the innate reason-
ing capacity o f the Hebrew pat ria rch Abraham-
lbrahim in Arabic- that led h im away from his
people's t radition o f idol worsh ip and toward the
knowledge of God. Eve n as a youth he recognized
that idols made o f wood or stone can not hear the
He said, "No, it was their chief who d id it. Q uestion
t hem- if they could speak."
The people t hen t urned on one another, say ing,
"Indeed you are the w rongdoers!" Then t hey bowed
t hei r heads in humil iation , sayi ng, "You know well,
[0 Abraham], that these do not speak."
He [Abraham] said, "Would you then worship
ins tead of God a t hing t hat ca n do you neither good
nor harm? Shame on you and on what you worship
ins tead of God; do you not reason?"
They said, "Burn h im and stand up for your gods,
if you would do anything."
We [God] said, "0 fire, be coolness and peace for
Ab:raham."
They wished evil for h im, but We turned them
into utte r losers. And We delivered hi m and lot to a
land that We blessed for all bei ngs. We also granted
h im Isaac and jacob as added favor, and We made
t hem both righteous. We made them all leaders
guid ing others by our command. We inspired t hem
tO do good deeds, perform regular worsh ip, a nd give
t he obligatOry alms; and they were t rue worsh ipers
of Us alone. (Q 2 1:51- 73)
World Religions: Western Traditions
suppltcauons of their worsh1pers and therefore can
do them neither good nor harm .
One mght, gazing at the full moon tn ItS glory,
Abraham thought that It must be God. But when he
saw it set, he changed h1s mmd. He then gazed at
the bright sun and thought that, since it is so much
large r, it must be the real God . But that n ight t he
su n too set, leading Abraham to declare: "I turn my
face to the One who originated the heavens and t he
earth, a man of pure fanh, and I am not one of the
Assoc1ators !those who assoc1ate other thmgs or
bemgs wah God!" (Q. 6 :77-79).
Moses
Because Muslim tradition presents Muhammad in
many ways as "a prophet like Moses," Moses occupies
more space in the Qur'an than any other prophet,
including Muhammad ; he is mentioned over 200
times. Like Muhammad, Moses is said to have grow n
up as an orphan, away from his parents' home. His
m1ssion, like Muhammad's, beg;tn in solitude with
God m the wilderness. The scnpture revealed to him,
the Torah, is for Mus!Jms second m Importance to the
Qur'an and most like It m content and purpose.
Moses was sent as a messenger of God not only
to his own people, but also to the Egyptians. The
Qur'an summarizes Moses's m1ss1on thus: "His
Lord called out to h im . . . 'Go to Pharaoh, for he
has waxed arrogant!' . He !Pharaoh ! c ried o ut
and proclaimed, 'I am your lord most high l' But
God seized h im with the torment of both the ne xt
world and this" (Q. 79:15-25). Nevertheless, Pha-
raoh persisted in the sm of cla1mmg parity with
God for himself (a sin known m Islam as shirh). But
the mag1cians he brought to counter God's mtracles
were themselves convened and d1ed as martyrs for
thetr fanh. In Muslim trad1uon, Pharaoh's w1fe, too,
accepted faith in God and died a mart yr. Pharaoh 's
own declaration of faith in "the God of the children
of Israel," made at the point of his death by drown-
ing, came too late to save him (see Q. 10:90).
Muslims believe that every major prophet has
been supported in his claim to be sent by God by
evidentiary miracles. These miracles have suited
the prophet's m1ss1on as well as the condiuon of h1s
people. Thus the m1racles of Moses affirm God's
power and w1sdom agamst the magic and m1ght of
the Egyptians.
jesus
j esus is presented in the Qur'an as a m iracle in him-
self. His virgin birth and his ability to heal the sick,
feed the hungr)', and even raise the dead all affirm
God's creauve and hfe-g1ving power against those-
jews and non-jews-who deny the reality of the
resurrecuon and ltfe to come. Furthermore. the mtr-
acles of jesus were performed at a time when Greek
medicme. sc1ence, and philosophy were challengmg
the sovereignty. power, and wisdom of God as the
sole creator and Lord of the universe. The miracles
of jesus therefore serve to assert the power of God
over human science a nd wisdom.
The Qur'an presents j esus as a messenger of God
sent to the children of Israel with the message: "God
is surelr my Lord and your Lord. Worship h1m,
therefore: thiS IS the stra1ght way" (Q. 3:51). For Mus-
lims, parucularly the m)'SliCs,jesus is an example of
a world-renouncmg asceuc, a wandering prophet of
stern p1ety but deep compass1on for the poor. suffer-
ing, and oppressed, whoever they might be.
Thus jesus is a great prophet for Muslims. Al-
though the Qur'an categor ically denies h is div1mty
and divine Sonship (see Q. 5:116, 19:34- 35, 5:17,
5:72), it sees h is role as extending far beyond his
earth ly existence into sac red history. j esus, the
Qur'an ins1sts, did not d ie but was lifted up by God
to heaven (Q. 4:157-158). He will return at the end
of time as "a s1gn of the knowledge of the Hour !t.e.,
the Day of Resurrection)" (Q. 43:61), kill the Anu-
chnst (al-Da.ual , the decel\'er), and estabhsh true
lslam on earth.
It is God 's covenant w1th all prophets that each
of them must prepare for and support the prophet to
come after h im. Thus jesus, accordi ng to the Qur'an,
announced the comi ng of Muhammad , say ing, "0
children of Israel, I am the messenger of God to
you, conf1rming the Torah that was before me, and
announcing a messenger who shall come after me

whose name is Ah mad [a variant of Muha mmad!"
(Q 6 1 6). For Muslims, Muham mad is the last in the
long li ne of prophets.
Muhammad
Muslim t radition rega rds Muham mad as "the
Prophet of the end of time." just as t he sacred book
that he received d irectly from God, t he Q ur'an , is
God 's final revelation for hu manity, con fi rm ing and
supplanting all p rev ious revelations (see Q. 5:48),
so Muham mad himself is "the seal of the prophets,"
a nd his way or li fe-exam ple (swmah) is the pro-
phetic model that will guide h istory until it comes
to an end on the Day of j udgment.
For t he early Muslims, obedience to the sunnah of
the Prophet was the sa me as obed ience to God. Th is
was because they unde rstood whatever the Prophet
said or d id to be on God 's behalf and by h is com-
mand. Muslims believe that God protects all proph-
ets from sin and error. With regard to Muhammad
in particular, the Qur'an asserts, "You r companion
did not go astray, nor d id he err. He speaks not out
o f capricious desire; rather it is a revelation revealed
tO h im" (Q. 53:2- 4).
Whe n the Q ur'an asse rts that God sent h is
Messenger with "the Book and wisdom" (Q. 62:2),
Muslims understa nd "the Book " to be the Qu r'a n
a nd the "wisdom" to be the sunnah o f the Prophet.
Muham mad h imself is reported to have decla red
that he "was given the Qu r'an and its equ ivalent
[i.e., t he sunnahl along with it." Hence Muslims be-
lieve that h is actions and sayi ngs are no less div inely
inspired than t he Q ur'an itsel f.
The spi ritual preem inence that Musli ms accord
Muham mad is reOected in the story o f the nigh t
journey, which is elaborated in a hadith (trad i-
tion) based on t he following short passage from the
Qur'an: "Glory be to h im who carried his se rvant by
night from the Holy Mosque to t he Further Mosque ,
the precincts of wh ich we have blessed, that we
m ight show him some of our signs" (Q. 17:1). In
the cou rse of t he same night t he Prophet is said to
have experienced the mi'raj ("ladde r"), an ascent
to heaven that parallels the heavenly ascents of
S Muslim Traditions
pro phetic figures described in visiona ry terms in
Hellenistic and rabbinic jewish religious literatu re.
To show thei r respect for Muha mmad, Muslims
speak (or w rite) the phrase "peace [and blessings
of GodI be upon h im" eve ry time h is name or title
is m entioned. In w riting, t he formula is o ften ab-
breviated as PBUH. When the prophets as a group,
cul m inati ng in Muham mad, are mentioned, t he for-
mu la changes to "peace be on them all."
The Qur'an
The ayahs (verses) a nd surahs (chapters) that came
to constitute t he Q ur'an are said to have been re-
vealed (l iterally, "sent down") to Muhammad by the
angel Gabriel over a period o f 23 years. The Prophet's
role as t ransm itter o f those revelations is renected
in the Qur'an's cha racteristic ph rasi ng: God ("We")
instructs the Prophet ("you") to "say" something to
the people (i.e., to deliver a pa rticular message to
them). Yet the fi rst inst ruction, as we have see n, was
the comma nd t hat Muha mmad himself "recite" or
"read " (iqra'). The te rm "Qur'an" is derived from the
same root: q- r- ', meaning "to read" or "recite."
In size the Qur'an is nearly as long as the New Tes-
tament. The individual portions revealed to Muham-
mad vary in length and content from short verses on
a single theme or idea to fairly lengthy chapters. The
ea rly Meccan surahs are generally brief admonitions
couched in terse and powerful verses, while the later
ones are didactic narratives or illustrative tales of ear-
lie~: prophets and their communities. Through stories,
parables, and exhortations urging good conduct and
dissuading evil and indecent behavior, the Q ur'an
aims to create an ummah, a "community" (i.e., a so-
ciet y united by faith). By contrast, the surahs revealed
in Medina are fewer in numbe r but longe r, presenting
didactic arguments, discourses, and legal pronounce-
ments, often in response to questions or situations
aris ing in the life of the community.
The Status of the Qur'an
Muslims believe that the Qu r'an is an immutable
heavenly book containing the eternal Word of God.
World Religions: Western Traditions
In fact, there is an interesting theological parallel
with Christian understandings o f j esus, who in
the prologue to Joh n's Gospel is procla imed to be
the eternal Word of God made incarnate at a cer-
ta in moment in h istory. For Ch ristians Christ is
the Word of God made flesh, wh ile for Muslims the
Qur'an is the Word of God made into a book.
Muslims understand the Qu r'an to have been
revealed specifically in the Arabic la nguage- not
su rprising, given that Arabic was the la nguage of
its first aud ience. Hence any translation is cons id-
ered a n inte rpretation, not the Qur'an itself. Even in
places where few if any Muslims speak the language,
the Qur'an is always recited in Arabic. Of cou rse,
each passage is usually followed by a translation in
the app ropriate language.
The words o f the Qur'an are recited in a new-
born ch ild's ea r as a blessi ng. They are also recited
to bless and seal a marriage cont ract or a business
deal, to celebrate a successful venture, or to ex-
press sorrow and give solace in times o f mis for-
tune. Th roughout the Muslim world, the Qur'an is
rec ited on most special public occasions a nd daily
on the rad io and television. Qur'a nic recitation is
an art o f great virtuosity and hypnotic power. For
private devotional rec itation over the course of a
month, the Qur'an has bee n divided into 30 parts of
equal length. The words of the Q ur'an, in the form
o f calligraphy, have also been a central motif in Is-
lam ic art a nd a re used to decorate Muslim homes,
mosques, and public buildings.
Document
The Qur'an: On the Day of judgment
This short Sttrah (chapter) is known by the title "The
Earthquake."
In the na me of God, the All-me rciful, the Com-
passionate. Whe n the earth shall be sha ken with a
great quake, a nd the earth yields up her bu rdens,
Compiling the Qur'an
When the Prophet died in 632, the re we re many
people who had commiued the Qu r'an to memory.
But the only physical records we re fragments writ-
ten on stones, bones, palm leaves, and animal
pa rch ment, wh ich we re held in a variety of private
collections. In some cases the same mate rial existed
in seve ral ve rsions, and si nce the vowel marks we re
not added until late r, d ifferent readi ngs o f certa in
words or phrases were possible. These va riants
came to be identified with spec ific readers th rough -
out the ge nerations of Muslim scholars.
The process of produci ng an official text of
the Qu r'an was completed u nde r the th ird caliph,
'Uthman ibn 'Affan, within 20 yea rs of the Prophet's
death. One of the first copies of the complete text
was given to Hafsah, one of h is widows.
As an ea rthly book, the Qur'an has been shaped
by Muslim history. Trad ition mainta ins that the
verses of each ind ividual surah were a rranged by the
Prophet at Gab riel 's instruction, but that the orde r
of the surahs in relation to one anothe r- rough ly in
decreasing order of length- was fixed by a commit-
tee that 'Uth man appointed to compi le an official
version. or the 114 surahs, 113 a re preceded by the
invocation bism -illahi ar-rahman ar-rahim ("in the
name of God, the All-merciful, the Compassion-
ate"); the exception is the ninth surah , which com-
mentators gene rally believe tO be a continuation of
the eighth.
a nd the human be ing exclai ms, "What has hap-
pe ned to her!" On th at day the earth shall recou nt
her tidi ngs- as her l ord had inspired her. Who-
ever does an atom's weight of good shall the n see
it, a nd whoeve r does an atom's we ight of evil shall
then see it. (Q. 99)

Qur'anic Commentary (Tafsir)
The term for com mentary on the Qu r'an, tafsir,
means "unveiling" and refe rs to the practice of elu-
cidating the mean ing of a text. Any such inte rpreta-
tion is based on one of three authoritative sou rces:
the Qu r'an itself, Prophetic hadith, and the opin ions
o f the Prophet's companions and thei r successors.
Like the Qur'a n and the hadith, the earliest com men-
ta ries we re transm itted orally, but by the tenth cen-
tu ry Q ur'an ic inte rpretation had developed into a
science with several ancilla ry fields of SLUdy. In fact,
every legal or theological school , religious trend , or
political movement in Muslim h istory has looked tO
the Qu r'a n for its pri mary support and j ustification.
The result has been a wide range o f interpretations
reflec ting the dive rsity o f the sects, legal schools,
a nd mystical and ph ilosoph ical move ments that
emerged as the Islamic t rad ition developed.
The Qur'an's Concept of God
The Q ur'an prese nts its view o f the d ivinity in d irect
a nd unambiguous decla rations of faith in the one
a nd only God , c reator, sustainer, judge, and sover-
eign Lord ove r all creation. For Musli ms , it is a si n
(shirk) to associate any other being with God or tO
asc ribe divi nity to a ny but God alone.
"Allah " is not the name of a particula r deity; as
we noted ea rlier, it means "the God" or "the Lord
o f all be ings" (Q. 1:2) who demands faith and wor-
sh ip of all rational creatures. It was used in the same
sense by the pagan Arabs before Islam and is still
used in t hat sense by Arab j ews and Christians
today.
Islam ic t heology holds t hat God's esse nce is un-
knowable, inconceivable, and above all categories of
time, space, form, and number. Materiality and tem-
porality can not be attributed to God. Nor, properly
speaking, can masculinity o r fem inin ity, although
references to God in the Q ur'an a nd th roughout Is-
lam ic literature use masculine p ronou ns, ve rbs, and
adjectives.
God is know n through attributes referred to in
the Q ur'an as the "most beautiful names" (sometimes
S Muslim Traditions
tra nslated as "wonde rful names"). These divi ne attri-
butes a re ma nifested in creation as powe r and me rcy,
life and knowledge, might and wisdom. The Qu r'an
(59 22- 23) decla res: "God is God other than whom
there is no god, knower of the unknown a nd the
visible. God is the All-merciful, the Compassionate.
God is God other tha n whom there is no god, the
King, the Holy O ne, Peace, the Faithful, the Guard-
ian , the Majestic, the Compeller, t he Lofty O ne."
Faith and Action
Righteousness as it is expressed in the Qu r'an has
seve ral components. In add ition to fait h in God;
God's angels, books, and prophets; and the judg-
ment of the last day, it includes good works: Mus-
lims shou ld give of thei r wealth , however much
they may cherish it, to o rphans and the needy or
for the ransoming of slaves a nd wa r captives. Righ -
teousness also includes patie nce and stead fastness
in t imes of m is fortune or hardship and wa r, as well
as i ntegrity in one's dealings with others.
Because all men and women are ultimate ly part
of <me human ity, they are all equal before God , re-
gar-dless of race , color, or social status. They may
su r pass one another only in righteousness: "Human-
ki nd , We have created you all o f one male and one
fe m ale and made you di fferent peoples and t ribes in
order that you may know one a nother. Surely, the
noblest of you in God's sight is the one who is most
aware of God" (Q. 49:13).
The Arabic word iman mea ns fait h , t rust, and
a pe rsonal se nse of safety and well-bei ng in God's
providential care, mercy, and justice. O n th is level of
inner pe rsonal com mitment, iman is a deepe r level
of islam, indicati ng total surrende r of t he human
will and desti ny to the will of God. The opposite
of iman is lwfr, rejection o f faith. To have faith is to
know the truth and assent to it in the heart, profess
it w ith the tongue, and manifest it in concrete acts
of c ha rity and al msgiving. Kufr, on the othe r hand,
means knowi ng the t ruth but will fully denyi ng or
obscuring it by acts o f rebell ion against the law of
God. The word hufr literally mea ns " tO cover up,
deny, o r obscure."
World Religions: Western Traditions
The Qur'an also makes an important d istinction
between Islam and faith. Outwardly, Islam is a reli-
gious, social, and legal institution whose members
constitute the worldw ide Muslim ummah , or com-
mun ity. !man- faith- is an inner conviction whose
sincerity God alone can judge , a comm itment to
a way of life in the worsh ip of God and in moral
relations with other persons. This is described
beautifully in the Qur'an (49:14) in the story of the
Bedouin who come to Muhammad and say, "We
have faith." Muhammad is commanded to respond:
"Do not say that you have faith , rather, say that you
have submitted [you have islam[, for faith has not
yet entered your hearts ." Faith, as a comprehensive
framework of worsh ip and moral conduct, is ex-
plicitly described in the answer that the Prophet is
said to have given to the question , "What is faith?":
"Faith is seventy-odd branches, the highest of which
is to say 'There is no god except God' and the lowest
is to remove a harmful object from the road ."
Above Islam and iman stands ihsan (doing good
or creating beauty). On the level of human interrela-
tions, ihsan is a concrete manifestation of both Islam
and iman. On the level of the personal relationship
of the man or woman of faith with God , ihsan consti-
tutes the highest form of worship, expressed in th is
hadith: "lhsan is to worship God as though you see
God, for even if you do not see God, God sees you."
~ Practice
The Five Pillars of Islam
Ind ividual faith and institutional Islam converge in
the worship of God and service to others. Accord-
ing to well-attested tradition, the Prophet himself
said that Islam was built on five "pillars." With the
exception of the first (the shahadah, the profession
of faith th rough which one becomes a Muslim), the
pillars a re all rites of worship, both personal and
communal. The Five Pillars are:
• to declare, or bear witness, that there is no
god except God, and that Muhammad is the
Messenger of God;
• to establish regular worship;
• to pay the zalwt alms;
• to observe the fast of Ramadan ; and
• to perform the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)
once in one's life.
The Five Pillars are the foundations on which
Islam rests as a religious system of faith and social
responsibil ity, worsh ip, and piety. Acts of worship
a re obligatory for all Muslims. Each of the Five Pil-
lars has both an outer or public obligatory d imen-
sion and an inner or private voluntary dimension.
Bearing Witness
The first pillar is the shahadah: "I bear witness that
the re is no god except God, and I bear witness that
Muhammad is the messenger of God." It consists of
two declarations. The fi rst, affirming the oneness of
God, expresses the universal and primord ial state
of faith in which every child is born. The Prophet
is said to have declared, "Every child is born in this
original state of faith ; then his parents turn him
into a jew, Christian, or Zoroastrian, and if they a re
Muslims, into a Muslim."
The second declaration, affirming Muhammad's
role as Messenger, s ignifies acceptance of the truth
of Muhammad's claim to prophethood and hence
the truth of his message.
Prayer
The second pillar consists of the obligatory
prayers (sala t). These are distinguished from vol-
untary devotional acts, such as medi tations and
pe rsonal supplicatory prayers (which may be of-
fered at any time), in that they must be performed
five times eve ry day and night: at dawn, at noon,
in mid-afternoon, at sunset, and after dark. The
salat prayers we re the fi rst Islam ic rituals to be
instituted.
The salat prayers must always be preceded by
ritual washing. Wudu' ("making pure or rad iant"),
or partial washing, includes wash ing the face, rins-
ing the mouth and nostrils , washing the hands and

Women in Fez. Morocco. performing ablutions at the Zawi·ya (shrine) of Moulay ldris II, who ruled Morocco
from 807 to 828.
forea rms to the elbows, passing one's wet hands
over the head, a nd washing the feet to the two heels.
Five Limes a day- on radio and television,
th rough loudspeakers, and from high minarets- the
melod ious voice of a mu'adhdhin chams the call to
praye r, inviting the faithful to pray. Whether praying
alone at home or at the mosque, behind the imam,
as a member of the congregation, every Muslim is
always conscious of countless other men and women
engaged in the same act of worship at the same time.
Each phrase of the call to prayer is repeated at
least twice for emphasis: "God is g reater. I bear wit-
ness that there is no god except God, and I bear
witness that Muhammad is the Messe nge r of God.
Hasten to the prayers' Hasten to success (or pros-
pe rity)! [Shi'as add: Hasten to the best action![ God
is g reater. The re is no god except God."
S Muslim Traditions
The prayers consist of cycles or uniLS called
rak'ahs, comprisi ng the movements of standi ng,
bowing, kneeling, and prostration. The dawn prayers
consist of two cycles, the noon and mid-afternoon
prayers of four each, the sunset prayer of three , and
the night prayers of fou r cycles.
Apart from some moments of contemplation and
pe rsonal supplication at the end of t he salat, the five
daily praye rs are fixed formulas cons isti ng largely
of passages from the Qur'an, espec ially the opening
surah (ai-Fatihah):
In the name of God, the All-merci ful, the
Compassionate:
Praise be to God, the All-merci ful, the
Compassionate, King of the Day of Judg-
ment. You alone do we worsh ip, and to you
World Religions: Western Traditions
alone do we turn for help. Guide us to the
straight way, the way of those upon whom
you have bestowed you r grace, not those
who have incurred your wrath, nor those
who have gone astray. (Q. l:l- 7)
The Fatiltalt for Musl ims is in some ways similar to
the Lord's Praye r for Christians. It is repeated in eve ry
rak'ah- at least 17 times in eve ry 24-hour period.
Unl ike judaism and Ch ristian ity, Islam has no
Sabbath specified for rest. Friday is the day des-
ignated for jum'ah ("assembly"), or congregational
prayers. In the Friday service the fi rst two rak'ahs of
the noon prayers are replaced by two short sermons,
usually on religious, moral, and political issues, fol-
lowed by two rak'ahs. The place of wo rship is called
the masjid ("place of prostration in prayer") or jami'
(l iterally, "gathe rer"). The English word "mosque" is
derived from masjid.
Othe r congregational prayers are performed on
the fi rst days of the two m~or festivals, 'ld al-Fitr
and 'ld al-Adha, which occur at the end of Ramadan
and the hajj pilgrimage, respectively
Faithful Muslims see all things, good or evil, as
contingent on God 's will. Hence many take care to
preface any statement about hopes for the future
with the phrase in-sha' Allah, "if God wills."
Almsgiving
The th ird pillar of Islam reOects the close relatio n-
ship in the faith between worsh ip of God and ser-
vice to the poor and needy. Trad itionally, all adult
Muslims who had wealth we re expected to "give
alms" th rough payment of an obligatory tax called
the zakat (from a root mean ing "to purify or in-
crease"). Offering alms in this way served to puri fy
the donor, purging h im or her of g reed and attach-
ment to material possessions.
In the early days of Islam, the zakat obligation was
2.5 pe rcent of the value of all accumulated wealth
(savings, financial gains of any kind, livestock, agri-
cultural produce, real estate, etc.). Du ring this time,
when the commun ity was controlled by a central
authority, the zakat revenues were kept in a cenual
treasu ry and d isbursed for public educational and
civ ic projects, care of orphans and the needy, and
the ransom ing of Muslim war captives. Now, how-
ever, the Muslim world is divided into many inde-
pendent nation-states, most of which now collect
some form of income tax, and as a consequence the
zakat obligation has become largely voluntary. Many
ignore it; others pay it th rough donations to private
religious and philanthropic organizations.
In addition to the obligatory zakat alms, Mus-
lims are expected to practice voluntary almsgiving
(sada(tah). The Qur'an calls sadaqah a loan given to
God, wh ich will be repa id in manifold measure on
the Day of Resurrection (Q. 57: ll). Sadaqah giving is
not bound by any consideration of creed: the rec ipi-
ent may be anyone in need.
The Ramadan Fast
The fourth pillar of Islam is the month-long fast of
Ramadan. Fasting is recogn ized in the Qu r'an as a
universal form of worship, enj oined by scriptures
of all faiths. In add ition to the Ramadan fast, the
Prophet obse rved a variety of voluntary fasts, which
a re still honored by many pious Muslims.
The Ramadan fast is mandated in just one pas-
sage of the Qur'an:
0 you who have faith, fasting is ordained
for you as it was ordained for those before
you, that you may become aware of God.
[. . .[ Ramadan is the month in wh ich the
Qur'an was sent down as a guidance to
humankind, man ifestations of guidance
and the Criterion. Therefore whosoever
among you witnesses the moon , let them
fast [the month[, but whosoever is sick or
on a j ourney, an equal number of other
days. (Q 2183, 185)
Accord ing tO this passage, Ramadan was the month
in which the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet.
Today, Ramadan is a month-long fast extending
from daybreak till sundown each day. It requi res
complete abstention from food, drink, smoking, and

Focus
Beginning the Fast
Ms. Becke r teaches fourth grade in a public elementary
school in California. Eleven of the school's pupils are
Muslim, and one of them is in Ms. Becker's class. This
year, seven of the Muslim studentS have decided that
they will fast duri ng the month of Ramadan. Some of
them have fasted before, but for the nine-year-old in
Ms. Becker's class this will be the first time.
There is no set age at which Muslim ch ildren are
expected to begi n observi ng the fast. It may be as
early as eight o r nine, or as late as adolescence. In
Focus
A Muslim Ritual: The Call to Prayer
It is Friday afte rnoon, a few minutes before the sta n
o f the weekly congregational praye r. In th is mosque
in Los Angeles, perhaps 1,000 me n and 200 women
a re gathered; the d ifference in numbers reflects the
fact that this congregational prayer is obligatory for
men but optional for women. A you ng man walks to
the front of the large men's section (the women are
seated in a second-floor gallery), raises his hands to
his ears, and begins the call to p rayer: "AIIahu akbar,
God is greater. .. ." When he has fin ished, the people
behind h im line up in rows and wait for the imam-
the person who will lead the prayer- to begi n.
Were this se rvice in a di fferent location, the call
to praye r might already have been sou nded in the
sexual relations. The fast is broke n at su nset, a nd
a nother light meal is eaten at the end of the night,
just before the next day's fast begi ns at daw n.
Wi th respec t to the r ules gove rning the fast,
the Qur'an notes that "God desi res ease for you,
S Muslim Traditions
certai n Muslim cultures, girls begi n fasting at an
ea rlier age than boys, who a re usually exempted on
the grounds that they "aren't strong enough." 'vVhile
thei r non-Muslim classmates have lu nch , those who
are fasting gather in Ms. Becker's classroom to work
qu ietly on school projects. They are also excused
from their physical education classes and instead do
a writing assign ment about physical fitness. In this
way, a public school accom modates the needs of its
Mu sli m stude nts.
traditional way, broadcast from mina rets (towe rs)
beside the mosque. But the re are no mina rets here,
as t he mostly non-Muslim residents of this neighbor-
hood wanted a building that would "fit in" with its
surroundi ngs. Nor does this mosque have the cha r-
acteristic dome ; rathe r, it is a two-story building de-
sign ed to look more like a school tha n a mosque. In
this nontraditional context, the function of the call
to prayer has changed. Ins tead of being broadcast
outside to let the community know that it is time
to pray, the call is broadcast inside to those al ready
assembled for the praye r. Th is is one of the ways in
which the Muslims who come to th is mosque have
adapted to their su rroundings.
not hardsh ip" (2:185). The refore the sick, travelers,
child ren, and wome n who are pregnant, nursing,
or menstruating are exempted from the fast, eithe r
altogether or until they a re able to make up the
missed days.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Before Islam, the Arabs followed a lunar cal-
endar in wh ich the yea r cons isted of only 354
days. To keep festivals and sac red months in their
proper seasons, they (like the jews) added an ex tra
month every three years. The Qu r'a n abolished th is
custom, however, allowing Islamic festivals to rot.ate
th roughout the yea r. When Ramadan comes in the
su mme r, particularly in the equatorial countries. of
Asia and Africa, fasting from sunrise to su nset can
be a real hardsh ip. But when it comes in winter, as it
did in the ea rly 2000s in the Northern Hemisphere,
it can be relatively tolerable.
Ramadan ends with a festival called 'Id al-Fitr,
a three-day celebration during which people ex-
change gifts and well-wishing visits. Children re-
ceive gi fts and wear brightly colored new clothes,
people visit the graves of loved ones, and special
sweet d ishes are d istributed tO the poor. Before the
first breakfast after the long fast, the head of every
family must give special alms for breaking the fast,
called zakat al-fitr, on behalf of every member of the
household. Those who are exempted from fasting
for reasons of ch ronic illness or old age must feed a
poor pe rson for every day they miss.
The fast of Ramadan is believed to become a twe
act of worship when a person shares God's bounty
with those who have no food with wh ich tO break
their fast. True fasting is intended to mean more
than giving up the pleasu res of food and d rink: it is
also meant to spu r believers tO abstain from gossip,
ly ing, and anger and turn the ir heart and mind to
God in devotional prayers and meditations.
The Pilgrimage to Mecca
The fifth pillar of Islam is the hajj pilgrimage, said
to have been instituted by Abraham at God's com-
mand after he and his son Ishmael we re orde red to
build the Ka'ba. Thus most of its ritual elements are
understood by the women and men who perform
them as reenactments of the experiences of Ab ra-
ham, whom the Qur'an declares to be the father of
prophets and the first true Muslim.
Before the pilgrims reach the sacred precincts of
Mecca, they exchange their regular clothes for two
pieces of white linen, sy mbolic of the shrouds in
which Muslims are wrapped for burial. W ith this
act they enter the state of consecration. They ap -
proach Mecca with the solemn proclamation: "He re
we come in answer to you r call, 0 God, here we
come! Here we come, for you have no partner, here
we come! Indeed, all praise, dominion, and grace
belong to you alone, here we come I "
Once in Mecca, the pilgrims begin with what is
called the "lesse r" hajj ('umrah). Th is ritual is per-
formed in the precincts of the Great Mosque and in-
cludes the Lawaf (a form of prayer in which men and
women, side by side, wal k counte rclockwise around
the Ka'ba seven times) and the act of running be-
tween the two hills of ai-Safa and ai-Marwa. In the
trad itional narrative , Hagar, Abraham's handmaid
and the mother of his son Ishmael, ran between
these two hills in search of water for her dying
child. After the seventh run, water gushed out by
the ch ild's feet, and Hagar contained it with sand.
The place where wate r eme rged, according to Is-
lam ic tradition, is the ancient well of Zamzam ("the
contained water"). The water of Zamzam is consid -
ered holy, and pilgrims often take home containers
of it as g ifts for family and friends.
The hajj pilgrimage proper begins on the eighth
of Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth month of the Islamic
calendar, when th rongs of pilgrims set out for
'Arafat, a large plain about 13 miles east of Mecca on
which stands the goal of every pilgrim: the Mount
of Mercy Qabal al-Rahmah). In accordance with the
Prophet's sunnah (practice), many pilgrims spend
the night at Mina, but othe rs press on to 'Ara fat. As
the sun passes the noon meridian, all the pilgrims
gather for the cent ral rite of the hajj pilgrimage: the
standing (wuquf) on the Mount of Mercy in 'A rafat.
In this rite, the pilgrims stand in solemn prayer
and s upplication till sunset, as though standing
before God for j udgment on the last day. The wuquf
recalls three sacred occasions: when Adam and Eve
stood on that plain after thei r expulsion from pa ra-
dise, when Abraham and his son Ishmael performed
the rite during the first hajj pilgrimage, and when
Muhammad gave h is farewell oration affirming the
fam ily of all Muslims.

The sombe r scene changes abruptly at sun-
down, when the pilgrims leave 'Arafat for Muzdal-
ifah, a sacred spot a short distance along the road
back tO Mecca. There they observe the combined
sunset and evening prayers and gather pebbles for
the ritual lapidation (th rowing of stones) at Mina
the next day, the tenth of Dhu ai-Hijjah, which is
the final day of the hajj season and the fi rst of the
four-day festival of sac rifice ('Id ai -Adha). That day
is spent at Mina, whe re the remaining pilgrimage
rites are completed.
Trad ition says that on his way from 'Arafat 10
Mina, Abraham was commanded by God tO sacrifice
that wh ich was dearest to him- his son Ishmael.
Satan whispered to h im three times, tempting h im
to d isobey God's command. Ab raham's response
was to hurl stones at Satan 10 d rive him away. Thus
at the spot called ai-'Aqabah, meaning the hard or
Pilgrims throw stones at one of the pillars representing Satan in Mina. This ritual is a key part of the hajj
pilgrimage.
S Muslim Traditions
ste-ep road, a brick pillar has been erected to rep-
resent Satan. Pilgrims gather early in the morning
to throw seven stones at the pillar, in emulation of
Ab raham. Three other pillars in Mina, representing
the three temptations, are also stoned.
Follow ing the stoning ritual, the head of each
pilgrim family or group offers a blood sacrifice- a
lamb, goat, cow, or camel- tO symbolize the animal
sent from heaven with which God ransomed Abra-
ham's son (Q. 27:107). Part of the meat is eaten by
the pilgrims, and the rest is distributed to the poor
so that they may eat as well. After this, to mark the
end of their state of consecration, pilgrims ritually
cl ip a min imum of th ree hairs from thei r heads
(some shave their heads completely). The hajj ends
with a final circumambulation of the Ka'ba and the
completion of the rites of the lesser hajj ('umrah) for
those who have not concluded them.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Trad ition asserts that a person returns from a
sincerely pe rformed hajj free of all sin, as on the day
when he or she was born. Thus the hajj represents a
form of resurrection or rebirth, and its completion
marks a new stage in the life of a Muslim. Every pi l-
grim is henceforth distinguished by the title hajjah
or hajji before her or his name.
Religious Sciences
In Arabic a learned person is termed an 'alim . The
plural, 'ulama', refe rs to the religio-legal scholars,
or rel igious intellectuals, of the Islam ic world as a
group. What Muslims call the "religious sc ienc-es"
were pan of a comprehensive cultural package-
including theology, philosophy, literature, and
sc ience- that developed as Islam expanded geo-
graphically far beyond the religio-political frame-
work of its Arabian homeland . Cosmopolitan,
pluralistic Islam ic cultural centers like Baghdad,
Cordoba, and Cairo offered ideal settings for in-
tellectual growth. The development of philosophy,
theology, literature, and sc ience that began in the
Muslim world in the eighth century continued in
di fferent pans of that world well into the seven-
teenth century.
Islam is a religion more of action than of abstract
speculation about right belief. Hence the fi rst and
most importa nt of the religious sciences, Islamic
Jaw, stresses that the essence of faith is right living.
The Prophet characterized a Muslim thus: "Anyone
who performs our prayers [i.e., observes the rituals
of worship] and eats our ritually slaughtered an i-
mals [i.e., observes the proper dietary Jaws] is one
Sites
AI-Azhar University. Egypt
Located in Cairo, Al-Azhar is the oldest un iversity
in the Weste rn world and an important center of
Sunn i learning. It was transformed into a modern
of us." For Muslims, inner submission to the will of
God is God's way for all of humankind. At both the
personal and the societal levels, Islam is a way of
life that is to be realized by liv ing with in the frame-
work of div ine law, the shari'ah- that is, a way of li fe
based on moral imperatives.
Islamic Law (Shari'ah) and Its Sources
The Qu r'an
The Qur'an and hence the shari'ah are centrally
concerned with relationships among indiv iduals
in society and between individuals and God. The
most particular and intimate human relationship
is the one between husband and wife; the second
most sign ificant human relationship is that between
parent and child . The circle then broadens to in-
clude the extended family, the tribe, and finally the
ummah and the world.
Islam has no priesthood. Every person is con-
sidered to be responsible both for his or her own
morality and for the morality of the entire Muslim
ummah . As the Qur'an declares, "Let there be of you
a community that calls to the good, enjoins hon-
orable conduct, and dissuades from ev il conduct.
These are indeed prosperous people" (Q. 3:104).
The Qur'an places kindness and respect for
parents next in importance to the worship of God,
obligations fulfilled by caring for the poor and the
needy through almsgiving. Usury is proh ibited as
a means of increasing one's wealth. But renuncia-
tion of material possessions is no more desirable
than total auachment to them. Rather, the Qur'an
enjoins the faithful to "seek amidst that which God
university, with a newly created faculty for women ,
in 1961, unde r the di rection of Egypt's president ,
Gamal Abdel Nasser.

has give n you, the last abode, but do not forget your
portion of the p resent world" (Q. 28:77).
In short, the Qur'an is prima rily concerned with
moral issues in actual situations. It is not a legal
manual. Of its 6,236 ve rses no more tha n 200 a re
explicitly legislative.
T he Sunnah
The life-example of the Prophet is understOod tO
include not only h is acts and say ings but also h is
tac it consent. His acts are reponed in anecdotes
about situations or events in wh ich he participated
o r to which he reacted. In situations in wh ich he ex-
pressed neither approval nor objection, h is silence is
ta ken to have sign ified conse nt. Thus the Stmnah of
consent became a normative sou rce in the develop-
ment of Islamic law.
Accounts that report the Prophet's hadiths (say-
ings) must go back tO an eyewitness of the event.
The hadith literature is often called "tradition" in
English, in a quite specific se nse. Islamic "trad i-
tion" (or "P rophetic tradition") is the body of say ings
traced to the Prophet Muhammad through chains
of oral transmission. Hadith is the most important
component of Swlllah because it is the most d irect
expression of the Prophet's opinions or judgments
rega rding the com munity's conduct.
To qualify as a hadith , a text must be accompa-
nied by its chain of transm ission, beginn ing with
the compiler or last transmitte r and goi ng back tO
the Prophet. The aim of the study of hadith is tO
asce rtain the authentic ity of a particular text by
establishing the completeness of the chain of its
transmission and the veracity of its transmitters.
There are six canonical hadith collections . The
earliest and most important collectors were Mu-
hammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari (810- 870) and
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-N isabu ri (c. 8 17- 875). As
their names suggest, the former came from the city
of Bukhara in Central Asia and the latter from Nis -
hapu r in northeaste rn Iran. Although the two men
did not know each other, they were contemporar-
ies, and both spent many years traveling ac ross the
Muslim world in search of hadiths. The fact that their
independent quests produced very similar results
S Muslim Traditions
suggests that a unified hadith tradition was al ready
well established by th is time.
Both men are said tO have collected hund reds
of t housa nds of hadiths, out of which each selected
about 3,000, discounting repetitions. Their approach
became the model for all subsequent hadith compil-
ers. Their two collections, entitled simply Sahih (lit-
erally, "sound") al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, soon
ach ieved ca nonical status, second in authority only
to the Qur'an. With in less tha n half a centu ry, fou r
oth er collections- by Abu Dawud a l-Sijistan i, Ibn
Majah , al-Ti rmidh i, and al-Nasa' i- had been pro-
duced. It is worth noting that, like al-Bukhari and
Muslim, these fou r late r collectOrs also came from
Central Asia and Iran. Each of their collections is
entitled simply Sunan (the plural of sunnah).
As legal manuals, all six collections are orga-
nized tOpically, begin ning with laws gove rning the
ritttals o f worship and the n continu ing with laws
regulating the soc ial, political, and economic life of
the com munity.
The Scope of Islamic Law
For Muslims God is the ultimate lawgiver. The
shari'ah is sacred law, "the law of God." It consists of
the maxims, admon itions, and legal sanctions and
prohibitions enshrined in the Qur'an and explained,
elaborated, and realized in the Prophetic tradition.
The term shari'ah originally signified the way to
a source of water. Metaphorically it came to mean
the way to the good in th is world and the next. It is
"the straight way" that leads the faith ful tO paradise
in the he reafter. Muslims believe the shari'ah to be
God's pla n for the orde ring of human society.
Within the framework of the divine law, human
aclions range between those that a re absolutely
obligatory and will bring rewards on the Day of
j udgment and those that are absolutely forbid-
den and will bring ha rsh pun ishment. Actions a re
classified in five categories:
• lawful (haltd ) and therefore obligatory;
• commendable and therefore recommended
(mustahabb);
World Religions: Western Traditions
• neutra l and therefore permiued (mubah);
• reprehensible and therefore disliked (makruh);
and
• unlawful (ha mm) and therefore forbidden.
These categories govern all human actions. The
correctness of an action and the intention that Lies
behind it together determine its nature and its con-
sequences for the person who performs it.
jurisprudence (Fiqh)
Jurisprudence, or.fiqh , is the theoretical and system-
atic aspect of Islamic law, consisting of the interpre-
tation and codification of the shari'ah, or sacred law.
A scholar who specializes in this exacting sc ience is
called a Jaqih ("jurist").
Islamic jurisprudence, as it was developed in the
various legal schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and
Hanbali), is based on four sources. Two of these,
the Qur'an and sunnah , are its primary sou rces. The
other two, the personal reasoning (ijtihad) of the
scholars and the general consensus (ijma') of the
commun ity, are conside red secondary sources. The
schools of Islam ic law di ffer in the degree of empha-
sis or acceptance that they give to each source.
In deducing from the Qur'an and sunnah the
laws that are the foundations of the various schools
of thought, scholars relied on personal reason ing.
The term ijtihad signifies a schola r's best effort in
th is endeavor, which is based on reasoning from
analogous situations in the past- modern software
pi racy, for instance , would be considered analogous
LO theft.
Finally, the principle of consensus (ijma') is
meant to ensure the continued authenticity and
truth of the three other sources. In the broadest
sense, yma' refers to the community's acceptance
and support of applied shari'ah. More narrowly, it
has encouraged an active exchange of ideas among
the scholars of the various schools, at least du ring
the formative period of Islamic law. Consensus has
remained the final arbiter of truth and error, ex-
pressed in the Prophet's declaration that "my com-
mun ity will not agree on an error."
Yet even th is important princ iple has been the
subject of debate and dissension for the scholars of
the various schools. Among the many questions at
issue are whethe r the consensus of earlier genera-
tions is bind ing on the present one and whether the
necessary consensus can be reached by scholars
alone, without the partic ipation of the commun ity
at large.
Early jurisprudence
The Qu r'an calls on Muslims to choose a number
of individuals who will dedicate themselves to the
acquisition of religious knowledge and instruct
the ir people when they turn to them (Q. 9:122).
The need for such a group was felt from the begin-
ning of the religion's spread, when some pilgrims
visiting Mecca from Medina accepted Islam and on
the ir return took with them Muslims who had ac-
qui red religious knowledge to teach the people of
Medina the rituals and principles of the new faith.
As Islam spread and communities across Arabia
became Muslim domains, governors with spec ial
religious knowledge were sent by the Prophet to
administer these new domains and instruct their
people in Islam.
Among those governors was Mu'adh ibn Jabal, a
man of the Ansar (the Prophet's "helpe rs") who was
well known for h is knowledge of Islam. Before send-
ing h im to Yemen, the Prophet is said to have asked
Mu'adh how he would deal with Jews and Christians
(known as the "People of the Book"), who made up
the majority of the population in the region. Mu'adh
supposedly answe red that he would deal with them
in accordance with the Book of God and the sunnah
of h is Prophet. Muhammad then asked what would
happen if he did not find the answer to a problem
in either of the two sources. Mu'adh is said to have
answered, "I wou ld then use my reason, and would
spare no effort."
This pious tale no doubt reOects much later
developments that sought to bestow on a devel-
oping discipline an aura of Prophetic blessing and
authority. Nevertheless, the anecdote aptly illustrates
the development of Islamic law in its early stages.

A nu mber o f compan ions o f the Prophet Muham-
mad were known for their ability to deduce j udg-
ments from Qu r'an ic principles, as well as from the
actions and instructions o f the Prophet.
As the Muslim doma ins expanded th rough
rapid conq uest, the need for a uni form body of
religious law beca me increasi ngly evident. Fo r a
time, the need was filled by Musli ms of the fi rs t
a nd second gene rations (Muh ammad 's compa n-
ions a nd their successo rs), partic ularly those
a mong them who were distinguished as reciters
o f the Qu r'an and transmitte rs o f the Prophet's
sunnah. They la id the foundations for subsequent
legal trad itions. Until the eigh th ce ntu ry, these
trad itions were centered in western Arabia, pa r-
ticu la rly in Medina, Mecca, and Iraq (especially
in Kufah and Basrah). It was in these cente rs that
the "living tradition" o f jurisprudence was tra ns-
formed from an oral to a written sc ience, with a
rich and eve r-growing body of literature.
The Sunni Legal Schools
By the middle of the eigh th ce ntury, the process of
establishing distinctive legal schools with indepen-
dent legal systems was well under way. Two men
in the eighth centu ry and two in the ninth distin-
guished themselves as jurists a nd founders of the
earliest Su nni legal schools. Afte r a period of conflict
that often broke out into viole nce, the four princ ipal
Sun ni legal schools- Hanafi, Maliki , Shafi'i, and
Hanbali- ga ined unive rsal acceptance as equally
valid interpretations of the shari'ah . Adherence to
these d ifferent schools came to divide the Muslim
world along geographic lines.
Some less important legal schools died out as
time passed. The Yahiri school, for example, wh ich
was established ea rly in Islam's h istOry by the liter-
alist jurist Dawud ibn Khalaf (d. 884), ceased with
the end o f Muslim rule in Spai n. Others survived,
but only in small and isolated commu nities; among
them is the Ibad i school, which was established
d uring the first centu ry of Islam by 'Abd Allah ibn
!bad and is still represented in small communities
in North Africa and Oman.
S Muslim Traditions
Hanafi Law
The most famous j urist of Iraq was Abu Han ifah
(699- 767), the son of a Persia n slave. Although he
left no writings that can be asc ribed to h im with
ce rtainty, h is two disc iples ai-Shayban i and Abu
Yus u f, who lived during the early and vigorous
pe riod of 'Abbasid rule, developed their maste r's
system into the most impressive and widespread
Sun n i legal school.
The Hanafi school was for centuries accorded
sta te patronage, first by the 'Abbasid caliphate and
then by the Ottoman Empire. It spread to all the do-
ma ins in fluenced by these two empires, includi ng
Egy pt, j ordan, l eba non, Sy ria, Iraq, Central Asia,
the Indian subcontinent , Turkey, and the Balkans.
Ma liki La w
Malik ibn Anas (c. 715- 795), the leading schola r
of Medi na and fou nde r of the Maliki legal school,
developed his system within the framework of the
hadith and legal traditions he collected in h is book
al-Muwatta' (The Leveled Path). The fi rst such collec-
tion to be made, it reflects the early development of
legal thought in Islam.
Unlike late r jurists and collectors of hadith,
Malik gave equal weight to the swmah of the
Prophet h imself and the "practice," or living trad i-
tion , of the people of Medina. He also relied much
mo re on ijtihad- the pe rsonal effort to deduce well-
conside red legal opinions- than did later distin-
guished religious schola rs. He was gu ided in this
effort by the principle o f common good (maslahah).
Abu Han ifah had also relied g reatly on livi ng
trad ition, along with the principles of deductive an-
alogical reason ing (qiyas; e.g., deciding that softwa re
piracy is analogous to theft) and rational preference
(istihsan, according to wh ich one may prefe r one
pa rticular ruling ove r other possibil ities). The work
of both Malik and Abu Hanifah ind icates that the
pri nciple of Prophetic trad ition (swmah) as a ma-
terial sou rce of jurisprude nce was still in the p ro -
cess of development , going hand in hand with the
"liv ing trad itions" of major cities or cente rs of lea rn-
ing. Both ultimately traced their j udgments back to
the Prophet or the first gene ration of Musli ms .
World Religions: Western Traditions
The Maliki school was carried early to Egypt,
the Gulf region, and North Africa and from there to
Spai n , West Africa, and the Sudan.
Slwfi' i Law
A decis ive stage in the development of Islamic juris-
prudence came in the n inth century with the cru-
cial work of the systematizer Muhammad ibn ld ris
al-Shafi' i (767- 820). Although Shafi'i was close intel-
lectually to the school of Medina, he travelled widely
and studied in several d ifferent centers without
clearly allying himself with any school. He spent h is
last years in Egypt, where he wrote the fi rst system-
atic treatise on Islamic j urisprudence. This h itherto
unequaled work radically changed the scope and
nature of Islam ic j urisprudence. Shafi'i advocated
absolute dependence on the two primary sources
of Islamic law, the Qur'an and swmah . He based h is
own system on a vast collection of hadith and legal
tradition, entitled Kitab al-Umm (The Exemplar or
The Foundation), which he compiled for that purpose.
Shafi' i restricted the use of analogical reason-
ing (qiyas) and rejected both the Hanafi princip le
of rational preference (istihsan ) and the Maliki prin-
ciple of common good (maslahah). He insisted that
all juridical judgments be based on the Qur'an and
the sunnah , and (unlike most jurists of his time) he
preferred hadiths transm itted by single authorilies
to personal opinion. His argument was that juri.sts
should not prefe r the opinions of people ove r the
Book of God itself and the sunnah of h is Prophet.
Although Shafi' i's system was late r adopted as
the foundation of the school bearing h is name , he
expressly opposed the idea. He saw himself not
as the founder of a new legal school, but as the re-
former of Islamic law.
The Shafi' i school LOok root early in Egypt,
where its founder lived and died. From there it
spread to southern Arabia and then followed the
maritime trade routes to East Africa and Southeast
Asia, where it remains the dominant legal school.
Hanbali Law
Not longafterShafi' i, the well-known hadith collector
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780- 855), a strict conse rvative,
founded the Hanbali legal school in conformity with
Shafi' i's position. The hadith collection he produced,
the Musnad (Supported), was arranged not by sub-
ject, as other standard collections were, but by the
names of the hadiths' primary transmitters, usually
the Prophet's companions and other early authori-
ties. Though the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal was not the
first work of this genre, it was by far the largest and
most important, and it became the foundation of the
Hanbali legal system.
The Hanbali school has had a smaller following
than its rivals, but also a disproportionately great in-
Ouence, especially in modern times. It exists almost
exclusively in central Arabia (the present-day Saudi
kingdom), with scatte red adherents in othe r Arab
countries. Its conservative ideology, however, has
been championed by revolutionaries and reformers
since the th irteenth century.
The End of /jtihad
The Prophet is reported to have declared that "the
best gene ration is my generation, then the one that
follows it, and then the one that follows that." This
judgment expresses the widely held view that after
the normative period of the Prophet and the first
fou r "rightly guided" caliphs, Muslim society grew
inc reasingly corrupt and irreligious. Yet there we re
exceptions to the rule, as demonstrated by a hand-
ful of women and men who modeled their lives and
piety on the examples from that normative period.
These were the well-known pious scholars, jurists,
and hadith collectors of the formative period of
Muslim h istory.
With the establishment of the major Sunni legal
schools by the tenth century, the re was a sort of
undeclared consensus that the gate of ijtihad had
closed. Th is did not mean that the development of
Islamic legal th inking ceased altogethe r, but it did
mean that no new legal systems wou ld henceforth
be tole rated.
In fact, the process of exclusion had al ready
begun, driven not by pious or scholarly consider-
ations, but by the award ing of political patronage to
some schools and the den ial of it to othe rs. From this

time on , only the experts in religious Jaw (muftis) of
each city or country we re empowered to issue legal
opi nions, called fa twas, in accordance with the
principles of their respective legal schools . Va rious
collections of famous fatwas have been made, which
less able o r less c reative muftis use as manuals.
ja'fari (Shi'i) Law
The Sh i'i ("Sh i' i" is the adjectival form of"Shi'a") legal
a nd religious system known asja' fari is named after
the man regarded as its founder, ja'far ai-Sad iq (c.
700- 765). The si xth in the line of imams t hat bega n
with 'Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet
whom the Sh i'a believe tO have bee n his only legiti-
mate successor, ja' far was revered as a desce ndant of
the Prophet's family (ahl al-bayt) and, with h is father
Muhammad al-Baqir (the fifth imam), was among
the lead ing scholars of Medina. They left no w ritte n
works, but a rich oral t radition of the ir teachings
was preserved and eventually codified in the tenth
a nd eleventh centuries as the foundation of the legal
system that governs Imami or Twelver Shi'ism (see
"The Twelfth Imam"). Within Sh i'i jurisprudence,
the ja' fari school is the closest to Sunni orthodoxy.
In contrast to Su nni legal schools, which de-
veloped fi rst a science of jurisprudence and then a
canonical hadith t radition to buttress it, the j a' fari
school based its legal system on a vast body of hadith
cente red on t he t hree centuries of trad itions associ-
ated with the imams descended from 'Ali. The fi rst
of what would become four collections of Ima mi
hadith was compi led by Muhammad al-Kulayni (d.
941). Entitled al-Kaji (The Sufficient), it resembles
Sun ni hadith collections in that it consists first of
books dealing with the fundamentals of doctr ine
a nd worship and then of books on anc illary legal
matters.
Whe re ai-Kaji diverges sharply from the Su nni
model is in its section deali ng with the imamate, en-
titled Kitab ai-Hujjah (Book of the Proof ofGod), which
is included among the books deali ng with the fun-
damentals of faith. In fact, the essential point of dif-
ference between the Shi 'i and Sunni legal t raditions
is the forme r's fundamental belief in the necessity of
S Muslim Traditions
the imams as guardians of the shari'ah and gu ides
to its correct inte rpretation and implementation
by t he community. The imam is believed to be the
proof, or argument (hujjah), of God to God's human
c reatures. Hence the earth ca nnot be without an
im.am, whether he be present and active in the man-
agement of the affairs of the commu nity or hidden
from huma n sight and pe rception (see "The Twelfth
Imam").
Follow ing ai-Kulay ni, important hadith collec-
tion s were compiled by Ibn Babawayh (c. 923- 991)
of t he Iranian holy city of Qom, who was known as
ai -Shaykh al-Saduq ("the truth ful shayl1h"), and Abu
ja' far ai-Tusi (d. 1067), "the jurist doctor o f the com-
munity." With Tusi the foundations of the imami
hadith and legal t raditions were virtually fixed. In
the absence of the imam, h is role as guard ian of the
shari'ah had to be filled, howeve r imperfectly, by
scholars of t he commun ity. This meant that ijtihad,
or personal reasoning, had to continue, albeit in a
lim ited way, in the form of rational efforts on the
pan of the schola rs not so much to formulate new
laws as tO comprehend and interpret the ima ms'
rulings in ways that would apply to new situations;
furthermore, conse nsus was understood to be lim-
ited to the ijma' of the scholars only (a nd not to the
community as a whole).
Fo r th is reason the lmam i legal school rejected
analogical reasoning as an instrument of ijtihad.
Th is does not mean that reason played a secondary
role in the growth of Shi'i jurisprudence. On the
contrary, the primary sources of law were identified
early on as the transmitted t radition (naql), includ-
ing the Qur'an, and human reason ('aql). Further-
more , where t ransmitted t radition and reason come
into confl ict, reason is understood to take priority
over tradition.
ljtihad has remained in pri nciple a primary
source of law for Sh i' i j ur ists tO this day. Its use,
however, has been circumscribed by the principle
of p recaution (ihtiyat), rooted in the fear o f error in
judgment in the absence of the imam. Precaution
has te nded to minimize the use of personal reason-
ing to the poi nt that jurists with any measu re of
origi nality are few and far between.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
The Twelfth Imam
According to the Shi'i doctrine of imamah, the
Prophet appointed 'Ali as his vice-regent. 'Ali in turn
appointed h is son Hasan LO succeed him as imam,
and Hasan appointed h is brother Husayn. Thereaf-
ter, each imam designated h is successor, usually h is
eldest son.
Mainstream Shi'as believe that the line of imams
descended from Husayn continued until 874, when
the twelfth imam, the four-year-old Muhammad ibn
Hasan ai-'Askari, disappeared; it is for this reason
that these Shi'as are also known as "Twelvers." Th ey
maintain that he went into h iding ("occultatio n")
but continued LO commun icate with h is followe rs
th rough fou r successive deputies until 941; then
Taqlid means following the ijtihad o f a particular
jurist. For the Sunni, it means follow ing the founder
o f one of the recognized legal schools, which i m-
plies strict adherence to a traditional system with
no room for innovation. For the Shi'a, the absence of
the imam makes taqlid of a living j urist, a mujtahid,
a legal necessity. Th is emphasis has had the same
effect on the Shi' i community that the closing of the
gate of ijlihad has had on the Sunni The develop-
ment of cou rageous and se nsitive new approaches
to the interpretation and application of the sharl'ah
is the refore impe rative in both communities today.
Islamic Philosophy and Theology
Within Islam, an important subset of the religio us
sc iences (also known as the transm iued sciences)
trad itionally consisted o f the "rational" sciences of
philosophy and theology. Theology was cons id-
ered LO be concerned with d iscou rse about God,
God's attributes, and God's creation and nurtur-
ing of all th ings, as well as human free will and
the imam ceased communication and entered a new
phase know n as the "greater occultation," wh ich
will continue until the end of the world. At that
time, before the Day of Resurrection, he will return
as the Mahdi, "the rightly guided one," who with
jesus will establish unive rsal j ustice and true Islam
on earth. In short, Twelver Shi'ism understands the
sunnah to include not only the life-example of the
Prophet Muhammad and h is generation, but the
life-examples of the 12 Imams- the men they be-
lieve to be his rightful successors. Hence the pe riod
of the sunnah for Twelvers extends over th ree centu-
ries, until the end of the "lesser occultation" of the
twelfth imam in 941.
predestination, moral and religious obligations, and
the return to God on the Day of Resurrection for
the l ast judgment. Insofar as theology addressed
human faith and conduct, it was understood to be
part of the science of jiqh, j urisprudence.
In time, however, Islamic theology also came to
conce rn itself with more philosophical questions
about the existence of God, creation, and the prob-
lems of evil and suffering. In these a reas Islamic
theology reflects the influence of Hellenistic ph ilos-
ophy, the principles and rationalistic methodology
of which it adopted.
The rapid spread of Islam out of Arabia into Syria
and Mesopotam ia brought Musli ms into contact
with people of other faiths and ethnic backgrounds,
including Hellenized jews and Christians. With
the rise of the 'Abbasid dynasty in the mid-eighth
centu ry, interest in Greek philosophy, sc ience, and
med icine increased, and Arabic translations of Gree k
works began to appear.
The quest for knowledge reached its peak in the
next century under the caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813- 833),

whose Bayt ai-Hikmah ("House of W isdom") in Bagh-
dad was the first institution of h igher learning not
only in the Islamic world but anywhere in the West.
Christian schola rs had already translated many Greek
medical, philosophical, and theological treatises into
Syriac and commented on them, but the House of
W isdom, which housed an impressive library of
Greek manuscripts, provided additional support for
thei r work . Fam ilies of translators worked in teams,
rende ring into Arabic the ancient treasu res of Hel-
lenistic science and philosophy. Smaller centers of
ph ilosophical and medical studies in Syria and Iran
also made notable contributions.
The Early Period
Early Islamic philosophy had a d istinctive charac-
ter: Aristotelian in its logic, physics, and metaphys-
ics; Platonic in its political and social aspects; and
Neoplatonic in its mysticism and theology. Two
figu res stand out in this early pe riod. The first was
the Iraqi theologian-ph ilosopher Abu Yusuf Ya'qub
al-Kindi (d 870), who used ph ilosophical principles
a nd methods of reason ing to defe nd fundamental
Islamic teach ings such as the existence and oneness
o f God, the te mporal creation of the unive rse out
o f noth ing by God's command, the inimitability of
the Qu r'an, and the necessity of prophets . In his ar-
gument for the latte r, al-Ki nd i underl ined the d is -
tinction between the ph ilosopher who acquires h is
knowledge through rational investigation and con-
templation and the prophet who receives h is knowl-
edge instantaneously, th rough divine revelation.
In sharp contrast tO al-Kindi, Abu Bak r Zakari-
yah al-Razi ("the one from Rayy, Ira n"; c. 865- 926)
was a thoroughgoi ng Platonis t who rejected the
doctrine of creation out o f nothing. Rather, d raw-
ing on the theory that Plato had elaborated in his
Timaeus, al-Razi a rgued that the u niverse evolved
from primal matte r, Ooating gas atoms in a n ab-
solute void. The un ive rse o r cosmos came into
being when God imposed order on the primeval
chaos, but it will return to chaos at some distant
point in the future, because matte r will revert to
its primeval sta te.
S Muslim Traditions
The Flowering of Islamic Philosophy
Ab u Nasr ai-Farabi (c. 878- 950), who moved to
Baghdad from Turkestan, in Central Asia, was not
only a great ph ilosophe r but an important musi-
cal theorist and an accomplished instrumentalist.
His Platonic ph ilosoph ical syste m was comprehen-
sive and unive rsal. Accordi ng to ai-Farabi, God is
pu re intellect and the highest good. From God's
self-knowledge or contemplation emanated the first
intellect, wh ich gene rated the heavenly spheres and
a second intellect, which then repeated the p rocess.
Each subsequent intellect gene rated anothe r sphe re
and anothe r intellect.
AI-Farabi agreed with ai-Kind i that a prophet
is g ifted with a sharp intellect capable of receiv-
ing ph ilosophical verities naturally and without
any mental exertion. He the n commu nicates these
truth s to the masses, who are incapable of compre-
hending them on the philosoph ical level.
Although al-Farabi was called "the second
teacher," after Aristotle, even he was s upe rseded
by "the great master" Ibn Si na (know n in latin as
Avicen na, 980- 1037). Ibn Si na, who was born in
Buk ha ra, Central Asia, was a self-taught ge nius who
mastered the rei igious sciences at the age of 10 and
by the age of 18 had become a leading physician,
philosopher, and aStronomer. His encyclopedic manual
of medicine, ai-Qanunfi ai-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine),
and h is philosophical encyclopedia, ai-Shifa' (The Book
of Healing), were stud ied in European unive rsities
throughout the Middle Ages.
Ibn Sina built on al-Fa rabi's Neoplatonic ideas
to produce a comprehensive system of mystical ph i-
losophy and theology. He accepted and developed
al-Fa rabi's theory of emanations, plac ing it in a
mo re precise logical and ph ilosophical framework .
Although he affirmed the prophethood o f Muha m-
mad, the revelation of the Qu r'a n, and the immor-
tali ty of the soul, he rejected the Qur'an ic traditions
of t he resurrection o f the body, the reward of para-
dise, and the pun ish ment of hell.
Accord ing to a widely accepted Prophetic trad i-
tion , at the begi nning of every ce ntury God raises
a scholar to renew a nd strengthen the faith o f the
World Religions: Western Traditions
Muslim community. Such a man is known as a mu-
jaddid (" renovator") of the faith. Abu Hamid Mu-
hammad al-Ghazali (1058- 1111) ofTus, in Iran, has
been rega rded as the mujaddid of the sixth Islamic
century. His work went far beyond theology and
philosophy, encompassing mysticism and all the re-
ligious sciences.
In 1091 al-Ghazali was appointed a professor
of theology and law at the prestigious Nizamiyah
college in Baghdad, whe re he tirelessly defended
mainstream Sunni Islam against the innovations
of the theologians and the heresies of the philos-
ophers. just four years later, however, he suffered
a deep psychological crisis and gave up teachi ng.
After a long quest, he determined that true knowl-
edge cannot be attained either through the senses or
the rational sciences, but only through a d ivine light
that God casts into the heart of the person of faith.
His reason thus enlightened, al-Ghazali produced one
of the most ambitious works in the history of Islamic
thought. Appropriately entitled The Revivification of
the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'ulum al-din), this magnum
opus examined all religious learn ing from a deeply
mystical point of view.
In his book The Incoherence (or Collapse] of the
Philosophers, al-Ghazali rejected the philosophical
principle of causality (which said, for example, that
created th ings could be the efficient causes of events)
and in its place proposed a theory of occasionalism,
according to which the only cause of anything in the
unive rse is God. Al-Ghazali 's critique itself would
become the subject of a critique by the Andalusian
Aristotelian philosopher Ibn Rushd.
1bn Rushd (known in Latin as Averroes, 1126-
1198) was the greatest Musl im commentator on Ar-
istotle. Born in Cordoba, Spain, he came from a long
line of jurists and was himself a noted scholar of
Islamic law. His legal training decisively inOuenced
his philosophy. In his commenta ry on al-Ghazali's
work, entitled The Incoherence of the Incoherence, lbn
Rushd methodically c riticized al-Ghazali for m is-
understanding philosophy and Ibn Sina for misun-
derstanding Aristotle. The first tO construct a twe
Aristotelian philosophical system, Ibn Rushd essen-
tially sha red his Eastern predecessors' belief in the
primacy of philosophy over religion. In his famous
double-truth theory, howeve r, he argued that both
were valid ways of arriv ing at truth; the d ifference
was that philosophy was the way of the intellectual
elite, while religion was the way of the masses.
The great th irteenth-centu ry ph ilosopher-mystic
Ibn 'Arabi is discussed later, in the context of Sufism.
A more empirical philosopher than any of those
mentioned so far was the Tunisian-born 'Abd
al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (1332- 1406). Th rough his
extensive travels and the positions he held as a j urist
and political theorist, Ibn Khaldun gained insight
into the workings both of nations and of political
and religious institutions. Th is led him to write a
universal history. The most important part of this
work is its introduction (Muqaddimah), in which Ibn
Khaldun presents the first social philosophy of h is-
tory in the Western world.
Islamic philosophy had a lasting inOuence on
medieval and Renaissance thought in Europe, partic-
ularly through its interpretation of Aristotelianism.
Europeans came to know many Muslim philoso-
phers by Latinized forms of thei r names: Rhazes
for al-Razi, Alpharabius or Avennasar for al-Farabi,
Av icenna for Ibn Sina, Algazel for al-Ghazali, Aver-
roes for Ibn Rushd. Among the Europeans who
were inOuenced by the latter in particular was the
great medieval Catholic phi losopher and theologian
St. Thomas Aquinas. In fact, it is impossible to prop -
erly understand Aqu inas's thought without appreci -
ating its roots in both the Muslim philosophy of Ibn
Rushd and the jewish philosophy ofMaimonides.
~ Variations
Shi'isrn
As we have seen, for Sunnis the te rm "imam" refers
to anyone who se rves as the leader of prayer at the
mosque- a role that h istorically was sometimes
performed by the caliph. For Sh i'as, however,
"imam" is also the title given to the one individual
divinely mandated to lead the Muslim community
because he is descended from the Prophet's cousin,
son-in-law, and rightful successor 'Ali.
 S Muslim Traditions

Devotion to the family of the Prophet, known as
"the people of the house," has always been a cen-
tral characteristic of Shi'ism, wh ich finds support
for its position in the Qur'an: "Su rely, God wishes
to take away all abomination from you, 0 people
of the House, and purify you with a great purifica-
tion" (Q. 33:33). Furthermore, Muhammad himsel f
declared that he wished no reward for his work in
convey ing God's revelation "except love for [my]
next of kin" (Q. 42:23). The expressions "people of
the house" (ahl al-bayt) and "next of kin" (al-qurba)
are usually interpreted as referring to the Prophet's
daughter Fatimah, her husband 'Ali, and thei r two
sons, Hasan and Husayn.
The foundation of the Shi' i claim that 'Ali was
the rightful successor of Muhammad is a hadith
accord ing to wh ich the Prophet, on h is way back
from Mecca to Med ina, stopped at a place called
Ghadi r Khumm, took 'Ali by the hand, and declared:
"0 people, hear my words, and let h im who is pres-
ent inform h im who is absent: Anyone of whom I
am the master, 'Ali, too, is h is master. 0 God, be a
friend tO those who befriend h im and an enemy to
those who show hostil ity tO him, support those who
support him and abandon those who desert h im."
On the basis of th is and othe r sayings in which
they believe the Prophet directly or indi rectly des-
ignated 'Ali as his successor, Shi'i specialists on the
Prophetic oral tradition constructed an elaborate
legal and theological system supporting the doc-
trine of imamah, according to wh ich the source of
all legitimate authority is the imam.

In the Iranian city of Isfahan. actors perform a tazieh. or "passion play: · reenacting the events surrounding the
death of Husayn at Karbala in 680 as part of the commemorat ion of Ashura among t he Shi'a.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Ashura
In the year 680 the Prophet's grandson Husayn
(the son of 'Ali) was lead ing an uprising against the
Umayyad caliph Yazid when he was killed in battle
at Karbala in Iraq. The anniversary of his death,
on the tenth day of the month of Muharram, has
become a focal point for the Shi' i community's
hopes, frustrations, messianic expectations, and
highly eschatological view of history.
"Ashura" (" ten"), as the annive rsary came to be
known, is still commemorated by Sh i'as around
the world . Blending sorrow, blessing, and mystery,
it has inspired a rich devotional literatu re, as well
as numerous popular passion plays reenacting the
events leading up to the death of Husay n. Above
all , it is observed by the Shi'a as a day of suffer-
ing and martyrdom. Its symbolism is expressed in
a variety of devotional acts, including solemn pro-
cessions, public read ings, and a pilgrimage to the
sacred g round of Karbala. The Sunni community
commemorates Ashura with a day of fasting.
Divisions Within Shi'ism
The Shi'a share a general belief in the right of 'Ali
and h is descendants to spir itual and temporal au-
thority in the Muslim community. But "Sh i' ism" is a
broad te rm that cove rs a va riety of religio-political
movements, sects, and ideologies.
Historically, the majority of Shi'as accepted the
line of Husaynid imams down to ja' far al-Sadiq, the
Sites
Karbala. Iraq
Karbala, a city in present-day Iraq, is home of t he
sh rine of Imam Husayn, the th ird imam and grand-
son of Muhammad, who was killed there in 680.
It is of spec ial importance to t he Shi'a, who du ri ng
legal scholar who was sixth in the succession. But a
major schism occurred when ]a' far's oldest son and
successor, lsma' il, predeceased h im. j a' far then ap -
pointed a younger son, Musa al-Kazim, as h is own
successor. The Shi'a who accepted this appointment
and went on to revere Musa as the seventh imam
eventually came to be known as Imam is or Twelvers
(see "The Twelfth Imam").
O thers, though , conside red the appoi ntment ir-
regular and insisted that the seventh imam should
be lsma'il 's son Ahmad. For this reason they came
to be known as lsm a'ilis o r "Seveners." The largest
faction of this group, called Nizaris, has carried on
the line of imams th rough Ahmad and h is descen-
dants down to the present.
Basic to the lsma' ili faith and worldv iew is the
doctrine of the div ine mandate of the imam and
a consequent acceptance of h is absolute temporal
and religious authority. Over the centuries lsma' ili
philosophe rs and theologians developed this funda-
mental teach ing into an impressive esote ric system
of prophetology. The lsma'ilis have played very con-
spicuous intellectual and political roles in Muslim
history.
For centuries they lived as an obscu re sect in
Iran, Syria, East Africa, and the Indo-Pakistani sub-
continent. Since 1818 their leader, or imam, has
been known as the Agha Khan, an Indo-Iranian
title sign ifying nobility. The th ird Agha Khan
(1877- 1957) initiated a movement for reconc ilia-
tion with the larger Muslim community, and efforts
to resolve d ifferences have continued under his
their daily prayers touch their heads to a small disk
of clay d rawn from the soil of Karbala. Since 2004,
numerous suic ide bombings near the shrine have
killed hund reds of innocent worshipe rs.
 S Muslim Traditions

Harvard-educated successor, Ka rim Agha Khan (b.

1936). In mode rn t imes Isma'ilis have migrated in
large numbe rs to the West. Prospe rous and well or-
gan ized, the lsma'il is now numbe r roughly 15 m il-
lion and are t he best-integrated Muslim com munity
in the West.

Sufism: The Mystical Tradition

The early Muslim mystics were said to wear a gar-
ment of coarse wool over their bare ski n in emulation
of jesus, who is represented in Islam ic hagiography
as a model of ascetic piety. For this reason t hey
became known as Sufis (from the Arabic word
meaning "wool"). Asceticism was only one element
in the development of Sufism, however. At least as
important was the Islam ic t radition of devotional
piety. Si nce the ultimate pu rpose of all creation is to
worsh ip God and sing his praises (see Q. 17:44 and
51:56), the pious a re urged to "remember God much"
(33:41), "in the morning and evening" (76:25), for
" in the remembrance of God hearts find peace and
contentment" (13:28). The Prophet's night vigils and
othe r devotions, alluded to in the Qur'an (73:1- 8)
and g reatly embell ished by hagiographical t radition,
have se rved as a living example for pious Muslims
ac ross the centur ies. Hadith t raditions, pa rticularly
The Aga Khan . spiritual leader of the world's 15
the "div ine sayi ngs" (hadith qudsi) in wh ich the
million lsma'ili Muslims. receives an honorary
speaker is God , have also provided a rich source of
Doctor of Law degree at the University of Toronto
mystical piety. Above all, the mi'raj- the Prophet's
in 2004
m iraculous jou rney to heaven, richly illustrated in
numerous manuscripts- has been a guide for nu-
me rous mystics on t heir own spiritual ascent to God. in yearn ing for God 's reward. Significantly, th is early
The early Muslim ascetics were known as zuhhad, ascetic move ment emerged in areas o f mixed popu-
meaning "those who shun [the world and its plea- lations, where other forms of ascetic is m had existed
su res]." O ne o f the earliest champions of th is move- for ce nturies: places such as Kufa and Basra in Iraq
ment was a well-known t heologian and hadith (long the home o f eastern Christia n asceticism);
collectOr named al-Hasan al-Basri , who was born in northeastern Iran , particularly the region of Balkh
Medi na in 642 and lived t hrough both the cr ises (an ancient center of Buddh ist ascetic piety, now
a nd the rise to glory of the Musli m ummah. In a pa n of Afghan istan); and Egy pt (the home o f Chris -
lette r add ressed to the pious caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd tian monasticism as well as Gnostic asceticism).
al-'A ziz, Hasan li kened the world to a snake: soft to Ascetic is m for its ow n sake, however, was
the w uch , but full of ve nom. frowned upon by many advocates of mystical piety.
The early ascetics we re also called weepers, for Among the critics was the sixth imam , ja' fa r al-
the tea rs they shed in fea r of God's pun ish ment and Sadiq, who argued that whe n God bestows a favo r on
World Religions: Western Traditions
a se rvant, he wishes to see that favor manifested in
the se rvant's cloth ing and way of life. Ja' far's grand-
father 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin is said LO have argued that
God should be worshiped not out of fear of hell or
desire for paradise, but in humble gratitude for the
gi ft of the capac ity tO worship God.
What trans formed ascetic piety into mysticism
was the all-consuming love of the d ivine exem-
plified by an early female mystic named Rabi'a
a l-'Adawiyah of Bas ra (c. 713- 801). Born into a
poor family, Rabi 'a was orphaned and sold into
slavery as a ch ild, but he r master was so impressed
wi th he r piety that he set her free. She lived the rest
of her life in mystical contemplation, lov ing God
wi th no motive other than love itself. In one rep-
resentative example of her thought, she is sa id to
have declared: "My lord , if I worship you in fear of
the fi re, burn me in hell. If I worship you in desire
for paradise, dep rive me of it. But if I worship you
in love of you, then deprive me not of you r etemal
beauty" (Smith 1928: 30).
Document
Rabi'a ai-'Adawiyah
When Rabi'a's fellow Sufis urged her to marry, she agreed
in principle, but only on the condition that the prospec-
tive husband- a devout man named Hasan- answer
four questions. In the end she remained unmarried,Jree
to devote all her thoughts to God. This excerpt opens
with one of Rabi'a's questions.
"What will the J udge of the world say when I die)
That I have come forth from the world a Muslim, or
an unbeliever?"
Hasan answered, "This is among the h idden
th ings known only LO God.
Then she said, "When I am put in the grave and
Munkar and Nakir [the angels who question t he
dead[ question me, shall I be able tO answe r them
Mystics of all religious traditions have used the
language of erotic love LO express their love for God.
Rabi'a was pe rhaps the first tO introduce th is lan-
guage into Islamic mysticism. She loved God with
two loves, the love of passion and a spiritual love
worthy of God alone.
The love of which Rabi 'a s poke was the de -
votional love of the worshipful serva nt for h is or
her lord. A more controversial trad ition within
Su fism pu rs ued absolute u nion with God. Among
the proponents of th is ecstatic or "intoxicated"
Sufism was Husayn ibn Mansur al -Hallaj (c. 858-
922), whose identification with the d ivine was so
intense as to suggest that he made no distinc tion
between God and himself. For th is apparent blas-
phemy he was b rutally executed by the 'Abbasid
authorities.
Al-Hallaj had been in itiated into Sufism early
in life and had trave led widely, studying with the
best-known Sufi masters of his time. But eventu-
ally he broke away from his teachers and embarked
[satisfactorily[ or not?" He replied, "This is also
hidden."
"When people are assembled at the Resurrection
and the books are distributed, shall I be given mine
in my right hand or my left?" .. . "This also is among
the h idden th ings."
Finally she asked, "When mankind is summoned
(at the Judgment), some to Paradise and some to
Hell, in wh ich group shall I be?" He answered, "This
too is hidden, and none knows what is hidden save
God- His is the glory and the majesty."
Then she said tO him , "Since this is so, and I have
these four questions with which to concern myself,
how should I need a husband, with whom to be oc-
cupied)" (Smith 1928: Il)

on a long and ultimately dange rous quest of self-
realization. It began when he went one day to see
his teache r, Abu Qasi m al-junayd. Whe n the latter
asked who was at the door, al-Hallaj answered, "1,
the absolute div ine truth " (ana ai-Haqq)- calli ng
himself by one of the 99 "most beauti ful names"
o f God mentioned in the Qur'an. Al-j unayd rep ri-
manded h is wayward disciple and p red icted an evil
end for him.
At its core, ai-Hallaj's message was moral a nd in-
tensely spi ritual, but it was inte rpreted as suggest-
ing that God sometimes ta kes the form of a huma n
pe rson (as Christians believe of jesus)- an idea that
most Muslims of his time found deeply shocki ng.
W hereas a less extreme predecessor, Bayazid Bis -
ta mi, had preached annihilation of the mystic in
God , al-Hallaj preached tOtal identification of the
love r with the beloved:
I am He whom I love, and He whom I love
is I.
We are two spi rits dwelling in one body.
If thou seest me, you see Hi m; and if thou
seest Hi m, you see us both .
(Nicholson 1931: 210- 238)
Document
Farid ai-Din 'Attar
Farid ai-Din 'Attar lived in Iran at the turn of the thir-
teenth century. In this extract, the words "Ask not" echo
a phrase used by theologians to express paradox- bila
kay f, "without asking how"- but here they evoke the
mystic's sense of ineffability.
His beauty if it th rill my heart
If thou a man of passion an
Of time a nd of etern ity,
Of be ing and non-entity,
Ask not.
S Muslim Traditions
After eight years in prison, ai-Hallaj danced to
the gallows, where he begged his executioners to
"kill me, 0 my trusted friends, for in my death is
my life, and in my li fe is my death." For many Mus-
lims, ai-Hallaj lives on as the martyr o f love who
was killed for the sin of intoxication with God by
the sword of God's ow n shari'ah.
The Development of Sufism
The mystical life is understood as a spiritual journey
to God. The nov ice who wishes tO emba rk on such
an a rd uous journey must be guided by a maste r
wh o becomes in effect h is or he r spiritual parent.
But as Sufism grew, many well-recognized masters
attracted tOO ma ny disc iples to allow for a one-to-
one relationsh ip. By the eleventh centu ry, the refore,
the ideas of the masters we re bei ng recorded a nd
tra nsmitted in writing. Perhaps the greatest work of
the pe riod was al-Ghazali 's Revivification of the Reli-
gious Sciences.
Roughly half a century a fter al-Ghazali, Shihab
al-Din Suhrawa rd i (c. 1155- 1191) became known
as the "Great Master o f Jllumination" (shaykh al-
ishraq, or one who uses the illumination of light as
Wh en thou hast passed the bases four,
Behold the sanctuary door;
And having satisfied thine eyes,
Wh at in the sanctuary lies
Ask not.
Wh en unto the sublime degree
Thou hast attained, desist to be;
But lost to self in nothingness
And, bei ng not, of more and less
Ask not. (Arberry 1948: 32- 33)
World Religions: Western Traditions
a metaphor). He grew up in Iran and eventually set-
tled in northern Sy ria. Draw ing on the famous "light
verse" in the Qur'an (24:35) that speaks of God as
the light of the heavens and the earth, Suh rawa·rdi
described a cosmos of light and da rkness populated
by countless luminous angelic spi rits.
The most important Sufi master of the thirteenth
century was Muhyi al-Oi n Ibn 'Arabi (1165- 1240),
who was born and educated in Muslim Spain and
traveled widely in the Middle East be fore finally set-
tling in Damascus. The central theme of Ibn 'Arabi's
numerous books and treatises is the "unity of being"
(wahdat al-wujud), although he h imsel f never used th is
term. Accordi ng to th is doctrine, God in h is essence
remains in "blind obscurity" but is manifested in the
creation th rough an eternal process of self-disclosure.
Thus even as human bei ngs need God for their very
existence, God also needs them in order to be known.
Ibn 'Arabi 's doctrine of the unity of bei ng h ad
many implications, among them the idea that if God
alone really is, then all ways ultimately lead to God.
This means that all the world's religions a re in real-
ity one. In the words of Ibn 'Arabi:
My hea n has become capable of every
form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a
convent for Christian monks,
And a temple for idols, and the pilgrim's
Ka'ba, a nd the tables of the Torah and the
book of the Koran.
I follow the religion of love, wh ichever
way his camels take. My religion and
my faith is the true rel igion.
(Nicholson 2002 [19141: 75)
Ibn 'Arabi continues to be rega rded as one of the
greatest mystic ge niuses of all time.
Rumi
The most creative poet of the Pe rsian language was
j alal al-Oin Rumi (1207- 1273). Like Ibn 'Arabi, he
was the product of a multicultural, multi religious
environment. Rumi was born in Balkh, Afghani-
stan, but as a child ned with his pa rents from the
advancing Mongols. At last they settled in the city
of Konya in cent ral Anatolia (Turkey), a region that
had been pan o f the Roman Empire.
In 1244 Rumi met a wandering Sufi named
Shams of Tabriz. The two men developed a relation-
ship so intimate that Rumi neglected h is teach ing
duties because he could not bear to be separated
from his friend. Yet in the end Shams disappeared,
leavi ng Rum i to pour out h is soul in heartrendi ng
verses expressing his love for the "Sun" (the name
"Shams" means "sun" in Arabic) of Tabriz.
Rumi's g reatest masterpiece was h is Mathnawi
(Couplets), a collection of nearly 30,000 verses. The
spirit of this vast panorama of poetry is clearly
expressed in its open ing verses, which evoke the
haunting melodies of the reed Oute telling its sad
tale of sepa ration from its reed bed. In stories, cou-
plets of ly rical beauty, and at times even coarse tales
of sexual impropriety, the Matlmawi depicts the
longing of the human soul for God.
Sufi Orders and Saints
The religious fraternity is an ancient and widespread
phenomenon. The earliest Sufi fraternities were
established in the late eighth century, and by the
thirteenth century a number of these groups were
becoming institutionalized. Usually founded either
by a famous shaykh (maste r) or by a d isciple in the
shaykh's name, Sufi orders began as teachi ng and de-
votional institutions located in urban centers, where
they would often attach themselves to craft or trade
guilds in the main bazaar. Soon it became a common
custom for lay Muslims tO join a Sufi order. lay asso-
ciates provided a good source of income for the order,
participated in devotional observances, and in return
for thei r contributions received the blessing (lxtrakah)
of the shaykh.
The truth and authe nticity of a shaykh's claim to
spi ritual leadersh ip depe nded on h is or her spi ritual
ge nealogy. By the thirteenth century, Sufi chains of
initiation (similar to chains of isnad in hadith trans -
mission) had been established. Such chai ns began
with the shaykh's immed iate master and went back in
an unbroken cha in to 'Ali or one of h is descenda nts,

Document
jalal ai-Din Rumi
In this excerptfro m the Mathnaw i (Book 3, 3901- 3906)
Rumi expresses the mystic's experience of union with
God in terms of the dissolution of individual identity.
The seventh line here is an allusion to Q. 28:88, while the
final line alludes to Q. 2:151
I died as mineral and beca me a plant
I died as plant and rose to an imal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
o r in some cases to other compan ions o f the Prophet
o r their successors.
Through this spi ritual lineage, a shaykh inherited
the barakah of h is masters, who inherited it from the
Prophet. In turn, the shaykh bestowed his barakah,
o r healing power, on his devotees, both during h is
li fe and, with even greate r efficacy, after his death.
The shaykhs of Sufi o rders a re similar to the
sai nts of the Catholic Church in that the fa ithful as-
cribe miracles or divine favors (karamat) to them.
Unlike Christian saints, however, they a re recog-
nized th rough popular acclai m rathe r than official
canonization.
Devotional Practices
Although Sufis also perform the five daily prayers,
their most characte ristic practice is a ritual called
the dhillr (" remembrance") of God, wh ich may
be conducted publicly or privately. The congrega-
tional dhikr ritual is usually held before the dawn
o r eve ning prayers. It consists of the repetition of
the name o f God, Allah, or the shahadah, "The re is
no god except God" (Ia ilaha ilia Allah). The dhikr
is o ften accompanied by special bodily move ments
S Muslim Traditions
Wh y should I fear? When was I less by dyi ng~
Yet once more I shall d ie as Man, to soar
W ith angels blest; but eve n from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth pe rish .
Wh en I have sacrificed my angel-soul ,
I shall become what no mind e'e r conceived.
Oh , let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in o rgan tones, "To him we shall return."
(Nicholson 1950: 103)
and, in some Sufi orders, by elabo rate breath ing
tech niques.
Often the pe rformance of the dhikr is what d is -
tinguishes the various Su fi orde rs from one another.
In some popula r orde rs it is a highly emotional
ritual (similar to charismatic practices in some Pen-
tecostal chu rches) intended to stir devotees into a
state of frenzy. By contrast, in the sobe r Naqshbandi
order (founded by Baha' al-Oin al-Naqshbandi in
the fourteenth century), the dhikr is silent, engaged
in an inwa rd praye r of the heart.
Another distinctly Sufi practice is the sama' ("hear-
ing" or "audition"), in wh ich devotees simply listen
to the often hypnotic chanting of mystical poetry,
accompanied by various musical instrumentS. As
instrumental music is not allowed in the mosque,
sama' sessions a re usually held in a hall adjacent to
the mosque or at the sh rine of a famous shaykh.
Music and dance are vital elements of devotional
life for members of the Mevlevi (Mawlawi) order,
named a fter Mawlana ("our master") Rumi and
fou nded by h is son shortly a fter his death. As prac-
ticed by the Mevlevis- also known as the "Wh irl-
ing De rvishes"- dance is a high ly soph isticated art
symbolizing the perfect motion of the stars, with the
World Religions: Western Traditions

Document
jalal ai-Din Rumi, Diwan
The following love poem draws on both the Qur'anic stories of the prophets joseph (the son of jacob) and jesus.

If anyone asks you about houris [heavenly beings!, show your face and say, "like th is."
If anyone speaks to you about the moon, rise up beyond the roof and say, "like this."
When someone looks for a fairy princess, show your face tO h im.
When someone talks of musk, let loose your tresses and say, "like this."
If someone says to you, "How do clouds pan from the moon7"
Undo your robe, button by button, and say, "like this."
If he asks you about the Messiah, "How could he bring the dead to life1''
Kiss my lips before h im and say, "like th is."
When someone says, "Tell me, what does it mean to be killed by love1''
Show my soul to him and say, "like this."
If someone in concern asks you about my state,
Show him your eyebrow, bent over double, and say, "like this."
The spirit breaks away from the body, then aga in it enters within.
Come, show the deniers, enter the house and say, "like this."
In whatever d irection you hear the complaint of a lover,
That is my story, all of it, by God, like this.
I am the house of every angel, my breast has turrned blue like the sky-
lift up your eyes and look with joy at heaven, like this.
I told the secret of union with the Beloved to the east wind alone.
Then, through the purity of its own mystery, the east wind wh ispered, "like this."
Those are blind who say, "How can the servant reach God?"
Place the candle of purity in the hand of each and say, "like this."
I said, "How can the fragrance of j oseph go from one city to the next1"
The fragrance of God blew from the world of h is Essence and said, "like this."
I said, "How can the fragrance of j oseph give sight back to the bl ind7"
Your breeze came and gave light to my eye: "like this."
Perhaps Shams al -Din in Tabriz will show h is generosity, and in h is kindness display h is good faith, like th is.
(Chittick 2000 89- 90)

haunting melodies of the reed flute and the large or-
chestra that accompanies the chanting intended to
echo the primordial melodies of the heavenly spheres.
Sufism has always shown an amaz ing capacity
for self-reform and regeneration. It was the Su fis
who prese rved Islamic learning and spirituality
after 1258, when Baghdad fell to Mongol invaders,
and Sufis who carried Islam tO Africa and Asia.
Today in the West it is Sufi piety that helps attract
non-Muslims to Islam.

Dervishes at the Galata Mevlevihanesi (Mevlevi W hirling Dervish Hall) in Istanbul.
Women and Sufism
Wome n have played a n importa nt role in the Su fi
trad ition, often serving as positive role models and
teachers for both men a nd women. This may help
to explai n pa rt of the histO rical tension between
o rthodox Islam a nd Sufism. O ne of t he most be-
loved stories about Rab i'a, the early fema le Su fi
shaykhah (the femini ne of shaykh), desc ribes her
roaming the streets of Bas ra carryi ng a bucket of
water a nd a na ming LOrch , ready to put out the
fi res o f hell a nd set fi re to the garde ns of paradise
so th at people will worsh ip God for the sake of
love alone.
The Su fi trad ition has historically p rovided
o ne of the few outlets for Muslim women to be
recognized as leade rs . Since the Su fis believed
the divine to be without gende r, gender was
S Muslim Traditions
irreleva nt in their worship. After Rabi'a, Su fi
wome n could be shaykahs fo r mixed cong rega-
tio ns, eve n though t hey were prohibited from
be i ng imams for such g roups (women were
tra ined to be imams for groups o f other wome n ,
however). It's also worth noting that the shri nes
o f Su fi saints, whether male o r female, today
a re often cared fo r by wome n. As places where
wome n have some measure of co ntrol, they tend
to attract more women tha n men , inverti ng the
usual gende r breakdown at mosques. It isn't h ard
to imagi ne how some men , ch auvi nistically ac -
customed to t h ink ing o f public space as male
space, could feel threatened by a public space in
which wome n a re the dominant p rese nce. Thus
they might categorize Sufism as "u n-lslamic" not
because o f its doct rines, but because o f t he powe r
a nd p rivilege it accords to women .
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sufi women in Srinagar. Kashmir. pray outside the sh rine of their order's fou nder. Shaikh Abdul Qadir j ilani. on
the anniversary of his death.
~ The Spread of Islam
Islam, like Ch ristianity, is a missionary religio n.
Muslims believe that the message of thei r faith is
intended for all humankind, to be practiced in a
commun ity that transcends geographic, cultu ral,
and linguistic borders.
Ideologically as well as h istorically, Islam is a
post-j ewish, post-Ch ristian religion. Ideologically,
it sees itself as a th ird religion of the Book , one that
confirms the scriptures that preceded it, notably the
Torah and the Gospels. Historically, Muslims from
the begin ning responded to a nd inte rac ted with the
commun ities of other faiths , pa rticularly Christia ns
and j ews. Conseque ntly, as a religio-political power,
Islam had to regulate its relations with non-Muslim
citizens.
As "People of the Book," jews and Christia ns
living in Muslim lands we re prom ised full freedom
to practice the ir faith in return for paying a poll tax
that also guaranteed them physical and economic
protection and exemption from mil ita ry service.
Legally such commun ities came to be know n as
dhim mis ("protected people"). In the course of time,
this designation was extended to other communi-
ties with sacred scriptures, includ ing Zoroastrians
in Iran and Hi ndus in Ind ia.
In its fi rst ce ntury Islam spread through con-
q uest and military occupation. Much of the Byz-
antine and Roman world and all of the Sasanian
Pe rsian domains yielded to the Arab a rmies and
came u nde r Umayyad rule. In subsequent ce ntu-
ries, politico-military regimes continued to con-
tribute to Islam's dom ina nce, especially in regions
under Arab, Iranian, or Tu rkish rule.
Over time, howeve r, the inOuence of mystics,
teachers, a nd traders has reached farther and en-
dured longer tha n the powe r of caliphs and con-
q uerors. It was princ ipally through the preach ing
and liv ing examples of indiv idual Musli ms that
 S Muslim Traditions

Map 5.1 Language and Culture in the Spread of Islam

D Arabic by 7SO [![] Swahili after 1SOO

EJ Arabic later D Hausa and Nilonc

after 17SO
I!Jilll PerSian by 900 ~lost to Christianity
O rur1osh after 1100 D (Turltic MinO<ity)

~ Urdu after 1200 U (Urdu Minority)

D Malay-Indonesian after I 500 1•••IBengah after 1200

Islam spread to China, Southeast Asia, a nd East and
West Africa. In modern ti mes, migration and mis -
sionary activity have ca rried Islam to the Western
Hemisphere as well.
North Africa
After conquering what came tO be the h istorical
heartland of Islam- Syria, Egy pt, a nd Iran- the
Muslims moved into North Africa in the second
half of the seventh centu ry. Befo re th at time North
Africa had bee n fi rst an important Roman prov ince
a nd the n an equally important home of Latin Chris -
tian ity. With its indigenous Berber, Phoen ician ,
Roman, and Byzantine populations, the region was
rich in cultural and religious diversity, and it has
always mai ntained a d istinct religious and cultu ral
identity that reflects its ancient heritage.
The Umayyads had established thei r capital in
Damascus in 661. With the shift o f the capital from
Damascus to Baghdad unde r the 'Abbasids in 762,
the main o rientation of the eastern Islam ic domai ns
became more Pe rsian than Arab, more Asian than
Mediterranean. Mea nwhile, the center of Arab Is-
lam ic culture sh ifted from Sy ria tO the western
Medite rranean: to Qay rawan, then the capital of
North Africa, in what is today Tu nisia; a nd late r to
Cordoba, Islam's western capital, in Spai n, wh ich
rivaled Baghdad and Cairo in its cultu ral splendor.
North African mystics, scholars, and philosophers
we re all instrumenta l in th is remarkable ach ieve-
ment of cultu ral production. In the n ineteenth and
World Religions: Western Traditions
twenueth centuries, North Afncan rehgtous schol-
ars and particularly Sufi masters played a crucial
role m the region's struggle for mdependence from
European colonial powers, helpmg to preserve the
rel igious and cultural identity of thetr people and
mobili zi ng them to resist Italian a nd French colo-
nization in libya and Alge ria. In spite of the deep
innuence exerted by French language and secu Jar
cu lture, North African popular ptety sttll renects its
classtcal Islamic heritage.
Spain
When Arab forces arnved on the lbenan Pemnsula
m 7ll, Jews who had ln·ed m Spam for centuries
were facing harsh restricuons imposed by rulers re-
cently converted to Cathohc Chnstlanity. They wel-
comed the Arabs as liberators.
With astonish ing rapid ity, Umayyad forces con-
quered the land of Andalusia, or ai-Andalus, as the
Arabs called southern Spain, and laid the fou nda-
tions for an extraordinary culture. Arab men mar-
ned local women, and a mtxed but harmonious
soctety developed that was Arab m language and
expresston and Arabo-HtSpamc m sptnt. Muslims,
Chnsuans, and Jews ltved together m mutual toler-
ance for centuries before fanatical forces on all sides
stined one of the most creauve expenments in inter-
faith livi ng in hu man history.
One of the greatest scholars of the convivencia
("shared life") between Muslims, jews, a nd Chris-
tians in medieval Spain was Marla Rosa Me nocal,
who died in 2012. In The Arabic Role in Medieval Lit-
erary History (1987), she traced the linguistic con-
nections between Arabtc and Romance languages.
Her most famous book, however, The Ornament of
the World (2002), expanded her work on convivencia.
Arab Spain produced some of the world's great-
est mmds, including not only Ibn 'Arabt, Ibn Tufayl,
and Ibn Rushd, but the junst and wnter Ibn Hazm
(994- 1064) and the mystic-ph ilosopher Ibn Masar-
rah (d. 931). Islamic Spain was the cultural center of
Eu rope. Students came from as fa r away as Scotla nd
to study Islamic theology, phtlosophy, and science
in centers of h igher learning such as Cordoba a nd
Toledo. It was m these centers that the European
RenaiSsance was concet\·ed, and the great um,·erst-
lies m whtch n was nurtured were inspired by thetr
Arabo-Htspamc counterparts.
In Muslim Spam the Jews enjoyed a golden age
of philosophy, science. mysticism, and ge neral pros-
perity. Jewish scholars. court physicians, and ad-
ministrators occupied high state offices and served
as politica l and cultural liaisons between Islamic
Spain and the rest of Europe. Arab learnmg pen-
etrated deep mto western Europe and contnbuted
directly to the West's nse to world prominence.
In addtllon to S)•mbtotlc creath·ity, however, the
900-year hiStory of Arab Spam (711- 1609) included
the tenstons and connicts typical of any mulureli-
gious, mulucultural soctety ruled by a mmonty
regime. In the end. Islamic faith and civilizauon
were d riven out of Spai n a nd failed to establish
themse lves anywhere else in Europe.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Islam may ha,·e amved m sub-Saharan Afnca as
early as the etghth century. As in other places where
it became the dommant rehgion, it was spread
first by traders, and then on a much larger scale
by preachers. Fmally junsts came to consolidate
and estabhsh the new fanh as a religious and legal
system. Sufi orders played an important part both
in the spread of Islam a nd in its use as a motivation
and framework for social and political reform.
Islam always had to compete with traditional
African religton. Musltm prayers had to show them-
selves to be no less potent than the rain-makmg
prayers or ntuals of the mdtgenous traditions. In the
fourteenth century, the Moroccan ~1uslim tra,·eler
Ibn Bauutah wrote a vtvtd account of the efforts of
Mushm converts m the Malt Empire of West Afnca
to adapt thetr new fallh 10 local traditions.
In East Africa Islam spread along the coa~t.
carried mainly by mariners from Arabia and the
Pe rsian Gul f trading in commodities and also in
slaves. From the sixteenth centu ry onward , a fter
Portuguese nav igators rounded the southern cape
of Africa, the cultural and political development of

Document
Marfa Rosa Menocal on Conuiuencia
The following excerpt is drawn from Menocal's essay
"The Myth of Westernness in Medieval Literary
Historiography."
In the destruction of the whole of the magn ifice nt
National library and other major collections in Sa-
raj evo in 1992, it now appears one very s ignifica nt
book was rescued, the famous manuscript called
the Sarajevo Haggada. A Haggada is of course a
prayer book that is, appropri ately, the collection of
prayers to be said on Passover, on the eve of exodus,
but despi te its name this gorgeous and elaborately
illum inated manuscript, considered the best of its
kind anywhere in the world, and much treasured
by jews eve rywhere, is not "Sarajevan" at all, nor
"merely" jewish, but rather "Spanish." And what
can "Spanish" possibly mean, what do I mean it
to be that is so d ifferent from what it seems to
be in most other uses of th is and othe r "identity"
tags~ Made in Spain in the late th irteenth ce ntury,
it is, LO put it most reductively, one of the many
renections of a jewish culture that nourished and
had its Golden Age, the Golden Age, precisely be-
cause it adopted the virtues o f ex ile and found its
distinctly impure voice wi thin an Arabic culture
that was expansive and promiscuous and ofte n
ex ilic itsel f. It was thus altogether fi tting that the
precious object, the book that inscribes the story
o f the exile from Egypt, was carried out of Spain
by members of the ex iled Sepha rdic community
in 1492: and rema ined, for the beu er part of the
subsequent five hundred yea rs, well-protected and
cherished inside the Ottoman Empire, itself a re-
ma rkable example of the g reat good of empi res,
which learn how to absorb and tOle rate and inte r-
ma rry "ide ntities," and which became, after 1492 ,
S Muslim Traditions
the place of refuge of most Sephardic j ews and of
many Andalusian Muslims. But the manuscript
h ad to be rescued once agai n, during World Wa r
II, and it was when a Muslim cu rator in Sa rajevo,
attached as most Muslims a re to the memory of
Spain, saved that Spanish Haggada from Nazi
butchers.
Su rely, the morals of the story are perfectly
clear: to understand the rich ness of our heritage
we must be the guard ians o f the Haggada- the
Muslim librarian who was not an Arab, of course,
but who in saving the manuscript was fulfilling
the best of the promises of Islam ic Spain and
Europe- and we must be the translators who
reveal the exquisite amb ivalence and sometimes
painful con Oic t of identity of Judah Halevi, whose
poetry is sung in so heavy an Arabic acce nt , and
we must be the guard ians and defenders of the in-
terfa ith marriage between the Christian girls who
sang in corrupt Romance and the refined poets of
the Arab courts, which is left inscribed, as a pas-
sionate and great love, in the muwashshahat. We
must , in other words, reject the falsehoods of na-
tions in our work, and reveal, with the exquisite
Ibn 'Arab i, the virtues of what he more s imply calls
love. "My heart can take on any form," he tells us,
and then he s imply names those temples at which
he prays, the temples that inhab it h im: the ga zelle's
meadow, the monks' clois ter, the Torah, the Ka'ba.
These are the temples whose priests we need to be,
if we are to understand what any o f this history is
about, and it is only in them that the re can be any
future understanding of the complex "identity" of
Europe in the Middle Ages. And almost undoubt-
edly in its present and future as well. (Menocal
..•
2003: 269- 270)
World Religions: Western Traditions

Sites
Cordoba. Spain
The city at the heart of the convivencia ("shared life") tenth-ce ntury Be nedictine nun as "the ornament of
in med ieval Spain, Cordoba was desc ribed by a the world."

The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. also known as the Mezquita and the Great Mosque of Cordoba. began as a
Visigoth church. was transformed into a medieval Muslim mosque. and is now a Catholic cathedral. Spanish Muslims
have been lobbying the Spanish government and the Vatican to be allowed to perform prayers inside its walls.

East African Islam was directly affec ted by Euro-
pean colonialism as well.
Unlike the populations of Syria, Iraq, Egypt,
and North Africa, the peoples of East Africa did not
adopt the Arabic language. But so much Arabic vo-
cabulary penetrated the local languages that at least
one-third of the Swahili vocabula ry wday is Arabic,
and until recently most of the maj or African lan-
guages were written in the Arabic script.
An important element of East African society
has been the Khoja commu nity. Including both
Sevener (lsma'ili) and Twelve r (l mami) Shi'as, the
Khojas immigrated from India to Africa in the mid-
l800s. They have on the whole bee n successful

businesspeople, with Western education and close
relationships with Europe and North America.
These relationships have been strengthened by the
migration of many Khojas to Britain , the United
States, and Canada.
Central Asia and Iran
Central Asia had a cosmopolitan cultu re before
Islam. There, Buddhis m, Gnosticism, Zoroastri-
a nism, j udaism, a nd Christianity existed side by
side in mutual tole rance. The Arab conquest o f the
region took more than a centu ry: beginn ing in 649,
less than two decades a fte r the Prophet's death , it
was not completed until 752 .
Under the Samanid dy nasty, which ruled large
a reas o f Iran and Cent ral Asia in the n inth and tenth
centuries, Persian culture nourished, as d id classi-
cal hadith collectors, historians , philosophers, and
rel igious scholars working in the Arabic language.
Particula rly importa nt cente rs of lea rning developed
in the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand , located in
what is now Uzbekistan , wh ich owed much of thei r
prosperity to trade with Ind ia , China, and the rest
o f the Muslim domains. As the home of the first no-
table Persian poet, Rudaki (c. 859- 940), Bukha ra
became the bi rthplace o f Persian lite rature.
Wh ile the ir contemporaries the Buyids pro-
moted Shi'i learn ing and public devotions in the
region that is now Iraq, the Samanids firmly es-
tablished Sun ni orthodoxy in Central Asia. Many
Sites
Istanbul. Turkey
The city that had bee n Constantinople unde r the
Byzantines was renamed Ista nbul after its cap-
tu re by the Turkish rule r Muhammad II in 1453.
The capital of the Ottoman Tu rkish Empire and
the ce nter of the sultan's power, it became the site
S Muslim Traditions
Sunn i theologians and religious scholars lived and
worked in Bukha ra a nd Sama rkand under Samanid
patronage. Among the great minds of the tenth and
eleventh centuries were the theologian al-Maturid i,
the philosophe r Ibn Si na, the great schola r and h is -
torian of religion Abu Rayhan al-Birun i, and the
famous Persian poet Fe rdowsi. In th is intellectual
environment, Islam was spread by pe rsuasion and
enticement rathe r than propaganda and wa r.
Ea rly in the eleventh century, the Sa man ids we re
succeeded by the Selj uq Turks in the Middle East
and the Karakhan id Mongols in Pe rsia and Central
Asia. The Mongols profoundly altered the situa-
tion in that region, as they did in the Middle East a
century late r. The devastating consequences of the
Mongol conquest of Pe rsia and Centra l Asia we re
compounded by the loss of trade revenues when the
trad itional caravan routes we re abandoned in favor
of sea travel to Ind ia and China. Central Asia neve r
recove red from the resulti ng decline in culture and
prosperity.
The Turks
As Turkic tribal populations from Central Asia
moved into parts of the Middle Easte rn Muslim
heartland , they we re converted to Islam mainly by
Sufi missiona ries. These tribes became in nuential
from the te nth century onward in Ce ntral Asia,
Armen ia, Anatolia, and Syria. In Afghanistan ,
Mah mud o f Ghazna (r. 998- 1030), a local ruler of
of many impe rial buildings, includ ing the fa mous
Topkapi Palace (the princ ipal reside nce of the sui-
tarns from 1465 to 1856) and its successor, the
Western-in nuenced Dol mabahce Palace.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Turk1sh descent, broke away from the Pers1an Sa-
mamd dynasty; his successors. the Ghaznav1ds, ex-
tended Muslim power into northern lnd1a. Mahmud
was the f1rst person to be called "sultan," a term that
unul his time had referred to the authortty of the
state, but came to mean both the religious and the
political authority.
The Seljuqs, another Turkic family, prevailed
1n Iran and areas farther west a generation afte r
Mahmud. The second Seljuq sultan, Alp Arslan,
mn1cted a crushing defeat on the Byzanttnes at
Manz1kert, in eastern Anatolta , tn 1071. Bn by bit,
eastern Anatolia (toda>•'s Turkey) fell to the Se~uqs,
who ruled O\'er the region unulthey were conquered
by the Mongols in 1243.
In 1299 Osman I took over the caliphate from
the 'Abbasids, establishing the Ottoman dynasty,
which would endu re until 1924. In the fou rteenth
century the OttOmans absorbed formerly Se lj uq
territory in eastern Anawlia and took western Ana-
tolia from the Byzantines. They reached the height
of their power in the sixteen! h century, occupying
the Balkans as far north as V1enna, the Levant (the
Syro-Palestinian region), and all of North Africa
except ~lorocco. So w1despread was the1r empire
that Chnstian Europe unulthe ntneteenth century
thought of Islamic culture as pnmanly Turk1sh.
As their imperial emblem the Ottomans adopted
the crescent, an ancient symbol that the Byzantines
had also used. Conspicuous on the Turkish nag, the
crescent thus came to be seen by Europeans, a nd
eventually by Musli ms themselves, as the symbol
of Islam. Turkic languages sull prevail across much
of the Central Asian territory that was ruled by the
Sov1et Union for most of the twenueth century;
from Azerbaijan to Uzbek1stan and Turkmemstan,
a dommant element of the populauon IS Turk1c. The
same IS true of Chinese Central As1a.
China
Islam may have made contact with Chi na as early
as the eighth centu ry, although the first written
sources referring to Islam in China do not appear
unul the seventeenth century. For earher lnforma-
uon we ha,·e to rely on Chmese sources, which
unfortunately focus on commercial acttvlltes and
ha,·e In tie to say about the social and intellectual hfe
of Chmese Musltms.
The extent of the Muslim presence in a given
area may often be gauged by the number of mosques
it contains. There seem to have bee n no mosques in
the main inland cities of China before the th irteenth
centu ry. Along the coast, however, the minaret of
the mosque in Guangzhou (Canton) and var ious
inscriptions tn the provmce of Fujian suggest that
manume trade wnh the Islamic world was under
way cons1derably earlter, tn 'Abbasid times.
From the begtnntng, Persian and Arab mer-
chantS were allowed to trade freely with the1r Chi-
nese counterparts so long as they complted w1th
Chinese rules. But 1t was not until the thirteenth
centu ry that Muslim traders began settling in Chma
in numbers large enough to s upport the establish-
ment of mosques. The presence of Islam in China
before that time was probably limited.
Muslim commumties tn China prospered under
the Mongol (1206-1368) and Ming (1368- 1644)
emperors. After the Mongol period Chinese Mus-
lims became ass1m1lated culturally but kept the1r
distinct reltg1ous 1denmy. Stnce it was through trade
that they kept tn touch wnh the rest of the ~1ushm
ummah, however, the dechne of the overland trade
with Central Asia in the 1600s had the effect of iso-
lati ng the Chmese Muslim community. It became
vi rtually cut off from the rest of the world, leavi ng
much of ou r information about Musli ms in China
after the seven teenth centur y largely a matte r of
conjecture.
Unlike Buddhism, wh1ch had eme rged in Chma
cemunes earlter, Islam never came to be seen as
culturally Chtnese. The U1ghurs- the Muslim pop-
ulauon of Xuy1ang (Chmese Turkestan), tn the far
northwest of the country- are an identifiable mi-
nority in Chmese soc1ety today, distinguished by
their Turkic language as well as their religion. Yet
even the Ch inese-speaktng Muslims in the principal
eastern cities of "Han" China a re set apart by their
avoidance of pork-a staple of the Chinese d iet.
The presence of halal (ritually acceptable) restau-
rants and butcher shops is a sure sign of a Muslim
neighborhood.

Chinese Muslims experienced thei r share of re-
pression unde r the Communist regime that took
control of China in the twentieth century, particu-
larly during the Cultural Revolution of 1966- 1976.
Although the overall situation for Muslims has im-
proved si nce then , Uighur demands for independence
have been met with a severe crackdown, and Chinese
authorities often desc ribe Uighur nationalists as "ter-
rorists." Today there a re approximately 50 mill ion
Muslims in China. Like other religious communi-
ties in contemporary China, they face an uncertain
futu re, but thei r ethnic base in China's Central Asian
interior is not likely to disappear anytime soon.
South Asia
Islam arrived early in India, carried by traders and Arab
seulers. Umayyad armies began moving into the region
in the early eighth century, and si nce that Lime Islam
has become an integral pan of Ind ian life and culture.
The Muslim conquest of India was a long pro-
cess. In the second half of the tenth century the city
of Ghazn i, in what is today Afghan istan, became the
base from which the armies of the sulta n Mahmud
of Ghazna and h is successors advanced over the
famous Khyber Pass onto the North Indian Plain.
By the fourteenth centu ry most of India had come
under Muslim rule, with the exceptions of Tam il
Nadu and Kerala in the far south .
For the Muslim rulers of India, who came from
Iran and Central Asia, maintaining and expanding
their power ove r a large Hindu population meant
continuous wa rfare. For Hindus, the Muslim regime
was undoubtedly repressive, yet Ind ian Islam nev-
ertheless deve loped a un ique and rich religious and
intellectual cultu re.
India was something new in the history of Is -
lam's territorial expansion. For t he fi rst time, the
m~ority of the conque red population did not con-
vert to the new faith . In ancient Arabia Islam had
been able to suppress and supplant polytheism, but
in India it had to learn to coexist with a culture that
remained largely polytheistic.
At the same Lime Islam was someth ing new to
Ind ia. In a land where people often had multiple re-
ligious allegiances and commun ity boundaries were
S Muslim Traditions
Ouid, Islam's exclusive devotion to the one God a nd
clear delineation of community membe rship repre-
sented a dramatically different way of life.
Together, the three countries of the Indian
subcontinent- India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan-
today have the la rgest Muslim population in the
world. The Muslims of Ind ia alone make up the
world's th ird-la rgest Muslim population (afte r Indo-
nesia and Pakistan), numberi ng some 120 mill ion.
Even so, they are a minority whose future appears
bleak in the face of rising Hindu nationalism.
Southeast Asia
When Islam a rrived in Southeast Asia, the region
consisted of small kingdoms and settlements that
were home to a wide variety of languages and cul-
tures, and its religious li fe was strongly inOuenced
by the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. These in-
Ouences ca n still be seen in the ancient Hindu cul-
ture on the island of Bali and the great Buddhist
stupa complex of Borobudur in Indonesia.
There is no evidence for the presence of Islam in
Southeast Asia before the tenth century. But Yemeni
traders are reponed to have sailed into the islands of the
Malay archipelago even before the time of the Prophet,
and this suggests that the Malay people may have been
exposed to Islam at an early date. Scauered evidence
from Chinese and Portuguese travelers, as well as pass-
ing references by Ibn Battutah, indicate that Islam had
spread widely in SoutheaSt Asia by the 1400s. Two
centuries later, when British and Dutch trading com-
panies arrived in the region, Islam was the dominant
rel igion and culture of the Malay archipelago.
The existence in the region of Muslim commu-
nities in small States ruled by sultans was widely
repon ed by the th irteenth centu ry. The earliest of
these was Pasai , a small kingdom on t he east coast of
northern Sumatra. Some of the states that emerged
in the fifteenth century gained considerable prom-
inence both culturally and economically. In every
case, prosperity attracted Muslim religious scholars
from Ind ia. In an effort to expand and Strengthen h is
realm, the sultan Iskanda r Muda of Acheh (r. 1607-
1636) became the first Muslim ruler in Southeast
Asia to establish alliances with European powers.
World Religions: Western Traditions

Acheh also produced noteworthy Islam ic legal schol-
arsh ip, which is still used in the Malay world today.
In Southeast Asia even more than elsewhere, Sufi
orders played a crucial pan in the process of Islam-
ization. They were also prominent in later political
and social struggles for reform and liberation. In the
late n ineteenth and ea rly twentieth centuries, reform
movements in the Middle East inspired similar move-
ments in Indonesia and other countries of the region.
At present, Islam is the majority religion in Malaysia,
Brunei, and Indonesia (the largest Muslim country in
the world today, with over 200 million Muslims), and
there are Muslim minorities in all other countries of
Southeast Asia. Today Southeast Asia can claim at
least one-thi rd of the world 's Muslims.
~ Cultural Expressions
Islamic Architecture
The functions of the mosque include not only
prayer, implied in one Arabic term for the bui !d-
ing, masjid (" kneeling place"), but othe r commu-
nity activities, implied in another Arabic term,jami'
("gathere r"). Early mosques functioned as t reasu r-
ies, whe re financial records were kept; as law courts,
where j udges heard cases; and as educational cen-
ters, where classes and study circles we re held. In
time these other activi ties moved into the ir own
buildings, but the functions of public assembly and
prayer continued to d ictate the architectural form
of mosques. Two other types of build ings with reli -
gious functions- the madrasah, or religious school,
and the tomb or mausoleum- drew on much the
same repertory of styles that mosques did.
Every mosque includes four essential features: a
fountain for washing hands, face, and feet upon en-
tering; a large area for kneeling and prostration in
prayer; a pulpit (minbar) from which the leader of
Friday noon worship delivers the sermon; and an
imageless niche in the middle of the wall closest to
Mecca, indicating the qiblah (d irection of prayer). Not
part of the earliest mosques in Arabia but charac-
teristic of Islam in many places is the minaret, the
towe r from which the mu'adhdhin del ivers the call
to prayer. Some major Turkish mosques had four or
more minarets marking the corners of the mosque.
The Turks in the sixteenth century also made much

Architect Guizar Haider designed the mosque of the Islamic Society of North America. built in 1982 in
Indiana. with no external domes. Instead. Haider constructed three "veiled" domes inside the mosque.
which blends into the surrounding American landscape.
 S Muslim Traditions

A modern hilye (calligraphic description) of the Prophet by Mohamed Zakariya. The top line reads "In the
name of God. Universally Merciful. Specifically Merciful:· arnd the circular section is surrounded by the names
of the first four caliphs.
World Religions: Western Traditions
use of the dome, an important feature of church ar-
chitecture among the Byzantines who had preceded
them. In such mosques, a h igh central dome, resting
on fou r semidome apses, enclosed the prayer space.
Central-dome architectu re, though often simple r a nd
without minarets, is also characteristic o f mosques
in Malaysia and Indonesia, whe re the rainy climate
dictates that the prayer space must be roofed ove r.
Ultimately, Islamic a rch itecture tends to reflect
the distinctive id ioms of different geographic region s.
The keyhole arch , for instance, though it appea rs
in the Great Mosque of Damascus, is characteristic
mainly of North Africa and Islamic Spain. A shallow
poi nted arch emerged in Iraq, became the predo m-
inant form in Iran, and spread to Central Asia a nd
India. The bud or onion domes of Indo-Muslim ar-
chitecture have been picked up in Southeast Asia.
Focus
Mohamed Zakariya
Mohamed Za kariya (b 1942) is the most celebrated
Islamic callig rapher in the United States. Born in
Ve ntura , California, he moved to l os Angeles w ith
his family and saw Islamic calligraphy for the first
time in the window of an Ar menian carpet store.
After traveling to Morocco in h is late teens, he
became fasci nated with Islam and Islamic callig ra-
phy. On his return to the United States he conve rted
to Islam.
later, he made othe r journeys tO North Africa
and the Middle East and spent some time studying
manuscripts in the British Museum in l ondon. After
study ing with the Egy ptian call igrapher Abdus-
salam Ali-Nour, Zaka riya in 1984 became a student
o f the Turkish maste r calligraphe r Hasan Celebi. In
1988 he rece ived h is diploma from Celebi at the Re-
search Ce nter for Islamic His tory, An and Culture
in Istanbul, the first American to ach ieve this hon or.
He received h is second diploma, in the ta'lik script,
from the master calligraphe r Ali Alparslan in 1997.
In Ch ina many mosques are bu ilt li ke Ch inese tem-
ples, with tiled roofs resting on wooden columns and
bracket structures. A number of Chinese minarets
are built in the form o f East Asian Buddhist pagodas.
Islamic Art
Islam ic an is rich , elaborate, even exuberant. Three
elements are particularly d istinctive: call igraphy (the
decorative use of script and unitS of text), geomet-
rical decoration (particularly the interlaced motifs
called arabesques in the West), and floral designs
(especially common in Iran). All three a re more
abstract than pictorial and therefore point beyond
themselves in a way that pictOrial images may not.
Design using these elements captures the viewer's
auention and d irects it to the larger structure on
Today Zaka riya lives with h is family in Arl ing-
ton, Virgi nia. His work has been d is played in var-
ious museums a nd galleries and is in a number of
private collections. He was the artist commissioned
by the United States Postal Se rvice to design its Eid
sta mp, which made its debut on September 1, 2001.
In addition to teach ing call igraphy according to
the Ouoman method, prod ucing new work, and ex-
h ibiting it around the world, Zakariya writes con-
temporary instructional material and translates
classic texts . In 2009, he was comm issioned by U.S.
president Barack Obama tO c reate a piece of calligra-
phy that was prese nted to King Abdulaziz of Saudi
Arabia. In 2017, he was featured in a n episode of The
Story of God with Morgan Freeman.
Moha med Zaka riya's work shows that American
Islam has become an integral pa rt of the Muslim
world. Now students from that world travel to the
United Sta tes to study with an American master of
an ancient Islamic art.

which the decoration appears, whether a page of the
Qur'an , a prayer rug, or the tiled entrance of a mosque.
Religious content is most obvious in the decorative
use of call igraphy in mosques, where the texts used
are often passages from the Qur'an, but even the craft
items sold in bazaars are often adorned with some of
the 99 "wonderful names" or attributes of God.
Three-di mensional sculptu re is prohibited in
Islam, but the two-d imensional representation of
living creatures is high ly developed. Some Persian
carpets include animals in their garden scenes. Per-
sian and Indian manusc riptS are illustrated with
miniatu re painti ngs of legendary heroes and current
rule rs. Among Iranian Shi'a, portraits of 'Ali are a
focus of popular piety. While representations of the
Prophet himself are avoided, Buraq- the steed that
carried him on his heavenly journey- is portrayed
in popular art as a winged horse with a human head
and is a common moti f on trucks and buses in Af-
ghanistan and Pakistan. In addition, highly ingenious
use has been made of Arabic calligraphy not only in
the decoration of mosques and minaretS, but in the
representation of an imals ("zoomorph ic calligraphy").
~ Taward the Modern World
Islam and Modernity
Throughout the h istory of Islam, many individuals
and groups have ta ken it on themselves to reform the
rest of the Muslim commun ity. An external impetus
for reform has been Muslim interaction with West-
ern Ch ristendom. The fi rst major Western challenges
to Muslim powe r we re the Crusades. Determi ned
to libe rate j erusalem from Muslim domination, the
armies of the Fi rst Crusade captured the holy city in
1099 after massacri ng its jewish and Muslim inhab-
itants. For nea rly two centuries, Frankish Christian
ki ngdoms existed side by side with Musli m states
along the eastern Med iterra nean shores, sometimes
peacefully, but most of the time at war.
In the end most of the c rusade rs returned home,
a nd those who remai ned were assimilated. But the
spirit of the Crusades lived on, as d id the distorted
images of Isla m and its followe rs that the crusade rs
S Muslim Traditions
wok home with them. The equally disto rted images
of Ch ristianity a nd Weste rn Christendom that the
c rusade rs left in Musl im lands have also lived on
and have bee n rei nforced a nd embellished in re-
sponse to Weste rn imperialism and colonialism.
Premodern Reform Movements
Common to all reform movements has been the call
to retu rn to pristine islam, the islam of the Proph-
et's society and the normative period of his "rightly
guided" successors. Among those who championed
this cause was the rel igious scholar Ibn Taymiyyah
(1 263- 1328), a jurist of the conse rvative Hanbali
school who not only waged a relentless campaign
against Shi'i beliefs and practices, Su fi excesses (e.g.,
cla ims that the law was no longe r bindi ng on them
si nce they had reached God), and the blind imita-
tion of established legal trad itions , but also fought tO
revive the practice of ytihad. Perhaps his most famous
Jatwa (religious legal opinion) was one that allowed
Muslims in the city of Mardin (i n what is now
Turkey) to wage war agai nst the occupy ing Mongols,
even though the Iaue r had converted to Islam after
thei r conquest of Baghdad. In so doing, Ibn Taymi-
yyah contradicted the standard teach ing that Mus-
lims should not wage wa r against Muslim r ulers. The
"Mard in Jatwa" was to exert a powerful and long-
lasti ng inOuence on subsequent reform movements.
Some four centuries later, Ibn Taymiyyah 's ideas
became the basis of the reform program advocated
by the Wah habi movement , named for its fou nder,
Muha mmad Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703- 1792).
Significantly, th is u ncompromising and inO uen-
tial rev ivalist moveme nt began in the h ighlands
o f Arabia , the birthplace of Islam. Ibn 'Abd al -
Wahhab's long life allowed hi m to establish his
move ment on a firm foundation . He all ied h imself
with Muhammad 'Al Sa'ud , a local tribal prince,
on the unde rsta ndi ng th at the prince would exe r-
cise political power and protect the nascent move-
ment, wh ich would hold religious authority. This
agreement remains ope rative today: the kingdom of
Saudi Arabia is a Wahhabi state, ruled by the de-
scendants of 'AI Sa'ud.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sites
Haram ai-Sharif. Israel
The a rea of the ancient city of jerusalem called
Haram ai-Sharif (the "Noble Sanctuary"; also
know n to jews and Ch ristians as the Temple Mou nt)
contains two sac red buildings: the Masjid ai-
Aqsa- the "Farthest Mosque," from a passage in the
The Wahhabis preached a strictly egalitarian
Islam based solely on a di rect relationsh ip between
the worsh ipe r a nd God. They repudiated the widely
che rished hope that the Prophet and othe r divinely
favored individuals would intercede with God on
behalf of the pious to grant the m blessi ngs a nd
succor in this life and salvation in the next. The
Wahhabis regarded the ve neration of saints, includ-
ing the Prophet, as a form of idolatry. They even ad-
vocated the destruction of the sacred black SLOne of
the Ka'ba, on the grounds that it constituted an idol,
standing between faithful Muslims and their Lord.
The Wahhabis held all those who d id not sha re
their convictions to be in error and waged a viole nt
campaign aimed at purgi ng Muslim society of what
they conside red to be un-Islamic beliefs and prac-
tices. They destroyed the Prophet's tomb in Medina
and leveled the graves of h is companions. They at-
tacked the Sh i'a's sac red cities of Naja [ and Karbala,
massac red their inhabitants, and demolished the
shrines of 'Ali and h is son Husay n. They also went
on a rampage in Arab cities, desecrating the tombs
of Sufi saints and destroy ing their sh rines.
The basic ideals of Wahhabis m have appealed
to many rev ivalists and played an especially sig-
nificant role in provoking reform efforts within
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Sufism (see
"Ni neteenth-Century Revivalism"). In the present
day, howeve r, a number of extremist groups in-
Ouenced by Wahhabi ideology, includ ing the Tal-
iba n, AI-Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq a nd
Qur'an (17:1) referring to Muhammad's miraculous
journey- a nd the Dome of the Rock, a sanctuary
bu ilt on the spot from wh ich trad ition says Muham-
mad made his ascent to heaven.
Syria (ISIS), have transformed the inte rnal Struggle
to "purify" Islam into an external wa r against all
perceived enem ies, Muslim and non-Musli m alike.
Nineteenth-Century Revivalism
Jiltacl- Arabic for "struggle"- has two components.
In ner jihacl is the struggle to make oneself more Is-
lam ic; oute r jihacl is the struggle to make one's soci-
ety more Islamic.
A numbe r of Sufi jihacl movements a rose in the
nineteenth centu ry, partly in response to Wahhabi
critic is ms and pa rtly in reaction against Eu ropean
colonial encroach ment on Muslim domains . Sev-
eral of these movements were able to establish
short-lived states, a mong them those Jed by Usman
('Uthman) dan Fod io (the Sokoto caliphate, 1809-
1903) in Nige ria, Muhammad ai-Sanusi (the Sanusi
movement, 1837- 1969) in Libya, a nd Muhammad
Ahmad ai-Mahdi (the Mahdi rebellion, 1881- 1889)
in Sudan. Common to all these movements was an
activist ideology of milita nt struggle agains t exter-
nal colonialism a nd internal decade nce. They also
strove for reform and the rev ival of ijtihad.
Because of thei r broad appeal, these Sufi reform
movements exerted a lasting in Ouence on most sub-
sequent reform programs and ideologies. In North
Africa in particular, Sufi shaykhs and religious schol-
a rs not only helped tO preserve their countries' reli-
gious, linguistic, and cultural identity but in some
cases spearheaded the long and bloody struggles

for independence from French and Italian colonial
rule. In the nineteenth century, for example, the
Su fi shaykh Abdelkader ('Abd ai-Qadi r) played a n
important political role in the long campaign for
Algeria's independence. Ki ng Muhammad V of Mo-
rocco, who negotiated h is country's independence
from France in 1956, was himself a Sufi shaykh and
a "venerable descenda nt" (sayyid) of the Prophet.
And the grandson of ai-Sanusi, ld ris I, ruled libya
as king from its decla ration of indepe ndence in 1951
until he was overth rown in a revolution in 1969.
The movement begun by ai-Sanusi in libya pro-
moted reform and Muslim unity across North a nd
West Africa. By contrast, the goal of ai-Mahd i's
movement in Suda n was more eschatological: its
founder saw h imself as God's representative on
earth and set out LO establish a social and political
o rder modeled on that of the Prophet. He be lieved
the OttOman- Egyptian occupation of Sudan LO be
un-lslamic and waged a war of jihad against it. In
1885 he triumphed ove r Egyptian forces a nd estab-
lished an Islamic state based on strict application of
shari'ah law. Although ai-Mahd i himself died with in
a few months, the regime lasted u ntil 1889, whe n
it was ove rthrown by British and Egyptian forces.
Ahmadiyah
The caree r of Mirza Ghulam Ah mad (1835- 1908)
reflects both the soc ial and the religious d iversity of
the Punjab in the 1880s- a time of various move-
ments for renewal of Hi ndu and Muslim identity,
as well as a g row ing emphasis on self-defin ition
among the Sikhs (a separate religious commun ity in
the Punjab). To th is mix Ghulam Ah mad cont rib-
uted seve ral volumes of commentary on the Qur'an ,
as well as claims o f his own leade rsh ip status.
In 1889 he accepted from h is followers the
homage reserved for a prophet li ke Muhammad.
Ah mad is, as h is adhe rents are know n, have also re-
vered h im as the mujaddid (" renewer") who ushe red
in the fourteenth centu ry of Islam, as the Mahdi of
Shi'i expectation, as the tenth incarnation of the
Hindu deity Vishnu, and as the returning messiah
o f Ch ristian ity (Ah madis also ma intain that j esus
S Muslim Traditions
did not die on a cross in Palesti ne but went to Af-
gha nista n, in search of the 10 lost tribes of Is rael,
and was buried in Sri nagar, Kashmir).
Active proselytizers, Ghulam Ah mad and h is fol-
lowe rs preached in the streets, engaged in debates,
and published translations o f the Qur'an. Since
then , the moveme nt has sp read widely. Includi ng
4 million followers in Pak istan, Ah mad is now total
at least 10 million, or 1 pe rcent of the world 's Mus-
lims. leade rsh ip since the fou nde r's death in 1908
has been termed khilajat al-Masih (succession of
the Messiah). Although the successor is chosen by
election, since 1914 the title has stayed in Ghulam
Ah mad's family, held first by a son a nd then by two
grandsons. Because they identified themselves as
Muslims, the Ah madis were d isplaced from Qadian
on the pa rtition o f Ind ia in 1947 and subsequently
relocated their cente r across the borde r in Rabwah ,
Pakistan, west of l ahore.
Many Muslims, however, have not accepted
the Ah mad is as fellow Muslims. As early as 1891,
Ghulam Ahmad's claim tO prophethood was re-
jected by orthodox Muslim authorities. In Pakistan
Ah madis have been the ta rget of riots and demon-
strations, have been decla red (in 1984) to be a
non -Muslim minority and hence ineligible for op-
portunities available to Muslims , and have been pro -
hibited from calli ng themselves Muslims or usi ng
Is la mic vocabulary in their worsh ip and preach ing.
Ahmadiyah 's future, therefore, may lie in its d ias-
pora. Missions have been notably successful in lands
suc h as West Africa, the Ca ribbean , and the overseas
English-speaking world. The largest mosque in North
America, opened in 1992, is the Ahmad i Baitul lslam
mosque in the Toronto-area suburb of Maple. In 2017,
Afr-ican American actor Mahershala Ali became the
first Musli m to win an Academy Award for his role as
best supporting actor in Moonlight. Ali is an Ahmadi
convert to Islam.
Modern Reformers
As the nineteenth centu ry opened, Eu ropean
inOuence in the Muslim world was g rowing.
Napoleon , who landed on Egyptian shores in 1798,
World Religions: Western Traditions
brought with him not only sold1ers but also schol-
ars and the printing press; m th1s way the M1ddle
East d1scovered Europe. The great Ottoman Empire,
wh1ch in the early decades of the Sixteenth cen-
tury had threatened Vienna, had by the nineteenth
become "the sick man of Europe." Meanwhile t he
British Empire was extending its rule in Ind ia a nd
its control ove r much of the Muslim world.
Muslim thinkers everywhere were awed by t he
West and resentful of the political inertia into which
the Mushm ummah had apparentl)' fallen. Even so,
man)' areas of the lslam1c east d1d expenence an in-
tellectual and cultural rev1val m the nmeteenth cen-
tury. Egypt, for instance, was the home of an Arab
mtellectual renaissance. Owmg to unsettled social
and political conditions m the Levant, a number of
Western-educated Sy ro-Lebanese Chnstians imm i-
grated to Egy pt, where they established newspape rs
and cultural journals and participated actively in
the recovery of the Arabo-lslam ic heritage.
The Arab renaissance of the n ineteenth centu ry
was to a large degree sumulated by the cultural a nd
mtellectual flowering that was takmg place in the
West. Undermined first by the Protestant Reforma-
tion and then by the Enlightenment, rehg1ous faith
and msututions were g1vmg way to seculansm and
Romanuc nationalism. The same 1deas were attractive
to many Muslims. In the eastern Meduerranean they
contributed to the rise of Arab nationalism, and they
had a sim ilar effect in other Muslim regions, such
that nationalistic identities came to compete wi.th,
and in some cases even supersede, Islamic identities.
These and other \Vestern mfluences were re-
inforced by the proliferation of Western Chnstian
miSSIOnary schools and Institutions of h1gher learn-
mg throughout the Muslim world. In short, the
lslam1c reform mo,·ements of the nmeteenth and
twenueth centuries m As1a, Afnca, and the Middle
East arose in a context of widespread cultural and
mtellectual ferment.
The Indian Subcontinent
The Mughal dynasty in India was founded by Babu r
in 1526 and reached its peak durmg the reign of h is
grandson Akbar (1556- 1605). W1th the decline of
the Mughals m the seventeenth century, demands
for reform along trad1uonal hnes intensified. One
of the strongest vo1ces was that of Ahmad S1rlund1
(1564- 1624), who called for a return to the shan'ah,
regarded Sufis as deviants, and condemned Ibn
'Arabi in particular as an infidel.
In modern times, the most important movement
of Islamic reform on the Indian subcontine nt was
begun by Shah Wa h Allah of Delhi (1702- 1762). Al-
though he was a disciple of Ibn 'Abd ai-Wahhab, he
was a Suf1 h1mself, and mstead of rejecting Sufism
he sought to reform 11. A man of encyclopedic
learn mg. Shah Wah Allah was a moderate reformer
who also sought to reconcile Shi'a- Sunm differ-
ences, wh1ch had been (and sometimes are sull) a
source of great fnCllon on the Indian subconunent
in particular.
Shah Wali Albh 's g randson Ah mad Barelwi
trans formed h is g randfathe r's program into a jihad
moveme nt against British ru le and the Sikhs. The
shock that lndtan Mushms had suffered wtth the
consolidauon of Briush rule had been intensified
by the fact that the Bnush tampered with lslamtc
law ttself. The result was that India was governed
through a mtxture of lslamtc law and Western hu-
mamsuc rulings known as Anglo-~uhammadan
law. In 1826 Barelwt established an lslamtc state
based on the sha11'ah and adopted the old caltphal
title "commander of the faith ful." Although he was
killed in battle in 1831, his jihad move ment lived
on. For Barelwi, India had ceased to be an Islamic
domai n after the end of Mugha l rule, and t herefore
Muslims should wage a jihad to liberate it. If mde-
pendence from mfidel sovereignty was not possible,
Musltms should undertake a religious mtgrauon
(hijrah) to an area where Mushrns did rule.
At the oppostte end of the spectrum of reacuon
to Brttish rule was the approach of Sayyid Ahmad
Khan (1817-1898). Like all reformers, Khan called
for modern l)llhad, or rethinking of the Islamic her-
itage, but unli ke most of the m he rejected hadith
trad ition as a legitimate basis for mode rn Islamic
livi ng. He founded t he Aligarh Muhammadan Col-
lege ( later Aligarh Musli m Unive rsity), whe re he at-
tempted to apply h is tdeas m a modern Western-style
program of educauon.

Muhammad Iqbal
The ideas of Sayyid Ah mad Khan and his fellows
culminated in the philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal
(1876- 1938), the greatest Muslim th inker of modern
Ind ia. Central to Iqbal's work is the idea of an in ner
spirit that moves h uman civilization.
Iqbal argued that Weste rn science and ph ilos-
ophy we re rightfully pan of the Islamic he ritage
a nd should be integrated into a fresh "reconstruction
of religious thought in Islam" (an idea th at also pro-
vided the title of h is only major work in English ,
published in the 1930s). A poet as well as a ph ilos-
ophe r, Iqbal frequently repeated th is call for a dy-
nam ic rethink ing of Islamic faith and civilization
in his verse.
"' Recent Developments
Twentieth-Century Secularism
Many of the early Muslim refo rmers were at once
liberal mode rnists and trad itional thinkers. For
th is reason they are known as salafis, reforme rs
who sought to emulate the example of "the pious
forebea rs" (al-salaf al-salih). This important ideal
o f equilibriu m between trad ition and mode rnity
had disappeared by the 1920s. The rea fter, Isla mic
reform meant one of th ree things: revivalism, apolo-
getics, or secularism.
Following the OttOman defeat in the First World
War, a young army office r named Musta fa Kemal
AtatCtrk (1881- 1938) launched a movement for na-
tional liberation. As the first president of the new
Republic of Turkey (1923), he abolished the caliph-
ate, transforming the Tu rkish state from a trad i-
tional Islam ic domain into a modern secular state.
Although for centuries the caliphate had been a
shadowy office without any power, it had neve rthe-
less embodied the only hope for a viable pan-Islamic
State. Its d isappearance therefore had far-reach ing
consequences for Islamic political thought.
Ataturk banned Sufi orde rs, dissolved Islamic re-
ligious institutions, replaced the Arabic alphabet in
which Turkish had trad itionally been written with
S Muslim Traditions
the l ati n, and mou nted a nationwide campa ign for
literacy in the new script. His express aim was to
Western ize the Turkish republic and cut it off from
its Islamic past. He encouraged the adoption of
Western-style clothing a nd even went so far as tO
ban the fez, the brimless conical red h at that, li ke all
trad itional Muslim headgear, allowed the faithful tO
touch their foreheads to the ground d uring prayer.
Though Atatt:trk's ideology has remained the
official State policy in Turkey, his program largely
failed, for the people's Islamic roots we re not easily
destroyed. Islamic faith and practice remain strong
among the people of Tu rkey, and the country has
experienced its own powerful revivalist movements.
The most recent of these is the Hizmet ("service")
movement, led by Fetullah Gillen, who has lived in
the United States since 1999.
Twentieth-Century Islamic
Revivalism
Isla mic reform movements generally seem to have
experienced a loss of nerve after the international
upheavals of the First World War and the breakup
of the OttOman Empire. Despite their di ffe rences,
the various reform movements of the nineteenth
century shared a dy namic and courageous spirit of
progress. The premature stiOi ng of that spirit may
have renected the lack of a cohe rent progra m of
reform that postcolon ialist Muslim th inkers could
implement or upon wh ich they could build. In any
event , the libe ral reform move ments of the nine-
teenth century were transformed into traditional
revivalist movements in the twentieth.
On the eve of Atatu rk 's abolition of the caliph -
ate in 1924, Muha mmad Rash id Rida (1865- 1935)
published an important treatise on the imamate, or
supreme caliphate , in which he argued for the es-
tablish ment of an Isla mic state that would be r uled
by a council o f jurists o r religious scholars. Such
a state would recognize nationalistic sentiments
and aspi rations but would subord inate them tO the
rehgio-political interests of the large r commun ity.
Rida's Islam ic revivalism and Arab nationalism came
to represent two m~ or trends in twe ntieth-century
World Religions: Western Traditions
Muslim thinking, and his political pla n for a council
o f jurists would be impleme nted in Iran followi ng
the revolution of 1978- 1979.
Contemporary Revivalist
Movements
The establish ment of a transnational Islamic caliph-
ate remains the ideal of Islamic reform. The reality,
however, has bee n a proli fe ration o f local move-
ments reflecting local needs and ideas.
Common to most rev ivalist movements in the
second half of the twentieth century was the ideal
o f an all-inclusive and self-su ffic ient Islamic ord er.
This ideal had its roots in the Society of Muslim
Brothe rs Uam'iyat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin; also known
as the Muslim Brothe rhood), founded in 1928 by
an Egyptian schoolteacher named Hasan al-Ban na.
The ai m of this society was to establish a network of
Islamic social, economic, and political institutio ns
th rough wh ich the total Islam ization of society
might in time be achieved. Working through social
and educationa l facil ities such as schools , ba nks,
cooperatives, and clinics, the Musli m Brothers pen-
etrated all levels of Egy ptian society.
The political and militaristic aspects of reviv-
alism also had the ir begin nings in the Muslim
Brothe rs, pa rticularly a fte r the assassi nation of the
populist a nd ge nerally peaceful al-Banna in 1949.
He was succeeded by hard-line leade rs who advo-
cated active jihad against the Egyptian state syste m,
wh ich they rega rded as un-lsla mic. Among the
products of the Muslim Brothers' ideology were the
young officers, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, beh i nd
the 1952 socialist revolution that abolished mon ar-
ch ical r ule in Egypt.
A charis matic propone nt of Arab nationalism in
the 1950s and 1960s, Nasser nevertheless clash ed
with the Muslim Brothe rs, and in the mid-1960s
he imprisoned, exiled, o r executed most of the
g roup's leade rs. One of those leade rs was Sayyid
Qutb, who proved importa nt as a lin k to modern
Islam ist groups. As a theo retic ian , Qutb in fluenced
lslam ist ideology, and as an activist whose defiance
of the state led to h is execution, he prov ided
younger militants with a model of ma rtyrdom to
emulate. Followi ng the Arab defeat in the six-day
Arab- Is raeli wa r of j u ne 1967 and the death of
Nasser th ree years later, the Musli m Brothe rhood
was d rive n u ndergrou nd and supe rseded by more
powe rful revivalist move ments under the di rection
of Anwar Sadat and his successor Hosni Muba rak,
some of which h ave advocated the use of violence
to ach ieve their goals. Although suppressed in
Egypt, the Brotherhood has spread in other Arab
cou ntries, but in exile, without its social in frastruc-
tu re, it was more infl uential on the level of ideology
than of soc ial action until the events o f the "Arab
Spring." A similar organization , the Islam ic Soci-
ety Uama'at-i Islami), was established in 1941 by
Mawlana Sayyid Abu al-A'la Mawdudi. li ke Hasan
al-Ban na , Mawdudi was com miued to pan-Islamic
unity. But also li ke al-Ban na , he concentrated his
efforts on his ow n community- in th is case, the
Muslims of India and (a fte r 1947) Pakista n. The in-
fluence of both organizations ultimately sp read fa r
beyond their original homes.
While most contemporary revivalist moveme nts,
includi ng the two organizations noted he re, have
been open to modern science a nd technology, they
have rejected many Western values and practices-
includi ng capitalist democracy, women's liberation ,
and the free mixing of the sexes- as decadent.
The refore, unlike the n ineteenth-century reform-
ers who looked to the West for ideas a nd models,
contempora ry revivalist reformers have ins isted on
finding Islamic alternatives. Mawdud i, for example,
wishing to distinguish h is Islam ic state model from
Western democracies, described it as a "theodemoc-
racy" based on the b road Qur'anic principle o f con-
sultation (shura) and shari'ah law.
State Islam and the Islamic
Revolution
Following a coup in 1969, Gaa far Mohamed el-
Nimeiri made shari'ah the law in Sudan. The result
was a bloody con flict between the Muslim north and

the gene rally Ch ristian south that red uced this for-
merly rich agric ultu ral country to fa mine; although
South Sudan became an independent republic in
2011, violent clashes continue along the border
that sepa rates the two states. Simila rly, in Pakistan ,
which for three decades had been a constitutionally
Islamic but mode rn state, the 1977 introduction of
shari'ah by Gene ral Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq led LO
violent soc ial and political conflict.
In almost eve ry Muslim country today the re is
at least one revivalist movement advocating some
form of Islam ic State. In count ries like Malaysia a nd
Indonesia, the govern ments themselves espouse Is -
lam ic national policies in order to silence extrem ist
demands for rad ical reform. Nevertheless, in most
Muslim countries feelings continue to run high
bet ween Islamic moveme nts made up of educated
middle-class men and wome n and despotic regi mes
determined to hold on to powe r at any cost.
On Decembe r 19, 2010, a Tunisian named Mo-
hamed Bouazizi set h imself on fire to protest police
a nd government corruption that made it impossible
for him to sell fruits and vegetables from a cart with-
out paying bribes to offic ials. His self-immolation
sparked widespread protests that led to the over-
th row of the Tun is ian president. These d ramatic
events in turn sparked protests in Alge ria and Egypt,
with the largest coordinated efforts begin ning in
Cairo in late Janua ry 2011. On February 11 Egy p-
tian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down from
powe r. In 2012 Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim
Brothe rhood became the new Egyptian president.
He se rved for almost exactly a year before bei ng
removed by the Egyptian military on July 3, 2013.
Among the other Arab countries swept up in the
so-called Arab Spring we re Sy ria, Yemen , Bah ra in ,
a nd libya. On Ma rch 18, 2011, the UN Sec urity
Counc il authorized a resolution LO p rotect civ ilians
under attack in libya, and the follow ing day the first
Western air strike was launched agai nst the mil i-
ta ry regi me of Muam mar Gaddafi. He was killed in
Ocwber 2011, and a new assembly was elected in
July 2012 . As of2018, the violence trigge red in Sy ria
by the Arab Spring continues, exacerbated by the
self-procla imed "Islamic State" (ISIS).
S Muslim Traditions
In such h ighly charged social and political con-
dit ions, religion serves as a powerful moral, social,
and spiritual expression of discontent- not only for
Islamic activists , but for a broad spectru m of the
com munity as well. It was on precisely such mass
discontent that Imam Ruhollah Khomeini (1901-
1989) and h is fellow Shi'i mullahs (religio-legal func-
tion aries) built the Islamic Republic of Iran, in wh ich
social, pol itical, economic, a nd religious life are all
under the control of a religious hie rarchy headed by
a supreme ayatollah (ayat Allah, "sign of God").
Throughout the long pe riod o f secular Shi'i r ule
in Iran (1501- 1979), the authority of the religious
'u/ama' ope rated in more or less continuous tension
with the secular authority. This te nsion was g reatly
inc reased during the reign of the U.S.-supponed
Shah Moham mad Reza Pahlav i, who sought LO
Western ize the country and obscure its Islamic
identity by emphasi zing Iran's pre-Islamic cultu ral
past. In 1963, d uring the Muharram observa nces of
Hu sayn's martyrdom, matters came LO a head when
the shah 's dreaded secret police ruth lessly put down
mass demonstrations led by the 'ulama'. Khomein i,
already a prom inent religious leader, was sent
into exile, whe re he elaborated his rel igio-political
theory, accordi ng to wh ich the jurist would have
all-embrac ing authority in the com munity. In 1979
Kh omeini returned to Iran at the head of the Islamic
Revolution. The Islamic republic he founded h as had
a turbulent h istory, includi ng an eight-year war with
Iraq (1980- 1988) out o f which it eme rged greatly
weakened but still intact. Pro-democracy protests
and challenges to the authority of the 'ulama' came
to i nternational attention with the controve rsy that
su rrounded the country's 2009 election a nd the
pro tests that erupted in March 2011.
Islam in Western Europe
The Islamic p resence in western Europe began with
the establishment of Umayyad rule in southern
Spai n in 71 1. Comme rcial, political, and cultu ral
relations we re initiated with both Latin and Byzan-
tine states, but med ieval Europe would not tolerate
a permanent Musli m commu nity on its soil. The
World Religions: Western Traditions
campaign to drive the Musli ms out o f Spain suc-
ceeded in 1492 with the conquest of Granada. As a
result, the Muslim commu nities in weste rn Europe
today are a relatively recent phenomenon when
compared with the h istory o f Europe.
In the twentieth century some Muslims migrated
to Europe from various colon ies as studentS, visito rs,
and merchants. Many also went as menial labore rs
and factory workers, especially after the Second World
War. The majority of these postwar immigrants were
men ranging in age from their teens to their 40s.
The eth nic makeup of the Muslim commu nities
in Europe has been largely dete rmined by h istoric
colonial ties. Muslims from the French colonies in
North Africa, for example, generally went to France.
Ind ian and later Pakistan i and Bangladeshi Muslims
tended to go to Britai n. Those from Turkey and the
forme r Soviet Turkic republics went to Germany a nd
the Netherlands, wh ile Bosnians went to Ausu:ia.
These patte rns were established in the early decades
o f the twentieth century and have continued in sp ite
o f many restrictions.
Musl im commu nities in Eu rope te nd tO reOect
eth nic and linguis tic rather than secta rian affili-
ations. In recent years hu nd reds of mosques a nd
cultural cente rs have been established in European
cities, and Muslim com munities have become a dy-
namic religious and intellectual force in Eu ropean
society. France and Britain no longer confine Mus-
lims to the status of "guest workers," as most oth er
Eu ropean countries do. Yet even in these two na-
tions, the long histories of European rac is m, ethno-
centrism, and colon ialism have ensu red that ma ny
Muslims continue to be treated as second-class citi-
zens. This has created se rious problems.
After the Islam ic Revolution of 1978- 1979, ma ny
Iranians immig rated to Europe, add ing yet anothe r
layer of eth nic and religious dive rsity to European
Muslim society. The 15-year Lebanese Civil War
o f 1975- 1990, as well as contempo raneous distur-
bances in other Arab countries, includi ng the Gul f
Wa r of 1991, also sent ma ny political and economic
refugees to the West. Meanwhile , inte rmarriage a nd
conversion have in fused new blood into Muslim
commun ities in the \.Vestern wo rld.
Today, many Muslims bo rn in Europe to
foreign-born parents have assimilated into Euro -
pean society and culture. However, most Eu ropean
countries have taken legal measu res to limit immi -
gration , and since the mid-1980s a number of them
have repatriated some of thei r Muslim immigrants.
Such actions may have been prompted not on ly by
economic conside rations, but also perhaps by na-
tionalistic fears that Musli m im migrants migh t alte r
the soc ial a nd ethn ic characte r of these countries.
In 2009, for example, Swiss citizens voted into thei r
constitution a ban on minarets for new mosques-
even though , of the approximately 150 mosques
and Islamic cente rs in Switze rland, only 4 have
minarets. At the same time, Eu ropea n d iscrimina-
tion against eth nic minorities a nd the Islamic awak-
ening prec ipitated by the Iranian Revolution have
made Muslims more aware of their ow n religious
and cultu ral identity.
Islam in North America
When the fi rst Musli ms arrived on America n shores
is a matter of conjecture. Suggestions that Muslims
from Spain and West Africa may have sailed to
America long before Columbus should not be d is-
counted, although they have not bee n proven. Scat-
tered records point to the presence of Muslims in
Span ish Ame rica before 1550, and it is very likely
that the fall of Granada in 1492 and the harsh
treatment imposed on Muslims and jews by the
Inquisition led ma ny to nee to America soon a fte r
Columbus's h istoric voyage.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centu ries, h un-
dreds of thousands of Africans we re ta ken as slaves
to the Spanish, Portuguese, a nd British colonies
in the Americas. Although the majority were from
West Africa, Muslims made up at least 20 percent
of the total. In fact, the majority o f the slaves taken
from Senegal, Nigeria, and the western Sudan we re
Muslims, many of whom were well educated in
Arabic and the religious sc iences. Some were able
to preserve thei r faith and he ritage in the Ame ricas,
and some tried to maintai n contact with Muslims
in thei r home areas, but ma ny others were quickly

absorbed into American society, adopting thei r
maste rs' religious a ffiliations and even thei r family
names. Nevertheless, Isla mic customs and ideas ca n
still be traced in the African American commu nity,
a nd today efforts a re under way to recons truct the
story behind them from slave narratives, oral h is -
tory, and other arch iva l materials, includ ing obser-
vations of Islam ic ac tivities by wh ite travelers in the
mid-1800s
Begin ning in the late nineteenth centu ry,
African Americans made consc ious efforts to
recove r their Islamic he ritage. In the early 1930s,
Elijah Muhammad (born Elij ah Poole, 1897- 1975)
founded the Nation of Isla m in America (see Chap -
ter 7). He saw Islam as a religion of black people
o nly, mis rep resenting its universalistic a nd non-
racial nature. But h is sons a nd successors, afte r
traveling in the Muslim wo rld a nd obse rving the
inte rnational and multi racial cha racte r of the hajj
pilgrimage, have d rawn close r to classical Isla m.
African Ame rica n Muslims sometimes refe r to
themselves as Bilalians , a fter Bilal, an African com-
panion of the Prophet. Islam continues to be the
fastest-growi ng religion in Ame rica, particula rly
a mong African Americans and Lati no/as.
Before the rev ival of Islam in the African Amer-
ican commu nity ea rly in the twentieth century,
small numbers of Muslims traveled to Canada and
the United States, mainly from Sy ria a nd Lebanon.
These early im migrants were largely uneducated
me n who intended only to work in North Ame rica
for a few yea rs and then return home. Instead, many
married Canad ian or American women a nd we re
soon completely assimilated.
The first Muslim missiona ry in America was
Muhammad Alexa nder Webb, a jeweler, newspa-
pe r editor, and d iplomat who converted to Islam
in 1888 while traveling in India. On h is return ,
Webb created an Islamic propaganda movement,
wrote th ree books on Islam, and founded a period-
ical entitled The Muslim World (not to be con fused
with the academic journal of the sa me name). He
traveled widely to spread the new faith and estab-
lished Islam ic study ci rcles or Muslim brothe rhoods
in many northeaste rn and midweste rn America n
S Muslim Traditions
cities. W ith h is death in 1916, however, h is move-
ment died as well.
The numbers of Muslim immigrants comi ng to
Ca nada and the United States increased ma rkedly
d u ri ng the twentieth century. Most were of South
Asian o rigi n. Many were students who late r chose
to stay, or well-educated professionals hoping to
find bette r opportunities. But others came to escape
pe rsecution in thei r homelands on account of
their religious or political activities. Interestingly,
many recent newcome rs have arrived as staunch
ant i-Western revivalists but have soon forgotten
their hostility and taken up life as peaceful, respon-
sible, and law-abid ing citizens.
Although these and othe r religiously com mitted
Muslim im migrants may have mode rated thei r po-
litical convictions, they have tended to reta in a high
degree of religious zeal, which they put to good use
in the se rvice both of their ow n com munity and of
the society at large. They have played a crucial role in
prese rving the Islamic identity of fellow im migrants
and promoting a bette r understa nd ing of Islam
th rough med ia activities and academic meetings.
The fi rst mosque in the United States was built
in 1915 in Maine by Albanian Muslims; a nother fol-
lowed in Connecticut in 1919. Othe r mosques we re
established in the 1920s and 1930s in South Dakota
and Iowa. In 1928, Polish Tatars built a mosque in
Brooklyn , New York , wh ich is still in use. The first
Ca nadian mosque was built in Edmonton , Albe rta,
in 1938, and a numbe r o f smalle r tow ns in Alberta
also have Muslim commun ities. In Toronto, the first
Muslim organ ization was the Albania n Musli m So-
ciety o f Toronto, fou nded in 1956; in 1968 this orga-
nization purchased an unused Presbyterian church
and conve rted it into a mosque. Toronto cu rrently
has Canada's la rgest concentration of Muslims.
The exact numbers of Musli ms in Canada and
the United States are a matter of debate. The 2011
National Household Survey in Canada counted over
1 m illion Musl ims, making Islam the second-largest
religion in the country. The United States has not had
a religious census since 1936, but the current Muslim
pop ulation there is estimated to be between 6 and
7 million. Whatever the numbers may be, Islam is
World Religions: Western Traditions
no longer an exotic ranty m North Amenca; IllS lhe
fanh of many people's coworkers and netghbors.
Issues of gender equalit}' and sexual dtversny are
rarely dtscussed in the largest of the Muslim polit-
ical and religious orgamzations m North Ame rica
(e.g., the Islam ic Society of North America), partly
because those groups te nd to emphasize traditional
interpretations of Islam, and partly because they
have been preoccupied with mailers such as com-
munity building, immigrauon poltcy, discrimina-
uon, and (to some extent) foretgn poltcy. But as the
stze of their constituenctes has grown and the range
of perspecti\·es within those consutuenetes has in-
creased, there has been growmg pressure to address
mauers mvolving gender and sexualtty.
Diasporic communities in large urban centers tend
to become more open to quesuons about traditional
religious and cultural ideas as they become mo re
deeply rooted in (or assimilated into) their new societ-
ies. As contact with the "host" community intensifies,
those who question traditional1deas are likely to have
much easier access to information and networks of
ltke-minded people than the1r counterparts m their
countnes of origin. Some wtll subsequently "exit"
the1r communities of ongm and seek full asstmtlation
mto the dominant SOCiety, but m large commumties
m parucular, some will remam connected and mo-
bilize their challenges to tradtuonalism from within.
In general, Muslims born and ratsed in North
America are more ope n to diversity than those
born abroad, especially if their communities are not
sufficiently homogeneous to support their own sepa-
rate social institutions (e.g., schools). The likelihood
of dissent is further amplified m the Muslim com-
munmes of North America by relau,·ely htgh levels
of educauon. In general, htgher educauon mcreases
openness to di\·ersit)', as well as to equny clatms by
women and sexual mmonues. The fact that Muslim
mmonties in North Amenca arc less economically
marginalized than those in Europe also reduces the
likelihood of strict adherence to reltgious belief.
On the other hand, the great majority of Muslims
in Canada and the United States are still relatively
recent immigrants from places where social norms re-
gardmggender and sexuality are starkly conservative,
and the mosques and lslarmc centers to whtch new
immtgrants become attached are almost invanably
conservauve on moral quesuons. Groups seekmg to
challenge conservauve tdeas are developing, as we
note in the following secuons, but homosexual Mus-
lims in particular continue to face condemnation
from much of mainstream Muslim society.
Marriage and the Family
Marnage under Islam IS essentially a contractual re-
lationshtp negottated between the prospeCU\'C hus-
band and the woman's father or guardian. But the
Qur'an emphastzes that the true contract is between
the husband and the wtfe, based on mutual consent:
the woman's father or guardian, "he in whose hand
is the tie of marriage" (Q. 2:237), is expected to act
on her behalf and, ideally, in her inte rest. Divorce
is allowed, but on ly as a last resort after every effort
has been made to save the marriage.
The Qur'an al lows polygyny, or simultaneous mar-
riage to more than one wife. But it places two signifi-
cant restrictions on such marnages. First, itlimtts the
number of wtves that a man can have at one ume to
four (before Islam the number permitted in Arab so-
ciety was unltmued). Second, 11 demands stnct JUS-
tice and equahty m a man's material and emotional
support for all hts w1ves. If this is not possible, the
Qur'an stipulates, "then on ly one." The Qur'an also
warns, "You cannot act equitably among your wives
however much you try" (Q. 4:3, 4:129). As a result, the
vast majority of Muslim marriages are monogamous.
Even more stgnificantly, the Qur'an changes the
nature of polygyny from an entitlement to a social
responsibihty. The verses dealing with this subject
open wuh a provtso: "If you [men[ are afratd that
you would not act JUStly towards the orphans [tn
your care). then marry what seems good to you of
women: two. three, or four" (Q. 4:3). This statement
may be mterpreted in two ways. It may mean that a
man cou ld marry the widowed mother of orphans in
order to prov ide a fam ily for them. It may also mean
that a man cou ld marry two, th ree, or four orphan
girls after they have attained marriageable age, aga in
to provide a home and family for them. In either

case, ma rriage to more than one wi fe is explicitly al-
lowed as a way of prov id ing for female orphans and
widows in a traditional society beset with continu-
ous warfare, where a woman can find the support
and security she needs only in her own home.
Adultery, Fornication, and "Family Honor"
The Qur'an (17:32) is explicit in condem ning adul-
tery: "And do not come close to adultery- it is tru ly
a shameful deed and an ev il way." The pu nish ment
provided in the Qur'an (24:2) for adulterers (mar-
ried men or women who h ave sex with someone
other than thei r spouse) and fornicators (unma rried
women or men who have sex with anyone) is 100
lashes: "The woman and the man guilty of adulte ry
o r forn ication, flog each of them with a hund red
lashes: l et not compassion move you in their case,
in a matte r prescribed by God, if you believe in God
a nd the last Day: and let a party of the Believers
witness their pun ish ment." Since the act has to be
witnessed by fou r reliable eyewitnesses, such cases
historically we re rarely prosecuted.
Yet there have been cases, especially in recent
times, of adulte ry and fornication being pun ished
by law, and in some places the penalty has not bee n
a flogging, but capital punish ment ca rried out by
ston ing. Among those places is Iran, which acco rd -
ing to the huma n rights orga nization Amnesty In-
ternational has carried out six such executions since
2006. The sc riptural source used to justify stoning
is not the Qu r'an but the hadith lite rature. Many ac-
tivists, both Musli m and non-Muslim, have sough t
to end th is barbaric practice.
Another ba rba ric practice that has attracted
increasi ng attention in recent years is the murder
o f family members by their relatives, ostensibly to
preserve the fam ily's "honor"; the victims in such
cases a re al most always young women o r girls who
a re perceived to have brought sha me on the family
by disobeyi ng male authority. In Canada, the 2009
Shafia case was a horrific example o f th is practice,
in wh ich a father, h is second wi fe in a polygamous
marriage, and their son murdered the fam ily's
th ree teenaged daughters (Zainab, Saha r, and Geeti
S Muslim Traditions
Shafia), as well as the husband's first wife (Rona Mo-
hammed). The th ree pe rpetrators were convicted in
2012 and sentenced to life imprisonment. There is
noth ing in the Qur'an that calls for the taking of
an innocent li fe. The thinking beh ind such killi ngs is
rooted not in a religion of eth ical monotheism, but
in h onor/shame culture.
Wa r, Terrorism , and V iolence
Ma ny hoped that the end of the Cold War in 1989
and the moves made in the 1990s towa rd endi ng
the long and bitte r conflict between Israelis and Pal-
estinians might allow for better relations between
the Western and Muslim worlds in gene ral. But the
Is raeli- Palestinian conflict has only deepened , and
new conflicts have eme rged in recent years.
One major political development in the shap-
ing of these relations was the Irania n Revolution
of 1979. Fou r decades later, the prospect of an Iran
with nuclear weapons has only increased te nsions
between the Islamic regi me and the West, espec ially
with the ad ministration o f President Donald Trump
in the United States. A second development can also
be traced to 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded
Afgha nistan. Muslims from around the world volun-
tee red to fight with the Afghans for their liberation,
and the United States contributed heavily to thei r
tra in ing. Called mujahidin (the word is de rived from
jihad), these soldiers we re seen at this ti me- before
the end of the Cold War- as "freedom fighters" by
much of the world, includi ng then- Ame rican presi-
dem Ronald Reagan.
Among the other contributo rs to Afghanistan's
"holy wa r" was Osama bin laden, the son of a
wealthy Saudi Arabian fam ily who c reated Al-Qaeda
("the base") to help fund and trai n mujahidin. Al-
though Soviet troops we re withd rawn from Afghan-
ista n in 1988, Al -Qaeda was not disbanded. In 1996
bin laden issued a Jatwa calli ng for the ove rth row
of the Saudi govern ment and the removal of U.S.
for.ces from Arabia, and in 1998 he declared war
agai nst Americans ge nerally. A series of terrorist
aCLions followed, culminating in the attacks on the
Un ited States o f September ll, 2001. In response,
 World Religions: Western Traditions
•~Vvomen
' · tn'e ~, ra d Lttons
Ln ·' 1
Women's Rights in the Muslim Tradition
or all the social and political issues that are c ur-
rently being debated with in the Muslim community,
pe rhaps the most important is the question of wom-
en's rights. The Qur'an (9:71- 72) makes it clear th at
men and women have the same religious duties and
obligations:
The Believers, men and women, are protec-
tors one of another: they enjoin what is just,
and forbid what is ev il: they observe regula r
prayers, practice regular charity, and obey
God and God 's Messenger. On them God
will pour mercy: for God is Exalted in power,
Wise. God has prom ised to Believers, men
and women, gardens under wh ich rive rs now,
to dwell the rein, and beautiful mansions in
garde ns of everlasting bliss. But the greatest
bliss is the good pleasure of God: that is the
supreme felicity.
Anothe r example can be found in surah 33, verse 35:
For Muslim men and women, for believ-
ing men and women, for devout men and
women, for true men and women, for men
and women who are patient and constant,
for men and women who humble them-
selves, for men and women who give in
Cha rity, for men and women who fast (and
de ny themselves), for men and women
who gua rd their chastity, and for men and
women who engage much in God's praise,
for them God has prepared forgiveness and
great reward.
The Qu r'an allows women to acqui re property
through bequest, inherita nce, or bride dowry and
dispose of it as they please. In the modern world
1. , •" , I
these rights may well be inadequate, but they point
to a Qu r'an ic recognition of women's human d ig-
nity that until recently was denied in many so-
cieties. Islamic law a nd soc ial custom have not
been so gene rous and forwa rd -look ing, however:
in general, they have tended eithe r to restrict the
rights laid out in the Qu r'an o r to rende r them
virtually inope rative. Although women as well as
men are supposed to receive an education, some
Islam ic societies (such as Afghanistan under the
Taliban) deny women education and employment
opportunities.
As for the ltijab, or veil, the Qur'an does not refe r
to it often . It merely demands that women avoid
wearing jewelry and dress modestly, and in the very
next ve rse it also demands modesty of males. The
hadith tradition indicates that most Muslim com-
munities adopted the practice of veiling during the
time of the caliphate, probably under the inOuence
of eastern Christian and ancient Greek customs.
An extreme extension of the practice, which may
also be attributable to non-Arab inOuences, is the
seclusion of women. Under the South Asian system
of purdah, for insta nce, women are not only veiled
but isolated from men. Seclusion also became a
hallmark of Turkish life under the harim system of
the Ottoman aristocracy. In Afghanistan, the burqa
covers the entire body; even the woman's eyes (and
her vision) are obscured by a sc reen.
In the twenty- first century, the hijab has
become a powerful- and powerfully ambiguous-
symbol, widely condem ned (especially by non -
Muslims) as a limitation on women's righ ts but
often defe nded by Muslim women themselves as a
freely chosen a ffi rmation o f their Islamic ide ntity.
The question at issue is to what extent women can
be excluded from public life. Arou nd the world,
social and econom ic conditions increasingly

demand equal panicipation and equal rights for
wome n and men alike.
In March 2005 Professor Am ina Wadud Jed a
mixed-gender Muslim prayer service in New York
City. The event caused a great deal of controversy
because it broke at least th ree Islamic conventions.
Fi rst, traditionally, women have Jed prayer only
among othe r women or with in the ir own families;
second, some of the women attending the service
had their hair uncovered; and th ird , men and
women were not sepa rated (the only time such in-
te rspersing of genders is accepted by all Muslims
is du ring the pilgrimage to Mecca, when, as de-
scribed earlie r, men and women circumambulate
the Ka'ba and p ray beside one another). The New
York praye r se rvice sta rted a new trend; similar
events have since been held in a number of North
Sajda Khalil ties a hijab for Mikaela Valenzuela on National Hijab Day at the University of Toronto.
S Muslim Traditions
American cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles.
Mixed-gender and female-led prayers are becoming
an increasingly important issue for North Ame rican
Muslims.
Muslim women's activists have also acqui red a
more prominent voice in at least some mainstream
Mu slim organ izations, challenging male leaders to
adopt more inclusive language and develop poli-
cies to encourage women's participation. They are
also becoming more vocal in thei r engagement with
Western feminism over issues such as head cover-
ing. Although the ir positions on questions of gender
equality sometimes dive rge from those of Western
feminists , controversies over issues such as veil-
ing have created sign ificant openings for Muslim
women to engage in political debate within their
own religious communities.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Dr. Aminah Beverly (McCloud) AI-Deen, African
American Muslim Scholar and Activist
Dr. Ammah AI-Deen IS a professor of Islamic
stud1es m the Department of Rehg1ous Studies at
DePaul Um,·erslt)' m Ch1cago. She began teaching
there as a graduate student mstructor m 1990 and
was promoted to a tenure-track assistant professor
m 1993. That same year, she founded the Islam
in Amcnca Arch1ves at the Richardson Library
at DePaul Umvers1ty, wh1ch collects the works of
American lslam1c scholars. As an associate professor
in 1995, she orgamzed the first of several "Islam in
Amer ica" conferences at the un iversity, a nd as a full
professor in 2003, she began to write the cou rses
that in 2006 became the foundation of the nation's
fi rst u nde rgraduate baccalaureate program in Is-
lam ic world stud ies. A former editor-in-ch ief of the
journal of Islamic Law and Culture, she has pubhshed
numerous books, mcludmg African Amer !Can Islam .
Transnational Muslims in American So.:ltty, Qutstrons
of Faith, An Introduction to Islam rn the 21st Century,
and History of Arab Americans. Exploring Dn·trst
Roots. She has also wntten two manuscnpts entrtled
Islamic Ethics in the 21st Century for graduate schools
in Abu Dhabi.
Al-Deen is a semor Fulbnght scholar. an ad-
visory board member of the lnslllute for Soctal
and Policy Understand mg. a board member of the
American Islamic College, and an executive board
member o f the Inner-City Muslim Action Net-
work (! MAN). She also ran a 10-week "Exploring
Muslim Cu ltu res" program in the city of Chicago,
with 22 lectures, 10 events, a nd th ree exh ibits that
engaged 60,000 Ch icago h igh school students and
thei r soc ial studies teachers. For th is program, she
was able to turn her DePaul Un iversuy students
into docents. lt was one of the many ways m which
Al -Deen has showcased her actlvrsm as well as her
scholarsh1p. A 2004 artrcle about her m the New
Yorh Times ran under a hcadhne that summed up
her work: "An lslam1c Scholar w11h the Dual Role
of Activist."
As an Afncan Amencan ~iushm woman. she
has been outspoken about her support for both
indigenous Amencan Mushms rn general and
African Amencan Mushms rn particular. Dunng
Ramadan rn 2013, she spoke potgnantly about the
Trayvon Martm tnal , m wh1ch the krller of an un-
a rmed Afncan Amencan teenager was found not
guilty:
As Americans of various ethnicllies and
ages poured into the streets either to sup-
port or decry the verdict, Muslim Americans
remain focused on Egypt, Syria and Turkey
while living in America. Ramadan is a time
for reflection and 1 am terribly sad to report

that many American Muslims a re not eithe r
Muslim in their sens ibil ities o r American in
their unde rstand ings of the need to sta nd up
for justice or against injustice. The re is liule
that has to do with this place of ou r suste-
nance that even moves us unless the issue
is us. Our orga nizations only cry out for al-
liance with othe rs ove r ou r ow n personal
issues- Egypt, Sy ria and Turkey or shari'ah
bans, not that which affects th is society, ou r
soc iety at its core- justice, prejud ice, voti ng
rights, healthcare. Yet all of the apologists
among us want other Americans to conside r
Muslims, American.
We could have vigorously discussed the
merits o f the case, the potential slippery
slopes of either verdict. We could have d is-
cussed what th is case means for the h istory of
race relations in this country. We could have
d iscussed the potential outcome of "stand
you r ground," what constitutes a "threat" to
wh ich the response is lethal force, or the re-
fusal of a police department to arrest a user
of lethal force until facts could be obtai ned.
Are we so limited that we can only th ink
of ou r ow n yet expect others to igno re our
si ngleness of mind and come to our aid when
needed? Are we that selfish) Of course, we
need to lament and assist other Muslims but
the United States and its allies went to war, first in
Afghanista n a nd then in Iraq.
Muslims a rou nd the world have repeatedly
condemned terrorist activity. Muslim leaders have
pointed out that the use of suicide bombers violates
mai nstream Islam ic teach ings that prohibit both
suicide and the killing of civ ilians duri ng war, and
in March 2005, on the first ann iversary of the 2004
Al-Qaeda train bombing in Madrid, Spanish clerics
issued afatwa agai nst bin Laden h imself. Even so, it
would be another seven years before he was tracked
down and killed by U.S. forces.
S Muslim Traditions
we have bee n so selective and Allah demands
that we provide assistance to the orpha n,
stand up for what is just! Or at least inquire.
To ignore this watershed case because the
victim is a black boy and not an American
Muslim or a Muslim child ove rseas is an in-
justice to our ow n souls.
In 2017, she was appalled that the reports of slav-
ery and slave markets be ing reintroduced in Libya
had not become an issue of conce rn for American
Muslims. In a n inte rview for this text, she declared,
"The Muslim world is in bad shape. Recreating it
here in the Un ited States isn't going to help us. Th is
is why we see Africa n American Muslims pulling
away from imm igra nt Muslim com munities. They
do not want to see reproductions of a bad story." She
sees her home as a "th ird space," a safe space whe re
Muslims who a re frustrated with their mosque com-
munities can meet. In her home, they can speak
freely without the "strictures that the mosque com-
munity is putting on people- gender segregation,
cloth ing, what you say, a nd if you say it with the
correct number of Qur'an ic references rec ited in a
pan icula r style of Arabic."
Al-Deen is one of the key Muslim scholar/
activists in America today, one who constantly chal-
lenges us to look at the hard issues of race and class
that often divide us as Americans.
An important reference point in discussions of
martyrdom is the Mardi n Conference, held in March
2010 in the city that was at issue in Ibn Taymiyyah's
famous fourteenth-centu ry Jatwa legitimizing the
use of violence against unjust Muslim rulers. Because
many modern terrorists, includ ing bin Laden, have
used this Jatwa to justify their actions, the Mardin
Conference brought together 15 sen ior Islamic schol-
ars from across the Muslim world to discuss the con-
text in which it was issued some 700 years earlier.
In condoning violence agai nst authoritarian
rulers in order to reestablish true Islamic rule, Ibn
World Religions: Western Traditions
Anti-U.S. graffiti on the wall of the former U.S. embassy in the Iran ian capital. Tehran.
Taymiyyah broke with the teach ings of his own con-
se rvative Hanbali school. As the schola rs who met at
Ma rd in pointed out, howeve r, the Jatwa was issued
in a very particula r h istorical context, in the after-
math o f t he Mongol conquest and t he devastation of
Baghdad (the seat of Islam ic authority at the time).
They concluded that "anyone who seeks support
from thisfatwa for killing Muslims or non-Muslims
has erred in h is inte rpretation." They also asserted
that "it is not for a Musli m individual or a group to
an nounce a nd declare war or engage in combative
jihad . . . on their own."
Unfortunately, ext remists seem impervious to
mai nstream Muslim opin ion. Muslims can acco m-
plish much in the West if they work with thei r
non-Muslim ne ighbors to promote justice and mo ral
consc iousness. But ma ny non-Musli ms see "Isla m"
and "the West" as mutually exclusive realities a nd
do not recognize the ir sha red heritage. If futu re gen-
erations of Muslims are to remain active as Muslims
in plu ralistic Western societies, it is mo re impo rtant
than ever to reexamine old images and ideas.
~Summary
A major development in the histo ry o f Islam is now
under way in the West. Muslims who, th rough
migration, have moved from m~ority to minority
status a re being spu rred to define the priorities of
their faith . Thei r decisions about what to pass on to
their Western-born child ren will shape the contours
of Islam in the twenty-first century and beyond . At
the same time, the Western emphasis on open d is -
cussion calls on Musli ms from di fferent cultural and
regional backg rounds to think clearly about what
they do and do not sha re. Muslims living in the West
 S Muslim Traditions

will use Western technology and democratic institu-
tions to help their brothers and sisters revitalize the
Muslim communities in their countries of origin, as
well as the rest of the Muslim ummah. The potential
of modern tools of communication to contribute to
th is process became clear during the Arab Spring of
2011. The year 2017 saw the rise of Muslims in the
North American popular media, with Mahershala
Ali winn ing an Academy Award, Kumail Nanj iani
ach ieving the breakout romantic comedy of the
summer in The Big Sick, and Aziz Ansari winning a
number of Em my awards for Master of None.

Sacred Texts of Islam

Variation Text Composition/ Compilation/ Use
Compilation Revision
Sunni and Shi'a Qur'an Revelations received by Authoritative codex Doctrinal. ritual.
Muhammad between produced between 644 inspirational.
610 and 632 CE. and 656 CE. educational
Sunni and Shi'a Hadith Sayings of Muhammad Earliest authoritative Doctrinal. ritual.
and his early collection produced by inspirational.
companions collected ai·Bukhari (d. 870 CE). educational
during their lifetimes.
Shi'a only Nahj al-Balagha (The Peak Sayings and sermons Collected by AI·Radi Doctri nal. ritual.
of Eloquence). the sayings of 'Ali. the first Shi'i (d 1015). inspirational.
of'Aii imam. educational
lsma'ili Ginans (hymns of praise Collection begun by Composition and Doctri nal. ritual.
Shi'a only and worship of God) Pir Nur in the 12th collection conti nued inspirational.
century. until the beginning of educational
the 20th century.

Discussion Questions
l. What is the sign ificance of the hijrah in Muslim history? Why is th is event so important to
Muslims?
2. Muslims consider the li fe of Muhammad 10 be of fundamental importance to their faith.
W rite a brief biography of the Prophet h ighlighting two events in h is life that are particularly
significant to Muslims. In your answe r, explain why the events you have chosen are so central.
3. What is the Q ur'an) What do Muslims understand it to be?
4. Discuss the differences between Sunni and Shi'a Islam. What are the two primary groups
within the Shi'a)
5. Outline the development of Sufism, the mystical dimens ion of Islam.
6. What are the Five Pillars of Islam)
7. What are some of the issues raised by fem in ist interpretations of the Q ur'an and the Muslim
trad ition?
31 0 World Religions: Western Traditions
Glossary
caliph (From the Arabic khalifah, "one
who represems or acts on behalf of an-
other") The Prophet's successor as the
head of the Muslim community; the
position became institutionalized in
the form of the caliphate, which lasted
from 632 to 1924.
dhihr (Arabic, "remembrance") A
cham of God's name in Sufi devotional
exercises, sometimes while devotees
dance in a circle.
dhinunis (Arabic, "protected people")
Non-Muslim religious minorities
(specifically Jews and Christians, as
"People of the Book") accorded toler-
ated status in Islamic society.
FaLihah The short opening surah of
the Qur'an, recited at least 17 times
every day.
Jatwa A ruling issued by a traditional
religio-legal authority.
fiqh Jurisprudence, or the theoretical
principles underpinning the specific
regulations contained in the shari'ah.
hadiLh The body of texts reporting
Muhammad's words and example,
taken by Muslims as a foundation for
conduct and doctrine; a hadith is an
individual unit of the literature.
hajj The annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
halal Ritually acceptable ; most often
used in the comext of the slaughter of
animals for meat; also refers generally
to Muslim dietary regulations.
hanifs (Arabic, "pious ones") A group of
pre-Islamic Arabs who shared the ethi-
cal monotheism of jews and Christians.
haram Forbidden, used especially in
reference to actions; similar in its con-
notations to "taboo."
hijab A woman's veil or head covering.
hijrah The Prophet's migration from
Mecca to establish a community in
Medina in 622 CE. In dates, the ab-
breviation AH stands for "year of the
hijrah" (the starting poim of the Is-
lamic dating system).
'ld ai-Fitr The holiday celebrating
the end of the Ramadan fast; the fes-
tival traditionally begins following the
sighting of the new moon.
ijma' The consensus of religio-legal
scholars; one o f the two secondary
principles used in jurisprudence,
given more or less weight depending
on the legal school.
ijLihad Personal reasoning applied to
the development of legal opinions.
lmamis ("Twelvers") Shi' is who rec-
ognize 12 imams as legitimate heirs
to the Prophet's authority; the last, in
occultation since 874, is expected to
return some day as the Mahdi.
lsma' ilis ("Seveners") Shi'is who rec-
ognize only seven imams; named after
the last of them, lsma' il, whose lineage
continues to the present in the Agha
Khan.
isnad The pedigree or chain of trans-
mission of a hadiLh, with which the in-
dividual unit begins.
jihad Struggle in defense of the faith;
some jihads are military, waged in re-
sponse to threats to the community's
security or welfare; others are spiri-
tual, waged to improve moral conduct
in society.
hufr Rejecting belief; implies a lack of
gratitude for God's grace.
Mahdi The Shi'i twelfth imam, un-
derstood as the "rightly guided one"
who will emerge· from hiding at some
unspecified future date to restore righ-
teousness and order to the world .
mi'raj The Prophet's miraculous jour-
ney to heaven .
mu'adhdhin The person who calls
people to prayer.
qiblah The direction of prayer,
marked in mosques by a niche inside
the wall nearest Mecca.
Ramadan The month during which
Muslims fast during daylight hours.
sadaqah Alms given voluntarily, in
addition to the required zahaL.
salaL The prescribed daily prayers,
said five times during the day.
shahadah The Muslim profession of
faith in God as the only god, and in
Muhammad as God's Prophet.
shari'ah The specific regulations of
Islamic law Gurisprudence, or theoret-
ical d iscussion of the Jaw, is fiqh).
shay kh The Arabic term for a senior
master, especially in the context of
Sufism.
Shi' a (From the Arabic meaning
"party") Muslims who trace succession
to the Prophet's authority through the
line of imams descended from 'Ali; the
smaller of the two main divis ions of
Islam, accounting for about one-sixth
of all Muslims today. "Shi'i" is the ad-
jective form.
sunnah The "life-example" of Mu-
hammad's words and deeds, based
mainly on the hadiLh literature; the pri-
mary source of guidance for Muslims.
Sunni Muslims who trace succession
to the Prophet's authority through the
caliphate, which lasted until the twen-
tieth cemury; the larger of the two
main d ivisions of Islam, accounting
for about five-sixths of all Muslims
today.
surah A chapter of the Qur'an; there
are 114 in all, arranged mainly in de-
creasing order of length except for the
first (the FaLihah).
Laf~ir Commentary on the Qur'an.
Laqlid Following the ijLihad or legal
opinion of a particular jurist.
ummah The Muslim community.
zakaL The prescribed welfare tax; 2.5
percent of each Muslim's accumulated
wealth, collected by central treasuries
in earlier times but now donated to
charities independently of state gov-
ernments; see also sadaqah.
 S Muslim Traditions 311

Further Reading
Ahmed, leila. 1992. \Vomen and Get1der i11 Islam: Historical
Rootc; of a Modena Debate. New Haven, CT: Yale University
Press. A frequently cited contnbuuon on th1s toptc.
Alvi, Sajida Sultana, Homa Hoodfar, and Sheila McDonough,
eds. 2003. The Muslim Veil ira North America: Issues and De·
bates. Toronto: \Vomen's Press. A good collection of essays
about the 1ssues surrounding hijab.
Coulson, N. G. 1964. A History of Islamic law. Edinburgh: Ed·
inburgh University Press. Traces the development of Islamic
JUrisprudence from ns incepuon in the nimh century through
ns inOuence on modern Western legal systems.
Dodds, Jerrilyn D., Maria Rosa Menocal, and Abigail Krasner
Balbale, eds. 2008. The Arts of Intimacy: Christians, Jews,
and Muslims in the Making of Castilian Culture. New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press. A beauu£ully illustrated book that
looks at the convivencia (-shared hre..) between t-.•tuslims. Chns·
tians, and jews in medteval Spain.
The Encyclopedia of Islam, rev. ed. 1963- present. Leiden: E. J.
Bril l. (Ftrst published in 4 vols., 1913-1938.) Vast and techni-
cal but authoritative. Entries appear under Arabtc headwords,
sometimes m unfamiliar transluerations. and so pose a chal.
lenge for the beginner.
Esposito, John, ed. 2009. The Oxford Enc)'clopedia of the Islamic
World. New York: Oxford University Press. An tndispensable
reference.
Grabar, Oleg. 1973. The Formation of Islamic Art. New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press. Concentrates on Islamic art in the
Mtdd le East in the early Islamic centuries.
Haddad, Yvonne Y., and Jane 1. Smith, eds. 1994. Muslirn Com·
muttilies itt North America. Albany: State University of New
York Press. An examination of lslamtc tradition and identity in
the modern Western diaspora.
Mottahedeh, Roy. 2002. The Mantle of rhe Prophet: Religion and
Politics in Iratt. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. One of the
best single.volume sLUdies of the events leading up to the Ira.
nian Revolution.
Peters, Francis E. 1994. A Reader ora Islam. Princeton, NJ: Prince·
ton University Press. An anthology or h1storical source readmgs.
Qureshi, Em ran, and Michael A. Sells, eds. 2003. The New Cru·
sades: Cmtslfuctittg rhe Muslim Enemy. New York: Columbia.
An excellent collection of essays on Western representations of
Islam and Muslim hves.
S:a 6, Omid, ed. 2003. Progressi\•e Muslims: On Jusrice, Gender
and Pluralism. Oxford: Oneworld. A collecuon of essays by
Mushm scholars or Islam on contemporary toptcs.
S-chimmel, Annemarie. 1975. M)•Stical Dimensions of Islam.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. A survey of
Sufism by one of its most respected Western interpreters.
Taylor,Jennifer 1\laytorena. 2009. New Muslim Cool (film). Seventh
Art Releasing. www.7thart.com. The story of Hamza Perez, a
Puerto Rican American hip hop artist who converted to lslarn.
Watt, W. Montgomery. 1962. Islamic Philosophy and Tl!eology.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. A masterly survey
of Mushm religious mtellectuals. especially in the first s1x cen.
tunes of Islam .

Recommended Websites
islam .uga.edu www.acommonword .com
The best academic site fo r the study of Islam, presented by Professor An imerfaith inniative supported by a w1de range of Muslim schol.
Alan God las of the Umversny of Georgia. ars and leaders.

www.cie .org/index .aspx www.su nna h.co m

The websne of the Council on Islamic Educauon , offenng useful An excellent seleclion of resources on Islamic tradition, including
resources for teachers. searchable translations o£ the hadiLh hterature and a link to an excel.
lent Qur'an sne with muluple translauons and reciters.

References
Arberry, Arthur).. trans. 1948. Immortal Rose: An Anthology of Per-
sian Lyric.li. London: Luzac & Co.
Chnuck, Wilham C. 2000. Stgism: A Beginner's Guide. Oxford:
Oneworld.
Menocal, Maria Rosa. 2003. "The Myth ofWesternness in Medieval
literary H1stonography... In The New Crusade-s: COJt\ilrucling the
Muslim Enemy, ed. Emran Qureshi and Michael Anthony Sells.
New York: Columbia University Press.
Ntcholson, Reynold A. 1931. "Mysticism." In The J..egacyoflslam,ed. T.
Arnold and Alfred Gutllaume. London: Oxford University Press.
---,trans. 1950. Rumi: Poet and Mystic. London: G. Allen and
Unwin.
- - - . 2002 (1914(. The Mystics of Islam. Bloomington, IN: World
Wisdom.
Smnh, Margaret. 1928. Rabi'a the Mystic. Cambridge: Cambndge
University Press.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Traditions at a Glance
Numbers
Reliable Statistical information is virtually nonexis-
tent, butt he Un ited Nations estimates that there are
approximate ly 370 mill ion Indigenous people in the
world . On average, perhaps 15 to 20 percent prac-
tice some form of their ancestral traditions, but the
figures are much higher in some communities and
much lower in others.
Oi:stribut1on
Ind igenous religious traditions can be found almost
everywhere, with more than 5,000 distinct Indig-
enous cultures in some 90 countries around the
world . By far the largest Indigenous populations
are in Asia and Africa; fewer than 10 percent Iive
in Central and South America, approximately 2
percent in North America and Oceania, and just a
small fraction in Europe.
Recent Historical Penods
Specific, written records of most Indigenous trad itions
begin only after fi rst contact with non-Indigenous
people, so the developmentS we can trace with the most
precision are relatively recent. Notable periods include
600- 700 CE, when first contact occurred between
Muslims and Indigenous Africans; 1450- 1850, when
first contact occurred between Europeans and Ind ig-
enous peoples of Africa, North America, and Oceania
and the development of the Atlantic slave trade and
other colonial practices devastated Indigenous popu-
lations; and 1930- 1960, when several governmentS
began to reduce restrictions on Indigenous people and
rel igion. Since 1960, there has been a revival of many
Ind igenous traditions around the world and the devel-
opment of global pan-Indigenous movements.
Founders and leaders
Few precontact Indigenous trad itions identify a
human founder, although most attribute key el-
ements of the ir religious life to superhuman an-
cestOrs. Virtually all of them recogn ize religious
~ A ceremony involving tobacco and smudging conducted in September 2014 beside the Red River in Winnipeg. Canada. for
missing and murdered Indigenous women. The ceremony took place close to where the body of IS-year-old Tina fontaine. from
Sagkeeng f irst Nation. was found in the river a few weeks eartier. (MIKE DEAl/WINN IPEG FREE PRESS)
authority figures such as Elders and rely on ritual
specialists such as diviners and healers who invoke
spiritual powers to aid their communities. In re-
sponse to colon ialism, several new movements
were founded by specific peoples, such as 'vVovoka
(Paiute) and Nongqawuse (Xhosa).
Deities
Ind igenous conceptions of gods vary widely. Some
trad itions recogn ize a single supreme deity as the
source of all life and power. Others attribute cre-
ation to a series of gods, spirits, or ancestors. Almost
all believe that personal spiritual forces (gods or
spirits or ancestors) have an active, ongoing inOu-
ence on the world.
Authoritative Texts
Most precontact Indigenous re ligions have trad i-
tionally passed along their sacred stories orally.
These stories often include accounts of the creation
of the world and/or the origins of the commun ity.
Many also recount the ongoing activ ity of personal
spiritual forces in the world. New tales continue to
be told (and written), such as those about trickster
figures, and some postcontact movements (such as
the Handsome Lake religion of the Iroquois) have
their own sacred texts.
N<ltew<lrthy Teachings
Indigenous traditions are typically bound to spec ific
places where important spiritual forces have man-
ifested themselves (e.g., where acts of creation oc-
curred). They also tend to be more concerned with
what happens during life than after death ; therefore,
they place greater emphasis on behavior than on
belief and assess actions in terms of whether they
benefit or harm the commun ity. Many Indigenous
traditions understand time as rhythmic rather than
linear; in this conception, the sacred interacts with
the world on an ongoing basis, responding to chang-
ing circumstances in ways that are both old and new.

In this chapter you will learn about:
• The difficulties involved in defi ning the term
"Indigenous"
• Some of the false assumptions that non-
Indigenous people have he ld (and conti nue
to hold) about Indigenous cultures
• The necessity of conside ring the specific h is -
toric and cultural context of any aspect of a n
Indigenous tradition
• The importance of relationsh ips in Indige-
nous communities, stories, rituals, and an
• Why religious location and practice are much
more important than belief in many Indige-
nous traditions
• The impact of colon ialism on Indigenous
religions
• How contempora ry Indigenous people
a rou nd the world are recla iming, rebuilding,
and revisi ng many of thei r trad itions
~ First Thoughts
So.
In the beginn ing, there was nothing. just
the water.
Coyote was the re, but Coyote was asleep.
That Coyote was asleep and that Coyote
was d reaming. When that Coyote d reams,
anything can happen.
I can tell you that.
- Thomas King (1993 1), Cherokee/
Greek/Germa n
Anyth ing ca n happen. The possibil ities, the com-
plexities, of religions seem tO be endless. This is
pa rticularly true of Ind igenous trad itions, which
constitute the majority of the world's religions. They
a re interwoven with the entire history of human-
ity; they encompass the whole earth. And they a re
almost un imaginably diverse. So whe re to begin?
Perhaps it's best to start with ourselves. let us
approach the task of generalizing about Indigenous
trad itions with hum ility, recognizing that there a re
exceptions to every rule. We should also keep in
6 Indigenous Traditions
mind that many past interpretations of these trad i-
tions have not only been deeply mistaken, but also
very harmful. looking th rough the lenses of their
ow n assumptions a nd cultural biases, scholars can
easily be tricked into seei ng th ings that aren't the re
or missing what is right in front of them.
Coyote would not be su rprised.
~ " I ndigenous Religion"
Definitions
There is a sha red sense of Aboriginality
nationally (and internationally with othe r
Ind ige nous peoples), regardless of the geo-
graphical location or soc io-econom ic expe-
rience of the indiv idual.
- Anita Heiss (2001: 207), Wiradjuri
There is no defi nitive unde rstandi ng of "Ind igenous
rehgion." In fact, the meanings of the words "Indig-
enous" and "religion" themselves are open to debate,
and it's even possible to question whether they
mean anything at all. You might th ink that trying
to defi ne a te rm made up of two words that may be
meaningless is doomed to fail. But we a re goi ng to
try anyway.
"Religion"
Many of the difficulties surround ing the word
"religion" stem from the attempt to find common
patte rns in a huge va riety of human practices. Are
rehgions always about gods? (No.) Do all religions
have a sac red text, teach that there is life after death,
or promote the same basic values) (No agai n.) So
what exactly are we talking about when we refer to
"religion") Although scholars generally agree that
no defi nition is likely to please everyone, they also
point out that all definitions are themse lves con-
structs. In other words, often we simply need to be
dear about wh ich construct we are using.
The view of religion underlying th is chapte r is
one that focuses on the beliefs, experiences, and
practices of specific communities with respect to
World Religions: Western Traditions
nonfalsifiable realities (Cox 2007: 88) A proposition
that is falsifiable is one that can be sc ientifically
proven untrue. Religious propositions are of a di f-
ferent ki nd . It may not be possible to prove them
true, but it is equally impossible to prove the m
false. Religious propositions traffic in the unseeable,
the untouchable, the un measu rable. Wheneve r we
step outside material reality to add ress q uestio ns
o f spirit, meaning, or d ivinity, I would say, we a re
dealing with religion.
This definition is not perfect, of cou rse. Amo ng
other potential weaknesses, it implies a d isti nction
between religion and science- as if religion has no
sc ientific components, or sc ience cannot function as
a religion for some people. This is not a reasonable
distinction, as religion and science may ofte n over-
lap. Nor do I mean to imply that scientific knowl-
edge supe rsedes other forms of knowledge o r ways
o f knowing. Scientists h ave been proven wro ng
about aspects o f ou r world that some Indigeno us
cu hures have long been right about.
Still, a foc us on "non fals ifiable realities" can
work quite well as a basis for de fining religion. In
pa rtic ular, it is a good fit for the examples of Indige-
nous religion considered in th is chapter.
"Indigenous"
The te rm "Ind ige nous" is also proble matic, for it
obliges us tO ask wh ich cultu res and people are "In-
digenous" and wh ich are not. Th is question is load ed
with legal and political implications, and so how it
is a nswe red can have a di rect and lasting impact on
the lives of millions of people around the world . If
we can not identify a particular group as Ind igenous,
for example, how can its members assert their treaty
rights or see their land claims settled fai rly?
Unfortu nately, it is usually non-Indige nous gov-
ernme nts that impose the defin itions , and those
de finitions themselves tend to cha nge ove r time.
In Canada, the fede ral Ind ian Act continues to
de fine who is, a nd who is not, officially Indigenous.
This status could easily, and problematically, sh ift.
Until 1985, for exa mple, an Ind igenous pe rson
who obtai ned a un iversity degree was immediately
en franchised and became a non-Ind igenous
Canad ian citizen. Similarly, a "status Indian" woman
who married a "nonstatus" ma n was no longe r
legally Indigenous; she automatically forfeited all
of the rights that the (legally de fined) Ind igenous
people o f Canada are entitled to. When this law
was ove rturned in 1985, these wome n and thei r
child ren "became" Indigenous once again virtually
overnight.
Othe r defin itions a re also problematic. Almost
invariably, "Ind ige nous" is understood to mean
"original to the land." Yet many places in the world,
includi ng India and Africa, have very a ncient h is-
tories o f migration and interaction between various
groups. How could anyone possibly dete rmine the
"original" inhabitants of such lands?
There is also the problem inherent in group -
ing together tremendously varied commun ities.
Consider, for example, that New Guinea and its
su rroundi ng islands conta in more eth nograph ic
diversity than anywhe re else on earth, with ap -
proxi mately one-fourth of the wo rld's cultures and
languages. It would be the height of a rrogance to
imagine that these cultures are more or less the
same simply because the same label ("Indigenous")
has been appl ied to them by outsiders.
Indigenous religious trad itions themselves
highlight th is d ive rsity. Some cultures recognize
a single supreme bei ng, some recognize a va riety
of deities, and some don't bothe r at all with such
things. Among the peoples who do believe in one or
more gods, there are some who pray to those highe r
powers and some who do not. How reasonable is it
to discuss such d ifferent traditions as if they we re
one, as we are doing in th is very chapter)
That said , the re are two eleme nts of ce ntral im-
portance to cultures that have typically been con-
side red Ind ige nous: kinship and location. Th us we
might say that an "Indigenous" (or "Aboriginal")
community is one that is de fined both by its mem-
bers' genealogical relations tO one anothe r and by its
con nection to a pa rticular place. The people who
make up this community may or may not be the
first or "origi nal " inhabitants of this place. They
may not even inhabit it now. Yet they see themselves
 6 Indigenous Traditions

as belonging to it, and they distinguish themselves practices concerning nonfalsifiable realities of peo-
from people who do not share this connection. ples who (a) identify themselves as Indigenous and
Pulling our two te rms together, then, "Indige- (b) rely (at least in part) on kinship and location to
nous religion" refers to the beliefs, experiences, and define their place in the world.

Timeline
The events listed here relate only to the Indigenous cultures discussed in this chapter- a tiny frac-
tion of the thousands that have existed. Also, although most of the dates relate to developments
since contact with non-Indigenous people, the histories of the traditions involved began many mil -
lennia earlie r.

c . 190,000 BCE Earliest evidence of Indigenous people in Africa

c . 70,000 BCE Earliest evidence of Indigenous people in Australia. Europe. and Asia
c . 12, SOO BCE Earliest evidence of Indigenous people in the Americas (although some recent evidence
suggests they may have been here 100.000 years earlier)
616 CE First Muslims arrive in Africa (Ethiopia)
c. 12SO First contact between the Ainu and the japanese
c. 1300 First Indigenous settlers arrive in New Zealand (from Polynesia)
1444 Portuguese exploration of sub-Saharan Africa begins
c . 1480 Atlantic slave trade begins
1492 Christopher Columbus (Italian) arrives in the West Indies. initiating Spanish
colonization of the Americas
1642 Dutch explorer Abel janszoon Tasman arrives in New Zealand
1788 British First Fleet arrives in Sydney. Australia
1799 Handsome Lake experiences his first vision
1819 British and Xhosa (led by Nxele) fight Battle of Grahamstown
c. 1840 Canada establishes reside ntial school system
18S6- 18S7 Nongqawuse's vision leads to Xhosa cattle massacre
1869 Australia begins taking Aboriginal children from their families. producing the first of
many "Stolen Generations"
1876 Canada passes the Indian Act
1883 Pauline johnson (Mohawk) publishes first poems: United States bans Sun Dance
1884 Canada bans potlatch
188S European powers partition Africa at Congress of Berlin; intensive Christian missionary
efforts begin in non-Muslim areas of Africa; earliest recorded "cargo cult" begins in Fiji

continued
World Religions: Western Traditions

1889 Wovoka revives the Ghost Dance

1890 U.5. Cavalry massacres more than 300 lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee. North Dakota
1899 Japan appropriates Ainu lands. denies Ainu status as Indigenous people
1934 United States lifts ban on Sun Dance and potlatch
19S I Canada lifts ban on potlatch
19S6- 196S Beginning of African postindependence era
19S8 Chinua Achebe (lgbo) publishes Things Fall Apart
1969 Kiowa novelist N. Scott Momaday"s House Made of Dawn wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1970 United States returns 48.000 acres of land to Taos Pueblo
198S Maori novelist Keri Hulme's The Bone People wins the Booker Prize for Fiction
1990 Oka Crisis in Quebec. Canada
1992 Australian High Court overturns terra nullius ruling: Rigoberta Menchu (K'iche') awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize
1993 Nelson Mandela (Xhosa) awarded t he Nobel Peace Prize
2007 United Nations adopts Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
2008 Australia apologizes for "Stolen Generations": Canada apologizes for residential school
system: Japan formally recognizes Ainu as an Indigenous group
2012 Idle No More protests begin; "Mayan Apocalypse" does not occur
201S Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada ends
2016 Protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline begin at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation
(#NODAPL}
----..7.~
.J
Change and Syncretism It is true that Indigenous religions today are not
the same as they were 100 or 500 or 10,000 years
One other issue we need to consider from the outset ago. But the trad itions as they exist now are no less
is the fact that Indigenous religions no longer exist authentic than they were in the past. The forms of
as they did before contact with the "outside" world. Christianity practiced in the contemporary United
This situation is partly the result of syncretism, the States have likew ise been influenced by the beliefs
merging of elements from di fferent cultures. Many and practices of many cultures, including those of
Native North American religions have been deeply Africans and Native Americans. These American
affected by Christianity; some African rituals have forms of Christianity in turn are quite different from
incorporated elements of Islam; the sacred oral sto- the European Christianity that Martin Luther knew
ries of japanese Shinto became written texts under in the 1500s or the Hellenized Christianity that Paul
the influence of Chinese Buddhism. Does this mean taught in the first century- a tradition that began
that "real" Indigenous religions have disappeared? as the Palestinian Judaism practiced by jesus. Like
Definitely not. Change and syncretism have eve rything else in the world, religions change, and
taken place among all religions throughout history. none of them are ever exactly what they used to be.
 6 Indigenous Traditions

Map 6.1 North American Indigenous Language Families

.t

I Beothuk
2 Yuchi
3 Timucua
4 Calusa
S Tunica
6 Natchez
1 Chitimacha
8 Adai
9 A..kapa
10 Karankawa
11Tonkawa
12 Atanama
13 Cotoname
14 Coahuilteco
IS Solano
16 Zuni
17 Seri
Muskogean 18 Salinan
lroquoian 19 Esselen
20Washo
isolates 21 Yana
unclassified 22 Chimariko
uninhabited. unknown. out or area 23 K>ruk

This map shows the distribution of North American language families north of Mexico at the time of European
contact (to the extent that scholars can determine). language borders were in reality much fuzzier than this image
suggests. The map points to the tremendous diversity of Indigenous North American cultures. since each language
family may contain dozens of distinct languages. (The family of Romance languages. for instance. contains Italian.
French. Spanish. Portuguese. Romanian. and Catalan. as well as many regional languages.)

These days, Ind ige nous religious practices ca n
be found anywhere: Anishinaubae drumming cer-
emonies in Toronto, Canada; Yoruba funeral rites
in London, England; and Maori purification rituals
at the opera house in Sydney, Australia. Indigenous
people and their religions may be con nected LO his-
tory, but they are not bound (or buried) by it.
The "Patterns" section offers an ove rview of some
additional features that seem to be common LO many,
if not all, Indigenous religions. Before we can say
World Religions: Western Traditions
much more about what Indigenous religions are, how-
ever, we fi rst need to brieOy consider what they a re
not. That means breaking down some common non-
Indigenous misconceptions about these religions.
" Us" and "Them"
The people who have control of you r
stories, control of your voice, also have
control of your destiny, your culture.
- Lenore Keesh ig-Tobias, Chippewa
(in Lutz 1991: 81)
Most of what most people know, or th ink th ey
know, about Indigenous cultures has come from
non-Ind igenous people. This reality points to o ne
further element common to Ind igenous traditio ns:
colonialism. Several effects of colonialism are d is-
cussed late r in this chapter, but for now it is import-
am to mention one colonial problem in particular:
academic work on Ind igenous peoples and cultures.
Scholars with Weapons
Rece nt decades have seen some opposition to the
efforts of non-Ind igenous scholars to "explain" In-
digenous peoples. The mai n conce rn is that even
theories that bear little relation to reality ca n have
significant social and political inOuence. The con-
fusion about the "Mayan Apocalypse" in 2012
stems from an academ ic misu nde rsta nd ing about
Ind igenous people. Early discoveries indicated that
the Mayans had identified a 5,000-year age o f the
gods endi ng in 3114 BCE. Scholars then assumed
the next age would also last 5,000 years, calc ulat-
ing that it would fin ish on Decembe r 21, 2012. Th is
led some nonacademics to believe that the Mayans
predicted the world would end on that date. In fact,
everyone was wrong: the Mayans understOod the
pe riod followi ng the age of the gods tO be composed
o f enti rely diffe rent time pe riods. In other words,
they d id not think anything was end ing in 2012.
A much more harmful example of academ ic error
was outlined by the Oglala Siou x lawyer, h istorian,
and activ ist Vi ne Deloria, J r. He explai ned that
anth ropologists seeki ng to expla in the social ills
plaguing the Oglala commu nity ignored the "real
issue, white control of the reservation." and theo-
rized that the people we re si mply "warriors without
weapons" (Deloria 1988 [19691: 90). According to
this view, the Oglala we re incapable of adapting to
a market economy lifestyle because, deep in their
souls, they remai ned violently primitive. Auen-
tion was the refore diverted away from the actual
pressi ng needs of the people- credit, employment ,
hous ing, medical services- and focused instead on
figuring out how to make "modern Ind ians" out of
them (Deloria 1988 (19691 92).
Today conce rn is ofte n expressed when non-
Ind ige nous schola rs speak about Indige nous people.
The mai n objection might seem tO be that "outs id-
ers" lack the necessary "ins ider" knowledge and
insight. As Deloria suggests , howeve r, the real prob-
lem is one o f powe r and cont rol. The fact is that,
historically, such scholars have bee n in a priv ileged
position o f authority to de fine Ind igenous people
not only to other non-Natives, but eve n to Native
people themse lves.
Problematic Terms
Another important problem with academ ic work
about Ind igenous people is that it tends to reinforce
the idea that "they" are different from "us." Th us the
study of Ind igenous religions has produced many
terms a nd concepts that typically are applied only
to those traditions and not to "world " religions more
broadly. Such terms include:
• an imism
• fetish
• mana
• myth
• sha man
• taboo
• totem
Th is chapter ra rely uses any of these te rms, in part
because they are not necessary for an introduc-
tory unde rstanding of Indigenous religions, but

Document
Vine Deloria, Jr. (Oglala Sioux). Custer Died for Your Sins
Looking at a variety of Native American issues, including
colonialism, religion, and even humor, and published in
the early days of the American Indian Movement, Custer
Died for Your Sins (1969) remains one of the most in-
fluential works of Indigenous nonfiction ever written.
From lack of roads to unsh ined shoes, Sioux problems
were generated, so the anthros discovered, by the re-
fusal of the white man to recognize the great desire
of the Oglala to go to war. Why expect an Oglala to
become a small businessman, when he was only wait-
ing for that wagon train to come around the bend?
The ve ry real and human problems of the res-
ervation were considered to be merely by-products
of the failu re of a warrior people to become
also because they are not used in reference to the
other religions d iscussed in this book even when
they might be relevant. For example, Indigenous
o rigin StOries are usually labeled "myth ," while sim-
ilar stories in the Hebrew Bible or the Mahabharata
are referred to as "sacred literature." Similarly, the
rule that prohibits an African mask carver from
having contact with a woman during his work is
often called a "taboo," yet that te rm is not applied
to the rule that forbids a Catholic priest from pour-
ing unused sacramental wine down a drain into a
sewe r. In short, it's important not to perpetuate the
notion that Indigenous religions are in an entirely
different category than non-Indigenous religions.
" Primitives " and the Problem
of History
If I press any anthros in a prolonged discus-
sion on exactly why they study Indians and
6 Indigenous Traditions
r')crl.., V'l>"
U'lcrl.., V ('
domesticated . .. . What use would roads, houses,
schools, businesses, and income be to a people who, '"blu~, <Jeri.,
eve ryone expected, would soon depart on the hunt
or wa rpath? . ~ O...Vl> ~­
The question of the Oglala Sioux is one that
plagues every Indian tribe in the nation, if it will
•< (' <Jcl•n.
closely examine itself. Tribes have been defined as : cr~o- )·"V6.'
one thing, the definition has been completely ex-
plored, test scores have been advanced promoting r'''ln~ r>C··
and deriding the thesis, and finally the conclusion
has been reached- Indians must be redefined in >~ L., v,...
te rms that white men will accept, even if that means
re-lnd ian izing them according to the wh ite man's >"r r"d·4o... Q
idea of what they were like in the past and should log- o L~> <Jo-<
ically become in the futu re. (Deloria 1988 [1969[: 92)
<Jcrl, 0...vo.
othe r tribal peoples and why they study
anth ropology at all , I am almost always in-
formed that tribal people represent an ear-
lier stage of human accomplishment and
that we can learn about our past by study-
ing the way existing tribal peoples live.
- Vine Deloria,jr (1997: 214), Oglala Sioux
The More Things Change
For many years non-Indigenous people assumed
that Indigenous people and cultu res had changed
very little before colonization began. In fact, until
fai rly recently on ly anth ropologists studied Aborig-
inal people; h istorians (includ ing historians of reli-
gion) d id not, because they assumed there was no
Aboriginal h istory to examine.
The development of anth ropology as an ac-
ademic fie ld can be traced to the European En-
ligh tenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth
World Religions: Western Traditions
ce nturies. Th is was an age of exploration, duri ng
which repon s we re regularly se nt back to Europe
desc ribing encounters with previously un known
cuh u res that we re o fte n primarily oral in nature
a nd used simple r technology than that found in
Eu rope. Assumi ng that such cuhures had remain ed
essentially u nchanged from thei r begi nnings, the
Eu ropeans called them "primitive" (from the Latin
primus, meaning "fi rst") and supposed that for
the m h is tory began only when they encounte red
"modern" or "civ ilized" cultures.
Th is assumption was encouraged by the fact
that the majority of Eu ropeans at t he time of con-
tact we re Ch ristia ns who believed both in t he
(God -give n) supe riority of their own cult ure and
in the d ivine imperative to spread their religion
to those who had not yet heard the gospel. Ind ig-
enous cuh u res we re seen as ideal recipients of t he
Word o f God , blank slates with no real h is to ry or
religion of their ow n . Th is missionary worldview
o ften went ha nd in hand with acade mic inq uiry
a nd tended tO color scholars' inte rpretation (in
some cases, fab rication) of the detai ls o f Ind igenous
lives.
We know now that the belief that p recontact
Ind igenous cultu res we re largely static or "frozen
in time" is completely untrue. All the available ev i-
dence shows that Indigenous peoples had dynamic,
Mayan writing consisted of elaborate images. or glyphs. which were "logosyllabic" (each image represents either
a word or a syllable). These images were painted on ceramics. carved in wood. or-as in the image here- molded
in stucco. Most often they were arranged in blocks of two columns, read from left to right. top to bottom.
eventful h istories full of change and development
long before they we re "discovered." They have also
been quite conscious of these h istories, using sto -
ries, songs, and physical ma rki ngs to record past
events , changes in the cuhure or the land, fam ily
ge nealogies, natural phenomena , and so on.
A Persistent Problem
O ne example of the persis tent notion that Ind ig-
enous cu ltures are "primitive" is the tendency to
think of them as nonliterate. This belief is deeply
problematic in several ways, wh ich will be d is-
cussed in the "Transm ission" section. For now I
simply wish to state three points. First, writi ng
is not inherently more "advanced" than orality.
Second , many Indigenous cultu res did use a form of
writing before contact with non-Indigenous people
(e.g., Mayan glyphs). Third, the vast majority of con-
temporary Indigenous cultu res are fully literate, and
to ignore th is fact is tO continue to think o f these
cuhures only in the past tense.
Another example of the tendency to regard
Indigenous people as "prim itive" is the belief
that t hey do not d isti ngu ish between the "reli -
gious" a nd t he "nonreligious" aspects o f t heir
lives- t hat t hey consider everything to be
sacred. Thus some com mentato rs h ave cla imed

th at the Navajo "Blessingway" ce remony, wh ich
is pe rfo rmed before a new dwelling is occ upied,
tra nsforms the home into a sac red s ite in wh ich
eve ry act of daily li fe- eating, sleeping, argui ng,
laughi ng- is equally sacred. This notion is both
inacc urate and patronizing. Essentially, it likens
Indigenous people to ch ildren, who o ften believe
th at eve ryth ing- trees, stu ffed a nimals, bits of
cloth ing- is alive a nd se ntient.
The fact is that Indigenous cultures are no less
able than non-Indigenous ones to form distinc-
tions in relation to the category o f religion. Obser-
vant Muslims may ta ke their prayer mats wherever
they go, but they use the mats only at spec ified
times; other times a re not for prayer. Similarly, an
Australian Aborigine knows the di fference betwee n
a mountai n that is sacred and one that is not, and
that certai n acts are performed only in particular
ritual contexts and not at any othe r time.
Many non-Indigenous scholars now realize that
Indigenous cultures we re (and are) just as complex
a nd innovative as thei r ow n, and that the idea of
the "primitive" says much more about the people
who hold it than about the people they apply it to.
For example, it can easily suggest a belief in one's
ow n supe riority, providing justification for the
"improve ment" of Indigenous cultures through the
introduction of writing, technology, or a market
economy. In a si milar fashion, those who roman-
ticize "primitive" cultures ofte n do so as a way of
expressing the belief that thei r ow n "civil ized" cul-
ture has alienated people from themselves or from
the natural world. Again, the concept tells us more
about such people- and the ir culture- than it tells
us about those who are (m istakenly) classified as
''prim iLive."
Still, the idea of the "primitive" is a stubborn
one, and it conti nues to have deeply negative conse-
quences. It is one reason why many world religions
cou rses still exclude Indigenous traditions alto-
gether. It also helps to explain why literary schola rs
often ignore mode rn Indigenous writers, while an-
th ropologists continue to pore ove r transc riptions
of ancient tales. As the Delaware- Tuscarora author
Daniel David Moses h as com mented: "Th is image of
6 Indigenous Traditions
trad itional Native storytell ing places Native people
in the museu m with all the othe r extinct species"
(Moses and Gold ie 1992: xiii).
Patterns
The knowledge imposes a pattern, and fal-
sifies.
The only wisdom we can hope to acqui re
Is the wisdom o f humility: humility is endless.
- T.S. Eliot ( 1959 23-24, Euro-American)
Eating and Seeing
Dr. Clare Brant, a Mohawk from southern Onta rio,
recou nted an experience from the 1970s when his
band invited a group of j ames Bay Cree to a sport-
ing tournament they we re hosting (Ross 1992: 2- 3).
The Mohawk- who had developed agriculture long
beCore meeting Europeans- had a tradition of set-
ting out more food tha n the ir guests could eat in
order tO demonstrate their wealth a nd generosity.
Un fortunately, the Cree had a ve ry d ifferent trad i-
tion. Comi ng from a culture of hunting and gather-
ing, they were accustomed to living with sca rcity;
the refore, they would eat all the food offered to
show thei r respect for the skill and magnan imity of
those who provided it.
or cou rse these two trad itions did not mix well.
The Cree thought the Mohawk were deliberately
fordng them tO overeat to the point o f seve re d is-
comfort, while the Mohawk thought the Cree we re
grossly self-indulgent and bizarrely determined to
insult their hosts. Thus each group saw the other as
intentionally d is respectful, even though both we re
simply trying to be polite.
This story h ighlights two important points.
Fi rst, it tells us that not all Ind ige nous cultures a re
alik e. Even people who live very close to one an-
other can sometimes think or act in very diffe rent
ways. Second, anyone auempting to unde rstand an-
other culture is in a position similar to that of the
Mohawk and the Cree. The eyes we see through a re
those we have inherited from our own cultures, a nd
World Religions: Western Traditions
so we must never forget to use them wnh caution
and hum1lit)'.
Common Elements
With the above points in mind, the rest or th is chap-
ter identifies SOme elementSCOmmon tO many (i f not
necessarily all) Indigenous rel igions. Among them
are the followi ng:
• Orality
• Connection to spec1fic places
• Emphasis on commumty and relauonsh1p
• Sense of time as rhythmiC
• Greater emphas1s on what happens in lire
than after death
• Greater significance or behaVIOr than belid
• Authority of Elders
• Comple mentary dualism
• A view of the sac red as ongoing process
rathe r th an static revelat ion
• Gendered roles
Th1s last point reqmres some comment at the
outset. Traditionally, e\·eryone m an lnd1genous
community had dearly defined roles, and often
those roles we re gendered. In general, hunting and
warfare were male occupations, wh1le food prepa ra-
uon and healing we re the responsibility or women.
Maori carve rs were me n, a nd Maori weavers were
women. The Bunu Yoruba men were responsible for
growing cotton, and the women for turning it into
doth. Men and women depended on one anothe r
and yet were also independentm important ways.
A stmtlar balancing act can ohen be seen m regard
to pohucal and social power. The heads or most Indig-
enous SOCieties have typ1call)' been male. Yet m ma ny
mstances women have been mherentl)' mvolved with
any dec1sions affecting the enure communny. And in
some Instances such decisions are normally made by
women and then carried out by men.
It is also important to note that gender classifi-
cation can be somewhat fluid in many Indigeno us
societies. Someti mes women might participate in
men's work, and vice versa. Sexual roles and orienta-
lions may also be fluid. There are colomal accou n ts
from the Amencas, for example, of lnd1genous
people 1denufied as men wearing women's clothes
and takmg on women's roles, as well as Indigenous
people identified as women assuming men's roles
and cloth ing.
Within Indigenous societies, there is no defi ni -
tive gender pattern with respect to kinship. Some arc
matril ineal. tracing ancestry primarily through the
mother, while others are patrilineal, focusing on the
father. S1m1larly, Important spirits and gods--includmg
the supreme bemg-may be either male or female.
It IS also not uncommon for Indigenous soc1eUes
to separate the rehg1ous acuvmes of women and men
in some respects. Yet most sLUdies of these soc1elles
have looked only at male practices-whether because
male scholars were unaware that women had their
own religious practices, or because they were not per-
mitted to sLUdy the women, or because they assumed
that the men were the most important members or
their communities and hence that their practices were
the only ones worth investigating. It is only relatively
recently that scholars ha,·e recognized this error and
started to correct n by examining what Jnd1genous
women do and thmk m the context of religion.
Boundaries and Perspectives
Most of the examples examined in this chapter
come from three vast regions of the world- Afn ca.
Ocean ia, and North America- though a few come
from Asia and South America. It is important to em-
phasize that the very idea or the world as composed
of these reg1ons was a European invention: h istor-
ically, the globe's d1verse Indigenous inhabitants
thought m much more local terms.
Sui!, thiS (mls)percepuon or the world as made
up or a few large regions. rather than thousands or
small commumues, can serve a useful poliucal pur-
pose for lnd1genous people; for example, it can g1ve
them a stronger and more unified voice on issues
such as land claims and self-government. These
and many other mauers of gene ral conce rn were
set out in the 2007 Un ited Nations Declaration on
the Rights or Indigenous Peoples, a resolution that
would not have been poss1ble without a global un-
derstandmg of what It means tO be Indigenous.

It is also important to note that the aspects of
Ind igenous religious life disc ussed in the next three
sections- "Transmission," "Practice," and "Cultural
Expressions"- are in reality not as cleanly demar-
cated as those headings might suggest. As with all
religions, there is a good deal of ove rlap. Oral stories
a re also ritual performances, for example, while rit-
uals may require or produce works of a rt, wh ich in
tu rn may evoke stories that a re critical tO a commu-
nity's religious trad ition.
The last point to keep in mind is that the ex-
amples in this chapter say as much about me- a
non-Indigenous scholar- as they do about Indig-
enous religions themselves. They represent only a
tiny sample of the world 's Indigenous religious tra-
ditions, pointing simply tO what I happen to know
a nd what I th in k is impo rtant. An author with di f-
ferent views, experience, or knowledge would have
constructed quite a d ifferent picture overall. All th is
is true of any work on any subject, of course , wh ich
is why a good dose of critical skepticism is always
helpful. But th is point is especially importa nt in re-
lation tO Indigenous people, who have consistently
been mis represe nted, often with harmful results.
I have done my best to avoid g rievous errors, and
I apologize upfront for any mistakes I may have made.
~Transmission
The Power of Speech
W hen you d ig in the ea rth , you fi nd
stone and earthen implements , but not
words- not the words of our ancestors.
Words aren't buried in the ground. They
a ren't hanging from the branches of trees.
They're only transmitted from one mouth
to the next.
- Ainu Elder (i n Shigeru 1994: 154- 155)
Orality may not be a defining cha racteristic of In-
digenous religions, but it remai ns a vital one for the
vast majority of them. Even though some Indigenous
cultures in the past did have writing, and virtually
all o f them have it now, most o ften the th ings o f crit-
ical importance to them- includ ing the values and
6 Indigenous Traditions
beliefs that would be classified as religious- we re
(an d are) passed on orally. Typically this transm is-
sio n happens th rough stories.
Writing Versus Speaking
Un fortunately, many non-Indigenous people con-
tinue to think of orality as "primitive" and writing as
a de fining characteristic of "civilization." To them,
writing represents a key evolutiona ry advance that
allows for abstract philosoph ical thought, while oral
cultures remain attached to the present and the ma-
terial world, incapable of sophisticated analysis or
extended self-reflection. Writing frees humanity to
develop scie nce, according to this view, whe reas re-
liance on speech limits a soc iety tO magic.
Such beliefs are both incorrect and self-
inte rested, and they contribute tO the construction
of I nd ige nous cultures as primitive. Furthermore, all
cultures- includ ing all othe r world religions- have
many crucial oral dimensions. Both the Qur'an and
the stories of the Buddha we re passed along in oral
form for many years before they were written down.
In add ition, although in non-Ind igenous cultures
writing is often assumed to be more important than
speaking, there are contexts in which th ings that a re
said still have a power that the writte n word does
not. There is a world of d ifference between words
on paper and those same words delivered by a skill-
ful comed ian, actor, preacher, or politician. Shake-
speare's plays literally come alive when the words a re
voiced, while the se rmons o f Ma rtin l uther King, J r.,
a ffected the course of history in a way that would not
have been possible had they appeared only in print.
There is also the obv ious fact that books a nd
newspape rs are no longer the standard com munica-
tion s media in many non-Indigenous cultures tOday.
Many people in these cultures now prefer video or
film- media that have more in common with Indig-
enous sto rytelli ng than they do with written texts.
In keeping with the h igh value that non-Indigenous
societies place on the written word, th is preference
is often lamented as proof of civil ization's decl ine.
There may be another explanation, though. Per-
haps we are simply more easily and strongly engaged
by narratives that are performed than by those that just
World Religions: Western Traditions
Stt on a page. If so, perhaps modern communications
technology LS letting non-lndtgenous people experi-
ence stones m Lhetr full power once agam, as Indige-
nous people have been expenenclng them all along.
Stories
I can recalllymg on the earth and wonder-
mg what tt was all about. The stars were
a beauuful mystery and so was the place
where the eagle went when he soared out
of stght. Many of these questions were an-
swered m story form by the older people.
How we got our pipestone, where corn
came from a nd why lightning flashed in
the sky, were all answered in stories.
-Luther Standing Bear, Lakota (in Beck,
Walte rs, and Francisco I992 [19771: 59)
In many cu ltures stor ies serve as vehicles for the
transmission of beliefs and values. Yet it is not always
easy to determine what is being passed along. This
is as true for Indigenous tales as tt is for the parables
of jesus. There are many factors that may under-
mine our abihty to tnterpret a particular story.
The Afterlife
Stones about the afterhfe often appear to re,·eal a
culture's behefs about what hterally happens follow-
mg death. but the truth may be more complex. In
a Kewa tale from Papua New Gumea. for instance,
a young man goes tnto the bush and finds a tunn el
that leads to the underworld. He recognizes many
of his dead kmsmen there, restding together in a
large house. The men gtve him many tools a nd other
valuable items to dtstribute among the living people
of his vi llage but warn htm not to say where the
items came from. The you ng man gives everyth i ng
away but brea ks h is prom ise not to speak, and when
he returns to the tunnel he finds it sealed.
An Anishinaubae story tells of a man whose be-
loved dies just before they are to be married. Dis-
traught, he journeys for months in search of the Path
of Souls, hoping to see his love one last time. The
people in hiscommunu y try to dissuade htm, saytng
that the quest is hopeless, and that even tf he were
to succeed, seemg her would only bnng htm more
pain. When he finds the path at last, the old man
who guards the land of the dead agrees to let htm
enter only tf he promtses to return to hts regular hfe
once his wtsh tS fulfilled. The man agrees, JOUrneys
through a mtSt)' forest and across a turbulent n\'er,
and finds the woman he lo,·es. Then he turns hts
canoe around and returns home as mstructed, heart-
broken but prepared now to conttnue Wtth hts hfe.
What do these stones tell us about the Kewa
and the Anishinaubae? Do they belteve that their
dead reside underground or on the other side of a
forest? Perhaps. Yet both stories seem to have more
to do with relationships than with metaphysics. In
the Kewa tale, ancestors help their descendants, and
the young man helps h is community but breaks h is
prom ise to his dead kinsmen; as a result, life becomes
a linle harder for everyone. Si milarly, the Anish inau-
bae story depicts the difficulty and necessity of push-
ing through loss and returning to li fe after tragedy.
In short, these stories may tell us more about how
we should live than about what happens when we
die. Even the places where the dead are found have
a this-worldly quahty to them, tndtcaung that our
ancestors have not disappeared mto some far-off,
inaccessible dimenston but are (relau,·ely) nearby
and can affect our h\·es tn dtrect , matenal ways.
Truth in Storytelling
As the Kewa and Amshmaubae aftcrhfe tales suggest.
we should not assume that all stones arc thought to
be literally true by the people who tell them, or that
the literal meanmg of a story ts tts most tmportant
aspect. Some stories may well be understood to be
fiction or true only in a figurative or symbohc sense.
The Kewa, for example, clea rly distinguish between
true stories, called ramani (ora l histoty), and fictional
ta les, called lidi (oral literature). Among their many
classifications of oral form . the Nyanga of Zaire
si milarly contrast nganuriro (true stories) with lwrisi
(epic poems). Not all Ind igenous people make this
kind of distinction, but many do.

We must also recognize that what othe rs see
as factual h istory may include elements that seem
fictional to us. O ne Kewa story classified as ramani
(history), for instance, concerns a lepe r who removes
his d iseased skin before attending a ce remonial
dance in orde r to appear healthy and beauti ful.
To further complicate the issue, we must be
careful not to assume that a given StOry is an autho-
rized or tra nsparent reflection o f a culture. It may be
only a si ngle sto ryteller's version, a nd the narrative
details may reflect the telle r's own preferences as
much as they do the values or worldv iew of h is or
her cultu re. In other words, the story may be "true"
only to the pe rson who is telli ng it.
Context
Pe rhaps the most important point to remember when
interpreting Ind igenous stories is that we almost
never encounter them in their natural form- spoken
to a group in their original language. Instead, most
of us read them silently, to ourselves, in a colon ial
language such as English , in a time and a place far re-
moved from the circumstances in which they would
normally have been performed. It's ha rd to overstate
the importance of these differences. It would be
something like the contrast between read ing, "Close
you r eyes and I'll kiss you . . ." and being pan of the
shrieking studio audience in February 1964 when the
Beatles opened their first American television appear-
ance, on The Ed Sullivan Show, with "All My l oving."
The shift from community pe rformance to soli-
ta ry readi ng has the potential to transform the mean-
ing of a story. The act of tell ing is itself a ritual- many
stories a re tOld only in a particular place and time
and only by certain people. Similarly, not all stories
are for everyone- some may be just for women ,
some j ust for men , and some j ust for children. When
we lose all this context, what else is lost?
Writing the Spoken
Writing also d iminishes the capacity of an oral story to
change with the teller and the time. A story told by a
cheerful woman on a sunny day will likely seem much
6 Indigenous Traditions
d ifferent if it is told by an angry man on a rainy night.
And the Stories themselves can alter or evolve in re-
sponse tO changing circumStances or needs, producing
sign ificant variations. So what happens when a story is
committed tO ink on paper~ Is it fixed in place forever?
Perhaps, in ce rta in ways. But writing is less
"fixed in place" than we tend to think. Th is reality
becomes apparent when we look at di fferent writ-
ten accounts of the same oral story. In various col -
lections of An ish inaubae tales, for example, Basil
j oh nston has seve ral times recounted the fight be-
tween the trickster Nanabush and h is father Eping-
ish mook, a spi rit bei ng who represents the West,
old age , and death . In one ve rsion, the two appea r
equally matched, and the battle ends only when
Nanabush cuts h is father with a piece of flint; in an-
oth er, Epingishmook is the clear win ner a nd stops
the fight whe n Nanabush falls to the ground , ex-
hau sted a nd expecting to die at his father's ha nds.
Together, the two versions of the story emphasi ze
that Nanabush is both a brave, strong wa rrior and a
weak , cowardly one, making a poi nt that might not
be so clear in a si ngle StOry that shows h im behavi ng
di rfe rently in di ffe rent ci rcumstances. In addition ,
the StOries togethe r raise the question of what is true
about the m, whether literally or symbolically.
Multiple ve rsions of the same story also pose an
important challenge: how are we to make sense of
them all? Generally speaking, every Ind igenous cul-
ture has thousands of StOries, and every story may
have many variations. The re is no possible way to do
justice to such variety here. Instead, we will conside r
jus t a few examples of two t ypes of stories: those
that in some way explain origins, and those featur-
ing "trickster" figu res. Doing so will h ighlight some
of t he points al ready mentioned and also hopefully
demonstrate both t he challenges a nd the rewards
of try ing to unde rstand what these stories may be
say ing to- and about- the people who tell them.
Origin Stories
No maue r if t hey a re fish , birds, men ,
women , an imals, wi nd or rain. All
th ings in our country he re have law, they
World Religions: Western Traditions
have ceremony and song, and they have
people who a re related to them.
- Mussolini Harvey, Yanyuwa Elder (in
Swain and Trompf 1995 24)
North America
Among the best-known origin SLOries in No n h
Ame rica are the "Eanh Dive r" tales. Several of
their key elements are common LO cultu res ac ross
the eastern woodlands areas. Typically, they begin
with the wo rld destroyed by flooding, and then
speak of an animal or deity bringing a bit of ea n h
up from beneath the waters tO begin rebuild ing
the land.
In one version Sky Woman, a spirit being, de-
scends to earth du ring the flood. Seeing that she is
pregnant, a giant turtle offers to let he r rest on h is
back. She then asks the other animals to dive for
some soil. Many try but fail, and they d rown. In the
end, it is one of the lowliest animals, the muskrat-
ridicu led by the others for offering tO help- who
succeeds.
Sky Woman breathes into the soil, which
spreads across the turtle's back to become what is
now called North America. He r breath infuses the
earth with the spirit of life, nourishment, shelter,
and inspiration for the heart and mind. She gives
birth to twins- the ancestors of the people who
tell th is story- and she awards sha red stewardship
of the land 10 all beings who live there, whethe r
human, spirit, or an imal.
Sites
Bandiagara Escarpment, Western Africa
In the Dogon creation story, the supreme being,
Amma, sac rificed one of the Nummo (his four chil-
d ren) and scauered the body's remains on the earth.
The Bandiaga ra esca rpment in Mali is one of the
Africa
The African Dogon people also refer to a form of
pregnancy in their origin stories, which tell how the
supreme being, Amma, created the world (and hu-
manity) essentially by accident. Out of loneliness,
Amma transformed himself into a womb holding
fou r new beings called Nummo; two of these were
mostly male but partly female, and the other two
were mostly female but partly male. Before their 60-
year gestation period was complete, one of the males
became so impatient to be with h is siste r that he
tore away part of the womb sea rching for her. This
torn part of the womb became the earth.
life began when Amma sacrificed that siste r, scat-
tering the pieces of her body on the ground to purify
the earth. After the departure of their transgressi ng
brothe r, the two remain ing Nummo clothed the
earth with vegetation and infused it with a creative,
universal life force called nyama. Amma and the
Nummo also created eight beings who were placed
in separate celestial chambers and proh ibited from
eating a certain type of grain. They became lonely
and their food ran out, however, and so they gath-
ered together and cooked the forbidden grain. When
they were expelled from the heavens and crashed to
earth, the world as we know it was created.
Australia
The origin stories of the Australian Aborigines center
around eventS that occurred in a time and place unique
sites whe re the Dogon people have erected sh rines
to house the pieces. Othe r such sites can be found
th roughout West Africa.

to Australian conceptions, a time that nineteenth-
century anth ropologists famously (mis)translated as
"The Dreaming"; a more accurate translation might
be "The Uncreated." Although anth ropologists under-
stand The Dreaming as archaic time, Aborigines them-
selves have trad itionally given the impression that the
events of The Dreaming occurred just a few genera-
tions ago. In other words, those events are out of reach
of living memory, but they are not fixed in time. They
are also considered recent enough to remain vital and
meaningful to the communities that speak of them.
Unlike most Africans a nd Native North Amer-
icans, Australian Aborigi nes generally do not rec-
ognize a si ngle div ine authority from whom all life,
values, rules, and so on derive. Instead, the ir stories
o f o rigi n usually conce rn the fi rst ancestors, whose
actions shaped both the physical world a nd the cul-
tu ral p ractices of thei r descendants.
There are countless StOries of The Dream ing, but
many tales reOect some basic patterns. For example,
one version (see "Love Magic") explai ns how seve ral
elementS important tO the people- includ ing the Jove
magic ritual and a specific sac red site- originated in
the actions of two ancestors while at the same time
rein forcing the community's prohibitions on incest
and rape. The metamorphosis of the ancestors into
physical land formations is typical of Dreaming tales.
Meanings
W hat do origin StOries mean) Once again , it's cer-
ta inly possible that they were (and perhaps still
a re) u nde rstood to be straightforward historical ac-
cou nts. I have met many Native people in Canada
who refe r tO No rth America as "Turtle Island" and
rega rd it as sacred. But to my knowledge none of
them th ink that the continent was actually formed
from a clu mp of mud on the back of a giant reptile.
In any case, we should also conside r what other
aspects of these stories migh t be importa nt. First,
as in the Kewa and Anishinaubae "afte rli fe" stories,
relationships are central. In each case, c reation re-
sults from a desire for commun ity or compa nion-
sh ip. Si milarly, the central bei ngs in each story are
the ancestOrs of the people who tell it.
6 Indigenous Traditions
Second , the stories typically u nde rli ne the in-
her-e m relatedness o f all aspects of existence. j ust
as the Aborigi nes are related to ancesto rs from
The Dream ing who rema in con nected to the la nd -
scape, all o f existe nce is connected along a net-
work of various pathways and intersections. The
world in its enti rety is infused with the s pirit of
the a ncestors. Specific communities, however, are
mo re strongly j oined to certain stories and the re-
fore to the specific elements of those sto ries (loca-
tion s, rit uals , beliefs, etc.).
Third , Indigenous o rigin StOries typically do not
imagine the begi nning of time. Instead, they presup -
pose the existence o f the unive rse a nd focus on the
orig in of ce rtain eleme nts with in it that still exist-
language, culture, landscape- con necting us tO the
act ions of our ancestors. Past and present a re foreve r
linked, and stories of origi n remain deeply mean-
ingful to our conte mpora ry lives.
Finally, it's worth noting that these sto-
ries rarely present a si mple, idealized pictu re of
nature. They tell us that the world we live in is (at
least in part) the product of viole nce: a torn womb,
a rape, a devastati ng Oood. The Dogon tradition
associates the creation o f h uma ns with loneliness
and d isobed ience, while in North Ame rican tradi-
tion s ma ny an imals sac rifice themselves in their
effo rts to help Sky Woman and he r baby. Orde r,
creation , and life in Indigenous origin sto ries are
almost always connected to ch aos, destruction ,
and death .
And, speaking of chaos .
Tricksters
You know what I noticed) Nobody pan ics
whe n th ings go accordi ng to plan , even if
the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow ! tell the
press that, like, a gangbanger will get shot,
or a truckload of soldiers will be blown
up, nobody pa nics. Because it's all pan
of the plan. But whe n I say that one li ule
old mayor will d ie, well then everyone loses
Lheir minds."
- j oker, in The Dark Knight (2008)
World Religions: Western Traditions
Sites
Uluru. Central Australia
Uluru is an enormous sa ndsLOne formation that is
sac red to the local Aboriginal people, the Pitjant-
jatjara and the Yankunytjatja ra. These communit ies
conduct ceremon ies along the rock's base and in
its caves, where ancestral markings from Dream-
time events are evident. Uluru itself was the res ult
of such an event, when the earth rose up in grief
after a bloody battle. In 1873 the Australian colon ial
gove rnment named the formation "Ayers Rock" afte r
the ch ief sec retary of South Australia at the time, Sir
Henry Ayers. The landmark became the first site in
the Northern Territory to be officially designated in
both English and an Aboriginal language in 1993,
Uluru. in Central Australia. is an enormous sandstone formation sacred to the local Aboriginal people. the Pitjantjatjara
and the Yankunytjatjara.
when it was renamed "Aye rs Rock/Uluru"; in 2002
another name change made it "Uluru/Ayers Rock."
The re has been much dispute over ownersh ip of
the site. In 1985 the Australian government finally
agreed to transfer title to the local Aboriginal people
in exchange for a 99-year lease ar rangement and
LOurist access, but the latter continues to be a point
of contention. Aboriginals do not want tourists
cl imbing Uluru, and although it is Still pe rmitted,
various episodes- some of them involving non-
Indigenous people playing golf on the site or taking
nude selfies- have attracted renewed support for
banning the cl imb.
 6 Indigenous Traditions

Document
7'l<r", Vl>d
Australian Aborigine, "Love Magic"
"Ngarlu" has three meanings in this story from central aroused, he conti nued to attract her with the
,U'l<rt., V
Australia. It is the flower of the ngarlkirdi (witchetty noise. Finally, he caught her, forced her legs apart -.. bl Mt. <J<r~
gntb tree) as well as the name of a sacred site and of the and raped her. Upon ejaculation, however, she
ceremonies performed there. A "subsection" is a kinship closed her legs and he r tight vagi na dismembered ·I,. Q... VI> Cl.
group, while "hairstring" is string made from human hair his penis.
that is used to make many different items, from belts to Today, at Ngarlu her vagina remains trans formed C>< (' <leN
wrappings for spears. into rock and the severed stone-penis is still em-
bedded in it. linjiplinjipi himself, in agony, went c <rt.,.<r)·'VL
The re was a Dreaming man named Linjipli nj ipi to t he othe r side of the h ill whe re he turned into a
of the Ju ngari subsection at th is site. He had large boulder which has paintings upon it depict- f 11 'l()~ I>C
adorned his body with Ngarlu and was spi n ning ing his ha irstring cross and his erect penis. Yilpinji
hairstring. The whi rli ng sound of h is spi n ning ["love magic"] is performed modelled on Linjiplinji- >~ L.. v, ...
tool [made of crossed sticks] attracted a woman pi's methods of attracting his mother-in-law, using
of the Ngapanga rdi subsection [a nd the refore his sticks from Ngarlu and adorning the torso with o"r r"o·<lo..
mother-in -law]. He climbed the hill and as he was the Oowers of the witchett y grub tree. (Swain and )o Ll> <Jere
watch ing her she stopped to urinate. Sexually Trompf 1995 22- 23)
<Ja:l, Q... yo,

The concept of the trickster was developed by Shape-Changers

schola rs LO categorize a certain type of char-
acte r that appears in the stories of many cul- As their name implies, tricksters are hard to pin
ture s, including those o f the non -Indigenous down. For one th ing, they can usually shape-sh ift,
"West"; loki, for example, was the trickster in and many tricksters are explicitly "zoomorphic" (i.e.,
Norse mythology, while the ancient Greeks had they take the form of animals). Examples include:
He rmes. Although the people who wid these StO-
ries did not conceive of such characters as "trick- • badger Qapan),
sters ," and many trickster figu res do not actually • coyote (North America),
seem to have very much in common, the label • crow (North America),
has stuck. • fox (South America),
Tricksters are sometimes referred LO as "c ul- • rabbit (Africa and North America),
ture heroes," typically because they are the central • raven (North America),
figures in many (i f not most) of a commun ity's sto- • spider (Africa),
ries, and also because they often se rve to teach the • tortoise (Africa), and
most important lessons of history, ethics, and rela- • wolf (South America).
tionsh ips. Once again, however, the ways in which
these lessons are transmitted are not always simple In addition, many tricksters are able to change
or obv ious. their gender. Invariably the change is from male
World Religions: Western Traditions
to female , and in so me cases it is biological,
though in othe rs the trickster si mply puts on
women's clothi ng and uses prosthetics to mim ic
female se xual cha racte ristics. In o ne Cree sw ry,
the trickste r W ichikapache physically transfo rm s
h imse lf into the perfect woman in orde r to teach
a lesson to a conce ited you ng man who refuses
to ma r ry because he ca nnot fi nd a woma n good
enough fo r h im. Wich ikapache eve n becomes
pregna nt , b ut whe n the childre n a re born as wolf
Contemporary Yolngu artist David Malangi paints
the Milmildjark Dreaming on bark in 1997. W hen
the Australian government eventually compen-
sated Malangi for using his work Gurrmirringu·s
Mortuary Feast on the one-dollar note. the pay-
ment marked the first recognition of Aboriginal
copyright.
cubs the trick is revealed a nd the young man is
humiliated.
The va rious changes in the t rickster's outer form
a re reOected in o ther inconsistencies or blurrings.
Trickste rs are ty pically related to both the spi rit
and material/huma n worlds; though in gene ral they
a re more tha n human, they are almost always less
than gods. They can be sel ness or g reedy, k ind o r
c ruel , fun ny or deadly se rious. They may be fools,
but they may a lso reveal fools. And while very
often their behavior is scanda lous, explicitly violat-
ing the social orde r, th is is not always a bad th ing.
Sometimes the social o rde r needs to be violated,
and sometimes the most effective way to make this
point is th rough laughte r.
Self and Others
So how do we know when to imitate the trickste r's
example and when to do the opposite? Often the
mai n clue is the trickste r's motivation: whethe r
a particula r action is intended to help others, or
whether it is driven entirely by self-interest. In othe r
words, our j udgment depends on understa ndi ng
what is good for the com mun ity. A common sce-
nario centers on the male trickster's efforts LO satis fy
his enormous sexual appetite, which often result
in some ki nd of disaster. Such sto ries testify to the
understanding that unrestrained (male) sexuality
poses a serious threat to society.
In contrast, t he Anishinaubae swry "Red W il -
lows" shows Nanabush display ing obvious con-
side ration for his mothe r. He tells he r to get out
of harm's way wh ile he fights a bear, and he keeps
his prom ise to rejoi n her whe n the battle is done.
Presumably these a re admirable qualities, as he de-
feats the bea r and assuages his mother's (and his
ow n) hunger. Howeve r, he is also extremely self-
indu lgent and shows no restraint when eating the
bear- a transgression for wh ich he immediately
pays a pain ful price.
like many t rickster stories, "Red W illows" ex-
plains the o rigi ns of ce rtain elements o f the com-
munity's physical world, from the rive r at Sault Ste.

Document
Anishinaubae. "Red Willows"
Basil]ohnston (1929- 2015) was an Ojibwe scholar, lan-
guage teacher, and storyteller. He is also the most pro-
lific Indigenous writer in Canada, publishing more than
two dozen books in English and Ojibwa. Several of these
books comprise rete/lings of traditional Anishinaubae
tales, such as this one about the trickster Nanabush and
the origin of red willows.
Nanabush was wandering in the far north. He was
hungry. Nanabush was always hungry.
He was with his mother at the time. That old
lady is known by many names. Some call her
"Dodomum" or"Dodum"; others call her"Gushiwun"
or "Gushih."
They wandered until Nanabush chanced to
meet a bear. "Ha!" he announced. "I'm going to eat
you!" "Oh no you don't," replied the bear. "! will
fight back if you try to kill me. Get out of here,
Nanabush."
Nanabush would not leave. "Listen," he pleaded,
"I'm hungry. Can't you see that? I'm hungry. I've
eaten next to noth ing for about three days. Maybe
four days! I'm going to kill you."
They started fighting somewhere over there,
somewhere near Kenora. They hauled tooth and
nail. They fought in a number of different places
along the way, even where Sault Ste Marie now
stands. At the rapids. That really happened. That
was all land then. At that Lime there was no channel
of water nowing there.
First, Nanabush would h it the bear; then the
bear would h it Nanabush. One Lime, Nanabush
threw the bear so hard against the ground he broke
the earth, and water began to now through. That
in fact is the reason the water now Oows past Sault
Ste Marie.
6 Indigenous Traditions
Finally, Nanabush said to h is mother, "You go
on ahead and stay there. When I get there too, I will
kill this bear." As soon as the word was given, she
was gone.
She could hear them hauling in the distance.
At one point, the bear sent Nanabush Oying
with such force that he landed on his mother,
causing her to fall backwards onto her rump. That
is why the lake there is called "The Old Lady Sat
Down."
'"bl11"
They fought all along the way. The evidence of it
is still there. At the place that is now called Sudbury
they hurled rocks at one another.
Where they pulled boulders up from the earth,
ore was later found. Where they dragged each
other along the ground, depressions were made in
the land.
Eventually, Nanabush killed the bear, in the gen-
eral vicinity of Parry Sound.
Meanwhile, h is mother came along behind,
carrying supplies. She made a fire and put a pot of
water over it. Nanabush butchered the bear. When it
was cooked, he ate and ate. But he ate too much and
very soon su ffered the runs.
"Oh!" He ran over there. "Ah!" Such d iscomfort.
He could not stop going to the toilet. When he sat
down LO defecate, blood also Oowed. He couldn't
find anything to use to wipe h imself, so he grabbed
a sapl ing and used that. Then he stuck the sapling-
with the blood and feces on it- into the earth,
somewhere near Parry Sound.
A red willow grew at that spot. Its color came
from the blood of Nanabush.
That is how the red willows came to be. (Johnston
1995: 33-37)
World Religions: Western Traditions
Red Willows. by contemporary Anishinaubae
artist David Johnson. was created to accompany
Basil Johnston's modern retelling of this tradi-
tional Ojibwe story of Nanabush.
Ma rie to the rugged terrai n a round Sudbury. And
since those (colonial) towns a re named , we know
that th is is either a mode rn retelling of an old tale
o r one of the new sto ries of Nanabush that contirnue
to appea r. Finally, we learn that the red willows
got their color from Na nabush's bloody feces. He re
we have another wonde rful illustration of a view of
nature that is not naively idealized, a nd that rec-
ognizes holistic con nections between the beautiful
and the ugly or pai nful.
Chaos and Order
Like origin stories, trickster tales such as "Red
Willows" often attribute the creation o f aspects of
ou r world to violent, destructive activity. Thus in
other stories the trickster invents weapons, breaks
the teeth in women's vagi nas to make inte rcou rse
possible, in itiates pregnancy and me nstruation ,
and introduces death. Despite h is association with
chaos, then, the trickster also brings a ki nd of o rde r
to the world.
The Yoruba trickster Eshu is an explic it e x-
a mple of such a fu nction . Eshu delights in chaos
a nd is constantly playing pra nks on the Yor uba in
the hope that diso rde r will result. But his tricks
wo rk o nly when the people, fo rgetti ng the impo r-
tance of community stability, become g reedy o r
lazy or behave stupidly. In one story Eshu wea rs
a s pecial hat, blac k on one side a nd red on the
other, while walking between two friends; each
see ing only one s ide o f the h at, the friends fight
over what color it is a nd wind up biu er enem ies
for no reason at all.
Thus trickster stories, like tricksters themselves,
can play many roles: they can show us how we
should or shou ld not behave; they can help to explain
the origins of the wo rld and connect a community
more deeply to specific locations; and, whethe r they
a re funny or sca ry, thoughtful or silly, simple or
complex, they are almost always entertai ning and
highly provocative. They embody the extremes and
contradictions of humanity: our weaknesses and
strengths , selfishness and compassion, humiliations
and triumphs.
It's also worth noti ng again that while there is
greater gender d ive rsity in newer stories, almost
all the traditional tric kste r figu res we know of are
male. He re too, one reason may be that trickste r sto -
ries we re, until relatively recently, recorded on ly by
male Europea n academics. It is possible that those
me n had no inte rest in female trickster stories. It
is also possible that if such stories did exist, they
were the prese rve of women and the male schol-
a rs neve r inquired about them, presumi ng that a ny
importa nt cultural knowledge was ca rried by the
commu nity's me n.
On the other ha nd , it may be that for some
communities, the trickste r's typical activ ities-
hunting, traveling, unrestrained sex- were asso-
ciated mainly or eve n exclusively with men. If so,

we might be justified in supposi ng that even though
tricksters are specialists in social transgression ,
gender roles may represent one bou ndary that (until
recently) even these cagey figu res have had d iffi-
culty transcending.
~ Practice
Ritual
If you ask what is the greatest thing
I will tell you
It is people, people, people.
- Maori prove rb (in Webber-Dreadon
2002: 258)
Rituals perform the sa me fu nctions in Indigenous
cu ltures that they do in every cultu re. They iden-
tify and remind us of what is important in life- or,
more precisely, what the cultu re in wh ich we live
understands to be important. In religious terms,
their explic it pu rpose often is to communicate in
some way with gods, ancestors, or spirits. At the
same time, rituals remain rooted in ve ry human
needs and relationships.
Varieties
Around the wo rld, followe rs of vi rtually every re-
ligious tradition affirm their faith through the per-
formance of daily domestic rituals. Many of these
rituals involve food- one o f the most common and
Sites
Bighorn Medicine Wheel, United States
In gene ral , a med ici ne wheel or sacred hoop is a cir-
cular ar rangeme nt of stones with rad ial lines from
the center to the rim designed to facilitate commu-
nication with spirits. l ocated in Wyom ing at an el-
evation o f almost 10,000 feet, the Bighorn Medicine
6 Indigenous Traditions
vital ele ments of life. Thus j ews and Muslims ob-
se r ve koshe r and halal regulations, many Buddh ists
set aside a portion of each meal in a sh ri ne for their
ancestors, and the Anishinaubae traditionally put
a small amount of food in a dish for the spirits.
Au stralian Aborigi nes practice rites aimed at main-
ta in ing the balance and abundance of the animal
species they rely on for food; these ceremonies a re
ofte n ve ry si mple and may involve nothing more
than singing the song of the ancestor while rubbi ng
a pile of stones.
Othe r rituals a re more complex and much less
frequent, marking critical moments in the li fe of
ind ividuals (birth , mar riage, death), the commu-
nity (departu re of a powerful leade r, liberation from
slavery, completion of a great project), or the natu ral
world (an nual cycles, great d isasters, rich har vests).
Someti mes these rituals ma rk transformations, and
sometimes they help to bring transformation about.
It is th is less frequent, more d ramatic type of ritual
that will be d iscussed here.
Meaning and Structure
When someone who h as been ill recovers a fter a
ritual healer asks an ancestor spirit to remove the
illness, does the healer (or the patient, or the com-
mu nity) believe that the illness has actually been
removed by the spirit? Similar questions may be
asked about non-Indigenous rituals. To wh at extent
does a young jewish gi rl cha nge objectively into an
adult woman at the moment of he r bat mitzvah?
Wh eel is arguably the most importa nt sacred hoop
in North America. Black foot, Crow, Cheyenne,
Sioux, and Arapahoe com munities continue to use
the site for vision quests, healing rituals, and prayers
for guidance and wisdom.
World Religions: Western Traditions
How many Catholics believe they d ri nk the lite ral
blood of Christ when they take Communion?
Many people, past and present, have believed in
the literal truth of their religious stories and rituals.
Once again , though , we often separate Indigeno us
trad itions from other world religions by treati ng
their ritual practices as "magic" rather than "reli-
gion," implying that "they" believe in th ings that
obviously a re not true, whereas "we" do not. In fact,
many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people ali ke
believe in the lite ral truth of at least some of their re-
ligious traditions, while many others in both groups
take a more figu rative approach.
In eithe r case, when we look closely at the rituals
o f any Ind igenous culture , what we fi nd is a system
of formal yet creative activities through wh ich com-
mun ity members relate to the world and to one a n-
other. Such activ ities tap into the people's deepest
beliefs about the origins of the world, the ex istence
o f order, and the begi nn ings of life. Repeating them
the refore serves in some way to re-create key as-
pects of the world, of order, of life. In this sen se,
we can see ritual as an indicator both of the human
need for meaning and structure in a world that is
often random and frightening and of the human ca-
pac ity to create such mean ing and structure.
Rites of Passage
All people who go to the sac red bush
benefit from it. They may be observers;
they may be priests; they may be the in i-
tiate. Only we concentrate on the initiate
most. Yet everybody is involved, partic-
ularly the priests, for there is a belief.
that we are reborning ourselves. Even we
priests, we are getting another rebirth.
- Ositola, Yorub a (in Drewal 2002 I33)
The journey
Many cultures around the world regard life as a jour-
ney or quest; this perspective forms the central met-
aphor of a huge number of popular songs ("Like a
Rolling Stone," "Proud Mary," "Born to Run," "Dead
and Gone") and can also be seen in countless Indige-
nous sacred texts (see "Yoruba Ve rse"). Rituals high-
light points along the way, but they also constitute
journeys on their own. This understanding is most
evident in rites of passage, which explicitly mark a
change of State and often involve literal journeys.
Typically, such rituals take pa rticipants away
from their community- the s ite of social order
and familiarity- to a new place with unfamiliar
rules, whe re some so rt of transformation occurs.
For males this place is often outside, in the forest
or the bush o r the dese rt , whereas for many fe-
males it is a domestic space of some sort. Once the
rit ual is complete the pa rticipants return home,
often with a physical change, such as a tattoo,
scar, or missing body part, to symbolize their new
mode o f being. While away they exist in a kind of
in-between or "lim inal" state , after the death of the
old self but before the birth of the new, no longer
who they once were nor who they will become.
In South Africa, for example, young Pondos a re
moved into a special, separate hut during their long
initiation to become sangomas, o r sacred healers. If
they go into tOwn before the ritual is completed,
thei r faces and bod ies must be covered in wh ite-
the color of transformation throughout much of
Africa- to indicate that they are in the midst of a
journey between the realm of the living and that of
the ancestors. This in itiation is most often under-
taken by women and is complete only when the ini -
tiate receives a dream of a particular animal, which
is the incarnation of the ancestor who will authorize
her to become a sangoma.
Many An ish inaubae undertake a simila r initia-
tion known as a vision quest. In this rite, after years
of guidance and preparation, a boy on the verge of
adulthood travels far from home to a designated site
in the wilderness where the spirits dwell. Typically,
this is the first time he has ever been completely
alone in his life.
The boy has no food , only water. He endures
cold and hunge r, as well as fea r of the wilde r-
ness and of ha rmful unseen forces. Wi th luck,
the spiri ts will give him d reams o r visions that
will reveal his true self and the role he is to play

Document
Yoruba Verse
This verse from the sacred literature of the Yoruba
(known as the Odu lja) describes life as a quest.
A small ch ild works h is way off the edge of his sleep-
ing maL.
A bird soars high above it all.
They d ivined for our elderly people,
W hen they were preparing tO leave heaven to go to
the world
They said, what are we going to do?
in h is community. After several days, someone
will a rrive wi th food and take the in itiate home.
Young Pondo women from Transkei in South
A frica are covered in white during the liminal
stage of their initiation to become sacred healers.
6 Indigenous Traditions
crt., 'i7[>d <Jeri,.
1cr~. v (•·i:. r
They asked themselves, where are we going)
We are going in search of knowledge, truth, and justice. O...V!> cdA .J
In accordance with our destiny,
At the peak of the h ill
·r <Jd•n..,·<id
We were delayed . crl,.o- )·'i7A"CL ·~
We are going to meet success.
We will a rrive on earth knowledgeable.
We will a rrive on earth in beauty. Lb ..;.,.. <Ia-•
We are searching for knowledge continuously. • r'd·<:jo.... b.t,
Knowledge has no end. (Drewal 2002: 129)
Lb <la-C UJ't
If an Elder determines that the boy experienced
true spirit vis ions du r ing the quest, the r itual
is complete, and the boy is recognized as an
adult man .
Behind the Curtain
The rite of passage for Wiradju ri males in eastern
Australia also involves a literal jou rney, along with
fear and pain. At the appointed time , the boys of
the village are seized by the men and taken away
inlO the bush, look ing only at the g round between
the ir feeL. They hear a roa ring sound , ide nti fied
as the voice of the spirit being Daramulun, and
feel burn ing b rands being thrown abouL. The
boys are told that Daramulun will devou r them
and regurgitate them back as men . They are cov-
e red with blankets, and each one has an incisor
tooth knocked ouL. Then fires appear aga in, and
the boys are wld that Daramulun is coming to
burn them.
At the height of their terror, however, the boys
rece ive a shock. Their blankets a re removed, and the
men of the village reveal that they have been acting
as Daramulun all along. It was the men who tOOk
the boys' teeth, set the fires, and made the voice of
World Religions: Western Traditions
the spirit bei ng. It's much like Toto in The W izard
of Oz pulling aside the cu rta in to show Dorothy
that the Great and Powerful Oz is really j ust an old
man, except that in this case the dece ive rs reveal
themselves.
Whe n the boys return to the village, therefore,
they a re truly transformed. They have been initi-
ated into a secret (male) knowledge about the spirit
world . They have also formed a bond with one
another through their shared experiences of fear
and revelation. When they retu rn to the village, th ey
do so as me n, are given new adult names, and ta ke
up residence outside their pa rents' homes.
But doesn't th is ritual expose the community's
religious beliefs as false? Not necessa rily. Sam Gill
a rgues that its point is tO demonstrate that what is
genuinely meaningful lies beyond the surface of re-
ality, beyond what we can see, hear, feel, taste, a nd
touch. By exposing their trickery, the men produce
"a d isenchantment with a naive view o f reality, that
is, with the view that things are what they appear
to be" (Gill 1982: 81). In th is way, the boys experi-
ence a true death of thei r old selves- their youthful,
naive view of the world.
Sacrifice
We are imitating what the gods or holy people
have done. It is a return to the beginning.
- Blackhorse Mitchell, Navajo (in Beck,
Walte rs, and Franc isco 1992 (19771: 76)
In Mel Gibson's film Apocalypto (2006), Mayan
priests cut o ut the beating hearts of captUI:ed
village rs a nd make offe rings of the m to appease
the gods and e nd the fa mine that is affl icti ng t he
people. Although it is true that some Ind igenous
cu ltures d id pe rform hu man sac rifices, there are
still seve ral problems with the scena rio prese nted
by Gibson. Aside from the historical inaccurac ies
that some scholars have pointed out, Apocalypto
pe rpetuates co mmon misu nde rsta nd ings about
the nature o f sac rifice itself. These issues become
cleare r whe n we conside r some real examples of
the p ractice.
Bears, Men, and Cows
Sac rific ial rituals are extremely com mon. At one
time the ce ntral religious ceremony of the Ainu of
northern j apan, for example, was bea r sacrifice.
They would capture a young cub, raise it for two
or th ree years, shoot it with ce remonial a rrows,
and finally kill it. The ca rcass was then spec ially
prepared- often the head was emptied out and
filled with Oowers- a nd the animal was cooked and
eaten by the entire village.
Among the Aboriginal peoples of the North
American plai ns, the Sun Dance is an annual ritual
lasting several days. Inside a specially created lodge,
participantS dance to the point of exhaustion while
the commun ity provides support and encou rage-
ment. In some cultures, such as the Sioux, the Sun
Dance includes a ki nd of self-sacrifice: dancers fast,
pierce their chests and backs , and attach themselves
to a central pole with ropes tied to sticks that are in-
se rted through the pie rcings. They may be partially
or entirely suspended off the grou nd , and they dance
until they pass out o r their fastenings tea r loose.
In Africa, the Nuer regularly sacrifice an ox for
purposes that range from celebration tO heali ng to
atonement for moral transgressions. The Xhosa
people perform a similar but more complex ritual
when a young woman falls ill and a div iner deter-
mines that she is be ing pun ished by an a ncestor
spi rit. To restore good relations between the wom-
an's home and the a ncestor, a cow is consecrated
and then speared. The ani mal's cry opens up a
path of commu nication with the spirit world, along
wh ich the words of the ritual Elder requesting help
can travel. Inside the woman's home, a special part
of the animal is cooked. One piece of the meat is
given to the woma n, who sucks it and th rows it to
the back o f the house as a sign that she is throwing
away he r ill ness. She is the n give n a second piece,
wh ich she holds while bei ng chastised for behav-
ing in a man ner d ispleasing to the ancestor(s). She
then consumes the meat and is congratulated for
hav ing "eaten the ancestor." before the rest of the
cow is cooked and eaten by the enti re commu nity
in celebration.

Community and Ritual Action
When we compare these rituals to the sac rifice in
Apocalypto, two major d ifferences become dear.
Fi rst, there is no real social significance LO the
film's sac rificial ritual, no communal pa rtic ipation
beyond a sense of gene ral bloodlust. Yet communal
pa rtic ipation is c rucial for the Ainu, the Sioux, a nd
the Xhosa. Eve ryone becomes involved in some way,
whethe r by provid ing s upport to the pa rticipants
o r simply by sha ring in the g roup meal. The ritual
ultimately brings people togethe r. By contrast, the
priests in the film are portrayed as corrupt, and the
ritual ultimately helps to tear the commu nity apart.
The second difference is that Apocalyplo presents
the sacrifice as a simple offering made to the gods or
spi rits in return for some reward. The Mayans in the
film want food, and apparently the gods want huma n
hearts- it's a simple exchange. Yet in many cultures,
the object of sac rifice itself is dearly not of central
importance. When necessa ry, the Nuer can replace
the ox with a cucumber. Si milarly, if no suitable cow
is available to the Xhosa, bee r is used instead.
The fact that such substitutions are possible sug-
gests that, in some cases at least, the materials in-
volved are far less meaningful than the ritual actions
themselves. When the Xhosa do sacrifice a cow, for
example, why don't they j ust kill and eat it? Why go
th rough all the complex stages? What appears to be
primarily at stake in this ritual is the woman's behav-
ior in relation to notions of social order set dow n by
the ancestors and rei nforced by (male) ritual Elders.
The commun ity thus shares both in naming the
transgression that Jed to her illness and in consum-
ing the meal generated by the ritual that heals her.
Why is a spec ial lodge bu ilt for the Sun Dance?
Its creation replicates the creation of the world and
is accompanied by songs that tell of th is c reation.
The pole used in the dance is a newly cut cotton-
wood tree; in its state between life and death and
its physical positioning at the cente r o f the lodge,
it li nks the material world tO the world of the spi r-
its. By be ing physically attached LO th is tree, the
dance rs are thus also tied to the spirits and to the
earl iest ti mes.
6 Indigenous Traditions
Why did the Ainu fill the bea r's head with
nowers? Because, in their eyes, the a nimal was not a
regula r bear but the mountain god in d isguise, and
the ritual killing o f his bear form was necessary to
release the god's spirit back to his own real m. The
Ain u were not offering a bear to the god; rather,
from primordial times onward the god became
a bear, over a nd over again, as a gift to the Ainu.
The nowe rs were an expression of the commu nity's
gratitude.
In each case, the ritual actions relate to the
spiritual a nd sometimes physical establish ment of
the commun ity, or of the world itself. like rites of
passage, sac rificial practices thus play a key role in
(re-)c reating order a nd mean ing. In reenacting an-
cie nt events, these rituals j oin people to the past,
and yet they also respond tO curre nt situations
and needs. Thus they renect a nd reestablish the
common Indigenous sense of ti me as rhythmic , ne i-
the r purely linea r nor entirely cyclical. Indiv iduals
and com munities a re always cha ngi ng over ti me;
noth ing ever repeats exactly. But in the course of
their journeys, people do need to be reple nished,
and th rough ritual they can return to a source that
susta ins them.
a. Cultural Expressions
The array of art forms trad itionally produced by
Indigenous cultu res is extraordinarily rich and d i-
verse, and includes (fo r example) arch itectu re, songs,
baskets, cloth ing, sculptures, painti ngs, drums,
pipes, mats, headdresses, amulets, masks, and tap-
est ries. In each community, some a n forms will exist
almost entirely for religious purposes, some will be
entwined with religion only at specific times, and
othe rs may have very liule to do with religion.
W hat You See
If you don't live the th ings that go with
it, the n it's only a design. It's not a moho
[trad itional Maori tattoo].
- George Tam ihana Nuku, Maori
(in Mitchell 2003)
World Religions: Western Traditions
With a good deal of Indigenous creative wo rk, what
you see is not at all what you get. In some cases,
you don't see anyth ing at all by the ti me the work is
done, because the piece has been consumed by the
same process that brought it into being.
A key element of the malagan death rituals of
Papua New Guinea, for example, is the creation
and burning of delicate sculptures made from fiber,
wood , bark, and feathers. Likew ise, the beautiful
and complex Navajo sand paintings must be erased
the day they are made if they are tO pe rform their
healing function; through ceremony, the cosmic
pictu res become identified with a patient's sickness,
and it is only through the sand painting's destruc-
tion that health can be restored.
Othe r works, like those discussed in the follow-
ing sections- cloth, tote m poles, mbari sh rines-
are created from natu ral materials that decay ove r
time. These works are very often understood as
living th ings, which can- and should- d issolve
back into the earth when their time is done. Even
when the wo rk endures over time, it may be rela-
tively bereft of meaning (and li fe) when we look at it,
especially if it is completely removed from its origi-
nal context. If we don't know what an African mask
o r a Native American basket is used for, or why, we
can hardly have any idea of what it represents.
In this respect, Ind igenous "art" is fundamen-
tally about relationsh ips. There is a network that
connects an object to the person(s) who made it,
the ritual in which it is used, the community it
serves, and the StOries that underlie its creation.
These relationships a re vi tal to the cultu re in ques-
tion, and , depend ing on the context, some o r e''en
all aspects of the network- object, creation, ritual,
stories- may be considered religious. To illustrate
the va ried, complex ways in wh ich Ind igenous .art
forms are related to Indigenous religion, we will
conside r th ree examples: weaving, carving, and
building.
Weaving
It all starts from the beginning with roots.
How the basket makes itsel f. Like two
people meeting. What I'm talking
about when I'm talk ing about my baskets
is my life, the StOries, the rules, how this
thing is living, what they do tO you.
- Mabel McKay, Porno
(in Sarris 1992: 23- 24)
The relationships that a re central to Ind igenous
creative work are well symbolized by weaving. To
weave is to intertwine, tO connect. Even in modern
English, we speak of the "soc ial fabric," the "warp
and weft" of h istory, friendsh ips, or community life.
In most cultures traditional weaving is a social activ-
ity: weavers work tOgether, helping (and watching)
one another, sha ring stories, and passing on their
skills to younge r generations. In addition , the prod-
ucts of weav ing often have both a religious meaning
and a practical purpose. These functions reOect and
reinforce the bonds among commun ity members, as
well as the bonds between the people and their en-
vi ronment, their ancestors, and the ir gods.
Sacred Thread
In Maori tradition , all weave rs are female. A pro-
spective weave r is selected as a baby, and a special
prayer is spoken over he r. As she grows up, she
learns the art from her mother, aunts, and grand-
mothers, until it becomes a natural part of her. But
her destiny is not fixed. The more she learns, the
more the women discourage her from weaving. This
is a test. The girl must pe rsevere to demonstrate her
commitment. When her elders are satisfied, she is
at last initiated into the whare pora ("house of weav-
ing"), wh ich is not a physical bu ild ing but the col-
lective of weavers in the community. Only then does
she come to unde rstand why the weft used tO create
the pattern and design in Maori weav ing is called te
aho tapu- "the sacred th read."
The whare pora women are the caretakers of
the Maori weaving trad itions. These traditions in-
clude not only the physical techn iques and skills of
weaving, but the rituals that are essential to every
aspect of the craft. For example: materials used in

weav ing must be specially prepared; sex is p roh ib-
ited the nigh t before dyeing fibers; no food may be
consumed while weavi ng; fine garments must be
woven du ring daylight; and no strangers can view
a ny work until it is completed.
To weave is to be pa n of an anc ient trust, a gi ft
brought to humanity by Niwareka, daughter o f the
lightning god Uetonga. The patte rns and tech niques
that she gave the Maori people became the foun-
dation of all future works. The goddess of weavi ng
is Hi ne-te-iwaiwa, who also presides over healing
a nd ch ildbirth and is often associated both with the
moon and with me nstruation.
The traditional colors used in Maori weaving-
black , red, and wh ite- symbolize the basic forces
o f creation. Black represents the realm o f potential
bei ng, the darkness from wh ich the earth emerged;
white represents the process of com ing into being,
the ene rgies that make life possible; and red rep-
resents the real m of being and light, the physical
world itsel f. The sacred th read thus runs not only
th rough all garments, which join the membe rs of
the commu nity together, but also th rough time,
lin king past and present, a nd th rough the va rious
realms of existence, entwining people in the div ine
nature of the cosmos itself.
Undying Cloth
The fi nal prod ucts of weaving may also have reli-
gious significance. Around the world , a key fu nc-
tion of clothing is to decla re who we a re, how we
fit into the "social fab ric." Are we Muslim, asexual,
Sites
lfe, Nigeria
lfe, Nigeria, is the ancient site whe re the Yoruba
deities Oduduwa and Obatala bega n the creation of
the world . Many Yoruba commun ities still celebrate
6 Indigenous Traditions
female, an artist, Hindu , middle-class, ma le, a
lawye r, ge nderq uee r, rich? Yet cloth ing lite rally has
two sides: it can hide as much as it reveals, helping
us to construct a public face while obscuring ce r-
tain aspects of both our bodies a nd ou r ide ntities.
Lady Gaga is a great (i f perhaps extreme) exa m-
ple of the double-sided nature of cloth ing. Her cos-
tumes and masks hide her private self from view but
reveal those aspects of her identity that she wishes
to make public. Part of the woman is Lady Gaga the
pe rforma nce artist, but anothe r part is Stefani Ger-
manotta, g raduate of a Catholic private school in
Ma nhatta n. Gaga's apparel annou nces he r individu-
ality while also show ing he r connection and indebt-
edness to a com munity of modern pop figures that
includes Madon na , Michael j ac kson, and even-
th rough the crown she wears in her "Bad Romance"
vid eo- the artist j ean-Michel Basquiat.
In vi rtually all societies, special cloths a re also
assoc iated with important rituals- baptisms, g rad-
uat ions, weddings, fune rals. These cloths help to
set such occasions apart from everyday life. Ide-
ally, the outer form of the cloth reveals (rathe r
than h ides) one's true self at these moments, as it
an nounces to the community that a genui ne inne r
change has ta ken place. Given that rites of passage
represent a symbolic death a nd rebirth, it is fitting
that the Bunu Yoruba, of central Nigeria, conside r
the special cloth worn for such rites to be a kind
o f womb, enveloping the body as if it we re a fetus
wa iti ng to be born.
The Bunu have a key sayi ng in th is rega rd: "Cloth
only wears, it does not d ie" (Renne 1995: 9). The
th is act at the a nnual !tapa festival in lfe, now a city
of roughly 500,000.
World Religions: Western Traditions
saying reOects a belief that just as old cloth is con-
tinually replaced by new, so the spirits of the ances-
tors are reborn into the bodies of ch ildren. A special
ritual cloth, orun pada, is used tO d ivine the identity
of such ancestOrs. Once a child is understood to be
a reborn spirit, he or she may at any time wear the
orun pada used in the d ivination ritual.
Many people th ink of African textiles as very
colorful- such as the famous Kente cloth from
Ghana- but the most common trad itional cloth
in Indigenous African cultures is actually white.
There are various reasons for this, but among the
Bunu Yoruba one important reason has to do w ith
religious mean ing. The Bunu understand wh ite
to represent any color from transparent to light
gray; thus, "white" desc ribes a range of items,
from human secret ions (milk, semen) to aspects of
nature (air, water) and religious phenomena (spi r-
its, heaven).
Wh ite cloth- trad itionally woven by Bunu
women only- is thus used in many instances to
bridge the gap between the physical world and the
spi rit world , between living people and the ir ances-
tors. For example:
• white cloth is worn to remedy certa in types
of disorder caused by destructive spirits (e.g.,
miscarriage, anger, illness);
• sacred trees are wrapped in white cloth to ap-
pease the spirits living inside them ;
• white cloth is wound around a pot of objects
to help bring rain;
• at burial, people are swathed in white cloth to
facilitate rebirth as an ancestor; and
• the supreme being Olorun is sometimes de-
scribed as "The One clothed in white."
For the Bunu Yoruba, then, wh ite cloth plays a key
role in helping members of the community cope
with- and find mean ing in- the disruptions and
pain of disease, drought, conO ict, and even death.
From the outs ide, one would likely never suspect
that this simple -looking mate rial could have such
meaning and power.
Spirit Baskets
Basket weav ing is one of the oldest and most wide-
spread of all the arts. Because the tradition goes
back so far, and because the baskets themselves
decay into nothingness, much of the history of
basket weaving cannot be traced. Baskets come in
a staggering variety of patterns, colors, materials,
sizes, and shapes. They may also be used to hold an
enormous array of items, from food and babies to
spirits and prayers, and have been used in ceremo-
nies for all stages of life from bi rth to death.
Baskets also figure in the sacred stories of many
cultures. The Hebrew Bible tells how the infant Mo-
ses's mother put him in a basket and set it in the
river to be found by Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus
2:3- 5). Tane, the Maori god of light and wisdom,
cl imbed to heaven to bring three baskets of knowl-
edge back to earth (knowledge of all ritual matters,
knowledge of acts of harm and aggression among
people, and knowledge of peace and well-being). A
Navajo story explains the origin of small birds such
as wrens, warblers, and titmice by describing how
a woman plucked the feathers of several winged
monsters and put them in her basket, but when
she passed through a forbidden territory filled with
sunOowers, the feathers were transformed into tiny
birds and new out of the basket.
Mabel McKay (1907- 1991) was a trad itional
healer of the Porno people and one of the most famous
basket makers in the world. Her work is collected
in various museums, including the Smithsonian. In
add ition to holding jobs as a washerwoman, factOry
employee, and seasonal fruit picker, for much of her
adult life McKay gave lectures on baskets and Native
American culture at universities in Californ ia.
McKay's basket making was interwoven with her
healing practices, as she would give each patient a
tiny basket for health and protection or instruction
in making one. Some of her miniature baskets were
the size of a pea, and it was impossible to see their
intricate patterns without a magn ify ing glass.
In Porno communities, men trad itionally wove
the heavy baskets used for work like hunting and

fish ing; women were respons ible for the baskets that
had more explic itly religious purposes and therefore
had tO follow spec ific rules in c reati ng them. As in
most Ind igenous communities, rituals were pre-
sc ribed for obta in ing a nd preparing the materials,
a nd the weaving process was sur rou nded by rest ric-
tions. Thus weavers were forbidden tO make baskets
at all when menstruati ng or consuming alcohol.
They were also forbidde n tO include representations
of humans in their designs or tO reproduce the de-
signs of med ici ne weavers such as McKay.
This last rule reflected the fact that those designs
were the product of personal spiritual visions. Such vi-
sions were for the weaver alone, relevant to particular
situations. Although McKay followed the traditions of
her culture and wove with respect for the people, his-
tory, and stories of her community, her basketS were
always individual, unique. Even more than usual,
then, her baskets were living things that both reflected
and communicated her sacred visions. Thus, when
asked if she had been taught to weave baskets by her
grandmother or mother, she replied: "No, spi rit teach
me, since I was small child" (Sarris 1992: 25).
Carvings
W hat a nnoys me is t hat a lot of totem poles
that go up have no plaque or informa-
tion. People who come by wonde r, "Who
did this? What's it all about?" Every time
I ca rve a tote m pole, there's always a ki nd
of signatu re tO identify my family or my
nation, the Nisga'a.
- Norma n Tait, Nisga'a (1993: ll)
Masks
The difference that context makes in understanding
the meaning of cultural objects is well illustrated
by African masks. Non-Africans usually encou nter
these masks only in museums, where they exist as
shadows of thei r former selves. Used as intended,
however, t he masks come alive as part of the com-
mun ity's most important ritual activities: in itiations,
6 Indigenous Traditions
weddings, hunting celebrations, funerals, harvests,
war preparations. There is no comparison between
the lifeless husk stuck on a post behind glass and
the fully an imate ritual object that links its wearer
with the world of spi rits, ancestOrs, and gods.
Across Africa there are thousands of mask de-
sig ns, created from a great variety of materials , in-
cluding wood, brass, ivory, bronze, coppe r, glazed
potte ry, a nd textiles. Some aspects of t hei r meaning
may be appa rent even to the outside r, but we always
need to be cautious in our inte rpretations. Although
masks are typically meant to bring a spirit into the
communit y, it is importa nt to reme mber that in
African trad itions the supreme be ing is never repre-
sented by any physical object; the refore, masks can
relate only to lesser deities.
Also, the fact that certai n masks clearly repre-
sent certa in animals does not mean (as was once
assumed) t hat the people who use them worship
those animals. In Mali , both the Dogon and Bamana
cultures use antelope masks in agricultural ceremo-
nies that have little to do with actual antelopes. And
even in this instance, the symbolic meanings a re
not identical: for the Dogon the antelope represents
hard work, whereas for the Bamana the a nimal 's
horns symboli ze tall fields of grain.
When we focus only on the form of a mask, with-
out reference to the context in which it is used, we can
easily miss the meaning of certain critical elements.
The Epa masks of the Yoruba, for example, are not only
complex and intricately carved, but also extremely
heavy. The weight reflects their function in rituals cele-
brating the male passage into adulthood. The strength
required to dance with such a mask is a literal repre-
sentation of the wearer's ability to take on his responsi-
bilities as an adult member of the community.
Another unseen- but equally important-
aspect of t he mask is the process of its creation.
Ca rvers have traditionally been male, trained asap-
pre ntices to master carvers who hold positions of
high esteem in their soc ieties. Ritual formalities a re
no less central in t he creation of a mask than they
a re in the final ceremony for which it is made. Typ -
ically, for exa mple, carvers must work in isolation
World Religions: Western Traditions
wh ile fasting, abstaining from any sexual activity,
and avoid ing contact both with women and with
anything con nected to death .
Totem Poles
The totem poles produced by the Indigeno us
peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast pose similar
challenges of context and symbolism. As with African
masks, the va rious markings a nd ca rvi ng styles of
these works are h ighly spec ific to particular co m-
mun ities and locations ; those famil iar with these
trad itions would immediately know on encounLer-
ing a totem pole whose territory they had entered.
Yet for ma ny yea rs now, totem poles have been
removed from their homes. Poles with little or no
con nection to one anothe r, from d ifferent cultures
and with d ifferent functions , are ofte n displayed to-
gether in a kind of outdoor museum such as Sta n-
ley Park in Vancouver. Some groups have fought
th is trend- in 2006 the Haisia o f northern Brit-
ish Columbia successfully retrieved from Sweden's
Museum o f Ethnography a sacred totem pole that
had been stOlen from them almost 80 yea rs earlie r.
Ironically, the word "totem" is derived from the
Anishinaubae word dodaem, which has been va riously
translated as "heart," "nourishment," and "kinship
group." But the Anishinaubae (who live thousands
of miles to the east) neve r made totem poles, a nd
the cultures of the Pacific Northwest themselves
neve r used the word "totem." The Tsims hian
people- to pick just one exa mple- cal\ such a pole
a ptsan.
Normally carved from a single cedar tree, a pole
can survive for a century or so. It is traditionally
regarded as a living th ing a nd is allowed to rot
naturally; some believe that to physically preserve
a totem pole is to inte rfere with the natu ral orde r
o f the world. Ce rta in communities eve n forbid the
"preservation" of poles in d raw ings or photograph s.
The meaning of a particula r totem pole depen ds
on its intended use. Some are designed prima rily
to serve as supporting structures o r grave ma rkers;
others, as symbols of status or power. Most, how-
ever, tell stories. Some stories are mainly histo rical,
recounting achieve ments , murde rs, argume nts,
victories, defeats, marriages, ancestral lineages, and
so on. But other stories are more explicitly religious,
relating to particular beliefs or to the tales of great
figures such as Raven or Thunderbird (among the
most powe rful of all North American spi rits , Thun-
derbird is responsible for g reat sto rms).
Moko
Maori carv ings are less likely than totem poles or
masks to be d is played outside their original physi-
cal context. This is because many of them are an in-
tegral part o f the ancestral meeting house, or whare
whakairo (literally, "carved house"), for wh ich they
a re created. The figures that decorate these houses
a re a ncestors such as Tihori, of the Ngati Awa in
Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. The carv ing of Tihori
in the Bay of Plenty meeti ng house holds a taiaha, a
weapon used in hand-to-ha nd combat, wh ich sym-
bolizes h is role a nd accomplishments as a warrior.
Tihori is also covered with traditional Mao ri tattoos,
or moho (l iterally, "to strike" or "tO tap"). These same
markings can be seen on some contemporary Maori
men and women, includi ng the famous Tuhoe ac-
tiv ist Tame lti.
Originally chiseled (not just inked) into the
skin, these ma rkings identify both the ind ividual
and h is or her relationsh ip to the com munity. Some
moko elements may signify education level, pe r-
sonal and family rank , tribal history, or ancestral
con nec tions; othe r designs may simply be marks
of beauty or ferocity in battle. Traditionally, women
were allowed tattoos on ly on or around thei r lips
and chi n, wh ile me n could receive ma rkings on
the ir enti re face.
A key design that is repeated on lti 's face is the
koru , or frond/spiral , the most common (and im-
portant) of all moko eleme nts. A Maori proverb helps
explain its meaning: "As one fern frond dies, anothe r
is born to take its place." This proverb suggests that
the koru's prima ry mean ing has to do with birth ,
regeneration, and sustai nability, but that it can also
represe nt the ancestors themselves, who gave bi rth
to the Mao ri and who continue to susta in them.
 6 Indigenous Traditions

Totem poles in Vancouver's Stanley Park reflect different creative ends: to support a roof (left). and
to tell the story of the Tait family crest (right). The pole on the left depicts two main figures Grizzly
Bear is at the base. holding a human. a depiction that usually represents self-preservation or sur-
vival. Thunderbird. a symbol of strength. is at the top. The pole on the right. carved by Norman Tait
(with Robert and Isaac Tait). tells a more complicated story. The family is represented by the human
at the top, who is holding Eagle to signify the clan. Five disembodied faces represent five ancestral
brothers who one day saw two beavers emerge from their home. remove their skin. and become
men. The beaver-men told the five brothers that they were being slaughtered by the humans. so the
brothers sang a sad song that froze the river. protecting the beavers (who can be seen climbing up
the pole). This is how the Tait family came to adopt the beaver for its crest.

Beyond this symbolism, the an of moho itself is
directly linked LO the Maori ancestOrs. Uetonga, the
god of lightning, developed moho in imitation of the
marks that his grandfather Ru , god of earthquakes,
had left on the face of the primal parent, the earth.
One day Uewnga's daughter Niwareka (who brought
weav ing to humanity) journeyed LO the world of the
living and fell in love with the Maori ancestral chief
Mataora. The two married and lived together until
Mataora, in a jealous rage, hit Niwareka and she
fled home to the underworld. In sorrow, Mataora
followed her and came upon Uetonga tauooing a
man by cutting deep patterns into his flesh. When
Mataora asked to have his own story marked on his
face in the same way, Uetonga agreed.
To ease the pain of the carving, Mataora sang of
his loss and regret, and the sound reached Niwareka,
who forgave her husband. The couple reun ited and
rece ived permission to return to the surface world.
But Mataora neglected to leave an appropriate offer-
ing for the guardian of the portal between the two
realms, and so from then on living humans were
World Religions: Western Traditions
Tame lti is an outspoken and sometimes controversial Maori activist who is well known for his full facial moko.
forbidden to ente r the underworld. Moho- in fact,
all trad itional carvi ngs- thus remind Maori peop le
o f their ancestors, the importance of meeting orne's
obligations, the need to treat one anothe r with re-
spect, the power of the natu ral world, and the
boundaries between life a nd death.
Buildings
The way into the sh rine was a round hole
at the side of a h ill, j ust a little bigge r
than the round opening into a henhouse.
Worshippers and those who came to seek
knowledge from the god c rawled on thei r
belly th rough the hole and fou nd the m-
selves in a da rk , endless space in the pres-
ence of Agbala.
- Chinua Achebe, Igbo (1996 [19581: 12)
Ancestral Houses
The Maori meeting house (whare whakairo) is pan
of a larger complex called a marae, a clea red area
contai ning several other structures such as a di ning
room, shelte rs, and a site where the recently de-
ceased are placed to lie in state. The marae is the re-
ligious and social home o f a Maori person, the site of
rit ual ce remonies such as weddings, funerals, fam ily
celebrations , a nd formal welcomes for visitOrs. Au-
thority over the marae is held by the commu nity's
elde rs, who use the space to pass on t rad itions, sto-
ries, and arts such as weavi ng and ca rvi ng.
As in the case of African masks, the builders
and ca rvers of the whare whakairo were t raditionally
male , with the rest of the com munity banned from
the site until the work was offic ially declared com-
plete at a public ce remony. The workers operated

under a number of ritual restrictions and obliga-
tions from the moment the fi rst trees for the build-
ing we re cut down. Trad itionally, marae a rtists were
held responsible for their work to such a degree that
they could be put tO death if the community did not
judge it to be acceptable.
The location of the marae is c ritical: it must be
where previous ge nerations ca rried out the reli-
gious and social activities that continue to define
a nd restore the world itself. Th is connection to the
land is not me rely metaphorical: it is Maori custom
to bu ry not only the placenta in the ground at
birth , but also the bones afte r death. The marae is
also identified with a s ingle common ancesto r to
whom all members of the commun ity a re oste ns i-
bly connected.
Th is identification is given physical form in
the whare whakairo, wh ich represents the body of
the ancestor. O n the front of the house, where the
roof slopes meet, is the mask-head of the ancestor;
the boards along the front of each side of the roof
a re his arms; the central ridge of the roof is h is
spine, with ribs/rafters spreadi ng out from it; the
front door is his mouth; a nd the window is his eye.
Non-Maori may be able to apprec iate the beauty
a nd intricacy of the whare whakairo's construction,
but they can not grasp what such a build ing truly
means to a commun ity without understanding its
c ultu ral roots .
Three Points and a Shrine
The attention to detail in the construction of the
whare whakairo is so great that even a casual ob-
server migh t recognize that such a buildi ng has
g reat sign ificance. Many other Indigenous religious
structures- includ ing most of those in Africa a nd
North America- are so plain that it may be difficult
for outs iders to understand how they could have any
deeper meaning.
There are three main points at issue here. First,
the majority of Indigenous people th roughout h is -
tory have performed all or most of their rituals
outdoors, in the natural world. Specific locations
can be critically important; when the purpose of
6 Indigenous Traditions
a ritual is to make contact with particula r gods or
splrits, for example, the ritual must gene rally be
pe rformed where they dwell or intersect with the
physical world. Although some com munities may
erect a simple structure to mark such sites, to do
anyth ing more elaborate would in many insta nces
simply hold no meaning to them; it would not be in
keeping with thei r world view.
Second, it may be helpful to think about the
functio ns of the elaborate religious structu res
erected by various non-Indige nous groups. One
reason the Catholic Church blanketed Europe with
g ra nd cathedrals, for example, was the simple fact
that for a very long time it was the ultimate author-
ity in that part of the world. Such build ings sym-
bolized the chu rch's wealth and political power.
Small Ind igenous com mun ities that did not rule
entire contine nts had no occasion (o r resources) for
such displays.
Finally, we come back to the point made at the
beginning of th is section: what you see is often not
what you get. An Africa n sh rine may contai n noth ing
more than a couple of small, plain, human-shaped
carv ings, but if the commun ity unde rsta nds that
from time to time they are inhabited by particular
ancestOrs or spirits, then at those times the figures
become visible manifestations of the gods.
Othe r shrine statues may have qui te a differ-
ent mean ing, h owever. Consider the mbari sh rine,
which may include not only statues of gods but
also figures of hu mans. At one sh rine in southeast-
e rn Nigeria, relics of a renowned healer are kept
with the statues and protect the community from
disease. Because most of the mbari shrines in this
region have been destroyed, a n elde r stands gua rd
he re at all times. The guard signifies the prese nce
not only of relig ious conO ict in this region, but
also of religious cha nge. The idea of defend ing o r
preserving this pa rticular type o f religious build -
ing is actually a modern developme nt. Trad ition-
ally, mbari shrines were formed out of earth and
clay and- like totem poles- we re neve r repai red
once thei r cere monial unve iling was done; afte r
seve ral ra ins, they would s imply d issolve back
into the ea rth.
World Religions: Western Traditions
A mbari shrine in southeastern Nigeria. The
figure in the lower middle represents the founder
of the community. with his wife above and ser-
vants on e1ther side. He was renowned as a great
healer some two centuries ago but was attacked
by another community and forced to nee across
the marshes. carrying his wife on his shoulders.
Hogans
The Navajo hogan is our final example of a struc-
ture that IS much more than it appears. It is also t he
on ly one that is not "explicitly" religious: although
many ce remonies are performed t here, a hogan
is also simply a trad itional dwelling in wh ich any
Navajo family might li ve. As such, it is the site of
a lithe daily activities that go on in a home, some of
which are religious and some of wh ich are not.
Before a newly constructed hogan ts occupied.
the commumty will perform the Blessmgway cer-
emony. This ntual mcludes a song that begms by
referring to · a holy home" (G11l 1982: 10), although
this term merely hmts at what the hogan represents.
The point becomes clearer when we learn that the
Blessing"-a>· ts m manr wars the foundauon of
Navajo rehg1ous thought and pracuce. Before any
other ritual can be conducted, for example, some
version of the Blessmgway must be performed.
The Blessing,vay song names four dtvme bemgs:
Earth , Mountam Woman, Water Woman, and
Corn Woman. But the song also speaks of everyday
things: vegetauon , fabrics, long hfe, and happmess.
In this way it represents a joining of perspectives.
the cosmic with the mundane.
The cosmic- mundane connection is furthered
by the song's identification of the four deit ies with
the four main suppo rting poles of the h ogan. In
Navajo cosmology, the same dei ties prov ide sup-
port fo r the world itse lf. In fact , the Navajo un-
derstand the creation of the world to have begun
w ith the building of a structure, which is to say
that the world is a structure-a hogan. It shou ld
come as no surpnse that creauon was accompa-
nied by the first performance of the Blcssmgway
ritual. Thus to bUild a hogan IS to reproduce the
origin of all thmgs and to fulfill one's ongomg
(sacred) respons1bllny to conunually make and
remake the world.
Despite Its apparent s1mphcny. then, the NavaJo
hogan- like Porno baskets and N1sga'a totem poles,
like Yoruba whue cloth and Dogon shnnes, hke
Maori tattoos and whart whaha11o-ts a vnal lmk
between present and past, between commumty and
place, between the human world and the world of
the spirits.
Colonialism
"Colon ialism" refers both to the process in wh ich
people from one place establish and ma intain a set-
tlement in another and to the effects of this process
on any people already living there. Typically, those
effects include the original inhabitants' subjugation,
 6 Indigenous Traditions

Document
7'1crt., 'ilt>d
Navajo, Nightway Prayer
Like the Blessingway song performed as part of the cre- In t he house made of grasshoppe rs
U'lcrt., 'V r
ation of a new hogan, the first part of this prayer connects Where the dark mist cu rta ins the doorway '"bl Mt. <Jcrl,
the ordinary with the extraordinary through the central The path to which is on the rainbow .
symbol of the home. And like the text in the "Yoruba In !beauty (happily) I walk 1,. ~Vt> a...
Verse" box, its concluding section envisions life as a W ith beauty before me, I walk
journey. W ith beauty beh ind me, I walk '< r <Jo•n
W ith beauty below me, I walk
: crl,.a-)·'V~
In Tse 'glh i W ith beauty above me, I walk
In the house made of the dawn W ith beauty all around me, I walk
r""'ln~ t>C··
In the house
In the house
made of the evening twil ight
made of the dark cloud
It is finished (again) in beauty
It is finished in beauty
....
V?
In the house made of the he-rain It is finished in beauty
In the house made of the da rk m ist It is finished in beauty. ;"r r"d·<la.. •
In the house made of the she-rain (Matthews 1995 119021: 143- 145) o Lb <Jere
In the house made of pollen

if not removal, and the imposition of new laws, Invasion

economies, and social practices that are controlled
by, and often modeled on, those of the colonists'
home territory.
An enormous amount of colonial activ ity oc-
cu rred between the fifteenth and twentieth centu-
r ies, when western Europeans were exploring parts
of the world such as Africa, North and South Amer-
ica, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Until this activ ity began, western Europe was a
relatively insign ificant region in terms of global in-
Ouence; afterwards, it was the center of the world.
The quests for power and profit have often been
the key factors driving colon ialism. Religion has
also played a critical role, however, both as a moti-
vating factor and as a justification for the conquest
of other peoples. The consequences for the religious
t rad itions of the conquered peoples have been pro-
found . It is not possible to understand Indigenous
t rad itions today, therefore, without understanding
colonialism.
They do not bear arms, and do not know
them, for I showed them a sword, they LOok
it by the edge and cut themselves out of
ignorance .. .. They would make fine ser-
vants .. .. With lift y men we could subjugate
them and make them do whatever we want.
- Christopher Columbus, Italian
(in Zinn 1995 1)
Columbus
The journals of ChristOpher Columbus record the
start of the most devastating colon ial project in h is-
tory. His description of the Europeans' first contact
with the Arawaks foretells much of what happened
later: "As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first
Island which I found , I took some of the natives by
force in order that they might Jearn and might give
World Religions: Western Traditions
me information of whateve r there is in these pans"
(Zin n 1995 l)
What Columbus most wanted tO learn from h is
captives was whe re the gold was. Unfortunately for
the Arawaks, the re was ve ry little gold to find , but
Colu mbus was not deterred. Those who managed to
bring h im a specified a mount of gold were given a
coppe r token to hang around thei r nec ks; those who
were then fou nd without a token had the ir han ds
cut off and were left tO bleed to death.
Eve ntually Columbus came tO see that the is -
lands' most valuable "resou rces" we re the peop le
themselves, and he shipped them back to Europe
by the boatload. Th us he exclaimed: "Let us in the
name of the Holy Trinity go on send ing all the slaves
that can be sold " (Zinn 1995: 4). Within two years
o f h is a rrival, roughly half of the estimated original
population of 250,000 had been either exported or
killed. A century later, all of the Arawaks on the is-
lands were gone.
Genocides
Colonial efforts elsewhe re- in Africa, Australia,
New Zealand, the Ame ricas- we re s imila rly cata-
stroph ic. Mill ions upon millions of people, repre-
se nting thousands o f d istinct cultures, were wiped
out.
In Africa, as in the West Indies, the ch ief source
o f wealth for the Europeans was the population
itself. By the late nineteenth century, upwa rd of 20
million Africa ns had been ta ken from their homes
and sent tO the Americas as slaves, though only
about 11 million made it there alive. Scholars esti-
mate that by the time the trans -Atlantic slave trade
ended, the population of Africa had been reduced
by half.
In Australia, less than half o f the origi nal po p-
ulation o f about 500,000 remained after j ust a few
yea rs of contact with Europeans. The southeast-
where the First Fleet arrived in 1788- was hit the
hardest. During the first yea r of colon ization, a p-
proximately two-th irds of the estimated 250,000
Aboriginals in th is region we re killed by a smallpox
epidem ic. By 1850, 96 percent were dead.
In the Ame ricas, records suggest that by 1600 as
many as 90 million Indigenous people- more than
90 pe rcent of the original population- had died as
a d irect result of the Europeans' arrival. More people
had been killed than existed in all of Europe at the
time (approximately 60 tO 80 million). The destruc-
tion of the origi nal inhabita nts of the Americas
was a ge nocide on a scale that has not been seen in
human history before or since.
The biggest si ngle cause of the depopulation of
both Australia a nd the Americas was d isease, but
othe r factors included mil itary action, mistreatment
(including torture and forced labor), sta rvation or
mal nutrition, loss of will to live (e.g., suicide, abor-
tion), and slavery. And the destruction has not
ended yet. Most South America n countries continue
to remove or kill their Indigenous citizens whe neve r
the governments wa nt more la nd.
or course, humans have been killing and con-
q uering other humans for as long as they have ex-
isted. Th is, sadly, is what we do. Ind ige nous people
a re no exception to the rule; violence and warfa re
ce rtainly existed in North America, Africa, and
Ocean ia before the Eu ropeans showed up. But it d id
not exist on nearly the same scale.
"Masters of the Continent"
Almost everywhere the Europeans went , they occu-
pied the land they found . In many parts of North
America, th is occupation was initially accomplished
th rough relatively peaceful negotiations with the
origi nal inhabitants. After all, the first seule rs we re
greatly outnumbe red, and the Indigenous people
possessed valuable knowledge and ski lls. As the
settler population grew, however, and the Ind ige-
nous population declined, the negotiation process
became less friendly. Eventually it ceased entirely
in most instances, and Native people living on land
that Eu ropeans wanted were eithe r forcibly removed
or simply killed.
Colonists justified th is behavior in many
ways, some of wh ich were explic itly religious.
Many equated the ir situation with that of the jews
who were ordered by God to destroy the native

inhabitants of Canaan. Only then could they inherit
the Prom ised Land.
The notion of terra nullius ("no one's land ")
was also frequently invoked by European settlers
in several places, includ ing New Zealand, western
Canada, a nd (most notably) Australia. Colonists
a rgued va riously that Indigenous people were not
"really" using the land; that they could not ow n the
land because they d id not have a ny concept of own-
ersh ip; or that because of thei r "primitive" nature ,
they simply did not count as people a nd therefore
the land on which they lived was tech nically unoc-
cupied. All these arguments were, of course, spe-
cious, self-se rving, and inherently racist.
By the late nineteenth centu ry, it was widely as-
su med that the Ind igenous people of North America
were on the way LO extinction. A newspaper editor
in South Dakota named L. Frank Baum- the future
autho r of The Wizard of Oz- wrote a n editorial in
December 1890 that carried the theory of the "van-
ishing India n" to a brutally logical conclusion:
The Wh ites, by law of conquest, by justice
of civ ilization, are masters of the American
continent, and the best safety of the fron-
tier settlements will be secu red by the total
an nih ilation of the few remai ning Ind ians.
W hy not an nih ilation? Thei r glory has Oed,
their spi rit broken, thei r manhood effaced;
better that they d ie than live the mise rable
wretches that they are. (Baum 1890)
In effect, Baum was calling for his fellow Euro-
Americans LO complete the genoc ide begun by
Colu mbus.
just nine days after Baum's editOrial, the U.S. Cal-
va ry moved to relocate an encampment of l akota
Sioux near Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, in
o rder to free up la nd for colonial settle rs. The result
was a massacre. More than 300 Sioux were killed,
among them unarmed women and ch ildren ; some
were shot in the back as they tried to run away.
Around the world, Wounded Knee remains a
powerful sy mbol of colonialism and its consequences
for Indigenous people. Similar conj unctions of land
6 Indigenous Traditions
acquisition and extreme violence can be found at
some point in the h istOry of virtually every encoun-
ter between colonial interests and Indigenous people.
Conversion
I thought I was being taken just for a
few days. I can recall seeing my mothe r
sta ndi ng on the side of the road with he r
head in her hands, crying, and me in the
black Fj Holden wondering why she was
so upset. .. . I see myself as that little girl,
cryi ng myself to sleep at night, cryi ng a nd
wishing I could go home LO my fam ily. Ev-
erything's gone, the loss of your culture,
the loss of you r family, all these th ings
have a big impact.
- Lyn Austin, Australian Aborigine
(in Cooke 2008)
As a result of colonialism , the majority of the
world's Ind igenous peoples were conven ed to the
rehgion of one colon ial power or a nother. That re-
ligion was usually some form of Ch ristian ity, but
other missionary religions took hold in some a reas
of the world, notably Islam in pan s of Africa and
Budd hism throughout Asia.
Accurate information on adherence tO Indige-
nou s religions is virtually nonexiste nt. Such data
a re normally obta ined from national ce nsuses. On
the topic of religion, however, many countries have
run into se rious problems either with their census
questions or with the answer choices they offer. In
Indonesia, for example, adherence tO a n Indige-
nou s religion is si mply not recognized by law; thus,
Ind ige nous people are counted as membe rs of the
dom inant tradition (Islam) by default. As well , In-
digenous people in many parts of the world have
expressed j ustifiable concern about what they reveal
to gove rnment officials, and so they may give the
answers they th in k a re desi red tO avoid any possible
reprisals or repe rcussions.
That stated , the general patte rn is that approx i-
mately 70 pe rce nt of Ind ige nous people in the world
today identify with a colonial religion, while only
 World Religions: Western Traditions
15 tO 20 pe rce nt continue to practice an Indigenous
religion. The rest decla re adherence either tO an al-
ternative tradition or tO none at all.
Loss of Religion
In the early years of contact, some Eu ropean mission-
aries tried tO persuade Ind igenous communities that
Christianity made more sense than thei r own trad i-
tions, but that approach was rarely successful. A mo re
effective strategy was to demonstrate the "superi.o r-
it y" of Christian beliefs in practical terms. In many
cases, that task was accomplished through the asso-
ciation of military strength with religious authority.
The message was simple: our people are stronger than
you r people because our god is stronger than you rs.
Another major factor in the decline of Indigeno us
religions was the people's belief that in order to inte-
grate themselves into the new system, they needed
the education that in most cases was available only
th rough missiona ries. Then, as colonial abuses ac-
cu mulated, ma ny oppressed Native people look ed
to the same missionaries for protection from the new
system. In both situations, Christianity nourished
at the expense of traditional beliefs and practices..
Sometimes colon ial governments simply o ut-
lawed the practice of Indigenous religions. Th is was
~
• Women in tne rraditions
., , ,i
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
One of the most insid ious and harmful effects of
colonialism on Indigenous commun ities has been
patriarchy. Aside from the ways in wh ich patriar-
chy has created d ivision and su ffering with in the
commun ities themselves, it has combined with
the pervasive, ongoing colon ial view of Indige-
nous people as less than fully human to ma ke the
invariably the case whe neve r such religions we re
suspected of involvement with anticolonial resis-
ta nce. And someti mes such laws were put into effect
in a more pree mptive manner. In 1883, for example,
the United States imposed a federal ban on many
Native ce remonies, includ ing the Sun Dance. The
next year, Ca nada amended its Indian Act and
crim inalized the potlatch. In both cases the gove rn-
mentS claimed that thei r motive was not to regulate
religion but to protect citizens- from physical harm
in the case of the Sun Dance, and from economic
hardsh ip in the case of the potlatch, wh ich the gov-
ern ment said was d riv ing people into poverty.
Finally, the conversion of Indigenous people had
an enormous impact on ge nde r relations, wh ich in
turn had repe rcussions in all a reas of li fe. Most colo-
nial powers brought a form of patriarchy with them
that resulted in the gende red stratification of local
societies and the devaluation of wome n and thei r
roles. As Metis author Maria Campbell has pointed
out, th is devaluation was often supported at the
deepest levels by colonial religious teachings: "The
missionaries had impressed upon us the feeling that
women we re a source of ev il. This belief, combined
with the ancient Indian recognition o f the powe r
of women, is still holdi ng back the progress of ou r
people tOday" (Campbell 1973: 168).
"'- ~ l
, I
lives of Indigenous women partic ularly di fficult and
precarious.
This precariousness is ac utely appa rent in the
disproportionately h igh rates of violence s uffe red
by Indige nous women. In Canada, accord ing to the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Ind igenous
women represe nt 16 pe rce nt of all female hom icide
 6 Indigenous Traditions

victims despite comprising only 4.3 pe rcent of the visually memorialize the women who have gone
total female population. In the prov ince of ManitOba missing or been murdered. The title of the proj-
alone, Indigenous women make up 16.7 percent of ect also acts as a play on words, serving as a call
the population but49 percent of all female homic ide tO redress the violence committed against Indige-
victims. In their rev iew of cases across Canada from nous women. Red was chosen for the project be-
1980 to 2013,the RCMP concluded that 164 Indige- cause an Indigenous friend of Black explained that
nous women had gone missing, and I,OI7 had been red was the only color that spirits could see. Thus,
murdered. This situation has been called a "national said the artist, using red for the project "is really
cris is" and in September 20 I6 resulted in the federal a calling back of the spirits of these women and
government in itiating an independent investigation, allowing them a chance to be among us and have
the National Inqu iry into Missing and Murdered In- the ir voices heard through their family members
digenous Women and Girls. and commun ity."
Indigenous women in Canada have worked in
various ways to bring auention tO th is situation,
to human ize Indigenous women, and tO resist
colonial/patriarchal violence. In October 2015,
Oj i- Cree activ ist Kristen Villebrun and 10 other
Indigenous women began constructing inuhsuit
(human-shaped stone forms) on the Chedoke
Rad ial Trail in Hamilton, Ontario. As of December
2017, they have made and placed 1,181 inuksuit. In
February 2016, Lucy Annanack worked with an-
other team of women tO bu ild and place 1,200 in-
uksuit in Montreal.
A few yea rs earlie r, in March 2012, the Native
Women's Assoc iation of Canada (NWAC) launched
the collaborative , traveling Faceless Dolls Proj-
ec t. With creative contributions from Cree artist
Gloria La roque, the project involves the making
of faceless paper dolls by people across Canada.
These dolls, the NWAC website explains, are a
"visual representation of strong and beautiful Ab-
original women who have become 'faceless' vic-
tims of crime."
One of the oldest responses tO the high number
of missing and mu rdered Indigenous women in
Canada is the REDress Project, sta rted in 2000 by The REDress Project at the University of Toronto in
Metis artist jaime Black. The project is an ongoing March 2017. one installment of Met is artist jaime Black's
installation of red dresses in public spaces. Like ongoing attempt to bring attention to the issue of missing
the inuksuit and the faceless dolls, these dresses and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Loss of Language
As a result of colonialism, an untold number of
Ind igenous languages have d isappeared foreve r. It
has bee n estimated that Australia had almost 300
distinct Aboriginal languages at the time o f first
contact; today all but 20 are either extinct or endan-
gered. According to the Un ited Nations, as many as
90 percent of all existing languages are in dange r of
dying out with in 100 years, with the vast majority
o f these languages being Indigenous .
For cultures th at rely heavily o n ora l traditions
to transmit their beliefs a nd va lues, the loss o f la n-
guage constitutes a devastating blow tO the ir reli-
gion . In h is memoi r Our Land Was a ForesL, Kayano
Sh igeru tells a story about the last th ree nuent
Ai nu spea kers in h is tOw n , one of whom was h is
father. The th ree agreed that the fi rst a mong the m
to die would be the luckiest, because the other two
would be able tO perform the death ritual for him
in the Ai nu la nguage a nd thereby ens ure that he
would " return to the realm o f the gods" (Shigeru
1994: 107).
What has caused th is situation~ In many cases, as
commun ities died , their languages d ied with the m.
In othe rs, the process of language loss was acceler-
ated by gove rnment programs designed specifically
to promote assimilation. Thus in Canada Aboriginal
child ren were ta ken from their families, often by
force, and placed in church-run residential schoo ls
where they were forbidden to speak their ow n la n-
guages. In Australia child ren we re sent eithe r to
foster homes or (more often) tO gove rnment- or
Sites
Nibutani, Japan
Nibutani, in japan, is a site on the northe rn island
of Hokkaido where the Ai nu god Okikurmikamuy
a rrived on earth, at the midpoint of the Saru River.
church-run institutions, whe re they remained as
wards of the state until they reached the age of 18.
Record keeping in these facil ities was o ften either in-
adequate or nonexistent, with the result that some
child ren neve r found their families, neve r returned
to their homes.
In both countries, agents of the institutions
involved- including teache rs and ad ministratOrs,
priests a nd nuns- innicted physical, psychologi-
cal, and/o r sexual abuse on many Indigenous ch il-
dren. Taken from thei r fam ilies and told they we re
worthless, heathen , primitive , these child ren grew
up with no knowledge of thei r language a nd cul-
ture and we re deprived of the social knowledge re-
q uired tO establish healthy relationships and raise
their own famil ies. It is no wonde r that the Aborig-
inal ch ildren in Australia who endu red such prac-
tices for more than a centu ry have bee n te rmed the
"Stolen Generation s."
Loss of Land
As has al ready been noted, Indigenous religions a re
closely tied tO specific locations- the sacred places
where gods, spirits , and ancestors become present
in the lives of each com munity. limiting or prevent-
ing access tO such locations therefore undermines
the ve ry foundations of Indigenous religion.
Thousands o f Indigenous religious sites around
the world have been ta ken over or destroyed as a
result o f colonialism, and no doubt there are many
more such sites of wh ich we know nothing, because
the people who held them sacred have themselves
It is also now the site of the Nibutan i Museum of Ainu
Cultural Resources, built by the Ainu author Kayano
Sh ige ru to preserve and revitalize h is people's culture.

Focus
The Potlatch
A rilual dating bac k thousands of years, the pot-
latch is practiced by many peoples of the Pac ific
Northwest, includ ing the Haida, Kwakwaka\vakw,
Salish, Tlingit, and Tsimshian. To a sign ificant
extent the ceremony is about demonstrating hos-
pitality and red istributing wealth; it typically takes
the form of a feast at which the hosting family pres-
ents the guests with gifts . Before contact with Eu-
ropeans, these gi fts included items such as tools,
blankets, carvings, and d ried food (e.g., pemm i-
can); gi fts today usually consist of manufactu red
goods, especially practical household items, as well
as a rtwork and cash.
Each commun ity has its own way of potlatching,
but the practice typically marks important moments
such as marriage, childbirth, or death and may in-
clude music, theater, and ceremonial danc ing. The
potlatch also frequently serves to ind icate social
status: famil ies demonstrate their wea lth and im-
portance by giving away (or even destroying) more
resources than other families.
Ch ristian missionaries saw the potlatch as use-
less and "uncivilized" but also recognized it as a
central element of many Indigenous cultures. Get-
ting rid of the practice, they thought, would facil-
itate assim ilation. Thei r governments agreed, and
the potlatch was made illegal in Canada in 1884 and
banned in the United States a few years later.
been destroyed. Yet even where both the people and
the land s urvive, gain ing recognition of land rights
is an ongoing problem.
Canada and Australia have particularly poor
track records in th is respect. When these countries
became independent from Great Britain, they essen-
tially refused to recognize any titles granted to Indig-
enous people by the British. In 1971, an Australian
6 Indigenous Traditions
In October 1886, the anth ropologist Franz Boas
recorded a famous comment about the potlatch
ban by Ch ief 0\vaxalagalis of the Kwakwaka\vakw
people on Vancouver Island:
We will dance when our laws command us
to dance, and we will feast when our hearts
desire to feast. Do we ask the white man , "Do
as the Indian does"? No, we do not. Why then
do you ask us, "Do as the white man does"?
It is a strict law that bids us dance. It is a
strict law that bids us distribute our property
among our friends and neighbors. It is a good
law. Let the white man observe h is law, we
shall observe ours. And now, if you come to
forbid us dance, be gone. If not, you will be
welcome to us. (Bunn-Ma rcuse 2005: 322)
As it turned out, the law was hard to enforce.
Indigenous communities we re large and widespread
and so could often hold potlatches in sec ret. Even
when non-Natives discovered a potlatch, it was not
easy for them to d istinguish this event from a reg-
ula r (legal) feast. In addition, many non-Natives-
includ ing the government agents tasked with
enforcing the ban- considered the law harsh and
unnecessa ry. The potlatch ban was finally lifted in
the United States in 1934 and in Canada in 1951.
judge upholding the concept of terra nullius went so
far as to rule that Aborigines had no land rights at
all- a decision that was not overturned until 1992.
The situation in Canada remains in many ways very
poor as well. As recently as 2012, the federal gov-
ernment passed a new Nav igation Protection Act
that specifically deregulated many waterways that
pass through First Nation s territory.
'
356 World Religions: Western Traditions

Sites
Tiwanaku. Bolivia
Tm;maku, m BoliVIa, IS the most sacred place to the
Aymara people, the sne of humanny's creauon. Lo-
cated roughly 45 m1les west of La Paz, IllS the center
of the world for the A)•marn, and the place where they
go to commumcate wnh the1r ancestors. Because
Tiwanaku IS cons1dered a maJor archaeolog1cal sne,
access to 1t has been severe!)• restncted. and even
the Aymara are requ1 red to pay an entrance fee.

Aymara Yatiri (traditional community healers) perform ceremonies for the new year of 55 18 in Tiwanaku on
june 21. 2010.

Sites
Kanehsatake. Canada
Kanehsatake is the home o f the Mohawk commu-
nity that objec ted when the neighboring town of
Oka, Quebec, released plans to expand a golf course
onto land that is sac red to the Mohawk , resulting in
In the United States, more tha n 90 percent of the
nation's la nd had been ta ken from its Indigenous
inhabitants by 1890. A key (negative) moment in
Native Ame ricans' struggle to reclaim some of thei r
territo ry came almost a century later when the Forest
Se rvice proposed putting a paved road th rough the
Chim ney Rock area of the Si x Rivers National Forest
in northe rn Cali forn ia, wh ich would ope n the space
for comme rcial Jogging. The project would also ef-
fectively destroy the cente r of religious existe nce for
two com munities, the Yurok and the Karuk.
The case was ultimately brought to the Supreme
Court. The Indigenous people were not asking that
the land be returned to them- only that they retai n
access to it. Yet the court found that thei r attachment
to the d is puted territOry was no di fferent from the
attachment that any individual might feel for any
space. Thus to agree to thei r request would set a prec-
edent allow ing anyone to request protection of any
site on religious grounds. The petition was denied.
This case h ighlights two central problems in the
understanding that ma ny non-Indigenous people
have of Indigenous religions. The fi rst is that reli-
gion in gene ral is ofte n see n prima rily as an ind i-
vidual commitment to a set of beliefs. Indigenous
religions, by contrast, are generally com muna l and
a re as much about practice as they a re about belief.
The second problem is the di fficulty that non-
Ind igenous people have in unde rstand ing why In-
digenous practices ofte n depend upon access tO
pa rtic ular sites- unlike, say, Muslim prayer or Bud-
dh ist meditation, which ca n be performed anywhe re
6 Indigenous Traditions
armed confrontation. After a 78-day standoff in the
sum mer o f 1990, the government o f Ca nada bought
the site and stopped the developme nt.
at all. If the Vatican were destroyed, Catholics would
be upset, but they would not be separated from God
or the sac raments. There is an important di fference
between religions that see the world as a unity-
all people a re loved equally by Allah; all have equal
access to the Four Noble Truths- and religions that
see the world in more pa rticular, or locative, terms.
For most Indigenous people, specific places a re re-
lated, and sac red, to specific people, not to everyone
in the world. Fo r such people, one might say that
the place itself is the religion; without it, the religion
would be fundamentally altered, if not destroyed.
Appropriation
We lost most of our la nd , most of our "Ab-
origi nal" rights, many of ou r languages,
most of our traditional cultural ways, ou r
religion, our relationship to the land and
the spirits of the land , and, it seems, that
we've even lost control of much of ou r iden-
tity th rough the process of "trade-marki ng"
images of us, and elements of our culture.
- Philip Bellfy, Chippewa (2005: 30)
Identity
For some people, a match between the Cleveland
Ind ians and the Atlanta Braves is not just a base-
ball game; it's also a stark rem inder of the ongoi ng
legacy of colonialism, of all that has been ta ken from
 World Religions: Western Traditions
Document
Chinua Achebe (lgbo), Things Fall Apart
Achebe's 1958 novel- which focuses on an Igbo man
named Okonhwo from a fictional village in Nigeria in
the late 1800s- is the most influential work of African
literature ever written. In this passage Ohonhwo has
just returned home after a seven-year exile, and his best
friend Obi erika is explaining the dramatic changes tlwt
colonialism has brought during his absence.
"Perhaps I have been away too long," Okonkwo said,
almost to himself. "But I cannot understand these
f>< r th ings you tell me. What is it that has happened to
our people) Why have they lost the power to fight?"
"Have you not hea rd how the white man wiped
out Abame?" asked Obierika.
"I have heard," said Okonkwo. "But I have a lso
heard that Abame people were weak and foolish.
Why did they not fight back? Had they no guns and
machetes? We would be cowards LO compare ou r-
b>~ Lb selves with the men of Abame. Their fathe rs had
neve r dared to stand before our ancestors. We must
fight these men and drive them from the land."
"It is al ready too late," said Obierika sadly. "Our
own men and ou r sons have joined the ranks of the
stranger. They have joined his religion and they
help LO uphold his government. If we should try LO
drive out the white men in Umuofia we should find
Ind igenous people and all that continues LObe taken
from them. Add ing insult to injury, the Braves' fans
are known for doing the "tOmahawk chop," while
one of the Indians' logos is a degrading caricature
named "Ch ief Wahoo."
Of COurse this phenomenon iS nOt lim ited tO
baseball. Many North Ame rican sports teams-
including the Ch icago Blackhawks and Washing-
ton Redskins- have taken Indigenous-oriented
names and logos. And many other businesses have
it easy. There a re only two of them. But what of our
own people who are following their way and have
been given power? They would go to Umuru and
bring the soldiers, and we would be like Abame."
He paused for a long time and then said: "!told you
on my last vis it LO Mbanta how they hanged Aneto."
"What has happened to that piece of land in dis-
pute?" asked Okonkwo.
"The white man's cou rt has decided that it
should belong to Nnama's family, who had given
much money LO the white man's messengers and
interpreter."
"Does the white man understand our custom
about land)"
"How can he when he does not even speak our
tongue) But he says that our customs are bad, and
ou r own brothers who have taken up his religion
also say that our customs are bad. How do you think
we can fight when our own brothers have turned
against us) The white man is very cleve r. He came
quietly and peaceably with h is rel igion. We were
amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay.
Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no
longer act like one. He has put a kn ife on the things
that held us togethe r and we have fallen apart."
(Achebe 1996 [1958] 124- 125)
used "Indigenous" names or logos LO market the ir
products, from Eskimo Pie ice cream to the Ford
Thunderbird. In effect, the dominant colon ial cul-
ture has app ropriated Indigenous identities and
reconstructed them to evoke whateve r "primi-
tive" ste reotype is best suited to the product in
question- the primal "warrior" for a sports team,
the noble "ch ief" for tObacco, or the pure, natu-
ral "Indian maiden" for a line of dairy products or
even bee r.
 6 Indigenous Traditions

Oj ibwe artist Mike lvall created a proposed redesign of the Chicago Blackhawks logo, which is sup-
ported by many Indigenous North Americans, including the head of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec
and Labrador. Ghislain Picard. The logo was purchased by the Ottawa AAA minor league hockey team the
Maplesoft Hawks.

Such approp riation is not simply arrogant, im-
polite, or "politically incorrecL." It perpetuates a n
image of Indigenous people that is far removed
from current reality and thus helps to blind non-
Ind igenous people to ongoing inj ustices. People
who see Indigenous cultures as primitive, savage,
a nd u ncivil ized, as vanished o r van ish ing, will have
difficulty recogn izing the reality of modern Indig-
enous com munities and thei r concerns. Whether
they a re celeb rating or protesting, laugh ing or griev-
ing, practici ng Indigenous trad itions or Chris tian-
ity, Ind ige nous people should at least have the righ t
to own and control their identity.
Religion in the Movies
From the "India n burial g rou nd " o f Stephen Ki ng's
Pet Sematary, tO the baboon "shaman" Rafiki in
The Lion King, to j oh nny Depp's Tonto in The Lone
Ranger wearing a dead bi rd on his head as h is "spirit
gu ide," Ame rican films are filled with false ideas
about Indigenous religious li fe. The best-know n
portraya ls of Native culture likely remain those
from the classic Hollywood weste rns- most of
wh ich used Italian or Spanish acto rs to play the
"Ind ians." Agai n and aga in , Indige nous people a re
portrayed either as fie rce, savage warr iors or as the
noble, dyi ng people of a lost age.
Si milar patterns are evident in movies from both
Oceania and Africa. In the highest-grossing Austra-
lian film of all time, Crocodile Dundee, the extinction
of Ind igenous cultu res is signaled by Dundee's Ab-
original friend Neville, who is repeatedly shown to
have left his roots behind ("God, I hate the bush,"
he mutte rs). More d isturbingly, Dundee himself pro-
cia ims that "Aborigi nes don't own the land . They
belong to iL." It is prec isely th is view of trad itional Ab-
original conceptions of place that the Australian gov-
ernment used to deprive people of thei r land rights.
The Gods Must Be Crazy remains the most
commercially s uccessful movie about Indige nous
people ever made. Released in 1980, the film
g rossed over $100 mill ion worldw ide and focused
on the (imagined) religious beliefs of the (real)
World Religions: Western Traditions
j u f hoans i people, in the Kalaha ri Desert in south -
ern Africa. The movie presents them as "noble sav-
ages" livi ng in a simple , idyllic soc iety whose peace
is shattered when a Coke bottle falls out of a plane
and upsets the balance of Indigenous li fe. The dis-
ruption p rompts the film's hero, Xi, to set off for the
end of the wo rld in orde r to return the offend i ng
object to the gods who sent it. In othe r words, the
movie presents the ju/'hoansi as na ive, supe rs ti-
tious, and innocent and then uses them tO cri ticize
modern non-Indigenous cultu re.
Catching Dreams and Burning Men
Around the world, sacred Ind igenous items con-
tinue to be turned into souveni rs for cultu ral tour-
ists. There is a lot of money to be made by selling
cheap versions of African masks to non-Africans.
Imitation Maori moho have attained a similar level
of popularity among non-Indigenous tattoo enthu-
siasts and were even used on fashion models for
a 2007 jean-Paul Gaultier collection. Even more
striking is the proliferation of d ream catchers. Orig-
inally used in Anishinaubae culture to help protect
child ren from nightma res, they are now sold by the
thousands tO non-Native people for use as deco ra-
tive kn ickknacks. Often they can be seen hangi ng
from a rearview mirror like a pair of fuzzy dice.
Indigenous opinion concerning the commer-
cial use of religious objects and symbols is divided.
Some people see it as d isrespectful and damaging;
others argue that it has some value, not only in eco-
nom ic terms but in its abil ity to educate the public
about Indigenous culture. Still, there are forms of
appropriation that almost all agree are inapprop ri-
ate. Some of these are part of what is often called the
ew Age movement.
Many New Age teach ings that seem to renect In-
digenous religions in fact turn them upside down.
Thus elements of a locative and communal tradition
are coopted to promote notions of universal truth
and indiv idual fulfillment. Non-Indigenous peop le
are often willing tO pay New Age "shamans" lots of
money for the opportunity to get in touch with a
"primal" part of themselves and ove rcome their own
psychological and emotional problems. To this end
they practice all manne r of pseudo-Indigenous ritu-
als: they tell StOries, chant, pass around the talking
stick, bang d rums, dance , and yell in a forest.
These imitative practices are not simply mis-
guided; they can actually be quite dangerous. In
October 2009, 3 people d ied and I8 more we re
hospitalized when self-help guru j ames Arthur
Ray conducted a New Age sweat lodge ceremony
in Arizona. In the traditional p ractice, pa rticipants
sit in an enclosed space and water is poured over
rocks heated in a fi re to create steam. The ritual is
used for various medic inal and religious purposes,
including purification and reconnection 10 the spi r-
its. Many Native commun ities, including the An-
ishinaubae, Lakota, Crow, and Chumash , conduct
sweat lodge ceremonies safely in enclosures covered
with hides, di rt , or blankets, but it seems that Ray's
lodge was covered with plastic sheeting. On Feb ru-
a ry 3, 20 IO, Ray was charged with manslaughter for
the three deaths.
The la rgest and most famous Indigenous-themed
New Age event is the Burning Man summe r festival
in northern Nevada. The festival takes its name from
its cent ral ceremony, when a la rge wooden effigy is
set a name. Since 2007 well over 40,000 people have
auended each year to take part in activities that
range from making art and music to self-expression,
communal liv ing, gift-giving, and public nudity.
On occasion, some have complained about the
degree to which Burn ing Man appropriates Indige-
nous cultures. For example, in April2009 organizers
of an offshoot Burner party in Oakland, California,
ci rculated an online Oyer encou raging participants
to "GO NATIVE" and offering a discount to anyone
who showed up "in Native costume." In addition, the
party was tO feature four "elemental rooms": "Water:
Island Natives (Maori); Air: Cliff Natives (Anasazi);
Earth: Jungle Natives (Sh ipibo); Fire: Desert Natives
(Pueblo)."
Given the immense popula rity of Burning Man
and its offshoots, it is impossible to overestimate
the degree to wh ich such appropriation inOuences
the views of non-Natives about Native people- and
the reby affects the actual lives of those people.

Document
Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Lakota). Statement on the Sweat Deaths
in Arizona
Chief Looking Horse's statement was issued on October
16, 2009, one day prior to the third death resultingfrom
this incident.
As Keeper of our Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
Bundle, I am concerned for the two deaths and illnesses
of the many people that participated in a sweat lodge in
Sedona, Arizona that brought our sacred rite under fire
in the news. I would like to clarify that this lodge and
many others are not our ceremonial way of life, because
of the way they are being conducted. My prayers go out
for their families and loved ones for their loss.
Ou r ceremon ies are about life and healing. From
the time this ancient ce remonial rite was given to
ou r people, never has death been a part of our inikaga
(life with in) when conducted properly. .
Our First Nations People have to earn the right
to pour the mini wiconi (wate r of life) upon the
inyan oyate (the stone people) in creating Inikaga
by going on the vision quest for fou r years and
four yea rs Sundance. Then you are put th rough a
"' Recent Developments
There are references to Gen. Custer and
the US Cavalry, to j ohn Wayne and to US
policies toward Ind ians over the years, but
Smoke Signals is free of the oppressive weight
of victim culture; these characters don't live
in the past and define themselves by the
crimes committed against their people.
- Roger Eben (1998), Euro-American
Given that Indigenous traditions are the world's
oldest religions, changes that have taken place since
6 Indigenous Traditions
ce remony to be painted, to recogn ize t hat you have
now ea rned that right to take care of someone's
life th rough purification. They should also be able
to understand our sac red language, to be able to
understand the messages from the Grandfathe rs ,
because they a re anc ient, t hey are ou r spirit ances- lo-~ Q.. Vt
to rs. They walk and teach the values of our cult ure ;
in being humble, wise, ca ring, and compassionate.
What has happened in the news with the make-
(><. r
shi ft sauna called the sweat lodge is not our ceremo- '(
nial way of life.
<3 o-l,.a-:
At this time, I would like to ask all Nations upon
Gra ndmother Earth to please respect our sacred cer-
.. f11')(')~
emon ial way of life and stop the exploitation of our
Tunka Oyate (Spi ritual G randfathe rs). .b>~ Lb
In a Sacred Hoop of Life, where the re is no ending
and no beginning, namahu yo (hea r my words).
_our r~c
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th Gene ration Keeper of the Sacred Wh ite Buffalo
JUo Lb ..
Calf Pipe Bundle (Looking Horse 2009)
<la-1,. c
the emergence of colonialism a few hund red years
ago certainly qualify as "recent developments."
Furthermore, as a result of colon ialism, the reli-
gious trad itions of Indigenous people have arguably
changed more d ramatically over the last centuries
than those of any other culture in the world. That
said, in what follows it's important to bear two key
poi nts in mind.
First, there is a critical difference between recog-
nizing that awful things have been done (and con-
tinue to be done) to Indigenous people in the name of
colonialism and defining them as "victims"- a label
that robs them of full humanity. Second, and related ly,
World Religions: Western Traditions
Indigenous people were never simply the passive ob-
jects of colon ialism; rather, they engaged with it at
eve ry step, and they have remai ned active agentS in
the developments that have shaped their h istories, in-
clud ing recent developments in their religions.
Interaction and Adaptation
I picture oppressors. coming into our
garden of Eden like a snake. Satan used
the snake as his instrument to tempt God's
people and to try to destroy God's plan
for his people. The bad inOuence came in
breaki ng our relationship with God, with
man , and the land . We never dreamed
that one day the bulldozers would come in.
- Djiniyini Gondarra, Yolngu (in Swain
and Tromp[ 1995: 107)
Dualisms
Soon after contact with Europeans, many Indige-
nous people began to incorporate elements of the
colonial religion into their own traditions. An i m-
portant example was the shi ft that sometimes took
place from the more typically Indigenous world view
of complementary dualis m (seeing the universe as
necessarily including both creative and destructive
forces that work together) to the "\Vestern" worl-
dview of conOict dualis m (see ing the un iverse as
divided between good and evil forces that are in
constant battle with one another).
Such a shift occurred in the late sixteenth and
early seventeenth centuries among many of the
Ind igenous people of Peru, people who prev iously
had no real concept of "evil." In certain regions, the
invad ing Spanish characterized the local popula-
tions as the demon ic enemies of Christ, giving the
invaders license to use extreme violence in order to
subjugate and convert the Native people. The plan
worked: many of the Indigenous Peruvians who
su ffered great cruelty at the hands of the invaders
did adopt basic Christian beliefs, including the
good- evil dualism promoted by the Spanish. While
they came to regard j esus as a positive and humane
figure, however, they saw the Spanish as the true
embod iment of ev il.
A similar change took place among the Iroquois
in the late 1700s. A man in his si xties named Ganio-
da'yo, or Handsome Lake, experienced a series of vi-
sions in which he met jesus as well as four angels sent
by the creator Tarachiawagon. As a result of these
visions, Handsome Lake taught the Iroquois to pub-
licly confess their sins, avoid evil (including witch-
craft and alcohol), and worship on ly Tarachiawagon,
not his malevolent brother Taw iskaron. This div i-
sion of the world between the good and evil brothers
represented a potent fusion of Indigenous religion
with Christian conOict dualism. Gan ioda'yo's teach-
ings were so inOuential that today approx imately a
thi rd of all Iroquois practice what came to be called
the Handsome Lake or Longhouse rel igion.
The Diaspora and the Diviner
The Atlantic slave trade carried African traditions to
the Americas, where they mixed with elements of both
Christianity and Native American religions. Many re-
located Africans continued to worship Yoruba gods
under the guise of praying to Christian saintS, but in
time elements of the two traditions often merged in
reality, giv ing rise to new religions such as ~1acumba
(in Brazil), Voudou (in Haiti), and Santeria (in Cuba).
Many Africans who blended elements of trad i-
tional and colonial religion also moved toward a
mode of conOict dualism. In the early 1800s, in the
region that became South Africa, a Xhosa diviner
named Nxele experienced what he understood to
be an intervention by Christ. Although he contin-
ued to practice trad itional divination, he also began
preaching a message that echoed the teachings of
the nearby Christian missionaries. Like the Indige-
nous Peruvians, however, Nxele came to see the Eu-
ropeans as Christ's betrayers. Preach ing that the god
Mdalidiphu, who lived underground with the ances-
tors, was on the Xhosa's side, Nxele led 10,000 war-
riors against the British at Grahamstown. The attack
failed, and Nxele was imprisoned. He later drowned
off the Cape coast whi le attempting to escape.

Sites
Saut d'Eau. Haiti
SauL d'Eau (French for "waterfall") tS an area m Halll
contammg a group of waterfalls about 60 miles from
Pon-au-Prmce, where Yoruba spmts are understood
to dwell along wtth se,·eral Cathohc samts. Voudou
A young man worships at Saut dlau. Haiti. in July 2008 as part of the annual Voudou pilgrimage to the site.
Cargo Cults
One of the most famous examples of an Indige-
nous re ligion cha nging i11 response to contact
wit h outsiders is also one of the most recent: the
cargo cult. Most cargo cults have developed in the
6 Indigenous Traditions
adherents make an annual ptlgnmage to Saul d'Eau
in June, a journey that ts reqUired of those seekmg
to j oin the priesthood.
southwest Pacific region, although a few s imilar
groups have also appeared in Africa and the Americas.
Th e ca rgoes that gave rise to these groups were the
regula r shipments of supplies and manufactured
goods that we re sent to non- Indigenous foreigners
in these places.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Colonists and missionaries first appeared on
many of the Pacific islands in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, but their activ ity in-
tensified during the Second World War as the Jap-
anese and later the All ied forces set up (a nd then
abandoned) military bases in the region. The lo<:al
people believed that the goods arriving for these
groups were provided by deities or ancestors, and
that in order to rece ive sh ipments themselves they
should imitate the newcome rs. Thus they painted
military insignia on thei r bodies, marched like sol-
diers, and constructed mock buildings and equip-
ment, making guns from wood and radios from
coconuts. Some even built replicas of airplanes,
control towers, and headphones; waved landing sig-
nals; and lit torches a long runways at night, all in
the hope that the gods would se nd more cargo.
Their hopes were fueled by two related goals.
Fi rst, aua in ing the desi red goods would allow for
rec iprocal exchanges with the Europeans- a prac-
tice that for many Indigenous cultures was cenual
to establishing relationships. Second, cargo cults
often came to believe that these goods would help
bring about a new age of social harmony, heali ng
the wounds caused by the arrival of the colonists.
Unfortunately, the focus on obtaining cargo
eclipsed other elements of the local religions. Even
though the Indigenous partic ipants followed the
customary content of thei r traditions (which ex-
plained the cargo as originating with gods or ances-
tors), they rad ically changed those traditions' form
Sites
Tanna, Vanuatu
Tanna, part of the Republic of Vanuatu, is an island
in the South Pacific that is home to one of the last
remaining Melanesian cargo cults . The j on Frum
movement began he re in the 1930s u rging a return
to traditional practices, and it evolved into a cargo
(their ritual behavior). In the end, many of the tradi-
tions d isappeared.
Paths of Resistance
Not all Indigenous religions changed so d ramatically
or so quickly. For many years after first contact with
Europeans, several Australian communities neither
merged their trad ition with the colon ial one nor re-
jected one or the other. Instead, they declared the
simultaneous, contradictOry truth of both Christian
and Indigenous views of existence. The Aborigines
referred to this way of thinking as having "Two l aws."
Some have suggested that the Aborigines were beuer
able than most to entertain two radically different
cosmologies because their cultural heritage had ac-
customed them to paradoxes and nonlinear thinking.
In a number of instances in which the two reli-
gions were combined, Christianity was subsumed
by the Indigenous tradition. The Warlpi ri of Central
Australia, for example, used ritual song and dance
to tell Bible stories, just as they did with Dream-
ing tales. They also tended to connate events, as if
Adam, Abraham, and j esus had lived at the same
time as the Warlpiri's own ancestors. In effect, by
telling the biblical stories in their own way, they
reconfigured them tO focus on place rather than the
chronological order of events.
This emphasis on place is a clear indication that
in this instance the Aboriginal worldview wok pre-
cedence over the Christian. To most Christians, it is
cult during the Second World Wa r when approx-
imately 300,000 American troops were stationed
in Vanuatu. Its followers still hold a military-style
pa rade every year on February 15.

theologically critical to understand the sequence in
which the stories of Adam, Abraham , and jesus occur.
For the Aborigines, however, th is sequence was irrel-
evant, allowi ng the biblical figures to be easily incor-
porated into thei r universe. In other words, unli ke
the cargo cult practitioners, they kept the form of
thei r trad itional religion (how Stories were told), even
as they alte red its content (those stories now included
biblical references). It's possible that this approach al-
lowed the Aborigi nes to resist conversion longer than
many other Indigenous communities.
"The End Is Near"
They [the Ghost Dancers! danced in rings,
the men outside ci rcling to the right, the
women and ch ildren inside circling to the
left. Some of the songs came from Siletz [a
community in Oregon[, others were d reamed
by the people when they were in a trance. All
the songs were wordless. The dancers wore
the old-time dress. Most of them went crazy
and then they would see the dead.
- Robert Spott, Yurok (i n Beck, Walters,
and Francisco 1992 [19771176)
In the wake of the destruction wrought by Euro-
peans , many Indigenous cultures experie nced a
religious crisis. One response to th is cris is was to
interpret colon ialism as punishment for inadequate
observance of Native trad itions. Among the people
who took th is view were some who reasoned that
repentance might help tO usher in a new golde n age.
In some cases this view may have renected the in-
nuence of Ch ristian eschatology- the idea that the
end of the world was nea r and the Kingdom of God
would soon arrive. Of course, it may also have re-
nected the fact that the world as Indige nous people
had known it really was com ing to an end.
The Cattle Massacre
In the mid -1800s- a time when the Xhosa were su f-
fering greatly under the British- a young woman
named Nongqawuse had a vis ion in which her
6 Indigenous Traditions
ancesto rs wid her that because some of he r people
had practiced witchcraft, the British had bee n sent
to punish them all. If the Xhosa renounced witch-
c raft a nd destroyed thei r food supplies, then the
Europeans would be destroyed, the ancesto rs would
return, the ir food would be replaced, and thei r land
would be resto red LO the m.
Many Xhosa responded by burning their grana-
ries and slaughtering thei r cattle; ultimately, almost
half a million cows were killed. The result was sta r-
vation. The Xhosa popu lation fell from 105,000 to
27,000 in a year. Ma ny blamed the tragedy on those
who had failed to heed Nongqawuse's prophecy, al-
though there was a later backlash against Nongq-
awuse herself. In the end, most of the survivors
turned to Ch ristianity.
The Ghost Dance
Nongqawuse's vision shares some basic similar-
ities with a vision promoted in 1889 by a Paiute
rehgious leader named Wovoka in the region that
is now Nevada. Reviv ing a movement from two de-
cades earlier, he prophesied that in a few yea rs the
ancestors would return, the buffalo herds would
be restored, and the settlers would disappear. To
hasten the coming of th is new world, Wovoka urged
his people to live peacefully a nd pe rform a ritual
focused on the spi rits of their ancestors. The Lakota
Sioux te rmed th is ritual the "spi rit dance," which
the Euro-Americans translated as "Ghost Da nce."
Delegates from various Native communities
we re sent LO listen to Wovoka. The Navajo, who
were enjoying a period of relative stability, we re
not convinced by what they heard. But the Lakota
were on the verge of starvation afte r the U.S. gov-
ernment had broken a treaty a nd given away their
fe rtile reservation lands to white settlers. With the
bison gone, crops sca rce, and gove rnment supplies
running low, the Lakota were Strongly attracted to
Wovoka's message, in particular the idea that the
whites could be made to d isappear. They danced
with greater urgency as the ir situation deteriorated,
and many wok to wearing "Ghost Sh in s," which
they believed would repel bullets.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Alarmed, the Bureau of Indian Affai rs dispatched
thousa nds o f U.S. Army troops to the lakota terri-
tory to put an end to the danci ng and protests a nd
force any remain ing Sioux to leave areas that h ad
been set aside for white settlers. Among the conse-
quences of th is response were the death of SiLti ng
Bull and the massacre at Wounded Knee.
From Earth to Sky
The British a rrived in Australia in 1788 at the site
that would become Sydney. They then proceeded
to devastate the original inhabitants of the region
a nd appropriate their territories so effic iently that,
with in a decade, the people were despe rate to d rive
the m out. The Aborigi nes developed a numbe r of
special rituals in response, includ ing ce remonial
rebell ions aga inst mock colonizers and appeals to
the se rpent Mind i to destroy the British with (fit-
tingly) an outbreak of smallpox. But these effo rts
failed, and as the British conti nued to destroy the
bonds betwee n local people and thei r ancestral
lands, a religious crisis developed. Some Aborigi-
nes came to believe not only that the world wou ld
soon end, but also that the source of sacred powe r
a nd authority had moved from the earth to the sk y,
a utopia beyond the clouds. Evidence suggests th at
these beliefs were a direct result o f exposure to
Ch ristianity.
Traditionally, the Aborigines had unde rstood
that a fte r death their spirits would retu rn tO thei r
homela nds. Now, in a sad irony, they found com fo rt
in the colonizers' notion that thei r spirits would in-
stead j ourney to a parad ise in the heavens. The only
d ifference was that, for the Aborigi nes, that pa ra-
dise would be free of Eu ropeans.
Autonomy and Equality
"lf God be for us, who can be against usr'
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Xhosa
(quoting Romans 8:31, in Allen 2008: 334)
After various unsuccessful efforts to prevent colo-
nialism, many Indigenous people eventually fou nd
more effective ways of pu rsuing autonomy, equality,
and fair treatment. In many cases, religion has been
at the heart o f these efforts.
Non-Indigenous Religions
Often the religion involved in Ind ige nous peoples'
q uest for equity has been Indigenous, but not always.
Many Indige nous Christians , for exa mple, have
fought passionately against colon ial (and Ch ristian)
abuses using ideas from the imported religion itself.
Li ke Archbishop Desmond Tutu o f South Africa,
they have d rawn on biblical notions of j ustice, sym-
pathy for the oppressed, and delive rance from evil
to support thei r campaigns for equality and redress.
By the sa me token , some Indigenous Ch ristians
have incorporated Indigenous views into the ir cri-
tiques of colonial attitudes and practices. To this
end Desmond Tutu has frequently cited the Af-
rican concept of Ubuntu, accordi ng to wh ich all
human bei ngs a re intercon nected and the refore to
harm othe rs is to har m oneself. Stan McKay, Cree,
an o rdained mi nister and former mode rator of the
Un ited Church- the fi rst Native person in Canada
to head up the largest Protestant denomination in
the countr y- has simila rly d rawn on Aboriginal
notions o f the interrelatedness of all life in h is cen-
su re o f Ch ristianity's contributions tO curre nt envi-
ronmental problems. In contrast to such Aboriginal
notions , McKay writes, Ch ristian theology for hun-
dreds of years "denied the integrity of creation"
(McKay 1996: 55).
Land Claims
McKay's position combines a general concern for
the envi ronme nt with more specific concerns re-
lated to the appropriation and destruction of sac red
Ind ige nous lands and efforts tO reclaim such lands
wherever possible. Some of these efforts have failed
completely, some have been successful, and others
have had more complex results.
One early success came in 1970, when 48 ,000
ac res of land in New Mexico were retu rned to the
Taos Pueblo by President Richard Nixon. O riginally

Sites
Blue Lake. New Mexico
Blue Lake is the site of the most sacred rituals and
stories of the Taos Pueblo. It is part of the Blue Lake
watershed, 48,000 ac res of land in northern New
Mexico confiscated in 1906 to create the Carson
National Forest. For more than 60 years the Taos
Pueblo worked patiently to regain this land. In
the 1960s they launched an intense multipronged
effort that included public support, a national
letter-writing campaign, publicity events, and the
endorsement of the National Council of Churches.
On December 2, 1970, the U.S. Senate voted 70 to
confiscated by President Theodore Roosevelt and
designated the Carson National Forest, the region
includes Blue Lake, which Taos tradition holds to be
the site of creation.
In Canada, a m~or land d ispute erupted in the
summer of 1990 between the Mohawk community of
Kanehsatake and the town of Oka, Quebec. At issue
was Oka's plan to expand a golf course onto land
contain ing sites sacred to the Mohawk, including
a cemetery. After a court ruling allowed construc-
tion to proceed despite the community's objections,
some Kanehsatake people erected a barricade de-
nying access to the disputed territory. The 78-day
standoff eventually pitted Ind igenous people from
across North America against the Canadian army. In
the end the federal government purchased the land
and stopped the golf course development. But the
Mohawk regarded this victory as only partial, since
ownership of the land still did not rest with them.
A more decisive victory was won in 2014 by the
Ts ilhqot'in in central British Columbia. In a unan-
imous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada rec-
ognized the right of the Tsilhqot'in people to own,
control, and enjoy the benefits of approximately 770
square miles of land at the heart of their traditional
territory. Th is decision marked the first time that a
6 Indigenous Traditions
12 to award title of the Blue Lake watershed to the
Taos Pueblo. The victory is widely considered one
of the most important moments in the postcontact
h istory of Native Americans.
In 1968 the Taos Pueblo issued the following
statement- wh ich is sometimes attributed to the
Pueblo Elder and activist Juan de Jesus Romero-
regarding the Blue Lake watershed: "The story of my
people and the story of this place are one single story.
No man can think of us without also thinking of this
place. We are always joined together" (O rtiz 1988: ll)
court in Canada awarded land ownersh ip to a spe-
cific Ind igenous community.
Australian Aborigines have perhaps had more
success at reclaiming land than any other Indigenous
group. Since a High Court case in 1992 overturned
the idea of Australia as terra nullius, Aborigines have
successfully negotiated approximately 3,000 land
claims. In the Northern Territory, most of the coast-
line and more than 40 percent of the land area is
now (once again) the property of Ind igenous people.
Other Victories
Most countries have also repealed their laws inhib-
iting the practice of Indigenous religions. Bans on
the Sun Dance and potlatch were lifted decades ago
in Canada and the United States. Much more re-
cently, when a local government in Florida outlawed
an imal sacrifice in an effort to stop the practice of
Santeria and Voudou, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
the legislation unconstitutional.
On a much larger scale, South Africa's apart-
heid laws we re eliminated and its colonial regime
overturned in 1994, and in 2008 Australian prime
ministe r Kevin Rudd offic ia11y apologized to the Ab-
original people for the policies and practices that
World Religions: Western Traditions
had created the Stolen Generations. Later that year,
Canada's prime min ister, Stephen Harper, issued an
official apology for the residential school system,
acknowledging that "it was wrong . . . tO separate
children from rich and vibrant trad itions." Harper's
apology led to the creation of the Truth and Recon-
cil iation Commission, wh ich operated from 2008 to
2015. This comm ission met with thousands of res-
idential school survivors and in the end issued 94
calls to action designed to acknowledge and to some
extent redress the vast, traumatiz ing, and ongoi ng
harm of residential schools.
Such victories are renected in more local but
equally important changes in attitude. School
teams around the world have replaced their
lnd igenous-themed names or mascots. An especially
More than 2.000 people marched on Ottawa's Parliament Hill for the Idle No More protest against Bill C-45
on December 21. 2012. The bill removed certain Indigenous treaty rights. which included environmental
protections for forests and waterways.
imaginative solution was devised in 2006 for the
Syracuse Chiefs, a t riple-A baseball team in New
York State, which kept its name but changed its logo
from an "Indian chief" to a silver locomotive (with
a "ch ief engineer"). The change actually made the
team's name more relevant to the town's history as
a railway hub.
In April 2009, when several Indigenous people
got wind of the "GO NATIVE" party in California
promoting the Burning Man festiva l, they decided
to attend and explain why they believed the event
was harmful. After they talked to the participants
about colon ialism and the history of invasion , geno-
cide, and appropriation associated with it, most of
those present apologized, and several broke down
sobbing with regret.

The work of Indigenous people tO right previous,
ongoi ng, a nd new wrongs is a conti nuous and evolv-
ing process. In Novembe r 2012, Idle No More was
c reated by three Indigenous women from Saskatch-
ewan (Jessica Gordon, Sylvia McAdam, and Nina
Wilson) and one non-Ind igenous woman (Sheelah
Mclean). Their action was a response to an omnibus
budget impleme ntation bill (C-45) that contained
implications for Aboriginal treaty rights and the en-
vironment, particularly the removal of protections
for forests and waterways. Idle No More o rganized
a protest agai nst the bill in December of that year,
sparking a wave of similar demonstrations ac ross
Canada and au racting international attention and
support. The group's ongoi ng efforts are rooted in
their official vision wh ich, as described on their web-
site, "revolves a rou nd Indige nous Ways of Knowi ng
rooted in Indigenous Sovereignty to protect water,
air, land and all creation for future ge nerations."
A similar struggle involves the Sta nd ing Rock
Sioux Reservation in North and South Dakota in the
Un ited States. Beginning in April 2016, members of
Ind igenous communities across North America trav-
eled to Standing Rock to protest the construction of
the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPl). An earlier pro-
posal suggested routing the pipeline nea r the city
of Bismarck, but when non-Indigenous residents
of the city protested that the project would be too
risky for water supplies, the pipeline was rerouted
near Standing Rock. Indigenous people maintained
that the pipeline would si milarly harm water sup-
plied to local communities, as well as desecrating
sac red Sioux territories. The pipeline was completed
in April 2017, but the #NODAPl protests have had
a transformative impact on Indigenous communi-
ties, bringing people from many di fferent groups
together and inspiring them to continue fighting for
land and water rights.
Contemporary Indigenous
Traditions
The people nowadays have an idea about the
ceremonies. They thi nk the ceremonies must
be performed exactly as they have always
6 Indigenous Traditions
been done .... But long ago when the people
were given these ceremonies, the chang-
ing began, if only in the aging of the yellow
gourd rattle or the shrinking of the skin
around the eagle's claw, if only in the di f-
ferent voices from generation to generation,
singing the chams. You see, in many ways,
the ce remonies have always been changing.
- Betonie, a characte r in the novel
Ceremony by l eslie Marmon Silko, laguna
Pueblo (1977: 132)
Resurgence
Not surprisingly, with increasing legal and social
recognition of Ind igenous traditions has come an
inc rease in the actual practice of those traditions.
Many of the religious expressions d iscussed in th is
chapte r, from carving masks in Africa to telling
Dreamtime StOries in Australia to performing the
Sun Dance in North America, have experienced a
resurgence in rece nt decades.
The reviva l of the Maori moko tradition may
be especially significant symbolically. As has been
noted, moko is said to have origi nated in the under-
world and bee n brought to the surface. When the
practice was abolished by colonial rulers, the trad i-
tion returned underground in a political and figura-
tive way, and thus its mode rn "resurfacing" can be
seen as a reenactment of the ancestral story.
The resurgence of Ind igenous religions is un-
derstood, at least in pan, as a way of coping with
the cultural damage do ne by colonialism. At the
same time some people- Indige nous and non-
Indigenous alike- have pointed out th at the more
material consequences o f colonialism must be ad-
dressed as well. Fo r ma ny Indigenous people, these
consequences include extreme poverty and depri-
vation; the refore, it is important not to focus on
"spiri tual " issues at the expe nse of economics and
politics. Ideally, the aim is to chan nel the positive
effects of religious revitalization in ways that will
also contribute to the improvement of Indige nous
livi ng cond itions.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Cat Criger, Traditional Elder for the University of
Toronto Mississauga Mark "Cat" Criger was born
in 1956 in St. Catharine$, Ontario, and for many years
has worked as an Elder with various government and
Indigenous agencies in Ontario and Canada, including
the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. He served
as an executive member of the board of directors for
Anishnawbe Health Toronto and received the Queen's
Diamond Jubilee medal for his work in the community
speaking on diversity, equity, respect for women, anti-
racism, and anti-oppression. Since 2008 Cat has worked
with the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) and
in 2013 became VIM's official Traditional Elder. In this
role, among many other things, he advises students, con-
ducts ceremonies, and works with staff and faculty to
help Indigenize spaces, courses, and curricula.
In his spare lime Cat is an archer, astronomer, artist,
hiker, and kayaker. He participates in extreme sports
when possible, is pursuing a degree in photography, and
loves spending time with his family and kittens.
For our interview, I asked Cat one question: "How
did you become an Elder?" The following is a very ab-
breviated and slightly edited version of his response. The
original interview was much longer and was painstak-
ingly transcribed by Kelly Jay.
My spirit name is Mukwa Giizhigad, or Daytime Bear
or Sun Bear. I am Cayugan on my dad's side, from the
Haudenosaunee people, the People of the Longhouse.
My dad's mom moved off reserve soon after he was
born, and he grew up in St. Catharines. So part of that
means the tradition was not part of his generation,
it was not pan of his growing up. My dad married a
German English woman, my mother, and then not too
long afterthat,joined the Canad ian army, which meant
that he was enfranchised and lost his Indian Status.
We immed iately start bouncing around the
world. So we lived in Kingston, we lived in Trenton,
we went to W innipeg, and then to Germany. It was
a fair amount of moving around. ! turned five on the
boat to Germany. And then back to Canada by about
1964/65. So we went from continental European
culture to the middle of backwoods Man itoba. Qu ite
a cultural change.
\.Vhen we moved there, to an army base west
of Brandon, Manitoba, the opportun ity to hunt
was great. There's tons of dee r, what we call prai-
rie ch icken. My dad taught me the values of hunt-
ing, he taught me respect for animals, respect for
every th ing. The idea is that everyth ing takes work,
every th ing comes from the land, everything has
value, and should be treated as if it's alive. I can
remember be ing about nine, and I damaged a gar-
bage can, and I got in trouble for not respecting that
object. I was told that everything deserves respect.
I remember that distinctly. I ruined an object that
took a lot of design, technology, materials, fabrica-
tion, somebody had to pay for it, we had to bring it
home. It was serving a pu rpose, it was doing some-
thing in the house, even though it was j ust holding
garbage. I always, always remember that moment.
By the 1980s I started thinking more about my
own culture. And then one day in Toronto in the
early 90s I was given a pamphlet about Indigenous
events put on at Fi rst Canadian Place. One of these
events was a display of hoop danc ing by Quentin
Pipestem, who is a champion hoop dance r. So I had
this pamphlet in my hand, and th is woman comes up
and asks me if I'm Native, if I'm Indian. I say, "Yeah."
And she says: "The re's a place j ust downtown near
Queen and Sherbourne called Anishnawbe Health
Toronto lAHTI. We have teaching circles the re with
Elders. Why don't you drop in7" And I did.
At that point I lived in the Beaches in Toronto,
which is purely non-Native. I knew of no other
Native people in the Beaches at all, and all of a
sudden I find myself in a setting where everybody's
Native. I thought, "Ah, this is k ind of neat. There are
other people like me in the world."
One day an Elder at AHT asked if I would help
h im do work up north. I said yes. You know, at the
time I'm racing motorcycles, and doing extreme
whitewater kayaking, and that world still exists for
me, but now there was th is other door opening.
 6 Indigenous Traditions

So it's a joke in Native culture, if I tell somebody

th is story: "Oh, th is Elde r said, 'Come and help me,'
and I said yes," they'll laugh, because right away
they k now I've made a life commitment. But at the
time I didn't really understand this, I d idn't realize it
would be so intense. It was a huge change in my life.
Also: I'm Cayugan, as I said. But t his Elder, Roger
j ones, was Ojibwe. Originally ou r peoples would
have been in con fl ict with each other. So h im and
I worki ng together was this kind of funny combi-
nation. It was inte rcultu ral in a sense. Indigenous
intercultural. And some people in our community
had trouble with that. Traditionally, if you were of a
particular tribe, you would learn those tribal teach-
ings, or ways. You wouldn't be learning a completely
diffe rent one.
In any case I learned a lot of traditional teach-
ings from this man, and from other tribal Elders.
One of the other people I d id some work with was
an Elder from Mille l acs, Minnesota, named Adam
lydia. He was an inc red ible medicine/plant person.
It was qu ite astound ing to work with h im. It was
a privilege. A lot of teachings about the pipe came
from that gentleman. He is the one who found a
spirit name for me in ceremony, Mukwa Giizhigad. of carrying a pipe came from that. And so there we re
I didn't receive a spirit name when I was young. years of training, working towards carrying a trad i-
There was no access to that. Originally we would tional pipe, which is a big honor and responsibility.
be given ou r spi rit name before or during birth, but Then waiting longe r afte r that, a number of yea rs
that practice was broken up by colon ialism. after Roger passed away, and finally geLLing to a spi r-
The whole idea of th is apprenticesh ip with Roger itual point where through d ream, th rough ceremony,
j ones was so powerful, the exposu re to expe rienc- it came time to pick up this next responsibility of
ing li fe, taking a life d irection, making changes the pipe.
within my mind . Old-style apprentice, old-style Meanwhile, working with in the community,
helpe r, old-style way of learning. People would work people get to know you. People start to ask you to do
with the hunte rs to learn hunting, with the fishe rs things that an Elder would do. And as you do more
to learn fishing, with the canoe builde rs to learn and more of those th ings, people recogn ize that you
canoe building. I worked with an Elde r to learn "El- can do those th ings that th is pe rson once d id, you
dering." And that included plant medicine, ce remo- did pick up the train ing, you are wal king in a good
nies, working with people on assorted concepts and way. And then the term "Elder" sta rts to be used to
styles of healing- physically, emotionally, spiritu- refe r to you. It's one of those slow morphings, it's
ally. We met in the ea rly 1990s and worked together like a doctorate. It's also a big responsibility, because
for about 15 years, before he passed away. you're helping people. So to be an Elde r is to accept
When Roge r died, some of his responsibilities that responsibil ity by saying, "Okay, I guess I'll do
and sacred items were passed on to me. The concept this for the rest of my life."
'
372 World Religions: Western Traditions

Focus
lndigenizing Teaching and Learning
For the past few years Professor 1'-:tcole lahberte has
worked with Elder Cat Cnger m teachmg a third-
year undergraduate geography course at the Univer-
Sity of Toronto M1sstSsauga utled "lndtgemzmgSpace
and Place." As outhned m the syllabus, part of this
course tn\•olves challengmg students to think about
how the1r own hves are shaped by Indigenous prac-
ttces and terntones as well as by colomalism. This in
turn means thinking about where our information
comes from-especially informauon about Indige-
nous peoples and places. Fundamentally, students in
the course are asked to open themselves to new ways
of learning and knowmg. As a way of helpmg them
do this, one class exerctse mvolves a vtslt to the Rtv-
erwood nature consen·anq•. near the UTM campus.
After a smudging ceremony. students are asked to
find a quiet space to sn on thetr own. They are then
given 20 minutes to observe the1r surroundmgs.
They are not 10 take any notes or use the1r phones:
they are to just sn and observe. Afterward everyone
gathers for a conve rsation about their expenences
and a discussion of different ways of learn mg.

j. D. Ferrari. a student in the .. lndigenizing Space and Place .. course at the Un iversity of Toronto Mississauga. rellects
during a class trip to the Riverwood nature conservancy. Elder Cat Criger had placed a small amount of tobacco in the
palm of his hand and explained how to make an offering of the tobacco in the river. just before this photo was taken.
Ferrari put a little bit of the tobacco in the river at a time. watching as it flowed downstream.

It's also importa nt to recogn ize that Indigenous
people themselves are not of one mind when it
comes to the revival of traditional religions . The re
a re many who do not wish tO return to their an-
cestral traditions , whethe r because they do not find
value in them or because they now practice another
religion. Neve rtheless, growing numbe rs of Indig-
enous people do seem eager to incorporate trad i-
tional beliefs and practices into their lives.
Always Been Changing
The ways in which Indigenous trad itions a re prac-
ticed today are not identical with the ways in which
they were practiced in the past, for seve ral reasons.
Fi rst, all religions change over time. Second, the
disruptions caused by colonialism have been so
seve re that in many instances it is not possible to
recove r precolonial trad itions even in part. Th ird,
Ind igenous trad itions are typically inte rested in the
manifestation of the sacred in the here and now; the
intersection of spirits and ancestors with the world
did not end sometime in the ancient past, but is an
ongoing reality that necessitates adaptation.
Several simple changes in Yoruba practice may
illustrate the above points. For one thing, the roles
of many traditional spiritS have altered somewhat as
time has passed. Thus the Yoruba god of iron and wa r,
Ogun, has come to be associated with the protection
of welders, car mechanics, and chauffeurs. Also, as a
result of the li festyle upheavals caused by colonialism,
very little cloth is now woven by hand. Mass-produced
fabric is thus used for many rituals, and younger
people in particular will often wear American cloth-
ing to ceremonial events. Some communities such as
the Bunu, however, Still asc ribe great religious and
soc ial value to hand-woven cloth and so continue to
produce it for the most important occasions.
Trickster stories frequently embody the ways
in which Indigenous traditions have continued to
respond to historical developments. New tales are
always appearing. When colon ization began, some
stories spoke of tricksters using their powers to get the
better of the newcomers, while others showed trick-
sters imitating colonizing practices- for example,
6 Indigenous Traditions
negotiating worthless agreements- to fool the Indig-
enous people into giving them things they wanted.
Tricksters in modern stories appear in many nontra-
ditional guises, such as politicians, bartenders, and
university professors. In addition, there are now many
female tricksters.
Gende r sh ifts are ev ident in othe r a reas of Indig-
enous life as well. In the past, men and women often
had quite different, though interdependent , func-
tions, but because of the seve re d is ruptions to trad i-
tional lifestyles that have occurred ove r the past few
centuries, the same role di ffe rentiation is often not
possible today. For example, if at one time in a com-
mun ity women were responsible for prepa ring the
food that the men k illed o r g rew, that a rrangement
fe ll apart once their land was taken. This dissolution
combined with the advent of colonia l patriarchies
to p ut severe stress on Indigenous gender relations.
Some communities are now add ressing this sit-
uation by mov ing toward more balanced gende r
representation in many d ifferent respects, includ-
ing religious practices. Thus increasing numbe rs of
Na tive American men are weaving ritual baskets.
Similarly, the re are now seve ral female moho artists,
and it is no longer uncommon for women to receive
full moho themselves (not just on thei r lips or lowe r
face). Such changes are among the ways in which In-
digenous people are working to ove rcome the gende r
hierarch ies that developed unde r colon ialism.
Cultural Expressions
Orne especially notable recent development is the
presence of Indigenous religions in art forms that
originated in non-Ind igenous cultu res, including
film, written lite rature, oil painting, and electronic
music. Works by Ind igenous people about Indig-
enous people are appearing with inc reasing fre-
quency and receiving much attention and acclaim.
Religion has been employed in some of these wo rks
both to engage issues arising from colonialism (past
or present) and to explore aspects of Indigenous li fe
on Indigenous people's own te rms.
An example of the latter approach is the painting
Red Willows by Anishinaubae artist David joh nson
World Religions: Western Traditions
reproduced near the end of the "Transmission" sec-
tion. The work is d early modern, produced in t he
mid-1990s to accompany Basil johnston's retelling of
the traditional story. The pairing of an and text adds
meaning to both, often in a way that highlightS the re-
ligious aspects of the tale. Thus the significance of the
color red in the painting is revealed only by the text,
while the branch that appears both inside and outside
the man suggests the interrelatedness of all th ings, an
implicit theme that readers of the story- distracted by
its vivid, humorous physicality- could easily miss.
Prominent films that focus primarily on Indig-
enous religion include Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
(Canada, 2001), \Vhale Rider (New Zealand, 2002),
and Ten Canoes (Australia, 2006). Two notable
documentaries that conside r the approp riation of
Ind igenous religion are White Shamans and Plas-
tic Medicine Men (U nited States, 1996), wh ich ad-
d resses the theft and com mercialization of Native
America n traditions by non-Natives, a nd Reel Injun
(Canada, 2009), which explores the depictions of
Native people in Hollywood mov ies. Alan is Obo m-
sawi n's award-winn ing 1993 documenta ry Kaneh-
satake: 270 Years of Resistance, about the 1990 O ka
standoff, is a great example of a work that offers a n
Ind igenous pe rspective on the fac tors lead ing up to
a modern religious, economic, and political con-
frontation between seulers and Indigenous peopl.e.
Several other films refer to Indigenous religion
wh ile focusi ng primarily on the consequences of co-
lonialism, among them Indian Horse (Canada, 2017),
Rabbit-Proof Fence (Australia, 2002), Moolaade (SenegaV
France/Burkina Faso/Cameroon/ Morocco/Tun isia,
2004), and, perhaps most famously, Once Were War-
riors (New Zealand, 1994). Directed by the Maori Lee
Tamahori and sta rring mostly Maori actors, Once Were
Warriors presents a complex picture of the return to
Indigenous traditions. For some key female charac-
ters, this return is beneficial, helping them to regain
a sense of dignity, community, and self-worth in the
wake of the personal and cultural havoc wreaked by
colonialism. For a number of male characters, how-
eve r, the return is clouded by anger and misunder-
standing and sadly perpetuates the domestic a nd
communal violence resulting from colonialism.
Literature
One of the first Indigenous writers to be recognized in-
ternationally was the Mohawk poet Pauline j ohnson,
who began publishing in 1883 and was described by
critics of her time as "perhaps the most unique figure
in the literary world on this continent" and even "the
greatest livi ng poetess" (Francis 1992 113). In 1961
johnson also became the first Canadian writer, the
first Canadian woman, and the first Canad ian Ab-
original person to be honored by a commemorative
stamp. Her poetry cove red a range of topics but ve ry
often returned to the sacred theme of place, as in her
most famous work, "The Song My Paddle Sings."
The modern era o f Ind igenous lite rature began
in earnest in 1958 with the appeara nce of Ch inua
Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Focusing on the li fe and
fam ily of Okonkwo, an Igbo man from a fictional
village in Nigeria around t he turn of the nineteenth
centu ry, the novel depicts the effects o f British co-
lon ialism, a nd particula rly Ch ristian missiona ries,
on the li fe and religion of the Indigenous peoples of
Africa. Things Fall Apart was a landma rk, undeniably
the most inOuential wo rk of modern African lite ra-
ture tO date, and regularly appears high on lists of
the top 100 books o f all time (i ncluding Newsweek's
2009 "meta-list," on wh ich it ranked numbe r 14).
Achebe's novel was pan of the firSt wave of a Oood
of modern Indigenous writing around the world. Hun-
d reds of authors have since produced a huge variety
of compelli ng works of fiction, poetry, autobiography,
and d rama. Among those authors are j ose Maria Ar-
guedas (Quechua), Maria Campbell (Metis), jack Davis
(Noongar), Louise Erd rich (Anishinaubae), Tomson
Highway (Cree), Keri Hulme (Maori), Thomas King
(Cherokee), Rigobena Menchct (K'iche'), N. Scou Mo-
maday (Kiowa), Sally Morgan (Palku), Leslie Marmon
Silko (Laguna Pueblo), and Wole Soyinka (Yoruba).
Religion is a central issue in the works of most
Ind ige nous authors. The very Litle of Momaday's
breakth rough novel, House Made of Dawn- winne r
of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction- is ta ken from
the Navajo Nightway Prayer.
Keri Hulme's novel The Bone People simila rly
displays elements characte ristic of the resu rgence

Document
Keri Hulme (Maori), The Bone People
Published in 1983, this Booker Prize- winning novel fol-
lows three interconnected characters- Simon, joe, and
Kerewin- whose experiences are symbolically linked to
Maori religious beliefs and practices. These characters
are briefly introduced in the book's prologue.
He walks down the street. The asphalt reels by h im.
It is all silence.
The sile nce is music.
He is the si nge r.
The people passing smile and shake their heads.
He holds a hand out to them.
They open their hands like Oowers, shyly.
He sm iles with them.
The light is blinding: he loves the light.
They a re the light.
He walks down the street. The asphalt is hot and
soft with sun.
The people passing smile, and call out greetings.
He sm iles and calls back.
His mind is full of change and cu rve and hope,
and he knows it is being lightly tapped. He laughs.
Maybe the re is the dance, as she says. Creation and
change, destruction and change.
New marae from the old marae, a beginning from
the end.
of Indigenous trad itions in gene ral and Maori tra-
ditions in particular. Many of these elements are
ev ident even in the book's brief prologue:
• a rhythmic sense of Lime in which the past is
con nected to the prese nt;
• complementary dualism (the "dance" of "cre-
ation and change, destruction a nd change");
6 Indigenous Traditions
His mind weaves it into a spi ral freued with stars.
He holds out h is hand, and it is gently take n.
She walks down the street. The asphalt si nks be-
neath her muscled feet. '
She whistles softly as she walks. Sometimes she smiles.
The people passi ng smile too, but duck thei r heads
in a defe rential way as though he r sm ile is too
sharp.
She grins more at the lowered heads. She can d ig
out each thought, each reaction, out from the grey
brains, out th rough the bones. She knows a lot.
She is eage r to know more.
But for now the re is the sun at her back, and h ome
here, and free wind all rou nd .
And them, shufningahead in the strange-paced dance.
She quickens her steps until she has reached them. ~ t>C·<i
And she sings as she takes thei r hands.
They were nothing more than people, by them- •
selves. Even paired, any pairing, they would have
been noth ing more than people by themselves. But
all together, they have become the heart and mus-
cles and mind of someth ing perilous and new, some-
thin g Strange and growing and great. Together, all
together, they are the instruments of change. (Hulme
1983: 3- 4)
. vo
Q._ X
• an allusion to the central koru (frond/spiral)
element of Maori moko; and
• the importance of community, of rebuilding
the marae.
Like other works of contemporary Indigenous
an, The Bone People taps into the existential possi-
bility of Indigenous religions, applying traditional
World Religions: Western Traditions
views and practices to cur rent situations. W ith both
pathos and hu mor, it shows us characte rs struggli ng
with their place in the world as ind ividuals a nd as
members o f a community. Some of them manage
better than others; some of them make terrible m is -
ta kes. But noth ing is forever, and, as in many Indig-
enous stories- both past and present- when we get
to the end, we a re also very clearly at a begin ning.
After all, there are always new stories tO tell.
~Summary
A key problem in understanding Ind igenous peop le
and the ir religions is that they have long been de-
fined , regulated, alte red, and in many insta nces
destroyed by non-Indigenous people, often th rough
processes associated with colonialism. Historically,
the destruction was immense, and it continues
today in different places arou nd the world . In add i-
tion, many incorrect and damaging views of Indig-
enous people and thei r traditions have been passed
along. Among those incorrect views is the belief that
before colonialism Ind ige nous cultures were u n-
changingand ill iterate- which is tO say, "primitive."
There is eno rmous d iversity among Indigeno us
cultures, but many of the m share certain broad be-
liefs and social structu res, includ ing a vital con nec-
tion to spec ific places, an emphasis on com mun ity
and relationship, and a view o f the sacred as an
ongoi ng process in the world (see "Common Ele-
ments"). In addition, although some Indigenous c ul-
tu res we re literate long before colonialism, orality
remains important to virtually all of them. Stories
continue to se rve as veh icles for the transmission
of beliefs and values, although questions of inter-
pretation remain tricky. As with all relig ious texts,
it is d ifficult tO know which StOries people under-
stand to be literally or objectively true a nd wh ich
ones they think about in a more figurative way. In-
digenous creation stories, unli ke those of the major
Western religious trad itions, often presuppose the
existence of the un iverse and focus on certai n el -
ements with in it. Repeated themes in these stories
include the importa nce of relationsh ips, as well as
the inte raction of chaos and order, li fe and death.
Notwithstanding the patte rns that exist among
many Indigenous trad itions, it is cruc ial to con-
side r the contexts of specific beliefs, practices, and
creative expressions. Different com munities may
perform similar rituals but attribute entirely d iffer-
ent meanings to them. There is also, as has been
noted, great d iversity among Indige nous traditions.
Some may involve ve ry ornate buildings, for ex-
ample, while others may create much more simple
holy structures that easily dissolve back into the
landscape.
Despite the dramatic and ofte n ha rmfu l changes
that have taken place in Indigenous commu nities
over the past several h und red yea rs, many o f these
communities are rev iving and re-creating their re-
ligious trad itions in various ways. Not only are In-
digenous traditions being presented in new forms
or contexts- novels, paintings, films- but , perhaps
most important, religious activity is inc reasingly
linked with political activism. Indigenous people
a re worki ng passionately to reclaim the lands and
rights taken from them, and religion continues to be
a critical component of those efforts.
 6 Indigenous Traditions 377

Discussion Questions
l. Are all Indigenous rel igions essentially the same) Why o r why not)
2. Why was the colonial appropriation of land so harm fu l to Indigenous religions)
3. How are Ind igenous trad itions incorporating elements of contemporary non-Indigenous
cultures?
4. How do some trickster tales use chaos to promote soc ial orde r in a community?
5. What is the literal and symbolic sign ificance of a "jou rney" in Indigenous rites of passage?
6. What meaning is lost when Indigenous an is examined in a museum?
7. With reference to religious beliefs and practices, how did Indigenous gende r relations become
more unequal because of colonialism? What are some insta nces in which gender relations
have recently become more equitable?

Glossary
Aborigine An Indigenous person;
often the term specifies an Indigenous
person of Australia.
Ainu The Indigenous people of north-
em Japan. Current population esti-
mates range widely, from 25,000 to as
high as 200,000.
Anishinaubae (Roughly meaning
"the people") The term traditionally
used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Al-
gonkin peoples to refer to themselves.
The Anishinaubae are located mainly
around the Great Lakes area in Canada
and the United States.
Arawak The Indigenous people en-
countered by the Spanish (led by Co-
lumbus) in the West Indies in 1492.
Most Arawaks were killed by the
Spanish or died as a result of other as-
pects of colonialism, but a few small
populations remain in northeastern
South America.
Aymara South American Indigenous
people from the Andes and Altiplano
regions, initially colonized by the Inca
and then by the Spanish. Their cur-
rent population is about 2 million in
Bolivia, Chile, and Peru
Bunu One of four Yoruba groups in
central Nigeria, living near the city
of Lokoja where the Niger and Benue
rivers converge.
cargo cults Religious movements,
mainly in Melanesia, inspired by the
shipments of goods that local Indige-
nous people saw arriving for foreign-
ers; founded on the belief that one day
the spirits would send similar ship-
ments to them, initiating a new age of
peace and social harmony.
Cayuga One of the five original
member nations of the Haudeno-
saunee confederacy. The Cayuga
homeland is in the Finger Lakes region
along Cayuga Lake, and their current
population is about 5,300.
Cherokee The largest federally rec-
ognized Native American group, with
more than 300,000 members. Most
currently live in the southeastern
United States, with band headquarters
in Oklahoma and North Carolina.
Chippewa Sec Ojibwe.
Chumash A Native American people
traditionally based along the South-
ern Cali fornia coast, from Morro Bay
to Malibu. Recent estimates put their
numbers at around 5,000.
colonialism The process in which
people from one place establish and
maintain a settlement in another, as
well as the effects of this process on
the people who were already there.
Historically, those effects have often
included the destruction of Indige-
nous people and cultures.
complementary dualism A worldvicw
in which the universe necessarily com-
prises both creative and destructive
forces and the two can work together;
a feature of many Indigenous religions.
conflict dualism A worldview in
which the universe is divided between
good and evil forces that are in con-
stant battle with one another; a feature
of many Western religions.
Cree The largest Indigenous group
in Canada, numbering more than
200,000. Formerly based in central
Canada, Cree populations arc now
well established in every province
from Alberta to Quebec, as well as
parts of the northern United States
such as Montana.
Crow A Siouan-speaking Native
American people historically based in
the Yellowstone River valley and now
concentrated in Montana.
Delaware Also known as the Lenape,
an Indigenous community of the
northeastern woodlands areas of
Canada and the United States. Al-
though their population is currently
only about 16,000, they are consid-
ered one of the founding Algonkin-
speaking groups.
378 World Religions: Western Traditions
diviner A religious specialist who
uses various ritual tools and prac-
tices to gain insight into the hidden or
spiritual aspects of particular circum-
stances, events, or problems.
Dagon A West African people living
mainly in the central region of Mali,
with a population of about half a
million.
Dreaming, The The term that anthro-
pologists gave to the time and place of
Australian Aboriginal origin stories.
Although often assumed to represent
the archaic past, The Dreaming is ac-
tually understood by many traditional
Aborigines to lie just out of reach of
living memory.
Elders Men or women whose wisdom
and authority in cultural matters
arc recognized by their community.
Elders are not necessarily old in years
but are understood to possess greater
knowledge of tradition than others
and often to be more closely in touch
with spiritual forces.
enfranchisement The process of
giving people the right to vote. For
hundreds of years, Indigenous people
in Canada were only given this right
when they forfeited (sometimes against
their will) their legal Indigenous iden-
tity and any associated rights or treaty
claims.
First Nations The largest collective
Indigenous group in Canada, with
more than 600 recognized bands
or governments and a population of
over 850,000. "First Nations· is not a
legal term but emerged in the 1980s
as a replacement for "Indian band" to
refer to Indigenous communities with
common histories. languages. and
traditions.
Ghost Dance A religious movement
that emerged in the western United
States in response to the colonial de-
struction of Indigenous people and
cultures. Launched in 1869 by Wodzi-
wob and revived in 1889 by Wovoka,
the Ghost Dance was performed in an
effort to hasten both the removal of
the settlers and the restoration of what
Native people had lost. Smaller reviv-
als occurred periodically throughout
the twentieth century.
Haisla (Roughly, "living at the river
mouth, living downriver") First
Nation on the North Coast of British
Columbia, Canada. The population of
the Haisla reserve in Kitimaat Vi llage
is less than 2,000.
Haudenosauncc The People of the
Longhouse, called Iroquois by the
French and the Five Nations by
the English (which later became the
Six Nations). This North American In-
digenous confederacy is based in the
northeastern United States and south-
eastern Canada and was originally
composed of five lroquoian-spcaking
groups (Mohawk , Oneida, Onondaga,
Cay uga. and Seneca), joined in 1722
by the Tuscarora.
hogan A traditional Navajo home
and the structure at the center of the
community's domestic, social, and re-
ligious life.
lgbo One of the largest Indigenous
groups in Nigeria, based in the south-
eastern region of the country. World-
wide population estimates range
between 20 milli.on and 40 mi llion.
Indian Act Canadian federal legis-
lation created in 1876 that defines
and regulates Native people and their
lands and outlines the federal govern-
ment's responsibilities toward them.
The act is administered by the Depart-
ment of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development and has undergone sev-
eral amendments and revisions.
inuksuit (singular, inuhsuh, "that
which acts in the capacity of a human")
Stone structures traditionally created
and placed by the Inuit in natural lo-
cations for various reasons, including
navigation, mcm.orializing, and mark-
ing sacred places. Structures vary in
size and tend to roughly resemble the
form of a person.
Iroquois See Haudenosaunee.
jurhoansi Indigenous African group
with a population of about 30,000
in northeast Namibia and 5,000 in
northwest Botswana. Until 50 years
ago, the ju/'hoansi were nomadic
hunters and gatherers. but since then
most of them have adjusted to settled
lives and occupations.
Karuk ("Upstream people") A com-
munity from the region of the Klamath
River in northwestern California, with
a population of about 3,500. Their
downstream neighbors are the Yurok.
Kcwa Indigenous people from the
Southern Highlands province of Papua
New Guinea, with a current estimated
population of about 65,000.
K'ichc' ('Many trees") One of the
Mayan peoples of Mesoamerica. The
majority of the more than 1.6 million
K'iche' live in Guatemala, where they
make up 11 percent of the popula-
tion. Most still speak their traditional
language.
Lakota The largest of the three Native
American groups that make up the
Sioux Nation (the others are the East-
ern and Western Dakota). The l akota
were originally based ncar the Great
l akes but moved to the Great Plains
in response to the influx of European
settlers.
Maori The Indigenous people of New
Zealand, who appear to have arrived
there in the late thirteenth century
from elsewhere in Polynesia. Current
estimates put the Maori population at
around 700,000.
marae The religious and social home
of a Maori community. The marae
is typically a cleared area bordered
with stones or wooden posts and con-
taining several structures including
the whare whahairo ("carved house"),
dining room, shelters. and a site where
the dead arc placed in state.
Ma)•a A Mesoamerican civilization
(c. 2000 BCE-late 1600s) noted for
its highly developed written lan-
guage, art, architecture, mathematics,
and astronomy. Despite the Spanish
conquest, Maya people today make
up a large portion of the population
throughout the region, and millions
continue to speak Mayan languages.

rnbari A mode or style of cultural
practice, especially architecture; prin-
cipally identified with the Owerri Igbo
of Nigeria.
Metis Indigenous North Americans
who trace their descent to both First
Nations peoples and European set-
tlers. The Metis National Council also
emphasizes the importance of cul-
tural identity, of having historic Metis
Nation ancestry. Over 450,000 people
throughout Canada identify as Metis.
Their traditional and cultural home-
land is in the prairies, particularly the
Red River Valley.
Mohawk The most easterly of the
Haudenosaunee Confederacy, based
near Lake Ontario and the St. l aw-
rence River, with an estimated popu-
lation of about 30,000.
rnoko Traditional Maori tattoos orig-
inally chiseled into the skin that
identify the ind ividual and his or her
relationship to the community. Said to
have been brought to earth from the
underworld by the ancestors, moko
was prohibited by colonial rulers but
has resurfaced with the revival of
other Maori practices.
Navajo The second-largest Native
group in the Un ited States (after the
Cherokee), with an estimated popu-
lation of almost 300,000. The Navajo
occupy extensive territories in Ari-
zona, New Mexico, and Utah.
New Age A common term for West-
ern spiritual movements concerned
with universal truths and ind ividual
potential, drawn from a wide range
of religions and philosophies, in-
cluding astrology, Buddhism, meta-
physics, environmentalism, and
Ind igenous traditions. The term was
used in the early 1800s by William
Blake and gained wide popularity in
the mid-1970s.
Nisga'a Indigenous people of the
Nass River valley of northwestern Brit-
ish Columbia. The Nisga'a 1998 pro-
vincial land agreement was the first
formal Native treaty signed in BC since
1854.
Nuer A confederation of peoples in
southern Sudan and western Ethiopia.
The Nuer are the largest Indigenous
group in East Africa, with a popula-
tion of about 33 million .
N)•anga Indigenous people from the
highlands of east-central Zaire, near
the borders of Rwanda and Uganda.
Pan of the larger Bantu group in
Africa, their current population is
about 35,000.
Oglala One of seven groups that make
up the l akota Sioux; they are based at
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in
South Dakota, the second-largest res-
ervation in the United States.
Ojibwe Also known as Chippewa, an
Anishinaubae group in Canada and
the United States. Numbering over
330,000, they are one of the largest
Indigenous communities in North
America and the second-largest First
Nations group in Canada, after the
Cree.
Paiute Two related Native American
groups, the Northern Paiute (based
in California, Nevada, and Oregon)
and the Southern Paiute (based in Ar-
izona, California, Nevada, and Utah).
Wovoka, the leader of the 1889 Ghost
Dance movement, was a member of
the Northern group.
Porno Native people of the northern
California coast who, though con-
nected by geography and marriage, tra-
ditionally lived in small separate bands
rather than as a large unified group.
The Pomo linguistic family once com-
prised seven d istinct languages, but
few Pomo speakers now remain.
Pondo South African people who
have traditionally spoken the Xhosa
language and lived along the south-
eastern coast of Cape Province.
potlatch A ritual practiced by many
Indigenous groups of the Pacific
Northwest Coast (e.g., Haida, Salish,
Tlingit, Tsimshian) in which a family
hosts a feast and offers guests a vari-
ety of gifts. The ritual typically marks
important moments such as mar-
riage, childbirth, or death and may
6 Indigenous Traditions 379
include music, theater, and ceremonial
dancing.
Pueblo Native people from the
southwestern United States, particu-
larly New Mexico and Arizona, who
traditionally lived in small villages
("pueblos" in Spanish). Approxi-
mately 25 separate Pueblo communi-
ties remain, includ ing the Hopi, Taos,
and Zuni .
residential schools Church-run
schools, funded by the Canadian fed-
eral government, designed to facilitate
the assimilation and Christian conver-
sion of Indigenous people. Families
were forced to send their children to
the schools, where they remained for
months or even years at a time, for-
bidden to speak their own languages
and often subjected to neglect or
abuse. The system was established in
the 1840s, and the last school did not
close until 1996. In total more than
150,000 Indigenous children attended
residential schools.
Sagkeeng First Nation An Anishi-
naubae community east of lake Win-
nipeg in Manitoba, Canada, with a
population of over 7,600. "Sagkeeng" is
derived from the Ojibwe word mean-
ing "at the outlet," and the Sagkeeng
territory is at the outlet of the Winni-
peg River.
Sioux Native people with reserves
in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana,
Nebraska, Manitoba, and southern
Saskatchewan who comprise three
main groups: l akota, Eastern Dakota,
and Western Dakota. The Sioux have
been central to many key moments of
American colonial history, including
the Battle of the little Bighorn, and
Sioux writers and political leaders
remain among the most influential
members of the larger Native North
American community.
smudging Indigenous North Amer-
ican ceremony that involves burning
a small amount of a particular plant,
such as sage, cedar, or sweetgrass, in
a small bowl. The ceremony is typi-
cally performed for purification and/or
380 World Religions: Western Traditions
healing and may be a prelude to an-
other ceremony.
Stolen Generations The generations
of Australian Aborigines who as chil-
dren were taken from their families
by the government and sent either
to foster homes or to government- or
church-run institutions. The practice
continued from approximately 1869 to
the early 1970s.
Sun Dance Annual summer ritual
practiced by peoples of the North
American plains (e.g.. Blackfoot,
Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, Sioux). The
details of the ritual vary from one
community to the next, as does the
meaning of the solar symbolism. In
the late nineteenth century the Sun
Dance was severely discouraged by the
Canadian government and outlawed
in the United States: it has experi-
enced a revival since the 1960s.
sweat lodge A structure traditionally
covered with skins, blankets, or dirt,
used to induce sweating by pouring
water over heated stones to create
steam. Sweat lodge ceremonies are
performed by several Native North
American communities for various
medicinal and religious purposes, in-
cluding purification and reconnection
to the spirits.
syncretism The combination of ele-
ments from two or more different re-
ligious traditions.
terra nullius (Latin, "no one's land")
Territory over which no person or
state has ownership or sovereignty;
a concept invoked in several in-
stances by European colonists to
claim land occupied by Indigenous
people.
tobacco Plant that is sacred to many
Indigenous communities in North
America: used in dry. loose form
with no additives (unlike commercial
tobacco). Tobacco ceremonies may
be performed for a variety of rea-
sons, including healing. purifying,
giving thanks. renecting. and seeking
strength or guidance.
totem pole A tall pole traditionally
carved from a single cedar tree by
an Indigenous community of the Pa-
cific Northwest Coast (e.g., Haisla,
Nisga'a , Tsimsb ian) to record his-
torical events, indicate social status,
represent ancestral lineage. support
a physical structure, etc. Markings
are often high ly symbolic and spe-
cific to particular communities and
locations.
trickster Term coined by scholars to
classify a variety of usually superhu-
man figures who appear in the stories
of cultures around the world; trick-
sters disrupt the norms of society and/
or nature and often teach important
lessons about what kinds of behav-
ior a particular community considers
appropriate.
Tsilhqot'in Indigenous community
in central British Columbia, Canada.
The most southern of the Athabaskan-
speaking people. with a population of
over 4,000.
Tsimshian Indigenous people of the
Pacific Northwest Coast, from British
Columbia to southeast Alaska. The
current Tsimshian population is ap-
proximately 10,000.
Tuhoe ("Steep" or • high noon") A
Maori community of about 40,000,
named for the ancestral figure
Tuhoe-potiki. About 20 percent con-
tinue to live on cheir traditional lands
on the steep eastern North Island of
New Zealand, and 40 percent sti ll
speak their native language.
Tuscarora Indigenous North Amer-
icans in the Great Lakes area who
belong to the Iroquoian-Janguage
family and are one of the Haudenos-
aunee nations, with a population of
about 17,000 primarily in North Caro-
lina, New York, and Ontario.
Ubmuu The African concept that all
human beings are interconnected, em-
ployed most famously by Nelson Man-
deJa and Archbishop Desmond Tutu as
one of the founding principles of the
new South Africa.
vision quest Fasting ritual under-
taken in many Native North Amer-
ican communities to induce visions
through contact with spirits. A vision
quest typically lasts several days and
involves a solitary journey into the
wilderness: it may be undertaken as a
rite of passage to adulthood or d uring
other key life events, such as prepara-
tion for war.
Wiradjuri The largest Indigenous
group in New South Wales. Australia,
who have lived in the central region of
the state for more than 40,000 years.
No known native speakers of the Wir-
adjuri language remain .
Xhosa Indigenous people living
mainly in southeast South Africa.
There are currently about 8 mil-
lion Xhosa, and their language is the
second most common in South Africa
after Zulu. Nelson Mandela and Arch-
bishop Desmond Tutu are both Xhosa.
Yatiri Traditional community healers
among the Aymara of Bolivia, Chile,
and Peru. Yatiri may be male or female
and in Bolivia have recently become
especially popular, seen as a way to
resist American-Jed globalization and
colonialism.
Yanyuwa A small Aboriginal group
located mainly in the Northern Terri-
tory of Australia. Fewer than 10 speak-
ers of the Yanyuwa language currently
remain.
Yolngu Aboriginal community from
northeastern Arnhem Land in Austra-
lia's Northern Territory.
Yoruba One of the largest Indigenous
groups in West Africa, with a pop-
ulation of approximately 30 mill ion
based mainly in Nigeria. Because so
many African slaves were Yoruba, they
have had a significant impact in the
Americas.
Yurok ("Downstream people") Native
American community with a popu-
lation of about 6,000 who have lived
near the northern California coast for
more than 10,000 years. Their u p-
stream neighbors are the Karuk.

Further Reading
Ballinger, Franchot. 2004. Living Sideways: Tricksters in Amer·
ican Indian Oral Traditions. Norman: University of Okla·
homa Press. An excellent. engaging introducuon Lo the roles,
meanings. and diversuy of Native Arnencan trickster figures;
focuses on Lraditional (oral) sLories buL also includes references
to contemporary literature.
Baum, Robert M. 1999. Sl~rines of tlte Slave Trade: Diola Religion
and Society in Precolonial Senegambia. New York: Oxford
University Press. This detai led sLudy is one of the few to exam-
me the precomacL hisLory of any African Indigenous rehgion.
Bell, Diane. 1983. Daugloters of doe Dreaming. Melbourne:
McPhee-Gribble. An accessible (and best-selling) work of
groundbreakmgscholarshtp on the religious lives of Aboriginal
women m central AusLralia.
Bockle, Simon. 1993. Death and doe Invisible Powers: Tlte World
of Kongo Belief. Bloomi ngton: Indiana University Press. An
msider's imroducuon Lo Lhe rehgtous life of the Kongo people
of Lower Za1re and Lo African religions generally, focusmg on
views and behaviors concermng death.
Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1994 [1972). God Is Red: A Native View of Re·
ligion. 2nd ed. Golden , CO: Fulcrum. Indispensable over-
view of Nauve American rehg10us perspecuves, particularly
regardmg the tmponance of sacred places and the effects of
colomaHsm.
Fiola, Chantal. 2015. Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Metis Ances·
try and Anishinaabe Spirituality. Winnipeg: Universily or
Manitoba Press. Currently the on1y LexL on f>.•lttis traditions,
offering hisLorical and contemporary overviews. d1scusstons of
colomaHsm and effons at recovery. and mterv1ews with Mf:lis
people about their religtous lives.
Francis, Daniel. 1992. Tlte Imaginary Indian: Tlte Image of doe
Indian in Canadian Culture. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp. A
detailed , accesstble discussion of the ways m which non-
lndtgenous people 111 Canada have appropriated Indigenous
tdenuues and cultures.
Gill, Sam D. 1982. Beyond the '•Primitive": The Religions of Non·
literate Peoples. Englewood Clirfs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Still
one of the best general imroductions to Jndtgenous traditions;
especially useful on what religtous practices mean to theiT
commumues.
Jacobs, Sue-Ellen, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine lang, eds. 1997.
Two·StJirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexu·
ality, and Spirituality. Urbana and Chicago: University or
Illinois Press. A vital collection of essays examming Lhe con-
nections between Jndtgenous traditions in Nonh America and
construcuons of gender and sexuality, from the traditional ac-
ceptance of diversity in many communities to current efforts to
reclaim that acceptance.
leRoy, John, ed. 1985. Kewa Tales. Vancouver: University of
British Columbia Press. A valuable collecuon of traditional
oral narratives from Papua New Gumea, catalogued to htgh-
Hght vanous story pauerns.
King, Thomas. 2012. The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Ac·
coum of Native People in North America. Toronto: Doubleday
Canada. A smtultaneously moving. horrifying. instghtful, and
6 Indigenous Traditions 381
funny overview, from an Jndtgenous perspective. of the history
of Indigenous people in North America since first contact with
Europeans. by one of the comment•s most respected and prom-
ment wnters of ficuon and nonfiction.
Mead, Hirini Moko. 2003. Tiloanga Maori: living by Maori
Values. Wellington. NZ: Huia. A useful overvtew of Maon
tikanga ("way of doing things•), especially the connections be-
tween religion and the creative arts~ promotes tikanga as a guide
for non-Maon people.
Menclni, Rigoberta. 1984. I, Rigoberta Menclnl. An Indian
Woman in Guatemala. Ed. Elisabeth Burgos-Debray. Trans.
Ann Wright. New York and london: Verso. Nobel Peace Pnze
wmner MenchU's account of her Hfe, as narrated to anthropolo-
gist Burgos-Debray. Offers a powerful instder's view of attempts
to hold on to Indigenous tradmons in the face of grotesque
human nghts violations carried out by the GuaLemalan armed
forces during the country•s decades-long c1vl1 war.
O lajubu, Oyeronke. 2003. Women in the Yoruba Religious
Sphere. New York: State University of New York Press. Ex-
ammes women's roles-along wnh issues of gender and power
relations-in both traditional and contemporary Yoruba
thought and practice.
O lupona,Jacob K., ed. 2004. Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Re·
ligious Traditions and Modernity. New York: Routledge. One
of the very few works to look at the contemporary situauon of
Indigenous religions~ comnbutors from a broad range of back-
grounds consider Lradmons from across America, Africa. Asia,
and the Pacific.
Renne, Elisha P. 1995. Clotlt Tltat Does Not Die: Tlte Meaning
of Clotlo in Bimu Social life. Seattle: University of Washing·
ton Press. A clear, msightful look at the role of a key mate-
rial object in the culture (and especially religton) of the Bunu
Yoruba people.
Rosaldo, Renato. 1980. lfongot Headhunting 188.3- 1974: A Study
in Society and History. Stanford, CA: Stanford University
Press. An mOuential analys1s of the meaning and function of
headhunting for the llongot people in the Philippines; discred-
ns the notion Lhat Jnd1genous societies were/are stauc. as op-
posed to European socieues thaL have changed over time.
Ryan, Allan. 1999. Tlte Trickster Slt ift: Humour and Irony in
Contemporary Native Art. Vancouver: University of British
Columbia Press. The first book-length study of the mOuence
of trickster conceptions m modern Native an, wnh photos of
recent work a longside commentaries from the arusts.
Shigeru, Kayano. 1994. Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir.
Trans. Kyoko Selden and lili Selden. Boulder, CO: West·
view. A moving personal account by an Ainu man who has
spem much of his life documenting his people•s cullure and
history, as well as creating a school to ensure the conunuation
of the Ainu language.
Smith, Jonathan Z. and William Scott Green , eds. 1995.
Tl1e HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion. San Francisco:
Harper.. Collins. Provides excellent bnef introducuons to
topics relevant Lo Indigenous religions (e.g.... South Amencan
religions. tradnional").
382 World Religions: Western Traditions

Swain, Tony, and Garry Trompf. 1995. The Religions of Ocea·
nia. Londo n: Routledge. The first (and posstbly best) book in
Enghsh on the rehgtons of the southwest Pactfic as a whole;
provides clear interpretive tools and general informaLion on the
history and content of these traditions, from before colonialism
through modernity.
Wright, Ronald. 1992. Stolen ContinenlS: The ''New World"
Tl1rough lndian Eyes. Boston: Houghton Miffiin. A power-
ful, access1ble account of the colonization and survival of five
American civihzauons-Aztec. Maya. Inca, Cherokee. and
Iroquois-that mcludes much Indigenous tesumony.

Recommended Websites
www.cwis.org www.nativeweb.org
The website of the Center for World Indigenous Studtes Vutual News and mformauon from and about Indigenous people and or-
L1brary. includmg a hst of websues offering further informaL ion gamzauons around the world. Also mcludes a hbrary of Indigenous
on Ind1genous cuJLures and current 1ssues, organized by region. data to wh1ch users can contnbute.

www.everycultu re .com www.ind iancountrymedianetwork.com

The Coumnes and Then Cultures website. offering brief but substan. A national multimedia news source by. for. and about Indigenous
tive mformauon on mosL Indigenous cu1wres, including an overview people in North Amenca.
of rehgtous behefs and practices and a bibliography for each group.
www.peoplesoft heworld.org
www.amnesty.org/en/what ..we·do/ ind igenous .. peoples Educauon for and about lndtgenous people, including hsts of
Amnesty International's overview of general concerns of Indigenous resources such as documentanes and volunteer programs and detailed
people. as well as accounts of specific issues of justice and oppres- mformation about Ind1genous people organized by language, country,
sion that Jnd1genous people are speaking up about around the world. and name.

www.honksville.org/so nd/ index.ht ml

Informauon and resources aboUL (and critiques of) the appropri:a-
tion o£ Indigenous cultural property, parucularly religious images
and practices.

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te:gnty of Cre:~110n In Nall\'t and Chrt~11an: lndrgtnous VOius on
Rehgtous ldcntuy '"the l'nucd Stott< and Canada, ed. James Treat.
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I. I would l1ke to express my very great thanks 10 all those who
read. commented upon. or ansp1rcd any pln of thas chapter,
mcludmg W•rren Cartou, Meogan Carlsson, Ted Chamberhn,
Cat Cngcr, ~hchel ~>prdtns, Gabnel Estrada, Chantal Ftola,
Graham Harvey. Amtr Hussatn Agnes Jay, Kelly Jay, Dame!
Heath Justice, S.rah Ktng, Stan Ktnsella, I'>Kole lahbene,
6 Indigenous Traditions 383
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Other Stde or the Frontier • ln lndtans In Amatcun Ht-,101')', ed
Fredenck E. Ho.xte Arlmgton Hetghts, ll; HJrlan Davidson .
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About My Baskets Conversollons wuh Mabel McKa)· • In Dd
Calonmngdte Subj<ct; The PoltUooJ Gcndcnn \\\>mcn\ Autol>wgra-
plry. ed. S1dome Smith and Juha \\'otson Mtnn<apohs Unl\el'<ll)'
ol ~hnnesou Press
Shtgeru, Ka)'ano. 1994 Our land Was a Fo~e>t An A1nu .\tcln()tr
Trans. Kyoko S<lden and uh Selden Boulder, CO We<mew
Sdko, leshe Marmon 1977. Ceremony New York Pengum
Swam, Tony, and Garry Tromp!. 1995 The Relrgron' of O<canta
London: Rout ledge
Tau, Norman. 1993. Foreword to Hilary Stewart, lao~tng or Torcm
Poles. Vancouver: Douglas & Mcintyre.
Webber-Dreadon, Emma. 2002 "He Taonga Tuku iho, Het Ara:
A Gift Handed Down as a Pathway." In Rcadrng> rn lndlgcn'"'<
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New York: HarperPerenma1.
Sally liVIngston, Angela Mashford-Pnngle, Jcnmfer Mueller,
Mtchael Osthng, Kcren R•ce, Mark Rum!, and Statte Swan
I also wtsh to dedtcate thts chapter to Wtllard Oxtoby,
who shaped much ol my ttme as a graduate <tudcnt at the
Cm\•erslty or Toronto, and who WdS alW.J)'S generous\\ uh both
hts scholarshtp and hts ternble, ternble puns
World Religions: Western Traditions

In this chapter you w ill learn about:
• The d ifferences between a religion, a sect,
and a cult
• The origins, beliefs, and practices of East-
ern movements that a re now established in
the West, such as Soka Gakkai , Falun Dafa ,
and t he Inte rnational Soc iety for Krishna
Consciousness
• The origins , beliefs, and practices of West-
ern movements such as the Church of jesus
Chris t of latte r-Day Saints , the Baha' i Fa ith,
the Nation of Islam , t he Kabbalah Centre,
and Easte rn lightning, a Chinese offshoot of
Christianity
• The origins, beliefs, and practices of new West-
ern movements such as \ Vicca (mode rn witch-
craft), Sc ientology, the Aetherius Society, t he
Raelian Movement, and New Age t raditions
The youngest o f the Abrah amic religions cover-ed
in this volume is well ove r 1,0 00 yea rs old, but
innovations in religion did not end w ith Islam .
The early n ineteenth centu ry saw the emerge nce
o f many new faith t radit ions, and more have devel-
oped since t hen. T his chapte r explores a selection
o f those newer religions. Fi rst, though , we need
to conside r what d istinguishes a "religion" from a
"secL" or a "cult:•
~ Defining New Religions,
Sects, and Cults
What is a "new religion"? The question might be
easier to answer if scholars could agree on what
constitutes a relig ion. But there are hund reds, if not
thousands, of ideas on that subject. Even a defin ition
as seemingly basic as "belief in a god or goddess"
would not take into account nontheistic t raditions
such as Buddh ism and j ainism . Fortunately, our
task he re is not to define religion, but to understand
what is meant by the terms "sect" a nd "cult" and how
those te rms are applied to new religious movements.

Timeline
1830 CE Church of jesus Christ of latter-day Saints (United States) emerges
1844 Baha'i Faith (Iran) appears
1930 Nation of Islam (United States) founded
1930 Soka Gakkai (Japan) founded
19405 W icca (England) emerges
19S4 Church of Scientology (United States) founded
19S4 Aetherius Society (United Kingdom) founded
196S International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) (United States) founded
196S The Kabbalah Centre (United States) opens
1974 Raelian Movement (France) begins
1990 Falun Dafa (China) created
1993 Church of Almighty God, or Eastern lightning (China). founded

------------------------------------------------------- --------~-~
.J
-< Baha'i "Lotus" temple. New Delhi (Prisma by Dukas Presseagentur GmbH/Aiamy Stock Photo)

Sociologists of religion such as Max Weber, writ-
ing in the early 1900s, used the word "sect" to refer
to Ch ristian splinter groups, new institutionalized
movements that had broken away from mainstream
denominations, usually in orde r to practice what
they considered to be a purer form of the trad i-
tion. Often the breakaway group would denounce
the parent institution and adopt stricter rules, new
modes of worsh ip, or distinctive clothing to set itself
apart. With the passage of time, however, most sec-
ta rian movements either faded away or moved back
toward the mainstream. In other words, new move-
ments would begin as sects (or sectarian movements)
and evolve into churches (new denominations). A
sim ilar process can be seen in the history of many
other religions.
As for "cu lt," it was originally a neutral term,
used as a synonym for "worship" or even "religion."
Today, though, its connotations- at least in the
popular med ia- are almost always negative: a cult
is generally assumed to be a small g roup under the
control of a charismatic leader who is suspected
of bra inwashing followers (especially the young)
and promoting se lf-destructive, illegal, or immoral
behavior.
In the United States and elsewhere, a movement
that is accepted by outs iders as a "new religion" will
enjoy all the constitutional or legal protections and
tax exemptions afforded to established religions.
But a movement that gets labeled a "cult" is likely
to auract sc rutiny if not harassment from legal au-
thorities and taxation officials. In divorce cases in
which custody of the child ren is in dispute, it is
not unusual for one parent to use assoc iation with
a "cult" to argue that the other parent is unfit. And
in a 1994 race for the California Senate, one cand i-
date received damaging media auention because h is
wife was thought tO be assoc iated with a cult (Lew is
2003: 208).
Yet the definitional lines between a cult and a
sect (or new religion) are quite vague. By the usual
definitions, for example, the Hare Kr is hna move-
ment is considered a sect of Hinduism in India,
but in the West its members' unusual practices and
dress soon led tO its being branded as a cult. Th is
7 New Religions and Movements
suggests that the "cult" label has less to do with the
nat ure of the movement itself than with how sharply
it d iffers from the mainstream religious culture- in
other words, that one person's religion is another
pe rson's cult.
At the same time, it is possible to identify sev-
eral traits that many cults seem to share. Cults
typically claim tO have some special knowledge or
insight, perhaps based on a new inte rpretation of
an old scripture or revealed th rough contact with
splrits (or even aliens). The ir practice often includes
rituals designed to promote ecstatic experiences,
and they tend to focus more on individual spi r-
itual experience than institutional organization
(see Dawson 2006: 28- 29)
Perhaps the most widely shared characteristic of a
cult, however, is a charismatic individual leader who
demands extreme loyalty. Adherents may be requi red
to work long hours for little or no pay, cut ties with
family and friends from the past, denounce former
religious beliefs and practices, or even submit sexu-
ally to the leader. In extreme cases, leaders may go
so far as to demand that followers be willing to die
for the cause. The mass suicide (forced or voluntary)
of more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple at
j onestown, Guyana, in 1978 is one famous example.
Others include the succession of murders and suicides
in the mid-1990s associated with the Solar Temple
cult, in which more than 70 people in Switzerland,
France, and Canada d ied; the suic ides of 37 Heav-
en's Gate adherents in California in 1997; and the
mu rder-suicide of 780 members of a breakaway Cath-
olic cult called the Movement for the Restoration of
the Ten Commandments in Uganda in 2000 (Dawson
2006: 13). The 1993 murder-suicide of 80 people at
the Branch David ian compound near Waco, Texas,
was somewhat different in that it was precipitated
by an assault on the compound by law enforcement
officers. In most of these mass suicides, whether co-
erced or voluntary, the underly ing belief was that the
current world order was about to end and be replaced
by a new order in which the cult's members would be
rewarded for thei r loyalty. That is, the movements had
a millenarian belief in an imminent "End of Time"
that would lead to the dawning of a "new age."
World Religions: Western Traditions
What gives rise to new religious movements?
It has often been noted that new religions tend to
appear at times of serious cultu ral disruption or
change. The Indigenous prophetic movements d is-
cussed in Chapter 6 are classic examples, emergi ng
in soc ieties whose traditional cultures were break-
ing down under the pressure of European coloniza-
tion. Similarly, the massive cultu ral changes of the
1960s gave rise to seve ral new religions in North
America.
Some movements that get labeled as new reli-
gions have very little in common with traditional
religious organ izations or even with spi rituality.
For example, Kopimism has received recognition
as a religion in some places. This movement arose
in Sweden among a group of computer enthusiasts
who made it thei r mission to copy and distribute
copy righted information from the Internet. One of
them, Isak Ge rson, put a positive spin on file shar-
ing by declaring it to be a moral vi rtue . Kopimi ,
o r "Copy Me" in English, was thereby elevated to
an all-encompassing stance in favor of sharing all
intellectual property.
Hund reds of new religions and movements have
established themselves in the West over the past two
centuries. This chapter focuses on a small selection
of the ones that have been most successful or have
attracted the most attention. We will d iscuss them
in three groups, organized according to their spi r-
itual roots: traditional Asian rel igions, Abrahamic
trad itions, and other forms of spirituality.
~New Religions
from the East
Soka Gakkai
Soka Gakka i was founded in japan in the years
leading up to the Second World War and emerged as
an important force only after the war- a period that
saw a Oowering of new japanese religions. However,
its roots lie deep in Buddhist history, in the trad i-
tion of the controversial th irteenth-century monk
Nich iren.
The dominant trad ition of Nich iren's day was the
Pure Land school of Mahayana Buddhism, which
taught its followers to trust in the saving power of
Amida Buddha. Nichi ren, however, believed that
a Mahayana scripture called the Lotus Sutra repre-
sented the culmination of all Buddhist truths and
warned that japan would be doomed if the people
ignored its teachings. At the same time he became
inc reasingly c ritical of the Pu re Land sects of the
time, so angering the ir leaders that they persuaded
the emperor tO exile him to a remote island. While
in exile, he continued to write tracts critic izing
other Buddhist sects and promoting his own.
Nichi ren's prophecies of impending doom
seemed to come true when the Mongols attempted to
invade japan in 1274. Thus he was allowed tO return
from exile and, with his followers, establish a sect
based on both h is teach ings and the Lotus Sutra. It
is to this sect, eventually known as Nichiren Shoshu
("True Nichiren"), that Soka Gakkai traces its roots.
Soka Gakkai ("Assoc iation for Creating Values")
was established in 1930 as a lay o rgan ization with in
Nichiren Shoshu. Its founde r was a reform-minded
schoolteacher named Tsunesabu ro Makiguchi who
wanted to promote moral values among young
people. Many of the g roup's leading figu res we re
imprisoned during the Second World War because
they refused to recognize the divinity of the em-
peror as requi red by the officially Sh into japanese
state , and Makiguchi h imself died in prison before
the war ended.
The organization's new leader,Josei Toda, adopted
an aggressive recruitment strategy based on an an-
cient Buddhist missiona ry principle. To break down
resistance to their message, Soka Gakkai members
might gathe r outside the home of a potential convert
and chant all day and all night or point out to shop
owners that their business would improve if they
convened because Soka Gakkai members would
shop at their stores. Although critics complained
that these tactics amounted to harassment and co-
ercion, the approach was effective, and Soka Gakkai
grew exponentially unde r Toda's leadership. Mean-
while, small groups of practitioners began tO estab-
lish themselves throughout much of Asia, Europe,

and the Americas. Often the leade rs of these local
groups were ethn ic japanese, but the m~ority of the
members were not. As is usual with new religious
movements , young people made up the m~ority of
the converts.
Today, Soka Gakkai Inte rnational (SGJ)-
founded in 1975 as a worldwide organization under
the umbrella of Soka Gakkai in japan- claims 12
million members. Most "new religions" in japan
prom ise this-worldly happiness, and Soka Gakkai is
no exception. In particu lar, it stresses the here-and-
now benefits of chanting the sacred mantra namu
myoho renge kyo ("Hail the marvelous teaching of the
Lotus Sutra," or, as the Soka Gakkai website trans-
lates it, "I devote myself tO the Lotus Sutra of the
Wonderful Law"), wh ich it claims can help members
pass a test, get a promotion, or simply improve their
outlook on life. Soka Gakkai is also active in youth
activities and promotes the enj oyment of nature,
sponsoring summer camps designed to g ive urban
youth a taste of japan's natural beauty and a chance
to experience life in a more traditional seLLing.
At the core of Soka Gakka i is the belief that the
practice of Nichiren Buddhism can bring about a
personal transformation or "human revolution" that
will empower the indiv idual to take effective action
toward the goals of peace, justice, social harmony,
and econom ic prosperity. An example of the organ i-
zation's economic perspective can be seen in a 2008
speech by SGI president Daisaku Ikeda in which
he called for "humanitarian competition" in a new
economic order that would avoid both the exces-
sive greed of capitalism and the lack of competition
historically associated with socialism (Ikeda 2008).
An emphasis on social engagement had been a
central feature of Soka Gakkai from the beginning,
and in 1964 it led some prom inent members to form
a political party. Known as Komeito, the new party
was not offic ially affiliated with Soka Gakkai, but
its unoffic ial association with the organ ization was
well recogn ized. It had socialist leanings, took a
strong stand against corruption in japanese politics,
and worked with several other parties in opposition
to the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Finally, in 1993, the LDP government was replaced
7 New Religions and Movements
by a short-lived center- left coalition of which Ko-
meito was part. When the coalition fell apart , how-
ever, the LDP returned to power and Komeito itself
soon fragmented as well. The New Komeito Party
(1998 - present) is more conservative than its pre-
decessor, with a platform of reducing the size of
central government, increasing transparency, and
promoting world peace through nuclear disarma-
ment. It is part of the ruling LDP coalition.
In 1991, Nichiren Shoshu officially severed its
links with Soka Gakkai. The decision proved the
most dramatic event in recent japanese religious
history and the climax of a long d ispute between
the conservative clergy and the reform-minded
lay organization. Follow ing the split, the priests of
Nich iren Shoshu even tore down the Grand Hall
that Soka Gakkai had bu ilt on the grounds of the
main Nich iren temple.
The profile of Soka Gakkai in japan has been
somewhat d iminished because of the spl it. But the
international organization has continued to grow,
even establishing a university in Cal iforn ia in 1995,
and the split has not affected Soka Gakkai 's practice.
Members continue tO follow the religious teach ings
of Nichiren Shoshu, studying the Lotus Sutra and
chanting the sacred mantra. In the latter practice,
the emotional power of the chanting grows with
repetition as the pace and volume inc rease, rising
to a crescendo.
Falun Dafa (Falun Gong)
Fal un Dafa ("Energy of the Wheel of Law"), pop-
ularly known as Falun Gong, developed out of
a Buddhist qigong trad ition in China in the early
1990s. The term (/i (pronounced "ch i" and often
spelled chi in the older transliteration system) refers
to unseen energy flow ing through the body, while
qigong refers to various techniques of breathing and
movement designed to permit energy to flow prop -
erly through the body, promoting healing, health,
and long li fe. Although Western science has been
reluctant tO incorporate the flow of energy into its
worldview, the belief in qi and the various ways to
strengthen it have been part of Chinese and other
World Religions: Western Traditions

East Asian cu ltures for centu ries. In addition to ex- placa rds, they intended to show that Falu n Da fa
ercise tech niques designed LO enha nce the now of was not a political threat to the govern ment or the
qi, the Ch inese have developed eating patterns that social order. But thei r silent demonstration had
a re thought to mai ntain the proper balance bet ween the opposite effect. The govern ment was alarmed by
the y in (fe minine, cold, wet, dark) and yang (mascu- the s udden presence o f so large a gathering in the
line, wa rm , dry, light) forces in the body. Even skep- heart o f Beijing.
tics have trouble explaining why ac upu ncturists a re Gove rnment officials persuaded the Falun Da fa
able to anesthetize patients by inserting needles at leadership to send the demonstrators home. Then ,
va rious energy points in the body. th ree months late r, the organ ization was banned
A man na med Li Hongzhi brought Falun Dafa to on the grounds that it was an unregistered religion
prominence in China in 1992. He has explained the and had the effect of discouraging people from seek-
trad ition as a system of Buddh ist cultivation passed ing proper medical auention. Falun Dafa members
down th rough the centuries, ide ntifyi ng himself th roughout Ch ina we re a rrested, fired, imprisoned,
as only the most recent in a long line of teache rs. sent tO prison camps, tOrtu red, o r k illed.
The system's Buddh ist roots are renected in its Under pressure from the gove rnme nt, li Hong-
name, the falun, or dharma wheel, and its symbols, zhi had left China two years before the ban was im-
among them the swastika, a re auspicious symbols posed. He relocated to New York City, which has
in Buddh ism. li's teach ings of compassion and self-
development a re based on Buddh ist principles, a nd
they use Buddh ist sy mbols and te rms, but Falun
Dafa is not o fficially recogn ized as a traditional
school of Chinese Buddh ism. As a consequence, the
Chinese gove rnme nt has been able to outlaw Falun
Dafa without contravening its policy on the five re-
ligions it does recognize.
Although Falun Dafa has trad itional roots,
Li Hongzh i was the first to turn it into a popu Jar
practice adapted to eve ryday life, a nd it the n spread
quickly among the people of China, for whom it was
simply a new variation on a familia r theme. Unfor-
tunately, its rapid growth in popularity auracted
the auemion o f the Commun is t Party, wh ich in
1999 counted a total pa rty membersh ip o f j ust over
63 million. With as many as 70 mill ion membe rs
in that year, Falun Dafa was see n as a threat tO the
pa rty, and the fact that it was inc reasingly popular
among you nge r party members and their child ren The Falun Dafa symbol incorporates the Daoist
was partic ularly disturbi ng. When some sen ior yin-yang (taiji) symbols and Buddhist rotating
pa rty officials began expressing alarm over Falun swastikas. The outer symbols rotate individually.
Dafa in 1998 a nd early 1999, the religious grou p's and together they rotate around the central swas-
leaders made a fateful decision. They organized a tika . first in one direction and then in the other.
demonstration in April 1999 in a section of Beiji ng The colors are said to vary depending on the level
where top govern ment officials lived and worked. of visions experienced by the practitioner.
Sitting sile ntly in o rderly rows, without ban ners or

become the base of a worldwide organization claim-
ing more than 100 million followers in over 100
countries. To date, its literaLU re has been translated
into more than 40 languages.
Practice
W hereas some people practice qigong purely for
its physiological benefits, Falun Dafa practitioners
seek both physical and spiritual purification
th rough meditation and qigong exercises. The or-
gan ization describes Falun Dafa as "a high-level
cultivation practice guided by the cha racteristics
o f the universe- Truthfulness, Benevolence, and
Forbearance." li Hongzh i h imself has referred tO
it specifically as a "Buddhist practice" (Li Honghzi
2000). Reflecti ng that background, one of its goals
is to cultivate "mind-nature" (xinxing)- that is, tO
build a characte r that is kinder, more honest, and
more patient.
Practitioners are said to develop a falun, or
"dha rma wheel," in the abdomen. Th is falun is not
the same as the qi, which is cons idered to be natu-
rally present in everyone. Once acqu ired , the falun
is said to spin in synchrony with the rotation of the
planets, the Milky Way galaxy, and other objects
in the universe. When rotating clockwise, the falun
absorbs and transforms ene rgy from the un iverse,
a nd when rotating counte rclockw ise, it d ispenses
salvation to oneself, to others, and to the un iverse.
According to Li, healing comes not from the qi but
from the fal un when it is rotating countercloc kwise.
The falun is believed to change its rotational direc-
tion accord ing tO its own dynamics and to conti nue
to rotate even when one is not actually practici ng
the Dafa exercises. li writes that th is is a un ique
feature of Dafa practice, setting it apart from other
cultivation systems (2016: 23). The energy clus-
ter emitted by the fal un is called gong- hence the
g roup's alternative name of Falun Gong. The gong is
said to glow like light.
Falun Gong practices are d ivided into five sets,
with names such as "Buddha showing a thousand
hands," the foundational set of exe rcises. Practices
7 New Religions and Movements
a re repeated three times and are meant to open the
body's energy channels. When done properly, the
body is expected to feel warm, indicating that the
energies have been unblocked and that ene rgy is
bei ng absorbed from the universe.
Although Falun Dafa teaches and prac tices
non-violence, along Buddhist li nes, practitioners
have faced serious persecution in Chi na, and
therefore it remains an unde rground movement,
regularly denounced as an evil cu lt working
agai nst the good o f the people. Cu riously, it h as
not been banned in Hong Kong, wh ich h as been
a part of China since 1997. However, when the
o rgani zation wanted to hold a major international
rally there in 2007, Beijing blocked the event by
re rusi ng tO g ra nt visas tO Falun Dafa members
from abroad.
Outs ide Ch ina, Falun Dafa is ope nly practiced
and has mounted a campa ign of seve re criticism of
the Ch inese government. Accord ing to Falun Dafa,
many practitioners in China have been imprisoned
in long-term work camps, where they are used as
what amounts to slave labor to produce various
goods that a re sold in the West. The organization
als-o claims that orga ns are involuntarily removed
from prisone rs to be used for transplants. Organiza-
tions such as Amnesty International have lent some
c redence to these accusations (Amnesty Interna-
tional n.d.).
International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON)
In September 1965 a 70-year-old Hi ndu holy man
a rrived by freighte r in New York City with virtu-
ally noth ing but a short list of contacts. A few weeks
later, he sat under a now-famous tree in Tompkins
Squa re Park and began to chant:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama,
Rama Rama Hare Hare.
World Religions: Western Traditions
He had learned this Maha Mantra, "great mantra ,"
from his guru in India, who had learned it from h is
guru, and so on- it was said- all the way back LO a
sixteenth-century Hindu mystic named Chaitanya,
who was reputed to have entered a state of mysti-
cal ecstasy while chanting the three names of h is
god: Krishna, Hare, Rama. With in a year of his ar-
rival , A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada had
established the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON), and the "Hare Krishna"
movement had begun to take root in America.
The Hare Krishna movement was new to the
\Vest, but it was not a new religion. Rather, it was a
Western mission of Vaishnava Hinduism, a school
that emphasizes devotion to the god Vishnu. Trad i-
tional Vaishnavas worship Vishnu both as the su-
preme godhead and in the forms of h is 10 major
avata rs- the anima l or human forms he has as-
sumed at different times to "come down" (avatara) to
Document
Swami Prabhupada
The following quotations from the writings of Swami J>ra-
bhupada address the potential for God-consciousness in
all and the ethical ideals of "Krishna consciousness."
A person in Krishna Consciousness, fully de-
voted in the transcendental loving service of
the l ord , develops many good qualities.
lord Chaitanya desc ribed only some of them
to Sanatan Goswami: A devotee of the lord
is always kind to everyone. He does not pick
a quarrel with anyone. He takes the essence
of life, spi ritual life. He is equal tO everyone.
Nobody can find fault in a devotee. His mag-
nanimous mind is always fresh and clean
and without any mate rial obsessions. He is a
benefactor to all living entities. He is peaceful
earth to save humanity. In this system, Krishna, "the
dark-complexioned one," is the eighth avatar. How-
ever, Prabhupada belonged tO a regional (Bengali)
variant of Va ishnava Hindu ism known as Gaudiya
Vaishnava, in which the cowherd (Gopala) Krishna
is the supreme godhead- the source of everyth ing,
including othe r divine forces. As the supreme per-
sonality, Krishna is understood tO encourage a very
personal relationship between the devotee and him-
self. Like other forms of Hinduism, ISKCON teaches
that the soul is eternal and subject to reincarnation
accord ing to the individual's karma; however, those
who practice lov ing devotion to Krishna will go to
his heaven when they die and thus escape the cycle
of rebirth. The fundamental texts for ISKCON are
the Bhagavad Gita and a collection of stories about
Krishna's life called the Srimad Bhagavatam.
Between the founding of lSKCON in 1966 and
his death only 11 years later, Prabhupada traveled
and always surrendered to Krishna. He has
no material desire. He is very humble and
is fixed in h is di rections. He is victorious
over the six material qualities such as lust
and anger. He does not eat more than what
he needs. He is always sane. He is respectful
to others; but for himself he does not requ ire
any respect. He is grave. He is merciful. He
is frie ndly. He is a poet. He is an expert. And
he is silent. . . . Such a devotee o r person in
Krishna Consciousness is always tolerant and
merciful. He is a friend tO all living entities.
He has no enemies. He is peaceful, and he is
decorated with all good qualities. These are
the symptoms of the person in Krishna Con-
sciousness. (Prabhupada 1968: 104- 105)

Sites
New Vrindaban. West Virginia
Located in a rural area nea r Moundsville, West Vir-
ginia, New Vrindaban is modeled a fte r Vrindaban ,
Ind ia- a n a rea sacred to ISKCON because of its as-
sociations with Krishna. New Vrindaban's temple,
constructed using traditional Indian tools a nd
th roughout North Ame rica a nd a round the world
spreadi ng his version of Hindu ism. His reco rded
add resses a nd volu minous writi ngs laid dow n the
fu ndamental beliefs a nd practices of the move-
ment. Soon the Ha re Krish na movement was es-
tablishi ng centers in cities ac ross North America
a nd abroad. Sc hools we re started to educate the
ch ild ren of devotees in Ved ic cultu re, and some
devotees stud ied "Vedic a rchitecture." Each center
included a te mple with a n a ltar area featuring
images o f Krishna and his consort Rad ha, as the
male and fe male aspects of the d ivine, as well as
piCLu res of the guru, Prabh upada. In add ition to
the temples, which we re located mostly in large
c ities, farms we re established that u ndertook to
work the land in traditional ways consistent with
Vedic (ancie nt Hindu) ways.
It is not uncommon for new religions to un-
dergo a d ifficult period of institutional adj ustment
afte r the death of thei r cha ris matic fou nde r/leade r.
Following Prabhupada's death , ISKCON vested au-
thority not in a new gu ru, but in a Governing Body
Commission (GBC). Eleven devotees who h ad risen
to h igh positions under Prabhupada's leadersh ip
were recogn ized by the GBC as gurus, each of whom
was autho rized to o rdain rec ruits and ove rsee oper-
ations in one of 11 regional zones. Some of the 11
subsequently got into trouble with the law ove r mat-
ters includi ng illegal guns, d r ugs, ch ild abuse, and
murder, and by the 1980s, 6 of the origi nal 11 had
quit o r been removed from office by the GBC. Those
7 New Religions and Movements
tech niques, is a popular stop for tourists and (like
most Hare Krishna temples) includes a vegetarian
restaura nt that is open to the public. The com mu-
nity also grows its own organic food.
who were followi ng in the trad ition of Prabhupada
had to deal with the bad publicity attracted by those
who were not.
Practice
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krish na is the chariotee r for a
heroic royal leade r named Arjuna. On the eve of a
great battle between two factions of the royal family,
Arj una is troubled at the thought of fighting his own
kin . His charioteer counsels h im, and in the course
of their conversation he reveals his identity. He tells
Arj una that he, Krish na, is the h ighest of all gods and
informs h im that although the yoga (spiritual prac-
tice) of good ka rma actions and the yoga of spiritual
wisdom a re both valid paths, the best and highest
path is bltallti yoga: lov ing devotion to Krishna.
These ideas- that Krishna is the supreme
deity and that devotional faith is the best spi ritual
path- combined with Chaita nya's mystical prac-
tice of chanting the praises of Krishna while danc-
ing in ecstasy, are at the hea rt of the tradition that
Prabhupada introduced to the West. Devotional
se rvices (pujas) to Krishna are held seve ral Limes a
day. Du ring these se rvices, one male o r female dev-
otee acting as pttjari, the pttja leader, sta nds near the
altar and makes offerings of fi re and vegeta rian food
to t he images on the alta r, wh ich include, in add i-
tion to Krish na h imself, his consort Radha and h is
b rother Balarama. Wh ile the pujari performs these
rituals, the other devotees cha m and dance to the
World Religions: Western Traditions
accompan iment of handhe ld cymbals and drums
or a small organ called a harmonium. As the pace
builds, the chanting becomes louder and the danc-
ing more feverish, and when it reaches a climax,
many devotees jump high into the air.
Devotees are given a Sanskrit name by their
guru. They wear saffron-colored robes and show
their devOL ion to Krishna by adorning their bod ies
with painted marks called tilaha, made of cream-
colored clay from the banks of a holy lake in Ind ia
that is associated with the life of Krishna. Two verti-
cal marks represent the feet of Krishna, or the walls
of a temple, and below them is a leaf representi ng
the sacred tulasi (basil) plant. The diet is strictly
vegetarian, and recreational drugs of all kinds, in-
cluding alcohol and caffeine, are avoided.
Great effort is put into keeping the temple clean,
and every activ ity is to be done "for Krishna," as
Hare Krishna devotees try to recruit new members by chanting their mantra in public places. such as this
location in front of a mural by R. Cronk at Southern California's popular Venice Beach.
an act of devotional serv ice. In this way the mental
state known as Krishna consciousness is devel -
oped. Some devotees are congregational members,
living away from the temple and visiting only for
major temple activ ities, but others live in or near the
temple. Single male and female devotees have sep -
arate living quarters at the temple, while married
couples and families often live in nearby houses or
apartments. Sexual activ ity is allowed only with in
marriage and for the purpose of procreation. Some
devotees have outs ide employment and turn their
wages over to the temple. Others work full-time for
the movement.
Most temple -based male devotees shave their
heads except for a pigtail at the back of the head.
Women are required to dress very modestly. Dev-
otees carry a small bag containing a string of 108
chanting beads (japa mala), similar to a Christian

rosary, made from the tulasi plant. The nu mber 108
is sac red in India pa rtly because it represents the
multiple of the 12 zodiac houses and 9 planetary
bodies of Indian astrology. Usi ng the beads if their
hands a re free, devotees chant the Hare Krishna
mantra hund reds of times each day as they go about
their duties at the temple.
ISKCON has a full cycle of festivals, including
Gita j aya nti, which celebrates the conversation be-
t wee n Krishna and Arj una recorded in the Bhaga-
vad Gita. The group also stages some lavish festival
pa rades in India and abroad , followi ng the style of
trad itional Indian religious processions.
The Hare Krishna moveme nt provoked st rong
reactions , both positive and negative, when it
emerged. On the positive side was the enthusiasm
shown by celebrities like George Ha rrison o f the
Beatles. Ha rriso n's 1970 song "My Sweet Lord "
contributed g reatly to the acceptance of the move-
ment. But there we re many negative reactions as
well. One reason was s imply that the move ment
was so fore ign to Weste rn culture, a nd that its
members we re so keen tO adopt Indian styles of
dress, music, and worship. The practice of chant-
ing in public places such as ai rports while trying
to raise money also gene rated bad publicity. Ad-
ditionally, in the early years ISKCON discouraged
a ny contact between devotees and thei r former
friends and fam ily. As a consequence, the med ia
quickly branded the movement a "cult," a nd a new
profession know n as "dep rogrammer" came intO
existe nce. Hired by concerned parents to kidnap
their offspring from the movement , deprogra m-
mers would hold the ir subjects in a motel room for
days while they tried to break the "cult program"
that h ad been "brainwashed" into them. Sometimes
these efforts succeeded, but many young people re-
turned to the Ha re Krishnas as soon as they we re
free to do so.
The schools ope rated by ISKCON for child ren
of devotees have also generated controversy, in i-
tially from concerned outside rs and eventually from
former students. Efforts were subsequently made tO
correct the problems and add ress the concerns. But
in 2000 a class action suit (Children of ISKCON vs.
7 New Religions and Movements
ISKCON) was filed in Dallas by 44 former students
who claimed to have been victi ms of physical,
emotional, a nd sexual abuse in ISKCON-operated
sch ools in the United States and Ind ia. Although the
case was initially dismissed on tech nical grounds,
it was refiled in another court. By the time the final
settleme nt was reached, hundreds of others had
joined the list of plaintiffs a nd ISKCON had been
for<:ed to seek bankruptcy protection. The claims,
tot.aling $20 million, we re settled by 2008, and
ISKCON eme rged from bankruptcy protection.
ISKCON now runs approximately 350 temples
a nd centers worldwide. It has been especially s uc-
cessful in the forme r states of the Soviet Union,
includ ing Russia. South Ame rica has also proven
receptive tO ISKCON. The s pread of ISKCON bac k
tO 1ndia has been a remarkable development. After
starting h is mission in Ame rica, Prabhupada fre-
quently returned to India, where he established
temples in Mumbai as well as various places asso-
ciated with either Krishna or Chaita nya. Hav ing
established a strong presence in the West, ISKCON
has been welcomed in India as a movement reviv-
ing Gaudiya Va ishnava devotion. Indian devotees
now may outnumber \Vestern ones. New temples
have been bui lt, a nd major festivals have been
o rganized.
~ Religions Arising
from the Abrahamic Lineage
\Ve now turn our attention to several new religions
that have arisen from the th ree Abrahamic religions.
Fi rst, the Church of Latter-day Saints can be classed
eith er as a branch o f Protestant Ch ristian ity or as
a new religion developing out of Christianity. Ou r
second example, the Baha'i Faith, originated in Iran
in the context of Sh i' i Islam. Third , the Nation of
Isla m was established in the United States by lead-
ers ra ised in the Christian tradition. Fou rth, the
Kabbalah Centre d raws on a jewish mystical tra-
dit ion that is centuries old. Finally, Eastern Light-
ning arose in Ch ina in the context of Protestant
Chris ita nity.
World Religions: Western Traditions
Church of jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
The founder of the Church of j esus Ch ris t o f
l atter-day Sa ints, joseph Smith , j r (1805 - 1844),
claimed that in 1820, as a boy in upstate New Yo rk ,
he had expe rienced a vis ion of God and j esus in
wh ich he was wid not to join any of the existi ng
denom inations. In subseque nt vis ions , he said,
an angel o f God named Moroni had persuad ed
him that he had been d ivi nely chosen to restore the
true church of Ch rist. The new church was found ed
in 1830.
As a textual basis for the enterprise, Smith pu b-
lished the Book of Mormon , which he said he h ad
translated from gold plates insc ribed in "reformed
Egyptian" that had been entrusted to h im by Moro ni
during a h illtop meeting near Pal myra , New Yo rk .
Though subsequent editions referred to Smith as the
"translator," the title page o f the 1830 fi rst edition
decla red hi m "author and proprietor." He said that
he was aided in translating the Book by Lwo special
stones he called "Urim and Thummin"- the na mes
given in the Old Testament to two un identified ob-
jects used by the Hebrew h igh priests to determine
the will of God.
The Book of Mormon uses the la nguage and
format o f the 1611 King j ames tra nslation o f the
Bible to tell the previously unknown, and othe r-
wise undoc ume nted, swry o f two groups, both de-
scended from one of the lost tribes of Israel, th at
supposedly migrated from the Nea r East to the
New World arou nd 600 BCE and became the a n-
cestors o f the Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Including accou nts o f visitations by Christ some-
Lime afte r h is crucifixion, the book is u nderstood
by Mor mon s to be a scriptural account of God's
ac tiv ity in the Western Hemisphere, parallel to the
Bible and its account of d ivine eve nts in the Eastern
Hemisphe re.
Also scriptural for Mormons a re Smith 's The
Pearl of Great Price, a book o f revelations and trans-
lations, and Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of
his revelatory declarations. Passages in the Iaue r
work address specific moments in the chu rch 's
early years. Gene ral reflection is interspersed with
guidance for particula r circumsta nces in a manne r
rem in iscent of the letters of Paul or certai n surahs of
the Qu r'an.
Smith and h is small ba nd of followers faced rid-
icule and persecution from mains tream Ch ristians
in New York , and so Smith led them westward in
search of a safer place. They established settle-
ments in Oh io and Missouri and then, when d riven
out o f Missouri in 1839, moved on to Nauvoo, Il-
linois, on the Mississippi River By now the Mor-
mons were calling themselves the Church of j esus
Christ of l atte r-day Saints. It was in Nauvoo that
Smith sec retly introduced "plural marriage" (po-
lygamy), rumors of wh ich added to the suspicions
of outs iders. He also decla red h imself a ca nd idate
for the Ame rican presidency in the 1844 elections,
advocating a blend of democ racy and religious au-
thority that he called "theode moc racy." Some of
these innovations caused strife between factions of
the l atte r-day Sai nts, a nd in 1844 Smith and his
brother were killed by an ami-Mormon mob.
A number o f the traditionalist, amipolygamy
Mormons stayed in the Midwest as the Reorganized
Church of l auer-day Sai nts, with headquarters in
Indepe nde nce, Missouri. For years, th is branch of
the Mormons was led by desce ndants of Smith , who
prided themselves on remai ning true to h is legacy.
In 2001 they renamed themselves the Community
of Christ. Although relatively small in numbers, the
Com munity of Ch rist is ve ry active in spread ing its
message around the world. Its membe rs continue to
regard the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Cov-
enants as scripture but emphasize the Bible and its
teach ings about jesus. The group sees itse lf not as
a "new religion," but as a branch of Ch ristianity in
the line running from the Hebrew prophets th rough
jesus to j oseph Smith.
The la rger branch o f the Mormons , the Church
of j esus Chris t of l atte r-day Sai nts , has a separate
history. In 1847 most of its members moved to Utah
under the leade rsh ip of Brigham Young, who had
been preside nt of an in ner council of 12 that Smith
had organized on the pauern of the apostOlic church
and who continued to lead the Mormons for the

Document
Book of Mormon
Here the prophet-historian named Mormon explains
how he was instructed to recover the texts hidden by
Ammaron, a recordkeeper among the Nephites- one of
Jour groups said to have migrated from jerusalem to the
Western Hemisphere more than jive centuries before the
time of jesus. These excerpts are drawn from the 1961
edition of the Booh of Mormon.
Chapter I
l. And now I, Mormon, make a record of the things
which I have both seen and heard, and call it the
Book of Mormon.
2. And about the time that Amma ron hid up the
records unto the Lord, he came unto me, (I being
about ten years of age, and I began to be learned
somewhat after the manner of the learning of my
people) and Ammaron sa id unto me: I perceive that
thou art a sober child, and art quick to obse rve;
3. Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four
years old I would that ye should remember the things
that ye have observed concerning this people; and
when ye are of that age go to the land Antum, unto
a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I
deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings
concerning this people.
4. And behold, ye shall take the plates of Nephi unto
yourself, and the remainder shall ye leave in the
next 30 years. Although they were unsuccessful in
their bid to make Utah a Mormon state, Mormons
dom inated the region, and Young was chosen by the
U.S. government to serve as governor of the Utah
Territory.
7 New Religions and Movements
place where they are; and ye shall engrave on the
plates of Nephi all the things that ye have observed
concerning this people.
5. And I, Mormon, being a descendent of Neph i,
(and my father's name was Mormon) I remembered
the things which Ammaron commanded me.
15. And I, being fifteen years of age and being
somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited
of t he Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness
of jesus.
Chapter 4
22. And it came to pass that the Nephites d id again
nee from before them, taking all the inhabitants
with them, both in towns and villages.
23. And now I, Mormon, seeing that the Lama-
nites we re about to overth row the land, there-
fore I did go to the hill Shim, and did take up all
the records which Amma ron had h id up unto
the Lord.
Practice
The Mormons set their commun ity apart with
a code of behav ior that includes not only a
rig'id sexual morality but strict abstinence from
World Religions: Western Traditions
stim ulants, includ ing tea and coffee as well as a l-
cohol and tobacco. Young adults a re expec ted to
serve as voluntee r m issionaries for two years a fte r
completing high school- a prac tice t hat has helped
sp read awareness of the t rad ition and att ract new
me mbers around the world . Dis tinctive Mormon
doctrines include the notion that God is increasi ng
in pe rfection as human beings improve. Disti nctive
practices include the augmentation of t he spiritual
commu nity th rough baptism (by proxy) of the de-
ceased; because of th is practice, Utah has become
a wo rld cente r for genealogical research. Mormo ns
have also taken a keen interest in Western Hemi-
sphe re archaeology, in the hope that physical ev i-
dence o f the events described by the Book of Mormon
will be found.
The most controve rsial Mormon practice, how-
ever, has been plural ma rriage, which was offic ially
adopted by the church in 1852 and officially d ropp ed
in 1890 after the fede ral gove rnment t hreatened to
abolish the organization. The practice soon faded
among mainstream latter-day Sai nts. But a few
congregations refused to accept the change a nd
broke away from t he church to form independent
sects known collec tively as "Fundamentalist Mor-
mons." The largest of these sects, the Fundame n-
talist Chu rch o f jesus Ch rist of lauer-day Saints
(FLDS), in pa rticular is known for allow ing its male
leaders to have multiple wives. Because the women
involved are o ften quite you ng, FLDS cong regatio ns
have come u nde r intense scrutiny by gove rnment
o fficials and conce rned women's organizations. In
2007, FLDS leade r Warren Jeffs was sentenced to
10 yea rs in prison for being an accomplice to rape.
Whether the Mormons cons titute a new reli-
gion or merely a new denom ination of Christian-
ity is open to q uestion. j oseph Smith saw himself
as reform ing t he Ch r istian chu rch , and the [act
that Mormons keep the Bible as scripture argues
for their inclusion unde r the u mbrella of Ch risti-
an ity. O n the othe r hand, t he Mo rmons' belief in
new postsc riptural revelations, new scriptu res, a nd
new modes o f worship (e.g., using water rathe r th an
wine for the Commun ion sac rament) suggests that
they constitute a new religion. The issue came into
focus during the lead-up to t he 2000 electoral pri-
maries, when Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney
was see king nom ination as the Republica n Party's
candidate for president. Some conse rvative C hr is -
tians who ad mired h is strong family values we re
nevertheless relucta nt tO support his candidacy be-
cause of his Mormon faith . However, in the 2012
presidential campaign , the Billy Graha m Evange-
listic Association removed Mormonism from its list
of cults following a visit between Rom ney and Billy
Graham.
The Baha'i Faith
Baha'i developed out of Islam in the mid-nineteenth
centu ry, when Islam was al ready more than 1,200
yea rs old . Although it has many elements in
com mon with Islam, it gives t hose elements a new
and more nea rly unive rsal configuration. The main
point of dive rgence is that Baha'is believe that their
leader, Baha'u'llah , was a new prophet, whe reas
Muslims believe there can never be another prophet
a fter Muha mmad.
The roots o f Baha'i lie in the particular escha-
tology of Iranian Sh i'ism. Eve r si nce the last imam
disappeared in 874, Twelve r Shi 'a have been waiti ng
for a figu re know n as the Bab ("gateway") to appea r
and reopen com mun ication with the hidden imam.
Afte r 10 centu ries, most people no longer expected
this to happen anytime soon. But seeds of messi-
an ic expectation ge rminated in the soil o f political
unrest, and in 1844, Sayyid 'Ali Muham mad de-
clared h imself to be the Bab, the gateway to a new
prophetic revelation. Although he was imprisoned
in 1845, h is followe rs, the Babis, we re not discou r-
aged. They repudiated the Isla mic shari'ah law, and
in 1848 t he Bab proclai med h imself the hidden
ima m. He was executed by a firing squad in 1850,
but he left beh ind a number of w ritings that have
since been conside red sc riptural by his followers.
After t he Bab's death , leadersh ip passed to Mi rza
Husayn 'Ali Nuri (1817- 1892), whose religious name
was Baha'u'llah, "Glory of God." He had not met the
Bab personally but had expe rienced a profound feel-
ing of d ivine support while imprisoned in Tehran in

The Baha'i House of Worship in Germany has
nine sides. reHecting the Baha'i sacred number.
1852. On his release the follow ing year, he was ban-
ished from Iran to Baghdad in Turkish-controlled
Iraq, where he became a spiritual leade r of Babis in
exile. Then, since he was still near enough to Iran
to be seen as a threat, in 1863 he was moved to Is-
tanbul. Before going, he declared himself to be "the
one whom God shall manifest" as foretold by the
Bab. He also claimed to have had a "transforming"
12-day mystical experience in 1862.
This transfer tO the Mediterranean world ex-
panded the sphere of Baha'u'llah's spiritual activity
well beyond the horizons of Iranian Shi'ism. Now
he was in a position to address the entire OttOman
Empire. Although he was banished to Acre in Pal-
estine a few years later, his following continued to
g row. Nearby Hai fa, today a part of the modern state
7 New Religions and Movements
of Israel, remains the world headquarte rs of the
Baha' i Faith today.
Baha'u'llah wrote prolifically throughout his
years in Acre , produc ing more than 100 texts. Ba-
ha'is believe his writings to be God 's inspired rev-
elation for th is age. Among the most important of
these texts are Kitab-i Aqdas (The Most Holy Book,
1873), containing Baha'i laws; Kitab-i Iqan (The Book
of Certitude, 1861), the principal doctrinal work;
and Hidden Words (1858), a d iscou rse on ethics. The
Seven Valleys (1856), a mystical treatise, enumer-
ates seven spiritual stages: search, love, knowledge,
unity, contentment, wonderment, and, seventh,
true poverty and absolute nothingness.
For 65 years after Baha'u'llah's death in 1892,
authority in interpreting the tradition was passed on
to family heirs. His son 'Abbas Effendi was consid-
ered an infallible inte rpreter of his father's writings,
and on his death the mantle of infallibility was be-
queathed to his grandson Shoghi Effendi Rabbani.
Shoghi Effend i appointed an International Baha'i
Council, and from 1963 leadership was vested in an
elected body of representatives called the Universal
House of justice.
Baha'i teachings are based on Baha'u'llah's writ-
ings. The soul is believed to be eternal, a mystery
that is independent both of the body and of space
and time and can never decay. Th is soul becomes
ind ividuated at the moment of the human being's
conception.
The Baha'i notion of prophethood is in line
with that held by the Abrahamic religions. Proph-
ets are sent by God to d iagnose spiritual and
moral disorde r and to prescribe the approp riate
remedy. Islam a ffirms that God sent prophets to
various peoples before Muhammad, each bearing
a message for h is society. Similarly, Baha' is believe
that the world has known a sequence of proph-
ets. They do not believe the prophets' messages to
have been community-specific, however; instead,
they understand the prophets to have spoken to
the entire world. They also believe that the se ries
remains open; according to their doc trine of "pro-
gressive revelation ," more prophets will come in
future ages.
World Religions: Western Traditions
It may we ll be their ideal of world com mun ity
that has done the most to energize Baha' is a nd
make their trad ition attractive to serious searche rs.
Baha'u'llah h imsel f wrote that he came to "u n ify
the world ," and Baha'is have asse rted the unity of
religions. Over a doorway to one Baha' i house of
worship is the inscription, "All the Prophets of God
proclaim the same Faith." Va rious religions are see n
as corroborating the Baha'i Faith itsel f.
But there is more to unity than doctrinal teach-
ing; Baha'is actively advocate economic, sexual, a nd
racial equality. Extremes of poverty and wealth a re
to be eliminated, and slavery rooted out- along with
priesthood and monasticism. Women a re to enjoy
rights and opportunities equal to men's, marriage is
to be strictly monogamous, and divorce is frowned
upon. Baha'is have consultative status with the United
Nations as an official nongovernmental organization,
and they are committed to achieving world peace
through d isarmament, democ racy, and the rule of law,
along with the promotion of international education
and human rights. Although these goals are clearly
compatible with mode rn secular values, they have a
spiritual quality for Baha'is, who cite in their defense
not only Baha'u'llah 's saying that human well-being
is unattainable until unity is firmly established, b ut
also Shoghi Effendi's saying that "nothing short of
the transmuting spirit of God, working through H is
chosen Mouthpiece IBaha'u'llah], can bring it abou t."
Unity of the races in the huma n fam ily is also
actively proclaimed by Baha' is , and interrac ial mar-
riage welcomed. In recent decades th is emphasis
has been a major factor in the appeal of the Baha'i
Faith to African Americans . Once the Un ited Sta tes
eliminates racism at home, some Baha'is claim, it
will be the spiritual leader of the world.
Practice
Baha' is strive to live a peaceful and ethical life. Per-
sonal spiritual cultivation is encouraged, and recre-
ational d rugs and alcohol are forbidden . Si nce the
Baha' i Faith sees itself as the ful fillment of other re-
ligions, Baha'is a re unusually open to d ialogue with
other religious trad itions.
Baha'is follow a distinctive calenda r, in wh ich
the number I9 (which figured in the tradition's early
mystical thinking) plays an important role. Begi n-
ning with the spring equinox, Ira n's traditional time
for the new year, there are 19 months o f 19 days
each , with 4 additional days (5 in leap years) to
keep pace with the solar yea r. Local Baha'i societies
assemble for a commu nity feast on the fi rst day of
each month , and the final month , in ea rly March , is
devoted to dawn-to -dusk fasting, as in the Muslim
obse rvance of Ramadan.
Although the 19-day calendar does not recog-
nize the 7-day week, Sunday gatherings for study
and reflection have become com mon among Baha'is
in the West. Important days in the annual cycle are
essentially h istorical, marking events in the found-
ing o f the religion: several days in April and May a re
associated with Baha'u' llah 's mission, for insta nce.
In addition , the Bah's birth , mission , and martyr-
dom a re commemorated, as a re the bi rth a nd pass-
ing (o r ascension) of Baha'u'llah.
Baha'i devotions at the month ly feasts featu re a
Cappella singing but no instrumental music. Prayers
a re in Fa rsi (Persian), Arabic, or othe r languages.
Readings are mai nly from Baha'i sc riptural writings
by Baha'u'llah or the Bah, but they may be supple-
mented with devotional readings from other tra-
ditions . Among li fe-cycle rituals the re is a simple
naming ceremony, and many who grow up as Ba-
ha' is may make a personal profession of faith at the
age o f 15. Conve rts si mply sign a declaration card.
Baha'i wedd ings va ry dependi ng on the tastes o f the
couple but always include the declaration "We will
all , truly, abide by the will o f God." At funerals there
is a standard prayer for the departed, wh ich is virtu-
ally the only praye r sa id in unison by Baha'is.
Personal devotions a re simila r to Islamic prac-
tice: the faith ful wash thei r hands and face before
praying, and set prayers are said at five times of the
day. Also reminiscent of Islam is the practice of re-
peating the phrase Al/ahu-'1Abha ("God is the most
glorious"). These si milarities notwithstanding, the
Baha'i Faith has gone its own way. Its revelation
does not conclude with the Qur'an , a nd its ideals for
society depart from those reflected in the sltari'ah.

Document
Baha'i Prayer
A prayer, composed by 'Abdu'l-Baha, reflecting the Baha'i
belief that the oneness of humankind overrides any reli-
gious, racial, or national divisions.
Oh kind Lord! Thou Who art generous and mer-
ciful! We are the servants of Thy threshold and we
are under the protection of Thy mercy. The Sun of
Thy providence is sh in ing upon all and the clouds
of Thy mercy shower upon all. Thy gifts encompass
all, Thy providence sustai ns all, Thy protection ove r-
shadows all and the glances of Thy favou r illumine
all. 0 Lord i Gram umo us Thine infinite bestowals
There have also been political tensions between the
two t raditions . Muslims have te nded tO see the Ba-
ha'is as Israeli sympathizers, and in Iran the Baha'i
commun ity su ffered serious losses in lives a nd
property after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Since the end of the nineteenth century, the
Baha' i Faith has spread a rou nd the world. It now
claims some 7 million adhe rents in 235 countries.
These include 750,000 in North America and several
times that numbe r in Ind ia. More than one-quarter
of local councils a re in Africa, and a similar number
in Asia. There a re nearly as many councils in the
southwestern Pacific as in Europe.
The Nation of Islam
It is estimated that at least 20 percent of the West Af-
ricans taken as slaves to the Americas were Musl ims.
One early promoter of Islam- or a version of it-
among African Americans was Noble Drew Al i, who
in 1913 founded the Moorish Science Temple of Amer-
ica in Newark, New jersey. By the time of his death
in 1929, major congregations had been eStablished in
cities, includi ng Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia.
7 New Religions and Movements
and let Thy light of guidance sh ine. 111umine the eyes,
make joyous the souls and confer a new spirit upon
the: hearts. Give them eternal life. Open the doors of
Thy knowledge; let the light of faith shine. Unite and
bring mankind into one shelter beneath the banner of
Thy protection, so that they may become as waves of
one sea, as leaves and branches of one tree, and may
assemble beneath the shadow of the same tent. May
they d rink from the same fountain. May they be re-
freshed by the same breezes. May they obtain illumi-
nation from the same source of light and life. Thou art
the: Giver, the Merciful! (Baha'i Prayers 1969: 43- 44)
Whether Wallace D. Fard (1893- 1934?) was eve r
associated with the Temple is unclear; his followers
say he wasn't. Butt he idea that Islam was the appro-
priate religion for African Americans was in the air
when he established the Nation of Islam (NOI) in
Detroit in 1930. Fard's version of Islam bore little re-
semblance to eithe r the Sunni or the Sh i' i t radition.
For Muslims, who understand Allah to be a purely
spiritual entity, the most fundamental d iffe rence lay
in the NOI's claim that Allah wok human form in
the person o f Fa rd h imself. In fact, Fard was iden-
tified as the Second Com ing of jesus as well. These
claims may have originated in Fard's first encounte r
with Elijah Poole (1897- 1975), a young man who
had felt called to a religious mission of some kind
but did not think of it as a Ch ristian one and had
stopped attending church. He late r described his
fateful 1923 meeting with Fard as follows:
When I got to him I . told him that I
recognized who he is and he held h is head
down close tO my face and he said to me,
"Yes, Brother." I said to him: "You are that
one we read in the Bible that he would come
World Religions: Western Traditions
in the last day unde r the name jesus." .
finally he said; "Yes, I am the one that you
have been looking for in the last two thou-
sand years." (Quoted in Sahib 1951: 91- 92)
Fard, for h is part, was so impressed with the young
man- whose name he late r changed tO Elij ah
Muhammad- that he authorized him to teach
Islam with his blessing. Elijah Muhammad quickly
became Fard 's favorite disciple.
The men who developed the theology of the
Nation of Islam were more familiar with the Bilble
than the Qur'an, but the story they told was no
more fam iliar to mainstream Christians than it was
to Muslims. They maintained that all humans were
o riginally black and had lived in harmony as one
tribe called Shabazz for millions of years, until an
evil man named Yakub rebelled and left Mecca for
an island where he created the wh ite race by kill-
ing all dark-skinned babies and selectively breed-
ing light-skinned ones. Eventually, the ev il white
race returned to Arabia and subjugated the blacks,
bringing oppression and disunity to humankind.
God sent Moses to try to redeem them , but that
effort failed. Now the blacks needed to undergo a
"resurrection" and recognize themselves as proud
members of the Shabazz people who once had a
great and peaceful society.
Martha Lee has argued that the Nation of Islam
is a millenarian movement (1996: 3). In the NOI
version of h istOry, wh ite rule has lasted more than
6,000 years and is approaching the "end-time,"
when the Mothe r of Planes- a huge airc raft base in
the sky- will destroy the "white devils." The "Fall
of America" is thus to be expected soon. In fact,
Elijah Muhammad originally prophesied that the
fall would occu r in the mid-1960s. When that p re-
diction failed to come true, NOI thinking about the
"end-time" became less literal.
An economic as well as a religious movement,
the NOI advocates black economic se lf-sufficiency
and teaches a strict eth ical way of life. From the
beginning it followed the Islamic proh ibitions on
pork and alcohol but did not until much later prac-
tice Friday prayers (services were gene rally held
on Sunday) or follow the shari'ah Jaw. Although
Elijah Muhammad called for a sepa rate state, such
a demand was considered too impractical to pursue
se riously.
The Nation of Islam came to the attention of the
authorities in Detroit when it was rumored that Fard
had promised life in heaven to anyone who killed
fou r wh ites. This was most likely not true, although
he was known to have preached that anyone who
killed four devils would go to heaven. In any event ,
Fard disappeared after he was arrested and expelled
from Detroit in 1933. Elijah Muhammad took over
the leade rship, but the movement fragmented , and
some factions were quite hostile to him. Leaving De-
troit in 1935, he settled in Washington, DC, whe re
he preached under the name Elijah Rasool (Lee
1996: 26). In 1942, however, he was conv icted of
sed ition for counseling his followers not to register
for the d raft. His wife, Cla ra, d irected the organiza-
tion during the four years he spent in prison, and
after his release in 1946 the NOl's numbers began
to grow. Much of the cred it for the movement's ex-
pansion in the 1950s has been given to a convert
named Malcolm X.
Malcolm X
Malcolm Little (1925 - 1965) was born in Omaha,
Nebraska , but spent much of h is ch ildhood in Lan-
sing, Michigan. When he was six, his father was run
over by a streetcar; the coroner ruled it a suicide,
but the Little fam ily believed he had been killed by
a white supremac ist group. After his father's death,
the family was impove rished, and his mother suf-
fe red a ne rvous breakdown, so the child ren we re
put in foster care. Later, Malcolm moved to Boston
and became involved with criminals. It was while
he was serving time for theft that he was encou raged
by his brother to join the NOI He read widely, and
after his release in 1952 he became a key d isciple
of Elijah Muhammad. Like other converts at that
time, he wok the surname X to protest the absence
of an African name and to recall the X branded on
some slaves. Before long Malcolm X had become the
leader of the Harlem temple. His eloquence brought

him national atte ntion as an advocate for Black
Powe r, and he came tO symboli ze the black defiance
o f white racism in America.
Despite h is success, howeve r, Malcolm X became
increasi ngly alienated from the movement. Finally
in 1964 he broke away from the NOI a nd fou nded
Muslim Mosque, Inc. Increasi ngly aware of the di f-
ferences between NOI theology and that of trad i-
tional Islam, he converted to Sunn i Islam and made
the pilgrimage to Mecca, whe re he learned that
Islam was not an exclusively black religion, as the
NO! had taught. It was a life-changing experience.
Changi ng his name to El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, he
began to teach Islam as a relig ion for all races. l ess
than a year late r, in February 1965, he was assas-
sinated wh ile giv ing a speech in New York . Three
members of the NOI we re convicted of the murder,
although some people suspected that the Federal
Bureau of Investigation's Counter Intell igence Pro-
g ram might have played a role in instigating the as-
sassi nation (l ee 1996: 4 4)
Warith Deen Muhammad
The ea rly 1970s also saw a soften ing o f the NO!'s at-
titude toward wh ites and an increasi ng will ingness
to work with other blac k organizations. When El ijah
Muhammad, known as the Messenge r, d ied in 1975,
the leadersh ip passed tO h is son Wallace, who moved
the NO! furthe r toward the mai nstream. He de-
cla red an end to the idea that all wh ites we re dev ils,
withdrew the demand for a separate black state, and
helped put the NOI on a more solid financ ial basis.
He also renamed the temples, adopting the Arabic
word for mosque, masjid. Th is , together with a new
emphasis on studying the Qur'an , brough t the NO!
into Sunn i Islam. In 1975 Wallace renamed the or-
gan ization the World Commun ity of al-lslam in the
West (WCIW), and in 1981 it became the American
Muslim Mission. In 1985 the name was changed
again tO the American Society of Musli ms. He also
renamed h imself Warith Deen Muha mmad ("inher-
itor of the religion of Muhammad ") and became a
mai nstream Ame rican Sunni leade r, a role he held
until h is death in 2008.
7 New Religions and Movements
Louis Farrakhan
Not all membe rs of the former NO! agreed with
these reforms, howeve r. Among the dissenters was
min iste r louis Farrakhan. In 1978 he broke with
the WCIW a nd formed a new organization modeled
on the NO!. He restored the g roup's original na me,
rein stituted the Saviour's Day festival- forme rly the
rehgion's most important holiday- and au racted a
large number o f members.
In 2001 a forme r member o f the revived NO!
published an account of h is experience that was
pa rticularly critical of Fa rrakhan's fina ncial deal-
ings. Accord ing to Vibe rt l. White, J r., members
we re pressured to donate large sums, and many
struggling black-owned businesses we re left with
unpaid bills for their services to the organization ,
even as substantial amounts of money were findi ng
their way to various membe rs o f the Farra khan
fam ily (Wh ite 2001).
At the same time , Fa rrakhan appea rs to have
courted African Muslim leade rs, includ ing libya's
Muam mar Gaddafi, for s upport. Perhaps th is helps
to explain why he has moved the NOI toward the
Isla mic mainstrea m by encouraging Islamic-style
daily prayers a nd the study of the Qur'an. The
change he made that was the most controve rsial was
to drop the doctrine that ide ntified Fa rd as Allah
and Elijah Muhammad as h is Messenger. In a 1997
con fe rence talk, Farra khan publicly a ffi rmed that
Muhammad was the last and greatest prophet of
Allah (Walke r 2005 495)
In 1995 Farrakhan organized a "Mill ion Man
March" on Wash ington, DC, to d raw au ention to
the role of the black male in Ame rican soc iety and tO
unite this group for soc ial and economic improve-
ment. The ma rch was a j oi nt effort sponsored by
many black organizations , a nd most o f the pa rtic i-
pants had a Ch ristian backg round. As the main or-
ganizer, however, Farra khan set the agenda. Dennis
Walker writes:
The March was an lsla mizing event.
A range of Muslim sects we re allowed tO
appear be fore the multitude and rec ite the
World Religions: Western Traditions
Qur'an in Arabic on a basis of equality
with the Ch ristian and black jewish cler-
ics whom Far ra khan had inducted. It was a
recognition in public space of Islam as part
of the being of blacks that had had no prec-
edent. (Wal ker 2005: 508)
Although the March was c riticized for excludi ng
black women and promoting a Muslim agenda,
as well as for its lack of tra nsparency in account-
ing, it did bring seve ral African Ame rican o rgan i-
zations into fulle r cooperation and helped d raw
public auention to the challenges faced by African
America ns.
The Kabbalah Centre
The Kabbalah Centre in Los Ange les teaches a new
form of spirituality based on traditional jewish
mysticism. As an organization , it traces its roots to a
cente r for Kabbalah studies founded in jerusalem in
1922 by Rabbi (or Rav) Yehuda Ash lag. But the t ra-
dition stretches back th rough the sixteenth-century
maste r Isaac Luria to the (p robably) thirteenth-
century te xt called the Zohar and beyond. The
Centre itself claims that its teach ings go back some
4,000 years.
The National Institute for the Research of Kab-
balah (later renamed the Kabbalah Ce ntre) was
founded in 1965 by Rabbi Philip S. Berg. Ra ised in
New York City, he had trained as a rabbi but was not
practici ng when, du ring a trip tO Israel in 1962, he
met Rabbi Yehuda Brandwein, the Kabbalist dean of
a yeshiva in jerusale m's Old City and a descendant of
many famous Hasid ic scholars. With Brandwei n as
his mentor, Berg became an active Kabbalist.
Berg's followe rs claim that he succeeded Rabbi
Brandwei n as leade r of the enti re Kabbalah move-
ment, including leadershi p of the j erusalem yesh iva.
At the yeshiva itself, however, Brandwein's son
Rabbi Avraham Brandwei n is conside red the leader,
and the Kabbalah taugh t the re is in no way new.
In itself, Berg's Kabbalah is not new either, but
his app roach tO it is radically d ifferent than that
trad itionally followed. Traditionally, the study of
Kabbalah was restricted to mature male jews, aged
40 or olde r, who had already completed years of
Talmudic studies. Yet Berg taught Kabbalah tO his
secreta ry, who would later become his wi fe and a
leadi ng figu re in the movement. Within a few years,
the Be rgs set out tO make Kabbalah available to the
world at large: young a nd old, male a nd fe male,jews
and non-j ews alike. Th is was the new d imens ion of
Be rg's Kabbalah , and it sparked a g reat deal of con-
troversy in traditional jewish circles.
On its website the Centre defines Kabbalah as
"ancient wisdom and practical tools for creating joy
and lasti ng fulfillment now." The emphasis on "prac-
tical tools" is significant, for the pu rpose of Kab-
balah study, as the Centre presents it, is to unloc k
the human potential for greatness. In fact, it is a
fundamenta l tenet o f Kabbalah (as well as Eastern
trad itions such as Hi nduism and Buddh ism) that
humans will be rei nca rnated ove r and over again,
returning tO th is world as many times as necessary
"until the task of transformation is done" (Kabbalah
Cent re 2013b).
Another fundamental principle is that the reality
perceived by ou r five se nses is only a tiny portion of
the totality, and that events occurri ng in the know-
able 1 pe rcent of reality are the product of events in
the unknown 99 percent. Berg's followe rs mainta in
that h is teachings enable people tO perceive the 99
percent of reality that normally remains unknown.
Practice
Kabbalists experience God in the world as the energy
that underlies and permeates all th ings. As the
si xteenth-century Kabbalist Moses Cordovero put it,
even a StOne is "pe rvaded by divinity." A similar idea
can be found in the noncanonical Ch ristian Gospel
of Thomas, wh ich quotes jesus as saying, "Li[flt the
stone and there you will find me. Split the wood and
I am there" (Sayi ng 30 + 77b [pOxy. 1.23- 30]).
To illustrate the way God and the material world
inte rrelate, Kabbalah uses a diagram usually re-
fe rred to as the Tree of Li fe. The space above the
tree represents God as Ein Sof, "The Endless"- a
common Kabbalah term call ing attention tO the

Document
Kabbalah: Thoughts on God
Kabbalah understands God more as an energy within
things than as God external to creation.
God's only desire is to reveal un ity th rough
d iversity. That is, to reveal that all reality is
unique in all its levels and all its details, and
neve rtheless united in a fundamental one-
ness. (Kabbalist Aharon Ha-l evi Horowitz
11766- 1828], in l evi 2009 929)
The esse nce of d ivinity is found in every
si ngle th ing- nothing but It exists. Si nce It
causes everything to be, no th ing can live by
infin ite nature of God. The tree itself pictu res the 10
spherot, shining circles of fi re, rep resenting the 10
attributes o f God in the world . The topmost circle
represents the Crown (Keter or Ketlter). Below it the
other nine circles are arranged in three sets, each
with a circle in the left, center, and right columns.
Read from the top dow n , these three sets represe nt
the spiritual, intellectual, and mate rial (earth-level)
qualities of c reation. The spherot in the right-hand
column represent masculine au ributes of God, and
those on the left represent fem in ine auributes. The
spherah (the singula r form o f spherot) in the center of
the nine splterot is understood as "Glory," wh ich pro-
d uces harmony and interconnec tedness among the
lowe r nine spherot. li nes con necting the spherot show
how they inte ract. The 10 spheral are also numbe red
from top to bottom, and the 22 connecting lines a re
numbe red ll to 32 , also from top to bottom. The
total numbe r of connecting lines corresponds to the
numbe r of leuers in the Heb rew alphabet.
In an inte resting twist on most theological sys-
tems, Kabbalah practitioners believe that thei r
practices using the tree facilitate the now of div ine
7 New Religions and Movements
a nything else. It enlivens them. Ein Sof exists
in each existent. Do not say, "Th is is a SLOne
a nd not God ." God forbid! Rathe r all existence
is God, and the stone is a thing pervaded by
divi nity. (Moses Cordove ro 11522- 1570], in
lev i 2009: 937)
Shards of light are d raw n out of the destruc-
tive entities that reside with in my being. Their
li fe force is cut o ff and I am then replenished
with Divine ene rgy. life grows brighte r each
a nd eve ry day as bill ions of sacred sparks
return to my soul! ("Focus in Front" n.d .)
energy into the world. Whe reas mainstream j u-
daism, Ch ristian ity, and Islam stress the absolute
power of God, in Kabbalah God needs hu man effort
to work in the world.
KabbalistS do not attempt tO interpret the Bible
literally; instead, they use a complex kind of numer-
ology. The ancient Hebrews used regular letters as
numbers, assigning them a numerical value accord -
ing to their position in the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet.
Totaling the numbers in certain words could reveal
hidden connections between them and lead to new
interpretations. For example, it turns out that the nu-
merical values ofYHWH, the name for God revealed
to Moses, and aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, are
both 26. For Kabbalists, this is significant, because
one of the words for "lord" or "Master" in Hebrew,
alttph, is based on the word aleph. Inspired by the nu-
merological practices of ancient Kabbalah, modern
Kabbalists maintain that determining the nume rical
val ue of one's name can lead to new insights.
One of those practices involves med itating on
the 72 names for God, based on combinations of
Hebrew lette rs that Kabbalah finds hidden in Exodus
World Religions: Western Traditions
14:19- 21, the biblical account o f Moses calling to
God for help be fore leading the people into the Red
Sea as the Egyptian a rmy pu rsues them. Kabbaltsts
took these three ve rses, each of wh ich has 72 letters
in Hebrew, and developed 72 names of God by co m-
bining those letters into triads. To get the fi rst name,
they took the fi rst letter of verse 19, the last of verse
20, and the fi rst of ve rse 21. The next name was
The Tree of Life symbolizes how the 10 aspects
of God interrelate.
composed by taking the second lette r of ve rse 19, the
second to last of verse 20 , and the second of verse 21,
and so on, for a tOtal o f 72 names. These 72 na mes
were then a rranged in a grid with eight columns and
nine rows. According to the Kabbalah Ce ntre, the 72
names of God "work as tu ning forks tO repair you on
the soul level"; each three-letter sequence "act[s] like
an index to specific, spiritual frequencies. By si mply
looking at the letters, as well as closi ng your eyes
and visualizing them, you can connect with these
frequencies" (Kabbalah Centre 2013a).
Trad itional Kabbalah employs a dualistic sy m-
bolism o f light and da rkness, and many of the Cen-
tre's teach ings focus on moving from da rkness to
light. Fo r example, it stresses that instead of run-
ning away from adversaries, one should confront
and lea rn from them, just as the biblical jacob
wrestled with the angel and gai ned light from the
experience. Kabbalists see j acob's a ngel as a per-
soni fication of the pe rsonal darkness with wh ich
every individual must Struggle in orde r to reach the
light. The ego is seen as covered with a ga rment of
da rkness. Kabbalah practice is understOod to help
to remove the darkness that covers the ego so as to
reveal the light, the spark .
like many other religious institutions, the Kab-
balah Centre clai ms that its spiritual understa ndi ng
fulfills the aims of other religions. In sha rp contrast
to most, however, it does not require its members to
give up thei r former rel igious ide ntities.
like Scientology (see "Scie ntology"), the Kab-
balah Cent re has be nefited from the media atten-
tion attracted by some o f its adherents. At the head
of the celebrity list is Madonna, who has sometimes
included references tO Kabbalah in her lyrics (Huss
2005). Howeve r, with this notoriety, a nd the large
sums of money donated by celebrities, have come
q uestions about the Kabbalah Centre's finances and
accounting.
There are now bra nches o f the Kabbalah Centre
in over 40 c ities wo rldw ide. Some j ews have ac-
cused the Centre of exploiting Kabbalah for worldly
gai n , wh ich the Kabbalist trad ition explicitly for-
bids. Othe r criticisms have focused on the Cent re's
claims linking worldly happiness with Kabbalah

practice. O ne leader of the Centre in London,
England, was critic ized for suggesting that jews
died in the Holocaust because t hey did not follow
Kabbalah.
Eastern Lightning: The Church
of Almighty God
The Church of Almighty God is one of the newest
movements to grow out of Chr istianity. Its roots go
back to 1990 in Ch ina, when a man named Zhao
Weishan led followe rs away from the House Church
movement to form a revised version of Chr istianity
so d ivergent from mainstream Ch ristianity that it
has been soundly rejected by othe r Ch ristians. In
China the term "house church " refe rs tO Protesta nt
churches that are not registered with the gove rn-
ment and therefore usually hold se rvices and Bible
study sessions in private homes. The House Chu rch
congregations are evangelical in nature and stress
the com ing of judgment Day and the end-times.
The movement founded by Zhao has undergone sev-
eral name changes. Since 1993 it has been formally
know n as the Chu rch of Almighty God . In Ch inese ,
it is know n as Zhen Shen Church, which may be
translated as Real God Church. However, the church
is more popularly referred to as Eastern Lightning,
a ph rase de rived from the movement's vision of
itself as t he lightning from the east mentioned in
Mau hew 24:23- 27. In that text jesus warns against
false prophets a nd false Ch rists who will a rise and
lead people astray. jesus then says that j ust as light-
ning comes from the east a nd goes to the west, so
also will it be with the Son of Man. The usual un-
derstanding of t his passage is that the coming of
the Son of Man, taken to mean the return of Ch rist,
will happen s uddenly, like a nash of lightning. The
Church of Almighty God, howeve r, interprets the
passage quite d ifferently. It takes the refe rence to the
lightning com ing from the east to refe r tO Ch ina ,
a nd the reference to the return of Ch rist to refer tO
a C hinese woman revered by Eastern Lightning as
the new Ch rist. From a trad itional Christian point
of view, it is iron ic that a New Testa ment passage
7 New Religions and Movements
warning against follow ing false Ch rists has become
the favorite text of a new movement formed a round
a belief in a new incarnation of Christ.
The new Ch rist adored by Eastern Lightning
is a woman named Yang Xiangbin, the wi fe of
Zhao. Followers of Eastern Lightning refer to he r
as Almighty God , wh ich leads tO the group's name,
Church of Almighty God. They talk of he r as the
returned Christ, or as the second of the "two incar-
nat ions ." Mainstream Ch ristians reject both the idea
that the re ca n be a new Ch rist and the idea that the
returning Ch rist might be a woman.
Besides its belief in the return of Ch rist in Ch ina,
other beliefs of Eastern Lightning deviate from those
of t raditional Ch ristianity. Easte rn Lightning con-
side rs the book authored by Yang Xiangbin, known
in English as The Word Appears in the Flesh , to be a
new scr ipture for this new age. The group div ides
human history into three periods: the time before
j es us was under the guidance of God (Yahweh), the
pe riod unde r the guidance of jesus, and the cur-
rent pe riod under the authority and guidance o f the
second Ch rist, Yang Xiangbin. Her role as Ch rist in
the end-time is to judge a nd purify humans and tO
dereat Satan. According to Easte rn Lightning, those
who reject he r and he r book will suffe r during the
end-time judgment.
The church believes that th is end-time is ap-
proaching. Followe rs of Eastern Lightning initially
looked to a date in May 2012 as the begin ning of
the end-time, but when nothing of consequence oc-
cu rred around that date, they were not discouraged
in thei r belief that the end -time is imminent. They
continue tO use the phrase "Ch rist of the End-Times."
The actions of Eastern Lightn ing have been
qujte controversial in China. Me mbers of the House
Church congregations , as well as other citizens,
have complai ned that Eastern Lightning follow-
ers use ove rly aggressive or eve n violent tactics in
their efforts to recruit new members. In h is book
Kidnapped by a Cult, the Ch ristian pastor Shen Xiao-
ming claims tO have bee n kid napped by Eastern
Lightning in 2002 as part o f its practice of abduct-
ing Ch ristian pastors to tr y to get them, a nd sub-
sequently their congregations, to convert. And in
World Religions: Western Traditions
Document
Yang Xiangbin. The Word Appears in the Flesh
In this passage, drawn from the Forty-Sixth Utterance,
the end-time Christ speaks for God, expressing God's
dismay over human nature in the past and cautioning
that things will not go well for those who do not heed
the book's warnings. God seems to be comparing his dis-
appointment with humans to a parent's worries about a
child who doesn't show ambition in life.
I tell people to hurry up and leave, to not stick
to liv ing in "poveny"; in the future it will be too
late for regrets. Don't be too hard on yourself; why
bother~ Yet I also tell people that when they fail to
gain blessings, no one may complain about Me. I
have no time tO waste My words on man. I hope that
this sticks in people's minds, that they don't forget
it- these words are the uncomfortable truth from
Me. I have long since lost faith in man, I have long
since lost hope in people, for they lack ambition,
they have never been able to give Me a heart that
20I4, when a woman refused to give a group of five
Eastern lightning recruiters her cell phone number
while in a MacDonald 's restaurant, they beat her
with a mop handle so violently that she died. The
five were convicted, and two were executed for
murder. This incident caught international anent ion
when it was featured on a BBC show about Eastern
lightning's extreme practices.
One typical characteristic of cults is that they may
use extreme measures to discourage adherents from
leaving the organ ization. Such allegations have been
made about Eastern lightning. Besides allegedly ha-
rassing followers seeking to leave, Eastern lightning
has been accused of committing violence against the
fam ily members of those wanting to leave.
Eastern lightning has been officially banned
in Ch ina since 1995 by the Chinese government,
loves God, and always give Me their motivations in-
stead. I have said much to man, and since people
still ignore My advice today, I tell them of My view
to prevent them misunderstanding My heart in the
future; whether they live or die in the times to come
is their business, I have no control over th is. I hope
they find the ir own path to survival, and I am pow-
erless in th is. Since man does not truly love Me, we
simply pan ways; in future, no longer will the re be
any words between us, no longer will we have any-
th ing tO talk about, we will not interfere with each
other, we will each go our own way, people must not
come looking for Me, never aga in will I ask for man's
help. This is something that's between us, and we've
spoken without equivocation to prevent there being
any issues in the future. Doesn't this make things
easier? We each go our own way and have noth ing to
do with each other- what's wrong with that? I hope
people give this some consideration. (Xiangbin n.d.)
which holds it responsible for murder, extortion,
kidnapping, and harassment. In response, Eastern
lighting adherents claim that the accusations made
against them were false, used by the government as
an excuse to ban the group. The church refers to the
Chinese Communist Party as the Great Red Dragon.
That term is taken from Revelation 12, in which the
Great Dragon is an evil monster that swats stars out
of the sky with its tail.
Zhao We ishan left Ch ina before 1995 and,
having been granted asylum in the Uni ted States,
now lives in and runs the organ ization from
New York State. Chinese sources cla im that his
wife imm igrated with h im, with both using false
passports.
Missionaries have had some success in spread-
ing Eastern lightn ing beyond mainland China.

The movement has ad herents in Hong Kong and
Taiwan and has made converts in some other Asia n
cities a nd , to a lesser extent, the \Vest.
~ Religions Inspired by
Other Forms of Spirituality
Not all new religions a re offshoots of established
mai nstream religious trad itions. We tu rn now to
a selection of new religions de riving from uncon-
ventional sou rces. Wicca is a modern phe nome-
non inspired by pre-Ch ristian European trad itions,
with a significant feminist component. By contrast,
Scientology, the Aetherius Society, and the Raelia n
Movement d raw on more secular sources, includi ng
sc ience fiction and new forms of depth psychology.
Wicca: The Witchcraft Revival
In the late Middle Ages, a fte r ce nturies of condemn-
ing the remnants o f "pagan" tradition in northern
Eu rope as "witchcra ft," the Roman Catholic Chu rch
mou nted a systematic campaign to erad icate those
remnants once and for all. Although accusations
o f witchcraft we re frequent well into the 1700s, by
the early twe ntieth century witchcra ft was widely
conside red a th ing o f the past in industrialized
societies- a matte r o f h istorical curiosity, but not in
a ny way a livi ng tradition.
Around the time of the Second World War, how-
ever, a movement emerged in England that claimed
witchcra ft to be the original religion o f Britain and
sought to rev ive the tradition. The leadi ng figures
in this movement were two men, Gerald B. Gard-
ner and Aleiste r Crowley, but women's interest in-
c reased after 1948, whe n Robert Graves published
The White Goddess, a work on myth that posited the
existence of a mother goddess in Eu ropean preh is-
tory. In 1953 Do ree n Valiente was in itiated into the
movement a nd wrote The Book of Shadows, a kind of
liturgical handbook for witchcraft.
The first modern use o f the Old English word
"Wicca," mea ning "Cra ft," is attributed to Ga rd ner
in 1959. With in a few years, an English man named
7 New Religions and Movements
Alex Sande rs, who claimed descent from witches in
\~Tales, was attracting med ia attention to the move-
ment; a 1969 fil m entitled Legends of the Witches was
based on his writing. Sande rs also initiated into
W icca ma ny witches, who in turn founded covens
(assemblies of witches) in Great Britai n and conti-
nema l Europe, but it is a Ga rdne r initiate named
Ray Buckland who is c red ited with introduci ng
W icca to the United States. Soon people with no
con nection to the Gardner lineage were establish ing
covens, a nd the name "Wicca" became known out-
side the movement.
It is di fficult to estimate the cur rent size of the
W icca movement, but publications sales and vari-
ous claims regard ing coven attendance suggest that
the re are at least 85,000 adherents in North Amer-
ica, and perhaps fou r times as many a round the
world . The Covena nt of the Goddess, which was or-
ganized in California in 1975, is a kind of umbrella
organi zation , b ut it includes no more than 1 coven
out of eve ry 20 in the Un ited States.
The femin ist movement had a major impact on
W icca in North Ame rica. Zsuzsanna Budapest es-
tablished a female-only coven in 1971; her book The
Holy Book of Women's Mysteries (1980) focuses on
goddesses and rituals for women. j ournalist Margot
Ad ler became interested in the movement after lis-
ten ing to a tape sent by a witchcraft circle in Wales.
Investigating women's involvement in the Craft, she
found that many we re attracted by W icca's vis ion-
a ry or aesthetic element, along with iLS emphasis on
the mysteries of bi rth and growth, its conce rn for the
natural envi ronment, and particularly its sense of
feminist empowe rment. Feminism was also a central
pan of W icca for Sta rhawk (born Mi riam Simos), an
adherent for whom the religion of the Goddess was
the pulsating rhythm of life, and human sexuality a
reOection of the fundamentally sexual nature of the
earth itself. At a lake h igh in the Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains of California, she wrote, "It seems clear that earth
is truly Her flesh and was formed by a sexual process:
Her shakes and shudders and moans of pleasure, the
orgasm ic release of molte n rock spewi ng forth in
fiery eruptions, the slow caress of glaciers, like white
hands gently smooth ing all that has been left jagged"
World Religions: Western Traditions
Wiccans celebrate the winter solstice at Stonehenge.
(Starhawk 1982: 136). In general, th is kind of neo-
pagan witchcraft seeks a return to primal nature a nd
repud iates the classical Western religions, which it
holds responsible for repressing human sexuality. At
the same time, its feminist emphasis challenges the
patriarchal traditions of j udaism and Ch ristianity.
Although men can take an active part in it, Wicca
is particula rly empowering for women, and this h as
surely been part of its appeal.
Practice
Wiccans celebrate as many as eight sabbats (festivals)
during the annual cycle or "wheel of the year." Four
have fixed dates: Candlemas (Februa ry 1), May Day
(May 1), lammas (August 1), and Hallowe'en (Oc-
tober 31). The othe r four mark the important d ays
o f the solar cycle: the spring and autumn equinoxes
and the fall and winte r solstices.
Ideally, every Wiccan serv ice would be held in
the open air, but th is is not always possible. Al-
though practices vary in thei r details, sta nda rd ac-
tiv ities include healing rituals a nd celebration of
important life-cycle events such as birth, coming
of age, marriage, and death. Among the most im-
portant sy mbols are the circle, the four di rections,
and the fou r elements (ea rth, wate r, fire, air). Some
of the rituals are sy mbolically sacrificial, parallel-
ing (or pa rodying) the Ch ristian Eucha rist. Some
covens announce upcoming services only by word
of mouth and require that strangers be introduced
by a trusted friend.
In 1993 membe rs of the Covenant of the God-
dess took part in the ce ntennial World 's Pa rliament
of Relig ions in Chicago. In an age of interfaith ac-
cepta nce, Wiccan priestesses and priests sought
public and governmental recognition of their work
as institutional chaplains in hospitals, prisons,

un iversities, and m ilita ry units, but they could
not prov ide any formal documentation o f clerical
train ing. To obtain t he necessary credentials, some
Wiccan leade rs en rolled in Unitarian theological
seminaries. Since the n, the te rm "witch " has begu n
to be used tO d is tinguish credentialed clergy (group
leaders) from lay adherents .
Scientology
The Chu rch of Scientology was founded in 1954
by L. Ron Hubbard (1911- 1986). O fficial biogra-
phies emphasize t he breadth of h is experience a nd
learni ng. As a boy in Montana, for instance, he was
exposed to the trad itional teach ings of t he Black-
foot nation. Late r, he was introduced to Freudian
psychology by a me ntor who had t rai ned with Sig-
mund Freud , and , wh ile t rave ling in Asia with h is
fam ily, he learned about a variety of ancient spiri-
tual traditions. As an adult, he not only became a
prolific author in va rious genres, including sc ience
fiction , but served as a naval o ffice r in the Second
World Wa r a nd , after be ing severely wounded, as-
sisted h is return to health by d iscovering how to
remove deep-seated blocks in his mind. Followi ng
his recove ry he began to advocate a new theory of
what t he soul does to the body. He called t his t heory
d ia netics, from t he Greek dia ("th rough") and nous
("m ind " o r "soul").
Hubbard's 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Sci-
ence of Mental Health sold m illions of copies. Soon
followe rs we re formi ng g roups ac ross the United
States, and in 1954 they beca me the first membe rs
o f t he Church o f Scientology. The church's official
website defi nes Scientology- a word de rived from
the Lati n scio ("knowing") and the Greek logos
("study")- as "knowi ng about know ing" and de-
scribes it as an "applied religious philosophy."
The official creed of Scientology begins with sev-
eral generic Statements about human rights, includ-
ing freedom of expression , association, and religion.
ReOec ting Hubbard's belief that t he underlyi ng
principle o f all life forms is t he drive to su rvive, it
asserts that all humans have the r ight tO su rvive a nd
defend themselves and the dut y tO protect others.
7 New Religions and Movements
At t he same time it affirms that "the laws of God
forbid" humans to destroy or enslave the souls of
oth ers, that the spirit can be saved, and that the
splrit alone can heal the body.
Scientologists unde rstand the unive rse to consist
of eight inte rsecting planes or "dy namics," begin-
ning with the self and the family at the bottom and
mov ing up to the spi ritual un iverse (the seventh
dyn am ic) and the sup reme being or infin ity (the
eighth). The nat ure of the infi nity or God dy namic
is not clearly de fined. However, it seems to h ave less
in common with the "personal God " o f C hr istian-
ity, who knows, wills, and acts like a (super)human
pe rson , than with "impe rsonal" principles or d i-
vinities such as the Dao of Daoism, the Brah man of
the Hindu Upanishads, and the t ransce nde nt cosm ic
Budd ha of some forms o f Mahayana Buddhism.
Scientology uses the term "thetan" (pronounced
''thay-ta n") for the soul. Each thetan is thought tO be
billions of yea rs old. Li ke the Atman of Hindu belief,
the thetan is reincarnated, passing from one body tO
another at deat h.
Scientologists prefer to th ink of their movement
as o riginating with its practitione rs rat her than with
Hubba rd himsel f. But he was its inspiration, he gave
it di rection from the first, and his w ritings and lec-
tures constitute its religious lite rature. In a sense,
the spread of Scientology began with the publica-
tion of Dianetics and its t rans lation into nu merous
languages, wh ich occur red even before the official
fou nd ing o f t he church in 1954. Various publica-
tion s subsequently helped to spread Scientology to
Britain a nd Europe. Today Sc ientologists have an
organized presence in most countr ies.
As a strategy for spread ing Scientology's in-
Oue nce, Hubbard dec ided to focus on the conve rsion
of h igh -profile celebrities. "Celebrity Centers," posh
facilities for practice and train ing, were established
in m~or cities in North America and Eu rope and
succeeded in attracting seve ral celebrities, whose
names have added credibility to the o rgan ization.
Credibil ity was im portant because the move-
ment was haunted by controve rsy. Seve ral Scien-
wlogists, including Hubbard's wife Mary Sue, we re
conv icted o f crimi nal activity for thei r involvement
World Religions: Western Traditions
in the attempted infiltration of va rious government
agencies to remove documents thought to renect
badly on the ope ration (an effort refe rred to by Sci-
entology leaders as Operation Snow White). L. Ron
Hubbard was named as a co-conspi rator in this case
(United States vs Mary Sue Hubbard et al., 1979) but
was never ind icted.
After Hubba rd 's death in 1986, the leadership
passed to David Miscavige. As a boy growing up in
Philadelphia, Miscav ige had suffe red from alle rg ies
and asthma but was apparently cured following a
dianetics training session. He joined Scientology in
1976, right at the time of Operation Snow Wh ite, and
within three years rose from a came raman filming
Hubbard to an executive role restructuri ng the var-
ious divisions so as to bette r conform to va rio us
laws and to protect Hubbard from personal liabi l-
ity. In the aftermath of the trial, Mary Sue Hubbard
resigned from her leade rship role, and a new div i-
sion was created under the leadership of Miscavige,
who became chairman of the board of the Religious
Technologies Center, charged with protecting the
integrity of Hubbard's teachings. From this power
base, he has served as the organization's pa ramount
leader since 1986, although his role is that of an ad-
min istrator rather than a spiritual leader.
As early as 1982, some dissenting followers of
Hubbard were beginn ing to form alternative orga-
nizations outs ide the Church of Scientology. Th is
activity inc reased afte r Hubbard 's death. These "he-
retical" organizations are known collectively as the
"Free Zone." The name comes from Hubbard him-
self, who claimed that planet Earth, under the galac-
tic name Teegeeack, had been declared a "free zone"
millions of years ago. In that context, "free" meant
free of political or economic interference from othe r
planets in the galaxy, but in the organizational con-
text it meant free to follow the teach ings of Hub-
bard without eithe r payment to or interference from
the Church of Scientology. RON's Org was one of
the first of the Free Zone groups. Othe r Free Zone
groups sprang up in Germany and elsewhere. The
Church of Scientology tries to maintain exclusive
rights to Hubbard's practices and refers to any un-
autho rized Scientological practices as "squirreling"
and to Free Zoners as "squirrels," a label that cor-
responds to the term "he retics" in Christianity. At
the same time, Free loners such as the International
Free Zone Association claim that it is they, and not
the Church of Scientology, who are faithful to the
original teachings and practices of Hubbard.
Practice
In the 1960s Hubbard developed a step-by-step
method for dearing the mind, or thetan , of mental
blocks (called eng rams) and restoring it to a state
refe rred to as "clear." Engrams are considered to
be the result of traumatic experiences, and they
a re said to remain with the thetan until they a re
cleared, even ca rry ing over from one life to the next.
In some ways they are comparable to bad karma in
the rel igions of India. Hubbard 's process for clear-
ing engrams, called "auditing," involves the use of
a dev ice called an "E-meter," which is supposed to
ind icate when an engram blockage has been d is-
covered in the mind. The E-mete r (shorthand for
"electro-psychometer") was originally developed
by a polygraph expert named Volney Math ison,
who had noticed wh ile doing lie detection sessions
that subjects tended to give readable responses to
words that triggered unconscious as well as con-
sc ious thoughts. Math ison and Hubba rd knew each
othe r because they both wrote science fiction, and
Hubba rd began to use the "Math ison E-meter" in
his dianetics practice. Although Mathison later d is -
tanced himself from Hubba rd , the latter was able
to get a patent on a modified version of the dev ice.
The Hubbard E-mete r is manufactu red at the move-
ment's Californ ia headquarters and sold to members
for thei r use in aud iting.
Another important practice- the equ ivalent of
sc riptural study- is the study of Hubbard's thought
and writings (an area in which the movement works
hard to prese rve orthodoxy). This study is known
as "training," and students are encouraged to con-
tinue it th roughout thei r lives, striving to reach
ever-h igher levels. Progress is termed "moving
along the bridge" to total freedom, and it can take
years of expensive auditing. After sufficient progress

A Scientologist dressed as the extraterrestrial Xenu holds an E-meter.
has been made, the individual rece ives the title of
"a Clear," and "advanced trai ning" begi ns. This in-
Struction introduces some o f Hubbard's imagi native
sc ience fiction concepts, among them the idea that
a n extraterrestrial named Xenu, the ruler of a ga-
lactic confederation, came tO Teegeeack (Earth) 75
million years ago, bringi ng with h im thousands of
alie ns who had tried to revolt agai nst his leadershi p.
He put these political prisoners a round volcanoes,
in which he detonated H-bombs. Then he captu red
the souls of the dead, now known as Thetans , and
subjected them to brainwash ing, implanti ng in
them various ideas that we now associate with other
rel igions. However, traces of their essences remain
to this day, and some of thei r souls accumulated on
the few bod ies that we re left. They are known as
7 New Religions and Movements
"body the ta ns." Those who complete all seven levels
of th is tra ining a re known as "operating Thetans ."
Scientologists try to min imize the formation of
new engrams in themselves and others. For exa m-
ple, Scientologist wome n are encouraged (though
not required) to give birth in silence in order to
min imize the trauma of birth and therefore the cre-
ation of eng rams in the baby thetan. Gestures are
used for com munication between the mothe r and
attendants , and the mother is urged to minimize he r
c ries of pain. Si nce Scientology prohibits the use of
drugs, the mothe r is also encouraged to give bi rth
without the aid of pai nkillers.
Si nce Scientology does not anticipate a ny form of
div ine judgment after death , funeral se rvices focus
on celebrating the life of the deceased and wish ing
World Religions: Western Traditions
his or her thetan well in the next incarnation. After
the fune ral, friends and relatives of the deceased are
encouraged to undergo aud iting to rid themselves of
the engrams resulting from grief. Scientologists may
opt for cremation or burial. Hubbard was cremated,
and before his death he d iscouraged the building of
any elaborate memorials to him.
Scientology has come under intense public scm-
tiny and criticism for several reasons. Professional
psychologists and other scientists are not sympathetic
to the underlying claims of dianetics, and the fact that
every step along the bridge costs add itional money
has given rise tO accusations that it is just a pyramid
scheme designed to bilk money from the rich and
gullible. Some observers have claimed that Hubbard
once suggested tO a meeting of science fiction writers
that, instead of writing fora penny a word, they could
make millions by starting a new religion.
Marc Headley, a former Scientology believer and
employee, broke with the movement after 15 years,
escaping on a motorcycle with security personnel
chasing him in a van until he crashed . later he re-
turned to rescue his Scientologist wife as well. In
2009 Headley published an autObiographical expose
of his years in Scientology. In Blown for Good: Behind
the Iron Curtain of Scientology he describes h is early
years as a child of Scientologists who sent him to Sci-
entology schools whenever they could afford it. Even-
tually he wok a job with the organization. Promoted
to the headquarters, where the tapes, E-meters, and
other equipment were manufactured, he happened to
be chosen as the subject on whom Tom Cruise would
practice aud iting. In an interv iew with The Village
Voice, Headley explained that as Cruise's trainee, he
was instructed to tell inan imate objects such as bot-
tles or ashtrays to move in a certain way; then, when
they d id not move, Headley was instructed to move
the objects himself and then thank them for moving.
The purpose of th is exercise, according to Head ley,
was to rehabilitate the mind's abil ity to control things
and be controlled (Ortega 2009). He also claimed
that employees lived and worked in substandard
conditions for little or no pay and were not allowed to
leave the premises. In Scientology circles, critics such
as Headley are known as Suppressive Persons, or SPs.
In 2016, the American actor leah Remin i created
a telev ision show entitled Scientology and the After-
math. Rem in i had been a Scientologist but had left
the movement and written a book that was critical
of it, called Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and
Scientology. Scientology has been critical of the tele-
vision series, wh ich won an Emmy award in 2017
for an outstand ing informational series or special.
Despite the controversies that surround it, Sci-
entology has been recognized as a valid new religion
in several countries, including South Africa, Spain,
Portugal, and Sweden. According to Headley, when
the Internal Revenue Service of the United States
granted Scientology tax-free status as a religious or-
ganization in 1993, Miscavige held a big meeting to
announce that "the war" was over.
The movement has had problems elsewhere,
however, especially in France. In 1977 five Scien-
tology leaders the re were found guilty of fraudu-
lently coercing money from members, and the next
year Hubbard h imself was found guilty of fraud.
A well-known owne r of a computer company lost
a large order from the Ministry of Education after
the French media ran a story about his Scientology
affiliation in 1991, and in 2009 six leaders of the
Scientology Celebrity Center of Paris were conv icted
of fraud and fined almost S1 million, although the
court stopped short of banning the organization,
as the prosecution had requested, on the grounds
that the law regarding fraud did not extend that
far (Erlanger 2009). In s uch cases, even the pros-
ecution has been careful to focus on Scientology's
money-rais ing tactics rather than its spiritual beliefs.
Although it was founded only in the mid-
twentieth century, Scientology now claims more
than 12 million followers in over 100 countries.
Critics who believe that number to be grossly ex-
aggerated suggest that it is based on the numbers of
people who have ever bought a book on Scientology
or taken a Scientology course since the movement's
inception. Based on the quantities of E-meters and
other supplies shipped during his time with the or-
gan ization, Headley has estimated that there were
roughly 10,000 to 15,000 active Scientologists in
the 1990s.

The Aetherius Society
Some new religious movements have incorpo rated
beliefs about alien life-forms visiti ng our planeL.
An ea rly example is the Aetheriu s Society, wh ich
embraces a belief in extrate rrestrial bei ngs, called
Cosm ic Masters, who a re said to have played a
role in hu man history. The group was founded in
England by George Ki ng in 195 4. He had a back-
g round in occult practices and the Theosoph ical So-
ciety move ment, wh ich drew upon Western occult
ideas a nd the spirituality of Ind ia and Sri Lanka.
Ki ng is also said to have been trai ned by a Hi nd u
swami. The name of the group he founded de rives
from h is claim to have been in "extra-sensual"
commun ication with a Cosmic Master from Venus
named Aethe rius.
The Aethe rius Society cla ims that major religious
leaders in the past, includ ing Buddha and j esus,
were Cosmic Maste rs who came to earth to teach
humans how to live better. Fo r the Society the tra-
ditional battle between God and Satan, as found in
the Abrahamic religions, takes the form of a haLLie
between the Cosmic Masters and evil cosm ic forces.
The Society refers to God as Absolute. It incor-
porates the Indian concepts of reincarnation and
karma and holds that all creatures are on a multilife
path toward becoming more li ke the Absolute. As
Ki ng has written , "The journey from worm to ma n
is shon e rthan the journey from man-consciousness
to God-consciousness. The main di fference is
one of evolution , and what you call Karma. The two
togethe r mean experience" (King 2014).
The Aethe rius Society incorporates othe r New
Age and Eastern practices into its members' ac-
cepted activ ities as well , claiming that by chanting
a nd othe r actions, excess spiritual energy can be
generated and stored in a spiritual batte ry. In ti mes
o f future crisis on earth , this ene rgy stored from the
practices of Society membe rs can be d raw n upon to
save the day for all humans . With in a more eve ry
day time frame, the Society embraces ecology con-
ce rns. Keeping the earth in beLLer shape, its mem-
bers believe, will make a d ifference when a major
c ris is h its. The Society takes credit for savi ng the
7 New Religions and Movements
world from major wars a nd crises through its ge ner-
ation of spiritual energy.
The revelations that King is alleged to have re-
ceived du ring his many conversations with various
Cosmic Masters from other planets were originally
published in the Society's journal. Selections of
these teach ings were late r edited into a two-volume
set of books entitled Cosmic Voice: Wisdom of the
Masters Delivered Through Dr. George King.
The Raelian Movement
The Rae!ia n Movement traces itS origins to a wi nter
day in 1973 when a French jou rnalist and raci ng
enthusiast named Claude Vorilhon impulsively de-
cided to d rive to the site of an old volcano whe re
he had enjoyed family picnics in the past. The re,
he allegedly saw a small flyi ng saucer hovering
nea r the g round. An extrate rrestrial creatu re-
app roximately 4 feet tall and resembli ng a bearded
hum an with a greenish ski n tone- then walked ove r
and spoke to Vorilhon in French . In the course of th is
and subsequent encounters, the alien- named , like
the God revealed to Moses in the Bible, Yahweh-
apparently recounted details o f Vorilhon's ow n li fe
and explained that he had telepath ically d rawn the
Fre nchman to this spot. Yahweh invited him inside
the spacesh ip and tOld h im that all life on earth was
originally created in a laboratory by aliens called
Eloh im- the plu ral form of the word for a god in
biblical Heb rew (eloh), frequently used in the Torah
to refer to the one God. The International Raelian
Movement translates "Eloh im" as "those who came
fro m the sky," replac ing the traditional idea of cre-
ation by a deity with creation by sky people.
Accord ing to Vorilhon, Yahweh also explained
that a few weeks earlie r he had used telepathy to
urge the man to refresh his me mory of the book of
Ge nesis because he wanted to talk to h im about it;
now Vorilhon understood why he had recently, for
no apparent reason, purch ased a Bible and started
to read iL. The alien interpreted the sc riptures' refer-
ence to God's creation of heaven and earth (i n Gen-
esis 1:1) as a reference to the aliens "from the sky,"
and the ve rse say ing that the spirit of God moved
World Religions: Western Traditions
over the face of the earth (Genesis 1:2) as a refer-
ence to the alien spacecraft. Continuing tO instruct
Vorilhon on the proper interpretation of Genesis,
Yahweh said that a "day" in the context of the s ix
days of creation was equal to 2,000 earth-years; that
since the earth at that time was cove red in water, the
aliens had caused explosions in order tO form the
continents; and that they had used advanced scien-
tific techn iques to create the first plants and animals
on earth in such a way that they would be able to
reproduce themselves the reafter.
Despite minor differences in physical appea rance
(explained as the result of d ifferences in the meth-
ods used by the various teams of Elohim scientists
to create each group), the humans were formed "in
the image of" the Elohim themselves, Yahweh tOld
Vorilhon. This alarmed the Elohim back on the home
planet, who feared that humans' intelligence might
someday allow them to travel to the alien planet
and cause trouble. Therefore it was decided to keep
humans' sc ientific knowledge at a very primitive level.
The team of scientists working in what is now Israel,
however, had created an unusually intelligent group
of humans and wanted to give them greater scientific
knowledge. That team, Yahweh explained, was what
Genesis refers to as the "serpent" that tempted Eve,
and the "Garden" from which Adam and Eve were ex-
pelled was in fact the laboratory of the Elohim. Simi-
larly, the idea of the j ews being a "chosen people" was
a reOection of the way in which the Elohim scientists
had realized their genius. However, Genesis 6:4- in
which "the sons of Elohim" mate with the daughte rs
of men- is a literal interpretation of events.
Othe r biblical stories were also given novel twi.sts
in Vorilhon's account. In the Raelian interpretation,
the nood was the result of nuclear explosions set off
by the Elohim on the home planet who feared that
humans had been given too much knowledge, and
Noah thwarted their plan by taking cells of each
creature aboard an orbiting satellite. Then, after the
nood, Noah waited for the nuclear fallout to seule
before return ing to earth with a cargo that included a
pair of humans from each of the races created by the
Elohim scientists. The Tower of Babel- traditionally
understood as a symbol of arrogance, which God
punished by making humans (who until then had
all spoken the same language) unable to understand
one another- was the name of a spacesh ip built by
the Hebrews in partnership with Elohim scientists
who had been banished to earth for making humans
too intelligent. This project so ala rmed the Elohim
on the home planet that they thwa rted the prog-
ress of human science by scauering the Hebrews
throughout the world. Similarly, the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah were destroyed not by normal fire in
punishment for sexual sin, but by nuclear explosion
in response to the threat posed to the home planet
by sc ientific progress on earth. And God's order that
Abraham sacrifice h is son was actually a test by the
Elohim to see if the leader of the Hebrew scientists
was still loyal to them. The New Testament gets
some novel interpretations as well: for example, the
resurrection of jesus is attributed to cloning.
Yahweh apparently told Vorilhon that he had
been chosen to receive the truth because he had
a religious background, with a jewish father and
a Catholic mother, and was a free-thinking oppo-
nent of trad itional religion. As a result of h is UFO
encounte r, Vorilhon was told to change his name
to Rae! , "messenger of the Elohim." He was told to
write down the message he had received in book
form and to spread the word in anticipation of the
Elohim's return.
Two years after his in itial encounter, Rae! re-
ported, he was ta ken aboard a spaceship and
transported to the planet of the Elohim, where he
received further instruction and met with past reli-
gious leaders. He wrote an account of the vis it in his
book They Took Me to Their Planet.
In 1974 Rae! called a press conference in Paris,
at which he introduced h is movement to the media.
By 1980 the International Raelian Movement had
taken on most of the features of an organized reli-
gion, including scripture, rituals, festival days, and
a communal building. Today the movement is or-
ganized h ierarchically on the model of the Roman
Catholic Church, with Rae! himself at the pinna-
cle, like a pope, and various lesser officials with
titles such as bishop gu ide and priest gu ide. Susan
jean Palmer (1995) has noted that although the

movement advocates gende r equality a nd is liber-
ta rian about sexuality and gender roles, women are
not well represented in the leadership hierarchy, es-
pec ially at the uppe r levels.
The leadership hierarchy may reflect Roman
Catholicism, but the Raelian cosmology is nothing
like that of trad itional Ch ristianity. Not only does it
reject belief in gods of any kind, but it teaches that
the whole of the observable universe is just a small
atom of a large r structu re, wh ich is itself part of a
larger one, and so on infinitely. At the same time
every atom is itself a unive rse on the next smalle r
scale, with structures descending in size in finitely.
Time and space are infin ite in this cosmos, which
runs on scientific principles without any need for
divine command or inte rvention.
The Elohim are expected to return by 2035, but
only on cond ition that humans are ready to we l-
come them, have tOle rance for one anothe r, and
show respect for the envi ron ment. The movement
hopes one day to create an "embassy" that will
function as a place for the Elohim to interact with
humans in a helpful way; ideally, th is embassy
would be located in Israel.
Raelians reject the theory of evolution. Instead,
they believe that the Elohim brought all life to earth
from anothe r planet 25,000 years ago, and that just
as the Elohim were themselves created by previous
entities, earthlings may someday take life to yet an-
other planet. The term "i ntell igent design ." which
some conservative Christians have promoted as an
alte rnative to Darw in ian evolution, has been ad-
opted by Raelians as well. But whereas for conserva-
tive Ch ristians intelligent design is a way to get God
and c reationism back into the post-Darw inian pic-
ture, for Raelians the term represents a third option
for those who, like themselves, reject both evolution
and creation by a god. The latest collection of Rael's
writings about his UFO encounters has been pub-
lished under the title Intelligent Design: Message from
the Designers. In a postscript, Rae! calls his app roach
a "Third Way" between Darw in and Genesis. Since
Rae! holds that humans were created in a laboratory,
he has expressed confidence that this Third Way will
one day be replicated in a laboratory by humans.
7 New Religions and Movements
The Raelia n sy mbol is a swastika- best known
today as the sy mbol of Nazism in Hitler's Ge rmany-
inside a six-pointed sta r that is said to be based on
a design of inte rlocking triangles d isplayed on the
spacesh ip during Rael's UFO encounter. In fact,
though , it seems identical to the Sta r of David, the
sy mbol of judaism. To avoid offend ing jews, the
sy mbol was changed for a few yea rs to a swi rling
galaxy image inside the hexagram. Since then ,
however, the movement has returned tO the origi-
nal symbol. Raelians claim that their swastika has
noth ing to do with Nazism and point out that for
thousands of years before its adoption by Hitler,
it was a symbol of good luc k and prosperity used
in Buddhist, Jain , and othe r relig ious traditions.
They say that the symbol as a whole stands for the
Elohim, while the swastika part represents in finite
time and the hexagram infin ite space, reflecting the
Raelian belief that the universe is cyclical, without
beginning or end.
Practice
During Rael's second encounte r with the Elohim
he claims to have been taught a spiritual technique
known as "sensual meditation" o r "meditation of all
se nses," in wh ich the med itator tu rns inward to ex-
pe rience the lesser un iverses with in the atoms of h is
or he r own body and then tu rns outward to expe-
rience the greater universes beyond h is or her own;
eventually, the most adept a re able to visuali ze the
pla net of the Eloh im. The goal is to awaken humans'
highest spi ritual potential by fi rst awakening their
physical sensibilities.
There are fou r main Raelian holidays: the first
Sunday in April, celebrated as the day the Elohim
c reated Adam and Eve; August 6, the day of the Hi-
rosh ima bombi ng, which for Raelians was the be-
girnning of the apocalypse; Octobe r 7, the date that
Rae! met with jesus, Buddha, and othe r past proph-
ets aboard a spaceship during the second encounter;
and December 13, the day when Rae! fi rst encoun-
tered the Elohim.
Raelians are expected to avoid mind-alte ring
drugs, coffee , and tobacco and to use alcohol eithe r
World Religions: Western Traditions
in moderation o r not at all. They celebrate sensu-
ality, advocate free love, a nd discourage tradition al
marriage contracts . The movement's liberal policy
regarding marriage and sexual partne rs has made
it an attractive religious home for gays and lesbian s.
Becoming a Rai:'lian involves two ce remonies.
Fi rst, initiates must renounce all ties to theistic reli-
gions. Afte r this "Act of Apostasy" comes a baptismal
ce remony in wh ich in formation about the initiate's
DNA is supposedly transmitted to the Eloh im.
As part of h is effort to free huma ns from the
constraints imposed by traditional religio ns, Rae!
has called for a massive "de-baptism" campaign
ac ross Africa or, as he prefers to call it, the United
Kingdom of Kama. He a rg ues that "spiritual decol-
on ization" is a prerequisite for future developme nt.
The movement has also been active in denounci ng
the practice of clitorectomy, wh ich is com mon in
some parts of Africa, and has started a fundraisi ng
effort tO pay for restorative surgery.
Although Raelians reject the concept of the soul,
they believe that a ki nd o f everlasting life can be
attained through cloning. Clonaid, a Raelian e n-
terprise founded in Fra nce in 1997, clai ms tO be
the world's first human clon ing company. Since
then , it has announced the births of several clon ed
babies; however, none of these claims have been
substantiated .
Because Raelians do not believe in gods, the
International Rai:'lian Movement is not offic ially
classified as a religion, although some j urisdictio ns
do recogn ize it as a nonprofit orga nization (the first
to do so was the provi nce of Quebec, in 1977). I m-
portant religious leaders such as jesus and Buddh a,
however, are recognized by Raelians as prophets,
inspi red by the Elohim to com municate as much of
the truth as humans were able to absorb in thei r
time. Rae! himself is identified with Maitreya, the
future Budd ha who is expec ted to come when the
world needs h im, although Buddh ists themselves
do not accept this cla im.
Despite its pa rtial recognition of trad itional re-
ligious leaders, the Raelian Move ment is exclus iv-
ist in terms of allegiance , as the Act of Apostasy
ind icates. just as Chris tianity sees itself as complet-
ing j udaism and Islam sees Muham mad as the "seal
of the prophets," Raelians see the ir moveme nt as the
culmination o f ea rlie r religions, which incorrectly
understood the role of the Eloh im.
According tO Rae! , the Elohim wld him that
on ly 4 pe rcent o f humans we re advanced enough
to understand the tr uth about them, so it is not
surprising that the Raelian mission has not
made conve rts by the millions. Neve rtheless, the
moveme nt claims more than 65,000 membe rs in
8 4 countries.
~The New Age Movement
The expression "New Age" has a wide range of con-
notations , including the biblical notion of an apoc-
alypse in which God will intervene to restructure
society, reward the righteous, and (in some scena r-
ios) smite the wicked with long-overdue punish -
ment. The nineteenth century saw the rise of seve ral
millenarian Christian movements, among them the
jehovah 's Witnesses, that looked forward to the
literal fulfill ment of the prophecies in the biblical
books of Daniel and Revelation. On the whole, the
idea o f a "new age" for these movements mea nt a
reconstitution o f society. For the Nation of Islam,
however, the "new age" would be one in which Af-
rican Americans would eme rge Strong and trium-
phant. And various loosely defined organ izations
have also eme rged under the ge neric name New
Age. As we will see, New Age groups and ideas d raw
on both Easte rn and Western traditions .
The te rm "New Age" was in use as early as 1907,
when it was used as the title o f a progressive Brit-
ish political and lite rary journal that int roduced its
reade rs to topics such as Freud ian psychoanalysis.
But the "consciousness revolution" of the 1960s
brought expectations of a d ifferent sort of "new
age." The trans personal psychology moveme nt, for
insta nce, emphasi zed spi ritual insights and the ra-
peutic techniques that were d iametrically opposed
to the mech anistic approach of orthodox Freud ian-
ism. One center o f transpersonal psychology was

the Esalen Institute in Big Su r, California, fou nded
in 1962 as a retreat cente r offering sem inars, work-
shops, and encounte r groups.
Not all New Age seekers were so disciplined. In
1967 the musical Hair! popularized the idea that
the daw ning of the "Age of Aquarius" would usher
in a unive rsa l religion to replace the Christia nity
of the "Piscean Age." To some, the Aquarian Age
meant little more th an freely available rock mus ic or
drugs. Those expectations coll ided in 1969, whe n
as many as half a mill ion young people congregated
in a fa rmer's field near Woodstock, New York . By
the late 1980s, "New Age" had become a kind of
shorthand for a cluster of trends that included a
quest for ind ividual spiritual insight, expectations
of both personal transformation and worldly suc-
cess, the pursuit of physical heali ng and psycho-
logical peace th rough various self-he lp disc iplines,
a nd in some cases reliance on astrology and psy-
ch ic powers. Many New Age enthusiasts have pub-
lished accounts of the ir pe rsonal transformations
th rough some combination of New Age disciplines,
diets, and cures.
Scholars look ing for the h istorical roots of New
Age spirituality often point to Emanuel Sweden-
borg, an eighteenth-century Swedish mystic who
wrote about the evolution of the human soul; the
nineteenth -century American Transcendentalist
Ralph Waldo Emerson; or the Russian founder of
the Theosophical movement, Helena P. Blavatsky,
who claimed to have discove red the wisdom of the
ages in Asian teach ings such as Hi ndu Vedanta.
Those looking for antecedents of New Age thera-
peutic tech niques, for their part, often point to the
Swiss physician Pa racelsus (Ph ilippus Aureolus The-
ophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim; 1493- 1541),
who clai med that humans were subject tO the mag-
netism of the universe. Two centuries later, the
Germa n physic ian Franz Anton Mesmer postulated
that heali ng takes place through a kind of mag-
netism in bodily Ouids , analogous to ocea n tides,
a nd sought to man ipulate th is process with mag-
nets or the wave of a wand o r a finger. The effort
tO direct these Ouids' now, called "mesmerism"
7 New Religions and Movements
afte r h im, was reOected in the development of hyp-
nosis in the n ineteenth century. The roots of what
New Agers call "channeli ng" can be traced back at
least as far as the n inetee nth-centu ry practice of
the seance, in which the be reaved sought to make
contact with their deceased loved ones th rough a
"spi rit mediu m." The use of gems and crystals was
pro moted in the first half of the twentieth century
by the medium Edgar Cayce.
None of these earlier developments in itself
constituted the emergence of New Age tradition.
But togethe r they fertil ized the spiritual soi l of
the English-speaking world, and after the 1960s
the New Age fascination with the exotic, the occult, the
experiential, the curative, and the futuristic wok
root a nd sp read rapidly. Subjects that had been
left on the side lines of a scientific and technologi-
cal age- astrology, hypnosis, alternative heali ng-
were resurrected and, at a time of growi ng interest
in subjects such as nutrition, ecology, and altruistic
business ethics, entered the mainstream. Such "d is -
cip lines" could be see n as alternatives to orthodox
religion, med icine, and society generally, and per-
haps also to the exclusiv ist claims made by main-
stream orthodoxies.
If any of the metaphysical and therapeutic re-
sources sketched so far had a connection with the
m~or Western religious traditions, it was marginal
at best. So how did the New Age movement come to
be so closely assoc iated with religion? At least part
of t he answe r can be found in its con nections with
Eastern religious traditions.
A prom inent feature of the search for alternative
modes of consciousness in the 1960s was a fasc ina-
tion with depths of awareness that Hindu yoga and
japanese Zen Buddhism in particular were believed
to offer. The Yijing (or I Ching), an ancient Ch inese
di" ination manual, became a best seller, and many
people were introduced to Asian religious symbol-
ism through the writings of the Swiss psychologist
Ca rl G. jung and the Jungian comparative religion
scholar j oseph Campbell. "Exotic" religions seemed
to offer someth ing that the famil iar traditions of the
West did not.
 World Religions: Western Traditions

Across North Ame rica and Europe, practitioners
turned to Ch inese qigong and acupuncture, Indian
yoga and ayurvedic medici ne, and Buddhist medita-
tion techniques. In India, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's
Transcendental Meditation movement attracted h igh-
profile entertai ners, includ ing the Beatles, Mia Farrow,
and Clint Eastwood, as devotees. Deepak Chopra,
an endocri nologist practicing in the West, returned
to his native Ind ia to explore traditional ayurved ic
medicine and proceeded to write and lecture about
its compatibility with modern Western medici ne.
The Thailand-born and Western-educated Ch inese
master Mantak Chia, working in New York, has writ-
ten extensively on the potential of Daoist tech niques
for healing and sexual energy. And the list goes on.
A recurring temptation in the promotion o f Asian
disciplines and the rapies is 10 divorce the tech -
niques from a comprehensive understanding of the
cultural vocabularies in which they developed. It is
a temptation not only for consumers of these wa res,
but also for t hei r providers. For example, Eckankar,
a new religion introduced in the 1960s by the American
Paul Twitchell, ta kes its name from lk O nkar ("the
one om-expression"), a na me for the t ranscendent

Sacred Texts of New Religions and Movements

Composition/ Compilation/
Relig ion Texts Compilation Rev ision Use
Soka Gakkai Lotus Sutra Probab ly composed in Supplemented by Read and chanted as a
the early 1st century CE: writings of Nich iren and mantra
considered the highest modern leaders
expression of Mahayana
thought
Falun Dafa Falun Gong by Li First published in 1993 The English translation Guides to practice
(Falun Gong) Hongzhi and since translated has been revised several
into most major times
languages
ISKCON Srimad Bhagavatam. Ancient Hindu texts of Commentaries by Studied and chanted
(" Hare Krishnas") Bhagavad Gita. other debatable date. now Swami Prabhupada during puja
Krishna-centered available in Engl ish and
devotional texts other major languages
LOS (Mormons) New and Old Book of Mormon All three texts have Worship. life guidance
Testaments. Smith's published I830: been revised at various
The Book of Mormon. Doctrine and times
Doctrine and Covenants (selected
Covenants. and The writings) published
Pearl of Great Price I835: Pearl of Great
Price compiled by F. D.
Richards and published
in England in I85 I
Baha'i The Most Holy Book. Written by Baha'u'llah Edited by 20th-century Legal doctrine (Most
The Book of Certitude. between 1856 and 1873 Baha'i leaders Holy Book). doctrine
Hidden Words. and The (The Book of Certitude).
Seven Valleys ethical and mystical
guidance (Hidden
Words. Seven Valleys)
 7 New Religions and Movements

God in the Si kh tradition. But though Twitch-
ell claimed to have studied with a Sikh master in
Ind ia, that Sikh training was only one episode in his
li fetime of "soul travel" tO supposed invisible wo rlds
on levels above our earth ly one. Ecka nkar holds
that the re has always been a living Eck maste r on
earth , among whom have been ancient Greek and
Iranian Muslim figures, and that Twitchell was the
nine hund red seventy-fi rst such master in the series.
The New Age movement is thoroughly eclectic,
a nd its diversity is pa n o f its appeal. It is open to many
possibili ties, includ ing exploration , expression, and
lead ersh ip by women. As such, it sta nds in sharp
contrast to the male-dominated structures of the es-
tablished religions and professions . This may con-
stit ute one of its lasting contributions.
Is the re any si ngle word that sums up the spi rit
of the New Age? One cand idate would be "holistic."
Imp lyi ng a quest for wholeness, someti mes with an
overtone of holiness, th is te rm was coi ned in the
conte xt of evolutionary biology to refer to the whole
as someth ing more than the s um o f its parts. Thus
holistic diets and the rapies seek to treat the whole
per-son , body and mind, and holistic princ iples are

Composition/
Religion Texts Compilation Rev ision Use
Nation of Islam The Qur"an. Elijah Elijah Muhammad ·s Louis Farrakhan·sA Study. recitation. use in
Muhammad's Fall of works composed in Torchlight for America Sunni services (Qur"an)
America and Message 1950s and 1960s published 1993
to the Blackman
Kabbalah Centre Hebrew Bible. Zohar Kabbalah Centre Reinterpretation of Bible Daily guidance
attributes the Zohar to through numerology
Rav Shimon Bar Yochai and the 72 names of
(second century CE) God
rather than Moses de
Leon
Eastern Zang Xia ngbin's Word Commentary added by Daily and spiritual
Lightning Appears in the Flesh Zang Xiangbin guidance
Wicca Graves's The White The White Goddess Newer writers such Rituals
Goddess and The Book published 1948: The as Starhawk have
of Shadows Book of Shadows popularized the
published 1950 movement
Scientology Hubbard's Dianetics: Published in 1950s "Auditing" process
The Modern Science
of Mental Health
and Scientology: The
Fundamentals of Thought
Aetherius Society George King's Cosmic Published in 1958 Kindle edition released Guidance for faith and
Voice. 2 vols. in 2014 practice
Raelian Movement Intelligent Design: Compilation of Rael's Other texts include The Study. guidance for
Message from the publications from the Maitreyya and Sensual sensual meditation
Designers 1970s- 1980s published Meditation practice
2005
 World Religions: Western Traditions

fundamental to the ecological movement; the Gaia
hypothesis, for instance, sees the earth as a single
organism whose su rvival depends on the interac-
tion of all its components (a perspective central to
james Cameron's film Avatar). New ages yet to come
are bound to view ecological holism as an increas-
ingly urgent goal.
strong, charismatic leader, most such organ izations
have trouble sustain ing their growth and un ity a fter
thei r founders have left or died. But others are still
making significant gains in numbers, wealth, and
inOuence.
The few new religions that survive and prosper
eventually become established as normal pa rts of
the religious landscape. They become just "reli-

~Summary gions," rather than "new religions." Judaism, Chris-

The new religions we have discussed cove r the spir-
itual landscape, from East to West tO outer space.
None of these new religions is seriously challengi ng
the traditional religions for inOuence. Some of them
seem to have already peaked in numbers, at least in
North America. Since new religions typically need a
tian ity, and Islam made th is transition long ago.
The Baha'i Faith and Mormonism have made it
more recently. Wh ich, if any, of the new religions
that emerged in the late twentieth century will sur-
vive into the twenty-second is impossible to tell
from this vantage point but is s urely an interesting
tOpic for debate.

Discussion Questions
l. W hat kinds of social and economic factOrs may contribute to the rise of new religious
movements?
2. Why is the line between a "cult" and a "religion" so di fficult to define)
3. W hy do Easte rn religions appeal so strongly to many people in the West?
4. Do all "religions" h ave to involve belief in deities?
5. Can a set of beliefs and practices centered on extraterrestrial aliens be considered a
"religion"?
6. What do you think are some of the factOrs that might attract some people to new religious
movements?
7. How do new religious movements gain acceptance?
8. How do new religious movements tend to change over time?

Glossary
Bab The individual expected to appear Baha'i ("Adherems of Baha('u'llah]) bltakli Devotional faith, the favored
as the "gateway" to the new prophet in The religious trad ition of those who call spiritual path in iskcon.
the Baha'i Faith. themselves Baha'i.
 1 New Religions and Movements 423

Church ofjesus Christ oflaner-day
Saints (LOS) The formal name of
the largest Mormon organization.
cu lt Term for a new religion that typi-
cally demands loyalty to a charismatic
leader.
dianetics l. Ron Hubbard's term for
the system he developed to clear mental
blocks.
Eastern lightning A term referring
to the claim that the Second Coming
of Christ has occurred in China.
Eckankar A new religion based on
the teachings of Paul Twitchell.
£ -meter A device used in Scientology
to detect mental blocks.
End-time A term for the Eschaton, the
era when the current social order is ex-
pected to be replaced by a new social
order after judgment Day.
engrams The term for mental blocks
in Scientology.
Falun Dafa A religious system cen-
tered on the acquisition of the •dharma
wheel" through Dafa practice.
Free Zoners Individuals or groups
teaching l. Ron Hubbard's thought in-
dependent of Scientology International.
Hare Krishnas Informal name forthe
members of ISKCON, based on their
chant.
International Societ y for Krishna
Consciousness(ISKCON), the formal
name of a branch of Hinduism that has
spread worldwide.
Kabbalah Traditional Jewish mysticism.
Komeito A japanese: political party
loosely associated with Soka Gakkai.
Kopimi A movement, meaning ··copy
Me," advocating that all ideas and WTit-
ings ought to be in the public domain.
Mormons A name for members of the
Ch urch of jesus Chri st oflaner-day
Saints or other churches tracting their
history to the Book of Mormon re-
vealed to joseph Smith.
millenarian Term used to refer to the
belief that the current social order will
soon come to an end.
Nation of Islam (NO!) An African
American movement that originated
in Detroit in 1930. Its practice orislam
has become more aligned with the
Sunni tradition in recent years.
New Age A vague term embracing
a diversity of religious or spiritual
movements providing alternatives to
mainstream Western religions.
qi (or chi) Spiritual energy.
qigong Exercises to cultivate qi.
Raelian Movement A new religion
originating in France in the 1970s based
on the belief that an alien revealed
previously unknown information about
the creation of life on earth to a man
named Rael.
Scientology A new religion devoted
to clearing mental blockages: founded
by l. Ron Hubbard.
sect A sociological term for a group that
breaks away from the main religion.
Soka Gakkai A lay movement
that originated in the 1930s among
japanese adherents ofNichiren Shoshu
Buddhism: now an independent new
religion teaching the power of chant-
ing homage to the LoLUs Sutra.
spheror The 10 attributes of God in
Kabbala h.
thetan Term for the soul or mind in
Scientology.
Vaishnava A Hindu who worships
Vishnu and related deities.
Wicca ("Craft") A name for witchcraft.

Further Reading
Baha'u'llah. 1952. Gleanings from the Writings of Balw'u'llah.
Rev. ed. Wilmette, Jl: Baha'i Publishing Trust. A good selec-
tion of Baha' i writings.
Barrett, David V. 2003. Tile New Believers: A Survey of SeCL<, Culls
and Alternative Religions. London: Octopus Publishing Group. A
good place to start on the topic of cults versus new religions.
Dan,Joseph. 2005. Kabbalah: A Very Slwrt lntroduCiion. Oxford:
Oxford University Press. A useful introduction to Kabbalah.
Drew, A. J. 2003. Tlte Wiccart Bible: Exploring the Mysteries of
dte Craft from Birth to Summerland. Franklin, NJ: Career
Press. An overview of Wicca.
Dunn, Emily. 2015. lightning from the East: Heterodoxy and
Chrislianity ila CottmlJorary CJairra. Leiden: Brill. Explains
Eastern Lightning m China.
Esslemont,John E. 19 79. Bahd'u'ffdh artd the New Era: Art huro·
duct ion Lo Lire Bahd'i Faitl1. 4th e d. \Vilmette. ll: Baha'i Pub·
lishing Trust. The standard survey recommended by Bahai'ls.
Gallagher, Eugene V., William M. Ashcrafl, and W. Michael
Ashcraft. eds. 2006. Art Introduction to New and Alterna·
Live Religions in America. 5 vols. Westporl, CT: Greenwood
Press. Scholarly imroducuons Lo religtous movements from the
coloma) era Lo Lhe present.
Headley, Marc. 2009. Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of
Scientology. Burbank, CA: BFG Books. The autobiography of
a former SctenLologtst Lurned critic.
Hubbard,l. Ron. 2007 (1956]. Scientology: The Frmdamentals of
Tltought. los Angeles: Bridge Publications. The basic mtro-
duction, by Scientology's founder.
lewis, James R., and J. Gordon Melton, eds. 1992. Perspec-
Lives on the New Age. Albany: State Un iversity of New York
Press. One of the best assessments of the New Age phenomenon.
l i Hongzhi. 2000. Falun Gong. 3rd ed. New York: University
Publishing Co. MasLer Li's introduction to Falun Dafa.
Miller, Wi lliam McElwee. 19 74. Tire Baha'i Faith: Its History and
Teachings. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library. An outsid-
er's vtew of Baha't.
Muster, Nori J. 2001. Betrayal of the Sl>irit: My Life Beltind the
Headlines of tl1e Hare Krishna Movement. Champaign: Un i·
versity of Illinois Press. A former member's critical view of
ISKCON.
Ostling, Richard, and Joan K. Ostling. 2007. Mormon America-
Revised and Updared Editiort: Tl1e Power and Lite Promise.
New York: HarperOne. An overvtew of the issues wilhin
Mormonism.
424 World Religions: Western Traditions
Porter. Noah. 2003. Falun Gor1g i11 lhe Urlill!d States: A11 Etlm o ·
grapl1ic Study. N.p.: D issertation.Com. Argues agamsL the
..cult" label based on interviews and publications.
Seager. Richard H . 2006. Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku
Theda, Soka Gahhai, and the Globalizatio>l of Buddhisr Hw·
man ism . Berkeley: University of California Press. A scholar~y
overview of Buddhist human1sm.
Shinn, larry D. 1987. The Dark lord: Cult Images a>1d tlte Hare
Krishnas ira America. Philadelphia: WesLm inster Press. An
objecuve account of the Hare Knshna, based on extensive
1nterv1ews.
Recommended Websites
www.ae therius.org
Sne or the International AeLherius Society.
www.bahai.org
Sne of t he Baha't Fanh.
www.falundafa .org
Sne of Falun Dafa.
www.finalcall.com
News sue of Lhe Nation of Islam.
www.holyspiritspeaks.org
Sne of the Church of Almighty God.
www.internationfreezone.net
Portal for the Free Zoner alternative to Scientology.
www.iskcon.org
Sne of the International Soctety for Krishna Consciousness.
References
Amnesty Jnternational. n.d. ·'Human Rights in China." http://www
.am nesty.ca/our-work/priority-count ries/ch1na (accessed March
21, 2018).
Baha'u' llah. 2002 . Baha'i Prayers, New Edirion. Wtlmette, Ill.: Bahaii
Publishing Trust.
Dawson, Lorne l. 2006. Comprehending Culls: The Sociology of New
Refigiou.s Movement11. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Erlanger, Steven. 2009. ·'French Branch of Sctentology Convtcted
of Fraud." New York Times, October 28. http://www.nytimes.
com/2009/I0/28/world/europel28france.html. _ r=l (accessed
March 21, 2018).
"Focus m Front." n.d. Kabbalah Centre. http://www.kabbalah.com/
newsletters/weekly-consciousness-tune-ups/focus-front (ac-
cessed March 21, 2018).
Huss, Boaz. 2005. "All You Need Is LAV: Madonna and Post modern
Kabbalah." jewish Quar1<rly Review 95, no. 4: 611-624.
Ikeda, Oaisaku. 2008. "Toward Humannanan Compeuuon: A New
Current m History." Soka Gakkatlnternational. http://www.sg•.org/
about-us/prestdent-i ked as-proposa Is/peace-proposa 1-2 009.
html (accessed April 5, 2018).
Slarhawk. 1982 . Dreaming the Dark. Boslon: Beacon Press. One
of many works by an important Wtcca leader.
W hite, Vibert l.,J r. 2001. Inside 1he Natiort of Islam: A Historical
and Personal Testimo11y by a Black Muslim. Gainesvi lle: Un i·
versity Press of Florida. Particularly interesung because the
author was involved both in the NOI and in the organization of
the 1995 Mtllion Man March.
Wright, l awrence. 2013. Going Clear: Scierttology, Hollywood,
artd the Prison of Belief New York: Alfred A. Kno pf. A bal-
anced but cntical overview o£ Scientology. its leaders. and its
celebmy followers.
www.kabbalah.com
Site of the Kabbalah Centre International.
www.komei.or.jp
Site of the New Komeito Party, loosely affiliated w1th Soka Gakkai.
www.lds.org
Site of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Satnts (Mormons).
www.rael.org
Site of the International Raehan f>.•lovement.
www.scientology.org
Site oft he international Scientology organization.
www.sgi.org
Site ofSoka Gakkatlnternational.
www.wicca .org
Site of the Church and School ofWicca.
"Introduction: What Is Falun Dafa?" Accessed March 10, 2010 at
www.falundafa.orglenglmtro.html.
Kabbalah Centre. 2013a. "The 72 Names of God." February 8.
https://kabbalah.com/en/sptntual-tools/72-names-of-god.html
(accessed March 13, 2018).
KabbalahCentre. 2013b."Reincarnation."February8. https:llkabbalah
.com/en/concepts/remcarnation (accessed March 13, 2018).
King, George. 2014. Cosmic Voice. Vol. No. I. Kmdleed. Los Angeles:
Aetherius Society.
Lee. Martha F. 1996. The Nation of Islam: An American MiUenarian
Mo\'emenl. Syracuse. NY: Syracuse University Press.
Levi, Jerome M. 2009. "Structuralism and Kabbalah: Sciences of
Mysticism or Mystifications of Science?" Anthropological Quar-
tetty 82, no. 4 ( Fall): 929-984.
Lewis, James R. 2003. Legitimatirtg New Religions. Rutgers, NJ: Rut-
gers Umversny Press.
U Hongzhi. 2016. Falun Gong. 7th ed. New York: Umversity Pub-
lishmgC<>.
Ortega, Tony. 2009. "'Tom Cruise Told Me to Talk to a Bottle': Life
al Scientology•s Secret Headquarters." Village Voice, November

4 hupsl/wwwnllage\·o•cc com/200Q/ll/0411om-crUise-told-me-
to-talk-to-a-bottlc-l•fe-Jt·«:lentologys-secret-headqwnersl (ac-
cessed March 11. 2018).
Palmer, Susan Jean 1995 "\\'omen 1n the Raehan Mm·ement: t-:ew
Rehg•ous Expenments m Gender and Authomy: In The Gods
Ha>e IAndeJ Nc» Rcl'lt""" Jrum Ofher 1\'orld<, ed James R. U,.•ts.
Alb;mr· Sutc Um•·crs•t)· of:\"" York Prtss
Prabhapada. A C. Bh•ku•·ed•nta !>"amt 1968 Tcachmgs of Lord Chat-
tan•·a. The GoiJcn "'"'"' 1\tw York Bhaknvedama Book Trus1.
Sahtb, Hattm A 1951 "The 1\auon of Islam· \13Siers thests, Umver-
sny of ChJCago
Note
Parts of thts chapter, espccaally an the secnons on the Mormons,
the Baha't Fauh, \Vitca, and New Age movements, mcorporate
7 New Religions and Movements 425
S1arhawk. 1982. Drcammg the Dark Booton Beacon Press
Walker, Denms. 2005 hlam anJ the Search for A/rl<an-Ammwn Na-
rionhood: EliJah Mllhammad. !.DuiS Furruhhun and the Nauon of lllam
Atlanta: CLuny Press
Wlnte, \'lben l., Jr 2001 ln>1dc the Nauon of hl<Jm A Ho\loncal and
Personal TcsrunonJ bJ a Black Musbm Gamcsnlle \;nll·trsuy Press
ofFionda.
Yang, Xtangbtn n d The Word App<ars '" rhc Rnh EaSicm Ltghmmg
n.d. hnpsl/wwwholysptntspeaks o'liftht-fony-<txth·uttcran.:e-2/
(accessed ~larch 28, 2018)
matenal wntten by the late Wtll Ox toby for earher edu•ons of
th1swork.
World Religions: Western Traditions
In this chapter you will learn about:
• Some of the ways in which religion and
politics have interacted in recent decades
• Fundamentalism
• How religious traditions around the world
a re responding to issues such as bioethics,
environmental responsibility, gender, and
sexuality
• Religious diversity
Most of the chapters in this book have concentrated
on individual religious traditions. In this concluding
chapte r we broaden our focus and look at some gen-
eral issues relevant to religions around the world .
~ Religion and Politics
Once upon a time, many in the West regarded re-
ligion as a kind of cultural fossil. Aesthetically rich
o r anthropologically intriguing) Yes. But relevant to
today's hard-nosed world of economics and politics?
Hardly at all. Those of us who studied religion were
often asked how we could waste our lives on some-
th ing that had so little to do with the modern world.
In the secula r intellectual climate of the 1960s, some
philosophers and even theologians announced that
God was dead. That announcement proved to be
premature.
Religion has been a major factor in many of the
events that have shaken the world since 1970. One
such event occu rred in 1979, when the shah of Iran
was deposed in the Islam ic Revolution. That a nation
of 40 million people would be ready to sac rifice lives
and livelihoods to defend religious values was a con-
cept utterly alien to economists and politico-mi litary
strategists in the West. Meanwhile, not only in Iran
but elsewhere, Muslims were turning their backs on
secularism in general and the modern West in par-
ticular. In inc reasing numbers, Muslim men from
Algeria to Zanzibar started to grow beards and wear
tu rbans, and more Musl im women than eve r before
adopted the hijab (head scarf).
A second event of 1979 that was to have pro-
found repercussions across the globe was the Soviet
-< Protesters walk during the Women's March on Washington on j anuary 21. 2017 in Washington. DC (Photo by Mario Tarnal
Getty Images)
Union's invasion of Afghan istan. In the wake of this
act, volunteers from across the Musl im world we re
taken to Afghanistan and trained by the United
States to fight for the country's liberation. They we re
called mujahidin, and at the time- before the end of
the Cold War- they we re widely seen as what U.S.
president Ronald Reagan called "freedom fighters."
But the mujahidin were not j ust fighting for "freedom"
from Soviet Commun ism. Thei r motivations we re
rooted in a particular conservative religious world-
view. To understand the modern world , we now re-
alize, we need to take into account the meanings that
traditional religions have for thei r adherents.
Among the supporters of Afghan istan's "holy
war" was Osama bin l aden (1957- 2011), a wealthy
Saudi who helped fund and train mujahiditl. Soviet
troops we re withdrawn from the country in 1988,
but bin laden eme rged as the leader of the extrem-
ist organization Al-Qaeda ("the base") In 1996 bin
laden issued a fatwa (a religious legal opinion) call-
ing for the overthrow of the Saudi government and
the removal of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, in 1998
he declared war against Americans generally, and in
2001 he was accused of mastermind ing the 9/ll at-
tacks. In response to those attacks, the United States
went to wa r first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq. In
2006, the Islamic State of Iraq (lSI) was created out
of an Al-Qaeda group. In 2013, the group became
known (depend ing on the translation) as either
the Islam ic State of Iraq and the l evant (ISil) or the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) The barbarity
of ISIS Jed AI-Qaeda to condemn the group in 2014.
By the end of 2017, ISIS had lost the territories it
controlled in Iraq and Sy ria.
Another event ful year was 1989, when the com-
munist order of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union
began to crumble. Hopes for democ racy, peace, and
progress were h igh. But when the restra ints of the
socialist o rder were loosened, old identities resur-
faced, and with them passions that most outs iders
had assumed to be long dead . Feuds and ethno-
religious div isions in the Balkans, the Caucasus,
and Cent ral Asia erupted into bitte r conOict. Samuel
Huntington, in h is book The Clash of Civilizations
and the Remaking of World Order, argued that the old

world orde r based on the con fl ict between commu-
nism and capitalism had been replaced by a new
one based on the differences among civ ilizations
defi ned primarily along religious lines.
Mo re recently, the growi ng te nsions bet wee n
Iran , as the regional Sh i'a superpowe r, and Saud i
Arabia , as the regional Sun ni superpowe r, have
spilled ove r into other Middle Easte rn countries and
have complicated domestic gove rnance as well as
international relations for othe r nations.
In Ind ia, Hi ndu nationalists had for decades
demanded the construction of a Hindu temple in
Ayodhya on a h ill that is sacred to Hindus gener-
ally because of its association with the princely he ro
Rama. Since 1527, however, that h ill had been occu-
pied by the Babri Mosque. Then , in 1992, a Hindu
rally at the site turned violent, and the mosque itself
was destroyed, with more than 2,000 people, mostly
Muslims, killed in the nationwide rioting that fol-
lowed. Among the forces suspected of provoking the
violence was the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP). The BJP, with its conse rvative, pro-
Hindu ideology, had become the main opposition to
the Congress Party. It won a landslide victory in the
2016 elections.
Muslims want to rebuild the Babri Mosque, a nd
Hindus want to build a temple to Ram on the h ill
both hold sacred. Various commissions have made
recommendations that have not been implemented
because communal strife would su rely follow any
Sites
Ayodhya, India
Ayodhya is a city in the Indian state of Utta r
Pradesh th at is sacred to Hindus as the birthplace
o f Ra ma, the he ro o f the epic Ramayana who is
said to be an inca rnation o f the god Vishnu a nd is
worshiped by some d evotees as the supre me de ity
h imself. For nearly 500 years, Ayodhya was also
8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
decision favoring one side or the othe r. One court ,
with a th ree-j udge pa nel, r uled that the area be
div ided among th ree parties, two Hindu and one
Muslim, thus allowing both a temple and a mosque
to be bu ilt, but that has not happened. Atte mpts to
establish by archaeological investigation whethe r
the re had indeed been a Ram temple on the site
before the Babri Mosque was built have proven in-
conclusive. The final decision on the controve rsial
maHer lies with the Indian Supreme Court.
In Sri Lanka the Struggle of Hindu Tamil
separatists , led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam, to establish an indepe ndent homeland led to
a b itter and protracted civil war (1983- 2009) that
ended in the defeat of the separatists. Although the
war was originally a str uggle for regional autonomy,
it wok on a religious di mens ion because the Tamil
Tige rs and their supporte rs we re mostly Hindu ,
wh ereas the central gove rnment was dom inated by
eth nic Si nhalese , who we re mostly Budd hist. This
con flict sparked a resu rgence of Budd hist fe rvor
among the Sinhalese majority. For the fi rst time in
history, monks ran for public office, leading to the
for mation of a pro-Buddh ist pa rty that elected sev-
eral monks to parliament. Now that the civil strife
has ended, the challenge is to rebuild a state in
wh ich Sri Lanka ns o f all relig ions can feel welcome
and rep resented in thei r parlia ment.
Similar separatist movements have occurred
elsewhere as well. Strife has broken out between
the site o f the Bab ri Mosque, named fo r the fi rst
Mugh al emperor, Babur, and he nce an important
s ite for Ind ian Muslims. The city also has ma ny
oth er temples associated with characte rs from the
Ramayana, as well as other mosques and forme r
Bu ddh ist sites.
World Religions: Western Traditions
the majority-Buddh ist govern ment and separat ist
Islamic groups, particularly the BRN-C (Ba risan
Revolusi Nasional-Koordi nasi), in the southern part
o f Thailand that borde rs Malaysia. Va rious auemp ts
by the Thai govern ment have failed to calm the
unrest. In the Ph ilippi nes, seve ral Muslim Mo ro
groups in the south , such as the jemaah lslamiyah
and Abu Sayyaf, are fighting to establish an indepe n-
dent Islam ic state. And in Ch ina, religious mino ri-
ties such as the Musli m Uighurs a nd the Buddh ist
Tibeta ns have renewed thei r struggles agai nst the
repressive te nde ncies of the national govern ment.
Myanmar
One of the most well-know n religious con fl icts in
recent years has occ urred in Myanmar. The Rohingya
people are an ethnic population who most likely m i-
grated into Rakhine State in weste rn Myan ma r from
the Bengal region now known as Bangladesh several
ge nerations ago. They share a religious culture with
the Muslims of Bangladesh and speak a d ialect related
to Bengali. Even though their ancestors migrated to
Myan ma r long ago, the cu rrent government recog-
nizes only those ethn ic groups who were resident
in Myanmar before it became a British colony. The
ancestors of many of the current Rohingya residents
were encouraged by the British to settle in Rakhi ne
State during the period of British rule. Recently some
Roh ingya were issued white cards, rather than rull
citizensh ip pape rs, and in theory they were allowed
to apply for full citizenship if they had documenta-
tion that their ancestors had immigrated before the
British period. Howeve r, the Rohingya are a poor,
rural population , and many lacked the su fficient doc-
umentation papers even if they should have quali fied.
Th is left most in a stateless condition, bei ng citize ns
of neither Myanmar nor mode rn Bangladesh. The
Myan ma r govern ment calls them "Bengalis" rather
than Roh ingya in an attempt to support its case that
their true home is Bangladesh .
By 20 I6 the inte rnational med ia and human
rights activ ists had become conce rned that ele-
ments of the Myanmar mi lita ry had not only been
pe rsecuting some Roh ingya people for seve ral years
but may have begun a systematic plan to d rive
them from Myanmar. International attention to the
group's plight increased when the prime min iste r of
Ba ngladesh and several prominent international fig-
ures, includ ing Nobel lau reates, publicly lamented
the miserable state of the Roh ingya refugees. Med ia
interviews with Rohingya in Bangladeshi refu-
gee camps revealed that elements o f the Myanmar
army were apparently behi nd the burning of Roh ingya
villages and the rape , torture, or murder of Roh ingya.
The UN Human Rights Cou ncil subsequently es-
tablished a com mission of inquiry that denounced
these actions as ethnic cleansi ng.
The flow o f Rohingya people into Bangladesh 's
refugee camps increased in 2017. They brough t with
them stories of milita ry helicopters hovering ove r
their villages, shooting at them as they fled. The
mil ita ry or men from the local Buddhist population
would then loot a nd set fi re to the villages. Many
refugees we re ch ildren , and ove r 1,000 of them ar-
rived without pa rents or relatives.
The m~ority of Myan mar's population is Ther-
avada Buddh ist, so the effort to drive out the
Rohingyas was seen by some as a Buddhist attack on
Islam. Ashin Wirathu, a Buddh ist monk and leade r
of an orga nization of ultranationalist monks known
as Ma Ba Tha, the Association for Race and Relig ion ,
eme rged as the leade r of the Budd hist movement to
expel the Rohingya. Ma Ba Tha has been active in
provid ing various development and legal se rvices to
help the poor, so it has some support among mode r-
ate Buddhists despite its stance agai nst Musli ms in
Myanmar. W irath u was sente nced to a long prison
term in 2003 for the crime of inciting hatred towa rd
Muslims, but he was freed from prison in 2010 and
resumed his verbal attac ks. He clai ms to be agai nst
the Islamization of Myanmar rathe r than agai nst
Islam itself. W irathu claims, cont rary to many inter-
national news reports, that the Muslims started the
conflict. His many followe rs, cultivated via public
talks and social media, include hund reds of monks
and even more lay Buddhists. Wi rathu's talks are
filled with clai ms o f Muslim rape and mistreatment
of Buddh ists , wh ich have incited some Buddh ists to
ta ke revenge on Muslims.
 8 Current Issues in Western Traditions

Map 8.1

While the majority of the approximately I million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have taken shelter in Bangladesh.
at least seven other nations have accepted some Rohingya refugees. as shown by the numbers above. based on data
from AI jazeera and international agencies.

Some Roh ingya reacted to the persecution by or-
gan izing into militant resistance movements. Their
defense efforts prov ided an excuse for the mi litary
to burn more villages and drive out more Rohingya.
Several fore ign Islamic organ izations also called for
a jihad against Myanmar.
The international commun ity eventually ac-
cused Myanmar's government of the crime of
ethn ic cleansing, even as spokespersons for the
government maintained that the military was only
combating insurgenc ies. Inte rnational attention
carne to focus on Aung San Suu Ky i, the de facto
head o f the government who holds the title of state
counse lor. Suu Kyi has been the lead ing figure of
Myanmar's democracy movement s ince the stu-
dent uprising known as 8888 because it began on
August 8 , 1988. Even though she led her National
League for Democracy Party to a decisive electoral
World Religions: Western Traditions
victory in 1990, she was kept unde r house a rr.est
o r seve rely restricted for decades until the recent
"Road to Democ racy," a pla n tO t ra nsition from
m ilitary to more democ ratic rule, set t he scene for
new elections and brought her party into powe r
in 2015.
For her peacefu l defense o f he r people, Suu
Ky i was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Muslims and the international community con-
seque ntly expected her to de nou nce the ac tio ns
o f t he m ilitary and Budd hist loote rs in rega rd to
the Rohingya people, but she h as not done so.
W irath u has b ragged that Suu Ky i wa nts tO end
the expulsion o f t he Rohingya, but t hat he h as
blocked such a move. Outsiders h ave exp ressed
d isappointment that she h as not had t he politi-
cal strength to take a stance against the milita ry,
wh ich holds the real powe r in the country. So m e
people h ave called upon t he Nobel Comm ittee to
revoke her Nobel Peace Prize, and some Canadians
have called for t he Canad ian government to
revoke t he h onorar y c iti zensh ip it had bestowed
o n her.
~ Fundamentalism
In most cases the leading figu res in the resu rgence
o f religious fe rvor have come from the ult racon-
se rvative or "fund amentalist" end o f the religio us
spectr um. A brief rev iew of the r ise o f fundamental-
ism may help to explai n why.
Now widely used to refer to ultraconse rva-
tive religious movements, the te rm "fundame n-
talism" originated in t he United States, where a
se ries of booklets entitled The Fundamentals was
published from 1910 to 1915. Affirm ing t he " in-
errancy" (in fall ibility) o f the Bible and traditional
Christian doctrines, the booklets were dist ributed
free to Protestant cle rgy, m issiona ries, and st u-
dents t hrough the anonymous sponsorsh ip of "two
Christian laymen" (William lyman Stewart and h is
brother MiltOn, both of whom we re maj or figu res
in the U nion Oil Company of California) By 1920,
defenders of biblical inerrancy were being described
as " fu ndame ntalists."
Fundamentalism is a mode rn phenomenon , a re-
action agai nst the values associated with secularism
and mode rnity. Above all, perhaps, what fundamen-
talists reject is t he mode rn te ndency to locate ulti-
mate authority in human institutions such as cou rts
and legislatures rather than div ine scriptu res and
religious leade rs. If they interp ret their scriptu re as
condem ning homosexuality, for example, they resist
all efforts to legalize same-sex marriage as a human
right. Fundamentalists do not necessarily denounce
sc ience, but on specific issues on which sc ience d if-
fe rs from their inte rpretation of scriptu re, they side
with sc ripture as the ultimate authority. For Chris-
tian fundamentalists, the main con Oict wit h sc ience
has cente red on the pe rce ived conOict between the
biblical StOries of c reation and the consensus of
mode rn science. They understand the Bible to affi rm
that the world was created by God in six days, only
a few thousand years ago, and that everything in ex-
istence originated at that time. By contrast, sc ience
maintai ns that the u niverse has existed for many
billions of years, that ou r planet formed some time
later, and that all li fe on earth is the product of evo-
lution through countless generations.
The test case for fu ndamentalism came in 1925,
when a Tennessee high school teache r named j ohn
T. Scopes was b rought to trial for violating a newly
enacted state law t hat banned the teach ing of evo-
lution on the grounds that it contradicted the Bible.
The court found for the prosecution , led by the
famed orator W illiam j enn ings Bryan (1860- 1925)
agai nst the defense, represented by Clarence Da rrow
(1857- 1938), and fined Scopes $100. So extensive
was the news coverage of the case, howeve r, that
fundamentalism itself was effectively put on t rial in
the court of public opinion. In that trial, Darwin ,
Scopes, and Da rrow emerged as the clea r victOrs.
What ea rned the Scopes case the nickname the
"monkey trial" a nd made it a cause celebre was the
idea that humans were not the special creations of
God but a species of primate descended from the
same com mon ancestor as gorillas and chimpan-
zees. Although Scopes's conviction was ove rturned
in 1927 on t he technical grounds t hat the fine was
too high , it would be anothe r 40 years before the
 8 Current Issues in Western Traditions

In june 20 12. opponents of U.S. president Barack Obama·s health care plan in Charleston. South Carolina.
argued that requiring employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception would infringe on their reli-
gious freedom.

Tennessee law banning the teaching of evolution
was repealed. Creation ism continues tO be popular
among some people, with the Creation Museum
open ing in Petersburg, Kentucky, in 2007. In 2016,
the same group beh ind the museum opened Ark
Encounter, a fundamentalist theme park focused
on a full-size replica of the biblical Noah's Ark, in
nearby Grant County.
The word "fundamentalism" can have va rious
meanings, but almost all of them are pejorative;
even conservative Protestants tend to describe their
own views as "evangelical" and use "fundamental-
ist" only tO refer to more ext reme views. In add ition
to denoting an orthodoxy based on the inerrancy
of scripture, " fundamentalism" generally suggests
orLhopraxy- conform ity to a straitlaced code of
social and personal conduct- and a m ilitant de-
fense of t rad ition as the defende rs understand it.
Fundamentalists have been known to attack as dia-
bolical those they believe to be subverting that t ra-
dit ion by expressing doubt or taking more libe ral
positions on some issues.
Fundamentalists generally perceive a struggle
between good and evil forces in the world , and they
have a greater-than-average readiness to believe
that evil is tangibly mani fested in social groups and
World Religions: Western Traditions
The replica of Noah ·s Ark is the main attraction at a Kentucky theme park named Ark Encounter.
forces with wh ich they take issue, such as advoca tes
o f homosexual rights or free choice in abortio n.
They also tend to believe that the apocalypse- the
final battle between the forces of good a nd evil in
th is world- is immine nt.
Since the 1970s the te rm "fundamentalist" has
also been widely used to describe ultraconse rva-
tive movements in religious trad itions othe r th an
Christianity- espec ially those movements that
have taken thei r beliefs into the political realm.
Some scholars object to the use of a te rm w ith
specifically Ch ristian roots to refer tO di fferent t ra-
ditions. Nevertheless, from the popular perspective
the re a re enough similarities among the va rio us
ultraconse rvative movements around the world to
justify the te rm's extension to othe r cultures.
The term "funda mentalist" has also been applied
in Ind ia to the conse rvative Hi nduism embraced by
the Sangh Parivar ("family o f associations"), a col-
lective term for Hindu nationalist organizations,
includi ng the BJP. The most importa nt "parent" in
this family was the National Voluntee r Assoc iation ,
fou nded in 1925 by K. B. Hedgewa r (1889- 1940)
to promote the idea of Ind ia as a Hindu nation.
To cou nter the grow ing strength of the All-Ind ia
Muslim League, a political pa rty that was call ing for
the creation o f a sepa rate Muslim state, Hedgewa r
started a boys' club that met early in the mo rning
for military-style d rills, physical exercises, and in-
struction in traditional Hindu values. His emphasis
on the Hi ndu nation inspi red the formation of many
othe r Hi ndu nationalist organ izations.
Ce ntral to Hindu nationalist thought is the con-
cept o f Hindu tva, a term coi ned in the 1920s by the
writer and independence activ ist V. D. Sarvarka r.
It literally means "Hind u-ness" and refers to an

At a demonstration in Mexico City in 20 11 in favor of legalizing abortion. an activist wears a mask that reads
"Your mouth is fundamental against fundamentalism."
aLtitude that can man ifest itself in a wide range
of ways, from taking pride in Hindu traditions
to claiming that Hinduism is the only true Indian
religion, demanding that Ind ians of other faiths
accept Hindu dominance, and promoting secta r-
ian violence.
~
Bioethics
An important challenge fac ing religious commun i-
ties in the twenty-first century is the unprecedented
power over human life and death made available by
developments in biological research and medical
technology. This power is especially troubling for
the Western religions, wh ich have trad itionally con-
sidered humans to be sacred, set apart from all other
8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
bei ngs. In Islam, for example, the human being is
created expressly to serve as God's representative on
earth: "Behold, your Lord said to the angels: 'I will
create a vicegerent on earth.' They said: 'Will You
place therein one who will make mischief there and
shed blood while we celebrate Your praises and glo-
rify Your holy name?' God said: 'I know what you do
not'" (Q. 2:30)
Central to the notion of the human being as
sacred is the notion of the soul. The Christian un-
derstanding of the soul has been economically ex-
pressed by the Anglican writer C. S. l ewis: "You
don't have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body."
Hinduism likewise teaches that the soul (atman) is
the eternal and therefore more important part of
the human being; in fact, one of the Hindu terms
World Religions: Western Traditions
for soul is dehin, "that which possesses a body." In
Islam, the soul is believed to ente r the body at a
ce rtain stage of its development in t he womb:
And t ruly We [God] created the human
bei ng out of wet clay, then We made it a
drop in a firm resting place, the n We made
the seed a clot, then We made the clot a
lump of Oesh , the n We made (in) the lump
of Oesh bones, then We clothed the bones
with Oesh, t hen We caused it tO grow into
another c reation, so blessed be God, the
best of the creators. (Q. 23:12- 14)
Modern Muslims take g reat pride in the h is tory
o f scie nce a nd med icine associated with Isla m. Fol-
lowi ng an inj unction of t he Prophet Muhammad
X LIVE IN A
(DUIVTR~ VlHEICE ACJ:RL
NEITHCR SIWE liVSIDE 7i
WOMB
IVo~: OU~IDE
Demonstrating against the gang rape and death of jyoti Singh Pandey in December 2012. a protestor in
Gauhati. India. suggests a link between violence against women and the selective abort ion of female fetuses.
"to see k knowledge even unto Ch ina" (i.e. , to the
end of the t hen-know n world), 1 Muslims neve r
really expe rie nced the kind of tension between re-
ligion and scie nce that Weste rn C hristia nity d id.
To discove r scientific t ruth s about the world was to
lea rn more about God, who c reated the world. Thus
un iversities were established in t he Islamic world
as early as t he n inth ce ntury; one of the earliest
accounts of t he duties o f the docto r was written
by a n inth-ce ntury physician na med lshaq ibn Ali
Rah awi ; and in t he tenth centu ry another Muslim
physician na med al-Razi ( know n in the West as
Rhazes) wrote nume rous t reatises on medici ne,
ph armacy, and medical ethics.
The situation with in Eastern religious t rad itions
is somewhat d ifferent. O ne reason is that modern
med ical technologies have only recently a rrived

in Asia and Still are not readily available tO many
people. Abortion , however, has long been an issue
for Buddhists and Hi ndus. Even though all East-
ern traditions condemn it, abortion is relatively
common in most Asian countries, especially japan,
Ind ia, China, and South Korea. The Guttmache r In-
Stitute estimates that for the years 2010- 2014, 34
pe rcent of pregnancies in East Asia and 25 percent
of pregnancies in South a nd Central Asia ended in
a n abortion, compared with an estimated 17 perce nt
of all pregnancies in North America ending in a n
abortion (Sedgh et a!. 2016: 264).
The Buddhist sc riptu res have little tO say about
abortion itself, but the Buddhist eth ic of nonvio-
le nce has bee n understood to apply tO abortion. In
the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia abortion
is typically illegal, but cove rt abortions a re com mon.
j apanese Buddhists have developed a spec ial memo-
rial service called mizuko kuyo for aborted fetuses,
a nd some temples set aside special areas where
family members may go to honor thei r memory.
As well as all the usual motivations for abortion,
Hindus in Ind ia face two add itional pressures. One
is the pe rsistence of an unusually one rous dowr y
system unde r which the family of a bride is ex-
pected to provide the groom's fam ily with generous
compensation. Because the family can rarely afford
to pay the enti re debt before the wedding, the pay-
ments are often spread ove r seve ral yea rs, like a
mortgage. The dowry system is not sanctioned in
traditional Hi ndu law, but neithe r govern mental
legislation nor the condemnation of some Hi ndu
leaders has bee n able to put an end to it. Thus the
birth o f a daughter means that the family faces the
prospect of a terrible burden when she comes of
marital age: not only will the parents have tO pay
for both the wedding and the dowry, but after mar-
riage the g irl will go to live with- a nd work for-
the family of her husba nd. Conversely, a baby boy
brings the prospect not on ly of rece iving a signifi-
cant financ ial reward when he marries, but of gain-
ing an additional laborer or income earne r in the
form of h is wife. Under these circumsta nces, many
families use modern medical technology tO find out
the sex of a prospective ch ild before bi rth, and some
8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
give in to the economic pressures and abort female
fetu ses.
The other factor contributing tO the rise of abor-
tion in Ind ia is the gove rnment's ongoi ng effort to
control the growth o f the country's popu lation.
Unlike Ch ina, India has not resorted to forced birth
control, but it has put in place ince ntives tO limit
reproduction. For example, a village that manages
to keep its birth rate low is eligible to receive spe-
cial g rants for com munity development projects,
such as roads, wells, or community cente rs. Thus
community leaders someti mes put heavy pressu re
on women who already have child ren to undergo
ste rilization in order to prevent add itional pregnan-
cies. This approach may have the unintended effect
of encou ragi ng abortion.
~The Environment
After c reating the first humans, according to the
Bible (Genesis 1:28), God gave them "dom in ion .
over all the earth": the fish of the sea, the birds of the
ai r, and every liv ing th ing. This verse was tradition-
ally interpreted as a g rant of power and a license for
unlimited exploitation of the earth 's resources, but
today it is generally understOod differently, as a com-
mand to take responsibility for the environment.
An inOue ntial ea rly advocate of th is "greene r"
interpretation was Lynn Wh ite J r., who in 1967
published an article entitled "The Historical Roots
of Our Ecologic Crisis." In it he argued that the tra-
dit ional readi ng of Genesis had played a significant
pa n in the degradation of the earth. This article
pro mpted a shift in attitude among many jews and
Christians, towa rd an unde rstanding of "domi nion
over the earth" that emphasized stewardship of God's
creation rather than exploitation of it. Th is aware-
ness can be seen in churches such as the Canadian
Memorial Church in Vancouver, wh ich has embraced
an environmental mission: "To cultivate a spi ritual
understanding of Creation, and to adopt and pro-
mote awareness of a spiritually-princ ipled approach
to planetary sustai nability."
According tO the Qu r'a n, God offered the respon-
sibility for th is universe as "a Trust to the heavens
World Religions: Western Traditions

and the earth and the mountai ns; but they refused
to undertake it, be ing a fraid the reof" (Q 33:72).
Thus the "Trust" passed from the physical wo rld
to the one part of c reation t hat was willing to ta ke
it: the human being. The verse concludes with t he
statement "The human being was indeed unjust a nd
foolish," unde rlin ing t he necessity of wisdom a nd
justice in the exercise o f the profou nd responsibil ity
that humans have been given.
Faced with the evide nce of hu mans' failure to
se rve as responsible stewards, Muslims , j ews, a nd
Christians have in recent decades begun to reOect
on their fu ndamental relig ious teach ings and d is-
cove r in them the bases for a new envi ronmental
eth ic. As noted in Chapter 6 , Indigenous people
have long called for envi ronmental protections more
ge nerally, as well as for t he settlement of particula r
land claims. At the end o f 2017, for example, the
Navaj o Nation and the Hopi, Zun i, Ute Ind ian , and
Ute Mountai n Ute Indian t ribes filed suit agai nst
U.S. preside nt Donald Tr ump's decision to dramat-
ically reduce the size of Bears Ea rs National Monu-
ment in southe rn Utah.
In sharp contrast to t hei r \.Vestern counte rparts,
most Easte rn religious trad itions have neve r made
any rad ical d istinction between humans and nature
or between huma ns and othe r animals. Hinduism
understands all an imals to have a soul (atman) and

Monks at Drepung Monastery near lhasa. Tibetan Autonomous Region. China. use solar heaters to boil water
in ket tles. which they will pour into the waiting containers for their morning tea break.

holds that reincarnation m ay take place in either a
human or an a nim al body. j ai nism goes eve n fur-
the r, teaching that plants as well a re animated by
a kind of soul. jain ism and Buddh ism alike em-
phasi ze the eth ic o f nonviolence and denounce any
human activity that causes un necessary harm to
living th ings.
Ajai Mansingh (1995) has defe nded Hinduis m's
"natural theology," based on reason ing and obser-
vation of nature rather than revelation, as better
equipped to unde rstand the dy namic relationship
bet ween the div ine and t he world than t he more
Static c reator/c reation approach of most Western
rel igions. Ce rtainly attitudes toward the environ-
ment may be shaped by practical as well as theoret-
ical concerns . As Bi na Agarwal (1992) has pointed
out, rural women in India have more at stake in
Document
The Common Ground Between Buddhism and Science
In this passage the Dalai Lama calls attention to several
approaches to understanding reality that Buddhism and
modern science have in common. This differs from the
way that some scientists and some theologians view sci-
ence and religion as polar opposite approaches.
O n the philosophical level, Buddhism and modern sci-
ence share a deep suspicion of any notion of absolutes,
whether conceptualized as a transcendent being; as an
eternal, unchanging principle such as soul; or as a fun-
damental substratum of reality. Both Buddhism and
science prefer to account for the evolution and emer-
gence of the cosmos and life in terms of the complex
interrelations of the natural laws of cause and effect.
From the methodological perspective, both t ra-
ditions emphasize the role of empiricism . . . . Th is
means that in the Buddh ist investigation of real-
ity, at least in principle, empi rical ev idence should
triumph ove r scriptural authority, no matter how
8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
the envi ronme ntal a rena than do most people in
the West, male or female, since so many o f t hem
still have the daily chore of fetch ing water for t hei r
hou seholds. The d istances they must t ravel, espe-
cially in the dry months, are often increased by the
pressures of huma n population g rowth and env i-
ronmenta l degradation. The same is t rue for women
wh o have to make regular trips to gathe r fodde r for
their animals. Their understanding of environmen-
tal issues is in formed by d irect experie nce.
A numbe r of Buddh ists, including the Dalai
Lam a and Sulak Siva raksa, have applied the Bud -
dh ist eth ic of moderation to environ mental issues.
Siva raksa has a rgued that human greed is respon-
sible for the redirection of vast quantities of natu ral
resources to support cash crops, causi ng suffe ring
by local people as well as harm to the env iron ment.
deeply ve nerated a scriptu re may be . .. . I have often
remarked to my Buddhist colleagues that the empir-
ically verified insights of mode rn cosmology and as-
t ron omy must compel us now to modi fy, or in some
cases reject, many aspects o f t raditional cosmology
as found in a ncient Buddh ist texts.
So, a ge nuine excha nge between the cumula-
tive knowledge and experience o f Buddh ism, and
modern science on wide-rangi ng issues perta in ing
to t he human mind, from cogn ition and emotion to
unde rsta nd ing the capacity for transformation in-
he rent in the huma n brain , can be deeply interesting
and potentially beneficial as well . .. . The compel-
li ng evidence from neuroscie nce and medical sci-
ence of the crucial role of simple physical touch for
even the physical enlargement of an infant's brai n,
du ring the first few weeks powerfully brings home
the intimate connection between compassion and
human happiness. (Dalai La ma 2008: 190- 192)
World Religions: Western Traditions
One of the fi rst tO bring these ecological concerns
to wide public auention was the economist E. F.
Schumache r, who published the book Small Is Beau-
tiful in 1973. Schumache r called for a "Buddhist eco-
nom ics" designed to meet the needs of the entire
planet, as opposed to a traditional business eco-
nomics designed to maxim ize profits. But of course
th is approach is not confined to Buddhism: M. K.
Gandh i's preference for small-scale, locally based
technology, together with his call for all to work for
the benefit of all, has inspi red organizations around
the world dedicated to envi ronmental responsibility
and human-centered development.
~ Gender and Sexuality
In 2000, two advertising campaigns in los Angeles
featured images of veiled women. One campaign
was for the opening of the renovated Aladd in Hotel
and Casino in l as Vegas, a half-day's drive across
the desert. Billboards for the business featured the
head and shoulders of an auractive Middle Eastern
woman who wore an enticing smile and a delicate
veil that covered he r hair and lower face. The image
was a classic example of the "erotic Orient" myth-
the harem gi rl whose sensuality so shocked (and
sometimes titillated) the Victorians.
The other campaign was for the l os Angeles
Times. Entitled "Con necting Us to the Times," it in-
cluded telev is ion commercials as well as print ads
and billboards. In each case, an image of bikin i-clad
women on a beach was juxtaposed with an image
of women cove red from head to we in full blac k
robes. In many ways, this campaign was more trou-
bling than the first example. It was no surprise that
a l as Vegas casino would use sex to sell itself, but
why would a respected news paper choose that ap-
proach? In the latte r case, the veiled women sug-
gested a suppressed sexuality that underlined the
ove rt sexuality of the women in bikinis. The ads
were criticized not only by Muslim groups, but also
by 200 Times employees who objected to the use
o f women's bodies- covered or uncovered- to sell
the ir product. As a result, the Times canceled the
campaign.
These examples a re spec ifically North Ame rican,
but the images they present point to a tendency to
distort the image of Muslim women, a tendency that
is rooted in prejudice and misunderstanding.
When d iscussing the roles and lives of women
today, it is essential to keep in mind that ind ividual
ci rcumstances vary just as widely for them as for
any othe r group. To be a woman in North America
is a very d ifferent experience for a un iversity profes-
sor than it is for an unemployed mother of four who
never finished h igh school. Furthermore, it would
be no less simplistic to assume that North America
is necessa rily progressive in its treatment of women
than it would be to assume that the other regions
of the world are necessarily opp ressive. Politically,
in both Canada and the Un ited States, women are
theoretically equal to men, yet neither country has
elected a female leade r. (Kim Campbell's short stint
as prime minister in Canada in 1993 was the result
of the midte rm resignation of Brian Mulroney, not
a national election. One also cannot underestimate
the power of misogyny in the 2016 U.S. presiden-
t.ial election, in which Hillary Clinton lost to Donald
Trump.) By contrast, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Turkey (all predominantly Muslim countries), Ind ia
(a predominantly Hindu country), and Sri lanka
(a predominantly Buddhist country) have elected
women as leaders.
Many religious trad itions are also beginning to
rethink their positions on sexuality. Islam is among
the m~ority of Western religious trad itions that
recognize only heterosexual relationsh ips as valid,
and Muslims often speak out against homosexuality.
However, the re are Muslims who identify themselves
as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered , intersex,
or question ing (l GBTIQ), and many have formed
support groups. One such group, with branches in
several Canadian cities, including Toronto and Van-
couver, is Min al-Alaq, which takes its name from
a Qur'anic phrase (96:2) that translates literally as
"from the clot." The implication is that members
consider all believers, whatever thei r sexual orienta-
tion, to come "from the same clot of blood."
A 2016 Environics Institute survey of Canadian
Muslims found that only 36 percent thought that

Document
Reza Asian and Hasan Minhaj, "An Open Letter to American Muslims in
Support of Same-Sex Marriage"
In 20I5, when the U.S. Supreme Court made same-sex
marriage legal, two prominent American Muslims, Reza
Asian and Hasan Minhaj, wrote an op-ed encouraging
the acceptance of the LGBT community within Islam.
But if you can't fi nd it in you r heart LO accept gays on
principle, think about the country you want LO live
in. After all, the constitution t hat just ensured the
rights of LGBT communities is the same constitution
that protects our mosques and community centers,
that keeps our Islam ic schools open, that allows us
equal rights and priv ileges in the face of overwhelm-
ing hatred and bigotry from our fellow Ame ricans.
You can't celebrate one without the other.
That's why it's not enough to simply "tolerate"
the Supreme Court decision. Tolerating another
homosexuality should be accepted by soc iety, while
26 percent thought one could be an observant
Muslim wh ile living in a homosexual relationship.
In the United States, a 2017 survey by the Pew Re-
sea rch Cente r found that 52 pe rcent of American
Muslims thought that homosexuality should be
accepted by society (compared to 27 percent who
felt it should be accepted in the organization's first
su rvey in 2007).
Homosexuality has played a major role in Chris-
tian church politics as well. The international family
of churches Jed by the archbishop of Canterbury,
the head of the Church of England, has been par-
ticularly hard hit by controversy over homosexu-
ality. Until recently these chu rches constituted one
big fam ily known as the Anglican Communion, but
in recent years a major split has taken place within
th is group, la rgely over the question of whether or
8 Cu rrent Issues in Western Traditions
community only stirs up concealed fear toward the
marginalized and apathy towa rd the political p ro -
cess. As minorities we don't have the luxu ry LO have
eithe r of those emotions . We have to do more than
tolerate. We have to embrace. We have to fight for
the right of others LO live the ir lives as freely as we
want to live ours.
Bottom line is this: standing up for marginalized
communities, even when you d isagree with them, is
not just the right thing to do, it's the Muslim th ing to
do. Remembe r that whole God is merciful and com-
passionate thing) That extends to all people, not j ust
those who are straight.
Celebrate. Don't tolerate. love really does win.
(Asian and Minhaj 2015)
not the chu rch should bless same-sex marriages
and ordain pe rsons openly liv ing in same-sex re-
lationships. j ames Packer, a well-known conser-
vative Anglican theologian, officially resigned his
membership in a Vancouver-area diocese in 2008
because its head favored allowing the ritual blessing
of same-sex unions. Earlier that yea r seve ral conser-
vative congregations b roke away from the Anglican
Church of Canada to form the Anglican Network of
Canada. They recognize a South African bishop as
their spir itual head and p ride themselves on adher-
ing to biblical tradition , which in thei r view con-
siders homosexuality a sin. (In fact, although some
local d ivisions of the Anglican Church of Canada
have endorsed same-sex union blessings, so far the
church as a whole has not done so.)
Among j ews, the Union for Refo rm judaism has
been at the front of the struggle for LGBTIQ rights.
World Religions: Western Traditions
In 2011 the group participated in the "It Gets Bette r"
campaign for LGBTIQ teens.
Most Eastern trad itions are just beginn ing to
discuss s uch issues. In fact, it is only recently that
Ind ia has officially recognized the existence of ho-
mosexuality within its borders. Buddhist ord ination
rules prohibit the admission tO the sangha (monastic
o rder) of a category of persons that has been under-
stood to include homosexuals and transsexuals. But
most sanghas insist that monks and nuns remain
celibate in any case, so questions about sexual o ri-
entation rarely arise. (The one exception is Japan,
where married Buddhist priests are common.) In
Document
Rabbi David Saperstein. Statement on Reform judaism and LGBTIQ Teens
Rabbi David Saperstein is the director of the Religious
Action Center of Reform Judaism .
Unfortunately, even as we celebrate the growing ac-
ceptance of marriage equality and t he end o f "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell," we know that members of the LGBT
commun ity still face stigma and d iscrim ination.
This is espec ially true for teens who, all too often,
are bullied because of their real or pe rce ived sexual
o rientation or gende r identity.
When we hear the word "bullying" we oft en
th ink merely of name calling, but LGBT youth sadly
endure far much wo rse than that. Acco rd ing to t he
Suicide Prevention Resource Center, more than
sixty percent of LGBT youth reported t hat they felt
unsafe at school as a result o f bullying related to
the ir sexual orientation; more than forty percent
were physically ha rassed (i.e. shoved or pushed) and
nearly twenty pe rcent we re assaulted (i.e. punched ,
kicked, attacked with a weapon). The effects o f e n-
d ur ing this a re severe: the Center estimates t hat
30% of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
youth have attempted suicide at some point- a
general, Buddhist societies in Asia are socially con-
se rvative and frown on homosexual relationsh ips,
although the Buddh ist culture of Thailand has a
long tradition of accepting males who cross-dress
as females.
A maj or factOr in India's movement towa rd
greate r openness has been the Bollywood film in-
dustry. Just a few yea rs ago, the leading lady in an
Ind ian film could not even be kissed on camera, but
now physical expressions of affection- even sugges-
tions of gay or lesbian sexuality- a re inc reasingly
common. Still, many traditionally m inded Hindus
and Musl ims are shocked by the new openness.
rate that is three times that of their heterosexual
counterparts.
That is why messages of hope, not hate, are so
vital.
As Jews we believe in the inherent dignity of all
people, for we read in the Torah, "So God created
the human beings in [the div ine] image, creating
[them] in the image of God, creating them male and
female" (Gen. 1:27). As human beings, we have a
responsibil ity to ensure that the spark of the Divine
presence in each individual is respected. To that
end, we hope that our partic ipation in the It Gets
BeLLer campaign will rem ind LGBT youth who are
Struggling that they are valued and loved.
In addition, we will continue our efforts to make it
better for LGBT youth, as we advocate for passage of
legislation to enhance ami-bullying efforts in schools,
includ ing the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the
Student Non-Discrimination Act. [This statement] is
a continuation of the Reform Movement's decades of
work on behalf of LGBT equality and rightS as well
as our longstanding comm itment to fighti ng bigotry,
wherever it may arise. (Saperstein 2011)

Ch inese society is also becom ing more open
a nd permissive about homosexuality. Ch ina no
longer lists homosexuality as a mental illness, and
gay- lesbian pride parades are now held annually in
Shanghai. In the past, in Ch ina as elsewhere, many
gay males married and raised families, but now gay
me n's wives- called tongqi- are forming support
g roups and call ing attention tO thei r plight ("Gay
marriage gone wrong," 2012).
japanese society has traditionally avoided any
public discussion of homosexuality, but that is also
Starting to change. One indicator of the change is that
Tokyo Disneyland now allows same-sex marriages tO
be performed at its theme park (Westlake 2012).
~ Rel igious Diversity
"Aren't all religions pretty much the same?" Most
students of religion will be asked th is question , or
some version of it, more than once in their careers.
As scholars, we might want tO unpack the proposi-
tion. W hat aspect of religion a re we tal king about-
teach ings? practices? implications for soc iety? Still,
it would probably be safe tO assume that the ques-
tioner conside rs all religions to be of equal value and
deservi ng o f equal respect. And in the multicultural
society of twenty-first-century North Ame rica, most
o f us would probably agree. Th is was not the case
100 years ago, when North American society was
overwhelmingly Christian and most of the Chris -
tian chu rches were actively engaged in missiona ry
work. Missionary ac tivity presumes a di fference
among religions- a d ifference so consequential
that believers cannot keep silent about it, but must
spread the wo rd.
For its first th ree centu ries, Ch ristianity was an
affinity-based movement in which members were not
born into but actively chose to join that movement.
In the early fourth century, howeve r, with the impe-
rial favor of the emperor Constantine (r. 306- 337),
the missiona ry religion became a state religion as
well. Ch ristian ity converted several entire popula-
tions by first converting their rulers. In its earlier
centuries, Islam likewise succeeded in persuadi ng
a significant number of nations to conve rt, perhaps
8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
pa rtly because it offe red improved j urid ical status,
includi ng tax exemption , to those who became
Muslims. Ch ristianity's spread a fte r the 1490s was
closely associated with European milita ry and cul-
tural expans ion. Priests accompanied soldiers in
Mexico and Peru, and the sponsoring Spa nish and
Portuguese regimes wok it as their responsibility
to save the souls of the Indigenous peoples whose
bodies they enslaved. The cultural and religious
imperialism of Catholic countries in the sixteenth
century was matched by that of Protesta nt England,
notably in Africa, in the nineteenth .
Muslim rule in northern India began with the
establishment of the Delhi sultanate in the thir-
teenth century. This was the fi rst region whe re
Isla m d id not succeed in conve rting the entire pop-
ulation. Only in the Indus Valley, Be ngal, and the
mid -southern inte rior d id Muslims become the ma-
jority; the rest o f the subcontinent remained pre-
dom inantly Hindu.
In the late r centuries of its expansion, Islam grew
not th rough military conquest, but through trade
and the missionary activity of the Sufis in partic-
ula r. The devotiona l life of the Sufis resonated with
the Hindu and Budd hist med itational piety al ready
present in Southeast Asia and provided Islam an
entree to that region , in which it became dom inant.
Sim ilarly, in Africa south of the Saha ra, trade rs and
Sufis were the principal vehicles of Islam.
Dialogue in a Pluralistic Age
Today we often use the term "pluralis m" to denote
a combination of two things: the fact of dive rsity
and the evaluation of that d ive rsity as desirable.
Th is use of the word, wh ich has become standa rd
since the mid-twentieth century, renects a conver-
gence of developments and trends. But let us be
clear about what we mean by it. Fi rst, pluralism is
not the same thing as dive rsity. People from many
di rfe rent religions and ethnic backgrounds may be
present in one place, but unless they are construc-
tively engaged with one another, the re is no plural-
ism. Second, pluralism means more than simple
tole rance of the othe r. It's quite possible to tolerate
World Religions: Western Traditions
Focus
Missionary Religions
The fact that a mere three trad itions- Buddh ism,
Christianity, a nd Islam- claim the allegiance of
over half the world's population reflects the success
of the ir missiona ry activities. All th ree are "univer-
sal" rather than "ethnic" religions- that is, they
direct thei r messages to all human beings, regardless
of heredity or descent. And all th ree we re strongly
motivated from the sta rt to spread their messages
far and wide.
By the time Buddh ism eme rged in what is
now northern India, Indian society was already
stratified into fou r broad social classes. W hether
those d isti nctions had ethnic connotations in the
time of the Buddha may be debated. W hat is dear
is that Buddhism set caste and class status aside as
irrelevant to the achievement of spiritual pu rity and
liberation.
Ch ristianity bega n as a sect of j udais m, a reli-
gion focused almost exclusively on the relation-
ship of one particular nation to God. But the ea rly
Christians decided that it was not necessary to be
a jew in order to become a Christian. Early Chris-
tian teaching understood the new covenant to apply
to all huma ns who accepted j esus as their l o rd ,
regardless of ethnicity.
Islam believes the Prophet Muhammad to have
been the last in a long line of prophets sent by God
to di fferent peoples. And although the Qu r'a n .ex-
plicitly addresses the people of Arabia , it was u n-
derstood from the sta rt to incorporate the messages
delivered to other groups by earlie r prophets and to
represent God's final revelation to human ity at large.
In general, Buddhist, Muslim, and Ch ris tian
missionaries have been more successful in re-
cruiting converts from the traditional religions
of small-scale tribal societies than from the other
maj or religions. The reasons may have something
to do with the mate rial culture and tech nologies-
including writing systems- of the major civili za -
tions, which h ave confe rred power[ ul advantages
on those who possess them. Scriptural lite ratures
have given the major traditions a special authority
among cultures that are primarily oral, allow ing
them to use the content of the ir sc riptures to shape
social values. The early missionary spread of Ther-
avada Buddhism is credited to King Ashoka. We do
not know enough about the Indigenous traditions
in many of the regions where Theravada spread to
dete rmine why its teach ings were accepted. In the
case of China, however, it see ms that the Daoist
interest in magic and healing tech n iques may
have helped Mahayana Buddhism ga in an in itial
foothold.
In the twe ntieth century, some Ch ristian de -
nomi nations began to cu rtail thei r missionary ac-
tivity, partly because the returns on the resou rces
invested we re too small. Generations of European
missiona ry effort in the eastern Mediterranean
h ad made almost no in roads into Islam. And in the
years a round 1960, when many African cou ntries
were Struggling for indepe ndence from European
rule, Christian missionaries in West Africa pa r-
ticularly suffe red from ide ntification with colonial
interests as well as the forme r slave trade. Thus
Ch ristian missiona ries in Africa we re largely re-
placed by a n emerging gene ration of Indigenous
church leade rs. Anothe r factor in the Christian
churches' retreat from missionary work, howeve r,
was an increasi ng respect for othe r communities
and t rad it ions.

A coalition ol diverse American fait h leaders participating in a day ol interfaith action urge the U.S. Congress
and President Obama to protect the poor and t he vulnerable in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations ol December 20 12.
a neighbor without knowing anyth ing about him or
her. Pluralism, by contrast, demands an active effort
to learn. Third, pluralism is not the same thing as
relativism, wh ich can lead us to ignore profound
differences. Pluralism is comm iued to engaging
those d ifferences in order to gain a deepe r under-
standing both of others' comm itments and of our
own. It is also important to recognize that pluralism
and dialogue are happening around the world, not
just in North America.
The current s ituation has been shaped by
increasingly intimate intercultural contact. Within
the lifetimes of people still alive today, t ranspor-
tation and commun ication have been transformed
almost beyond recognition. As late as 1950, travel
between North America and East Asia was rare,
but now tens of thousands of people Oy ac ross the
8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
Pacific every day. New technologies allow us to be
in touch with almost any part of the world in an
instant. Migration has also increased significantly.
Since the end of the Second World War, the demo-
graphic profile of European and North American
cities has been t ransformed by the arrival of pop-
ulations from other parts of the world who have
brought thei r Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and othe r
trad itions with them. Though apprehensive at fi rst,
\~lestern societies have made some progress tOward
understanding those t raditions.
Changes in the evaluation of diversity are reOected
in many aspects of contemporary life, large and small.
In some cases old institutions have been retained,
but with new rationales. For instance, Sunday- the
Christian day of religious observance- remains a day
of reduced business activity in many jurisdictions.
World Religions: Western Traditions
The arguments for legislation preservi ng Sunday
store closing, however, now revolve around issues
such as fairness, family time, and opportunities for
recreation rather than religion.
It is important he re to distinguish pluralism from
sec ula rism. Secularism means the exclusion (in prin-
ciple) of all religious groups, institutions, and identi-
ties from public support and public dec ision-maki ng.
Pluralism, on the other hand, means that multiple
religious groups receive equal support, acceptance,
and opportun ities to participate in dec ision-making.
Whereas recreational arguments for Sunday closi ng
a re secularist, arguments for school holidays on the
jewish New Year or the Musl im festival endi ng the
Ramadan fast a re pluralist. Up tO a point, secularism
and plu ralism go hand in hand in the West because
both seek to limit the role that Christianity can play
in setting the soc iety's standards. Where they differ is
in what they propose as alternatives. Pluralism places
a parallel and positive value on the faith and practice
of d ifferent communities. It often does so on the as-
sumption that any religion is beneficial to society so
long as it does no har m to othe r religions. It can also
presume that the effort tO unde rstand a neighbor's
religion- whatever it may be- is beneficial to soci-
ety. Essentially, pluralism downplays the d iffe rences
between religions and focuses instead on the values
they sha re. In its scale of priorities, harmony in the
society as a whole is more important than the com-
mitments of any particula r religion.
Interfaith Dialogue
The word "dialogue" comes from a Greek root
meaning to argue, reason, or contend. Some Chris -
tian writers have pointed to the Apostle Paul as an
early proponent of interfaith d ialogue because he is
described as "arguing and pleading about the king-
dom of God" with the jews (Acts 19 8- 9). Pa ul
was a missiona ry, howeve r, and missionaries- by
defin ition- believe they possess a truth that it is
their mission to spread. Missiona ry argumentation
the refore bea rs little resemblance to d ialogue in the
modern sense, which demands openness to othe r
points of view.
Dialogue is also a literary form, almost always de-
signed to advance the author's point of view. The Greek
philosopher Plato was a master of the dialogue form,
using questioners and objectors as foils (or comedic
"straight men") to demonstrate the invincible logic of
his own ideas and those of h is mentor, Socrates.
The Hindu Upanishads also take the form of
dialogues, yet they too we re composed to advance
specific arguments. Similarly, in the Buddhist story
of the sage Nagasena answering the questions of
King Milinda, the questione r assumes the role of
a puppet whose only function is to bring out the
views to wh ich the author is al ready committed.
True openness to alternative points of view is
rare in any of the premodern traditions, but we do
find instances of it. One highly significant example
is Akbar, the Mughal emperor of India from 1556 tO
1605. As a Muslim rule r of a mainly Hindu popula-
tion, Akbar could have taken a tole rant stance toward
Hindu spirituality on purely practical g rounds, but
he was a genuine seeker of religious insight. There-
fo re he summoned tO his court representatives of all
the religious communities within his domain and
pursued conve rsations with them late into the night.
From those conve rsations Akbar drew the outline
of an eclectic new religion that he called Din-i llahi
("div ine faith"). Although Akbar's synthesis did not
endure for long after his death, it reOected a remark-
able phenomenon in his society: a widespread per-
ception that despite their communal boundaries,
Hindus and Musl ims shared a devotional spi rituality.
Conse rvative Muslims disapproved of Akba r's
openness to he retical views. Th is was nothing new.
Traditional religions may encourage d isputation
when the outcome is not in question, but Akba r's
explorations we re open-ended. A dialogue in which
both sides a re equal is someth ing that orthodoxy
cannot control. To those committed to a fixed posi -
tion, such dialogue implies a th reat.
The World's Parliament of Religions, convened
in Chicago in 1893, was an adventure in d ialogue
that brought together representatives of many-
though not all- of the world 's faith s to present their
religious goals and unde rstand ings. The con ference
reOected the ex isting religious scene and at the

same time affected its future development by creat-
ing opportun ities for Ved anta to present itself as the
de finitive form o f Hi nduis m, Zen to claim to repre-
sent Budd hism, and the Baha'i faith to appear as an
overarch ing synthesis of religion. The most recent
Parliament was held in Toronto in 2018.
Understanding of interfaith dialogue h as grow n
conside rably since 1948, when the World Counc il
o f Churches was formed. Expe rienced d ialogue
pa rtic ipants emphasize that such exercises require
both parties to set aside their clai ms to exclusiv ity;
each must work to u nde rsta nd the other on h is or
her ow n terms. Both pa rtic ipants must also be open
to the possibility of revising thei r views in the ligh t
o f what they learn in the encounter- though th is
is easier said than done. Even the best-intentioned
pa rticipants may be tempted tO read their ow n
views into othe rs'. The in fluential Roman Catholic
theologian Karl Rah ner (1904- 1984), for instance,
referred to people o f othe r faiths as "anonymous
Christians"- Christians who simply did not recog-
nize the fact. By the same token, could not Rah ner
himself have bee n an anonymous Buddh is t?
The goal of d ialogue in the modern sense is "un-
derstanding." But "understand ing" can be a slippe ry
term in the context of rel igion. Academic students
of religion understand particular traditions by ex-
plaining them- that is, by describing as accurately
as possible what they require of their adherentS and
how they have developed to become what they are.
For these people, unde rstanding may be informed by
sy mpathy, but it is not the same as participation or
identification. Si milarly, the participants in d ialogue
understand each other by identifying one another's
com mitments, but t hat is not to say that they identi fy
with those commitmentS. Particularly in the area of
jewish- Ch ristian- Muslim d ialogue, there have been
calls for complete sol idarity on complex and hotly de-
bated issues, characterized by one critic as "ecumen-
ical blackmail." Does true unde rstand ing of j udaism
require uncritical endorsement of Israel's policies
toward the Palestinians) If one truly "understands"
Islam, must one agree with Iran's theocratic govern-
ment and iLS suppression of democracy) Does under-
sta nding Hinduism mean accepting polytheism or
8 Current Issues in Western Traditions
animal sac rifice? The answe r to all three questions is
no. Real understa nding is not a matter of agreement or
acquiescence, but a patient quest for an appreciative
rela tionship that can persist despite disagreement.
The Question of Value
For four decades, the 1978 jonestown tragedy-
in which 914 members of a religious community
called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-
has stood as a challenge to the idea that all reli-
gions are equally valuable and deserving of respect.
The community's founde r, the Reverend Jim j ones
(1931- 1978), who took h is ow n life alongside his fol-
lowers, had aspirations to overhaul the world order
that were compatible with a reformist and utopian
stra nd in Protestant (and Marxist) thought; one of
his objectives in fou nding the movement had been to
improve the living sta ndards of the poor. But he also
sought from his followers an uncritical dedication to
his pe rsonal leade rship that many found disturbing.
Having moved h is community from the United States
to r ural Guyana in 1972 ,j ones ordered the mass sui-
cide when he became convinced that evil forces we re
closing in and the only honorable escape was death.
History repeats itsel f. The j onestow n story recalls
the jewish Zealots at the fort ress of Masada who a re
said to have committed mass suicide after bei ng sur-
rou nded by Roman troops in 73 CE. Suicide and the
psychology of martyrdom have been li nked at var-
iou s ti mes by religious groups from Ch ristian a nd
oth er traditions. A s imila r inte rpretation has been
applied to the conduct of the followe rs of David
Ko resh (bo rn Ve rnon Wayne Howell, 1959- 1993),
85 of whom perished with him when their heav ily
a rmed religious commune outside Waco, Texas, was
stormed by U.S. law enforcement forces for fi rearms
violations in 1993. To approve o f Masada's defend-
ers while condemning the "Branch Davidians" at
Waco would amount to decidi ng what constitutes a
provocation worth resisti ng to the death .
j im jones and Dav id Koresh we re both leaders
of movements that sough t to rec ruit and reta in con-
verts . That is not unusual in missiona ry religions;
Budd hism, Christia nity, and Isla m have all done the
World Religions: Western Traditions
same, as have numerous "new religious movements"
since the !me 1960s. If mode rn plural istic society
proclaims the freedom to preach or follow religion
without state intervention, fairness demands that
the same freedom be extended to all.
Nevertheless, my freedom to practice or pro-
mote a religion is lim ited by the freedom of others
to know what I am offering and to refuse it if they
so choose. In a pluralistic society, religious groups
forfeit their right to acceptance if they engage in co-
ercion (psychological or physical) or illegal activ i-
ties (such as narcotics abuse, fi rea rms abuse, or tax
fraud). Critics of movements such as the Un ification
Church (the "Moonies"), ISKCON (the Hare Krish na
movement), or the Church of Scientology are par-
ticularly alarmed when recruits are instructed to
seve r all ties with their families- even though there
were parallels to such demands in the early Chris-
tian movement and continue tO be parallels in some
religious orders- and the families of such recru its
have often resorted to equally coerc ive methods to
retrieve and "deprogram" them.
By the early twenty-first century, some of the
new religions desc ribed in Chapte r 7 had achieved
a degree of institutional maturity and public accep-
tance. Most of these organ izations a re compatible
with mainstream religions in that they help their
members cope with their lives and encourage good
citizenship. Like mainstream religions, in one way
o r anothe r, they address the human cond ition.
The last point is important. Religions are not all
the same, but many may be humanly acceptable if
they in fact benefit human beings; an approp riate
test is suggested by jesus's words in the Sermon on
the Mount: "You shall know them by their fruits"
(Matthew 7:16). On some occasions, when they
have lived up to their ideals, all the major traditions
have passed that teSt; on other occasions, when they have
fallen short of those ideals, the same trad itions have
failed. Typically, though, the va rious traditions
see thei r distinguishing features as em inently valu-
able in themselves. If all religions were of equal
worth , if there were no fundamentally import-
ant differences between them , why would anyone
choose one of them over another? Pluralism may be
socially desirable, but it poses a serious theological
challenge. Does it really require us 10 modify our
own doctrinal claims)
We personally are convinced that it does.
Affi rmations of religious "truth " that used to be
understood as statements of fact are now inc reasingly
regarded as pe rspectival- true "for me"- rather
than universal claims. Today, thinkers from various
backgrounds are presenting their traditions as
symbolic accounts of the world and metaphorical
narratives of the past. What is more, they argue that
this is the way the various traditions should have
been seen all along, and that literal interpretation
has always been a mistake.
Pluralism demands that religious traditions adapt
to a world that is becoming ever more interconnected.
Here we th ink again of the work of Wilfred Cant-
well Smith, the greatest Canadian scholar of religion
in the twentieth century. Professor Smith founded
the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University
in Montreal before moving to Harvard University,
where he di rected the Center for the Study of World
Religions. One of his most important books was To-
wards a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative His-
tory of Religion (1981). In it he argued that our various
religious traditions a re best understood in compara-
tive context, "as strands in a . . . complex whole":
What those traditions have in common is
that the h istory of each has been what it has
been in significant part because the h isto-
ries of the others have been what they have
been. This truth is newly d iscovered; yet
truth it has always been. Things proceeded
in this interrelmed way for many centu-
ries without humanity's being awa re of it;
certainly not fully aware of it. A new, and
itself interconnected, development is that
currently humankind is becoming aware of
it, in various communities. (Smith 1981: 6)
Although current events make us painfully awa re
of the d ifferences that separme the world's religions,
it is more crucial today than ever to appreciate the
complex connections they share. That is exactly what
we have been trying to do in this book: to deepen un-
derstanding of our interconnected religious worlds.
 8 Current Issues in Western Traditions 449

Discussion Questions
l. W hat are some of the points of intersection 4. Have religious t raditions helped or hun the
of religion and politics? environment?
2. W hat did t he word " fundamentalism" 5. Is religious pluralism t he same thing as
o rigi nally mean, and how is it used today relativ ism?
in con nection with the world's religions) 6 _ How does the Eastern view of a nimals
3. How are Western religious traditions dealing compare w ith the trad itional Western one?
with issues of sexual ity, especially challenges
to t raditional heterosexual norms?

Glossary
Bollywood India's thriving film
industry, derived from the terms
•sombay" and •Hollywood ."
dowry The price paid by a bride's
family to conclude a marriage con-
tract; in India, it is traditionally paid
before the marriage bm now is often
spread over many years.
fundamentalism A ''ery conservative
form of religion that typically affirms
the literal trmh of its scriptures and
doctrines and attributes ultimate au-
thority to them.
Hindut•·a "Hindu-ness" or•Jndia-ness,"
an affirmation of pride in traditional
Indian culture and Hinduism.
pluralism A cultural attitude that
welcomes a variety of political, reli-
gious, and other stances.
separatists Persons who advocate for
the separation of a region from a larger
nation to form a new nation.

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Note
l. Some IslamiC scholars have questioned the authentiCity or this
hadith .
The authors gratefully aclmowledge the use of the following
material:
Texl Credils
Extract on page 28: From Egyptian Booll of the Dead by
Eva von Dassow (ed.), © 1972 translated by Raymond
0 . Faulkner.
Document box on page 88: Alphabet of Ben $ira 23a-b;
trans. N. Bronznick in D. Stern and Mj. Mirsky, Rabbinic
Fantasies 1990,Jewish Publication Society: 183- 184.
Document box on page 121: From A Treasury of jewish
Folklore, ed ited by Nathan Ausubel, copyright 1948, re-
newed 1975 by Crown Publishers, Inc. Used by permis-
sion of Crown Publishers, a division of Random House,
Inc. Any third party use of this material, outside of this
publication is prohibited. Interested parties must apply
directly to Random House, Inc. for permission.
Document box on page 177: lmp://www.creeds.net/
anciem/nicene.htm
Document box on page 285: Menocal, Maria Rosa, Ten
Years After: The Virtues of Exile, Scripta Mediterra-
nea, Vols. XIX- XX 1998- 1999, 55 Published by the
Canad ian Institute for Mediterranean Studies. Used
with pe rmission.
Document box on page 321: Custer Died For Your Sins: An
Indian Manifesto by Vine Deloria Jr. Copyright© 1969
by Vine Deloria Jr. Copyright renewed © 1997 by
Vi ne Deloria Jr. All rights reserved.
Epigraph on page 323: Excerpt from "East Coker" from
Four Quartets by T.$. Eliot. Copyright © 1940 by
T.$. Eliot. Copyright © renewed 1968 by Esme Valerie
Eliot. Reprint by permission of Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved .
Epigraph on page 346: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
(Will iam Heinemann 1958, Penguin Classics 2001).
Copyright© Chinua Achebe, 1958
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Note: Page numbers followed by f indicate a
map or figure
Abbastd dynasty, 73, 113. 244,246, 252,
267,270,288
Aborigines: of Australia, 323,328-29,328-31,
335; Indigenous religions and, 3 15; loss
of land rights, Australia, 355; of Nonh
American plains, 338; re ligtous tdeas of,
323; "Stolen Generations· of children,
317; Sun Dance ritual, 338; "Two laws"
way of thinking, 364. See also Indigenous
tradnions; Native Americans
abonion: activism in favor of, 435f; Eastern
tradillons and, 437; fundamentalists
and, 433-34; Ind igenous people and,
350; religtons of antiquity and, 45;
violence agamst women and, 4 36f
Abrahamic lineage, new religtons, 395-409.
See aL<o Baha't Faith; Christianny;
Church of Jesus Christ of latter-Day
Samts; Eastern lightning
Abrahamic traditions (fallhs). See
Chrisllanny; Islam; Judaism
Abu Bakr, 252
Abu Sayyaf, separatist group. 4 30
Achebe, Chinua, 3 17,318,358.374
Act o f Supremacy (1559), 211
acupuncture. 420
Adam and Eve, 88, 118, 179, 262, 416,417
Adler, Margot, 409
adultery, 45, 61, 73, 93,303
Aetherius Society, 415
Afghanistan , holy war in, 428
Afnca: Ch nstian misstonaries in, 207, 317;
mdigenizallon of Chnstian liturgy, 229;
Indigenous people in, 3 17; modem era
Chrisllamty m, 232; Muslims m, 232,
317; onset of post-independence e ra,
318; pannioning of, 317-18; sacrifice by
Indigenous peoples, 338; spread of Islam
m, 283-84, 286-87; Ubuntu concept ,
366. See also sub-Saharan Africa
African American Islam (AI-Deen), 306
Afncan American Muslims, 300-301
Afncan Americans: Baha'i Fallh and, 400;
Chrisllanny and, 212. 223; Islam and,
301, 307; Milhon Man March and , 404;
Nation oflslam and, 401; New Age
movement and. 418
afterhfe. 45-48; death as an ending, 46;
death as a passage, 47; mastenng
death, 47-48; Mtd dle Kingdom and,
40; Pyramid Texts and, 53; stones in
Indtgenous tradn ions, 326
Age of Aquarius, 419
Age of Dtscovery, 217
Agha Khan , Karim, 274-75
agunah women (Judaism), 149-51
Ahmadiyah , 295
Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda (Zoroastrian god), 68-70, 71f
Amu Elder, 325
Akbar, 296
Akhenaten (Egypuan ruler), 29f, 54, 56, 57f
Akhetaten (modern Amam a), Egypt,
43,55,56
Albaman Muslims, 301
ai-Banna, Hasan, 298
Albigensiamsm, 199
AI-Deen, Ammah Beverly (McCloud). 306-8
Aleppo Codex, 141
Alexander the Great, 4 2 , 59, 84.98-100
Alex-y II (Russtan Onho dox Patnarch), 189
ai-Farabi, Abu Nasr, 271
ai-Ghazah, Abu Hamtd Muhammad, 246.272
ai-Hallaj, Husayn ibn Mansur, 276-77
ai-Hasan al-Basn, 246
Ali, Mahershala, 295
Ali, Noble Drew, 401
ai-Kind i, Abu Yusu fYa'.q ub. 271
Allah: Mushms belief in, 113; Qur'anic verses
and, 49; term denvauon, 35, 244
All Saints Day (Chrisllan custom), 6, 23
ai-Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, 294-95
Almohads (Morocco), 1 14
almsgiving, m Islam, 260
al-Muwalln' (The Leveled Path)
(tbn Anas), 267
Al-Qaeda, 294,303, 307,428
al-Qanun fi aJ- Tibb (The Canon of Medicine)
(Avicenna), 2 71
ai-Sadiq,Ja'far, 274, 275-76
al-Shifa' (The Book of Healing) (Avicenna), 271
al-Wahhab, 'Abd, 246, 293, 294,296
American Ind ian Movement (AIM), 321
American Mushm M ission, 403
American Protestanusrn, 19
American Society of Muslims, 403
Amtda Buddha, 388
Amtsh people, 207
Amma Matrona (Desen Mother), 185
Amma Sarah (Desen Mother), 185
Amma Suncleuca (Desen Mother), 185
Amma Theodora (Desert Mother). 185
Amun-Ra (deity). 35
Anabaptists, 206, 207. 212
Anas, Mahk ibn, 267
ancestors: Chnstianity and, 178; Ind igenous
traditions, 3 14,325-26, 328-29, 335,
336,339-40, 342-47;Judatsm and ,
104, 114, 120, 129; Mormons and, 396;
Muslims and, 249; Myanmar and, 430;
religtons of antiquny and, 28, 33, 34,
64.71
anchoritic monasucism, 185
Anctent Near East map. 31f
Anghcan Church , 165, 441
Anghcan Church of South Africa, 226
Anghcamsm, 21 1
am mal spi ms, 5, Sf
An Introduction to lsfam in the 21st Century
(AI-Deen), 306
Anishmaubae (lndtgenous people): dream
catchers. 360; drumrnmg ceremonies.
3 19; origin stories, 326-27, 329; "Red
Wt!lows· tale, 332-34, 334j. 37>-74;
sweat lodge ceremonies, 360; toLems.
344; \'iston quests of, 336
Anishnawbe Health Toronto, 370
Anthony of Egypt. 185
anthropogony, 40
anu-Semiusm, 132-35
ann-Zionism. 141
Antoninus Pius (Roman emperor), 28f
apanhetd, 165, 226-27,367
Apocalypw film, 338
Apolhnananism, 179-80
Apostohc Age. 175, 207
Aposlofic Constitution.~. 169
Aposwlic Traditions, 169
 Index
appropriation, of Indtgenous tradnions,
357-60; identity and, 357-59; New
Age teachings, Burning Man, and, 360;
religion m the movies and, 359-60
Aquinas, T homas, I 95
The Arabic Rore in MedievaJ Uterature
(Menocal), 284
Arab-lsraeh War ( 1948), 142
Arab Muslims, 72, 191
Arab Spring, 246, 299
archiLecture: Christianity, churches, and, 162.
202; Islamic, 290, 292; monumental, in
Turkey, 31
Arguedas, Jose Maria, 3 7 4
Armageddon, I 4
Annenia: ChnsLlanity in. 178
Anmnius, Jacobus, 206
an: Byzantine an. 189; Byzantine emptre and,
189; Chnstianity and, 162, 184; early
Chrisuan art, 184 ~ early modem era,
203; Islam and , 256, 292-93; Judaism
and, 126, 148
asceticism: cenobitic monasticism and, 186~
Chrisuan women~ communities and,
175; in Sufism; Sufism and, 275-76
Ashkenazim (AshkenaztcJews), 114, 120,
134-35,144
Ashlag. Yehuda, 404
Ashura anniversary celebration (Shftsm), 274
Asia: Chnstianity in, 162; Christian
misstonaries 1n, 20 7~ Indigenous people
10,317
Assurbampal (Assyrian ruler), 51
Assyrian Emptre: Jewish dtspers1on from,
27; rulership of Assurbampal, 5 1; trade
route connections. 14
astrology, 52; origins, 9
Atanmjual: The Fast Runner film, 374
Atatlirk, Mustafa Kemal, 297
Athanas1us (Alexandrian bishop), 176
Atlantic slave trade, 3 I 4, 362
atonement: African rituals, 338~ in
Christlanny, 163, 214,219, 220-21;
10 Judaism, 128, 250; in rehgions of
antiquity, 51
Augusune ofHtppo,ll2, 180-81
Augusunian order, 203
Augustus Caesar, 68
Auschwitz-Birkenau exLem1inatton
camp, 139
Austin, Lyn, 351
Austraha: apology for ·'Stolen Generauons•
from Aborigmals, 318; Bntish devastation
of indigenous inhabitants, 317, 366;
colonialism 10, 351; genocide 10, 350;
mistreatment of Indigenous peoples,
354-55; Presbyterianism in, 207
Australian Aborigmes, 317-18, 323, 328-29,
354-55,366
avatar gocls, I 6
Averroes (Ibn Rushd). 2 72
Avesta text (on Zoroastrianism), 68-69
Avicenna (Ibn S10a), I 95; ai-Qanun fi al-Tibb
(The Cnnon of Medicine), 271; ai-Shifa'
(The Baok of Healing), 271
Avignon papacy, I 93
Aymara people, Tiwanaku, BoliVIa, 356
ayurvedic medicine, 420
Azuza Street Revival (Los Angeles). 22 I
Baal Shem Tov, 84, 120, 122
Bab (•gateway"), in Balta't faith, 398-99
Babur, 296
Babyloma: dJVinauon in. 52; Enuma Bish
epic, 34; Epic of C•·eation (Enuma Elt<h),
34, 50, 52; gods and goddesses, 48;
Jewish dispersion from , 27;Jewish exile
to, 97-98; Mardul<, patron god, 34-36,
39, 49-52; rule of Nabonidus, 52
BabylomanJews, 98,109,110, 114
Babyloman Talmud, 84, 88. 98, 105, 110,
128,155
Baha't Faith, 386, 395, 398--401,420
Baha'u'llah (Mtrza Husayn 'Ah Nuri),
399-400
Bangladesh: church umon issues, 230;
l\•luslim commumLies m, 300
baptism: in Chnstianity,l63. 165, 169, 172,
I 75, 177, 182-83 , 207, 212,221, 230;
in mystery cults, 16
.. Baptism, Euchanst, and Mimstry·
(BEM), 165
Baptist Missionary Society, 21 7
Baptists, 206, 212, 21 7
Bannen Dedarauon (Nazi Gennany), 219
Barot, Madeleme, 225
Barrett, David, 232
Banh, Karl, 219, 223
Basil (bishop of Caesarea), 186
Basquiat,Jean-Michel, 341
Bast, cat goddess (Egypt), 10
Baum, L. Frank, 351
Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, 438
Beatles, 395, 420
Begumes and Beghards (medieval women~
groups), 200-201
Bellfy, Philip, 357
Belzec exLem1inaLion camp, 139
Benedict, Saint, 186
Benedict's Rule, 187
Benedict XVI (Pope), 165, 228
Berg, Phihp S.• 404
Bernard of Clatrvaux, I 96
Bhagavad Gita (Hindu Lext), 15, 393, 395
bhakti yoga, 393
Bhariuya Janata Pany (BJP) (India), 429
Btddle, John, 207
Bteta Ghiorghis (St. George's House),
Ethtopia, I 78f
Btghorn Medicine Wheel (U.S.). 335
bin Laden, Osama, 246, 303,307,428
bioethics: Chnstianity a nd , 435-36; Eastern
rehgious traditions and , 436-37; Islam
and, 435
Bistril2ky, Shlomo, 138-39
Bistril2ky, Yehuda, 138
Black Elk, 218
Blair, Frederick Charles, 136
Blavatsky, Helena P., 419
"Bless10gway• ceremony (Navajo), 323
Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of
Scientology (Headley), 414
Blue Lake, New Mexico,
318.366,367
Boas, Franz, 355
ll6hme,Jacob, 15-16
Boleyn, Anne, 2 I 0
Bonaventure, 196
The Bone People (Hulme), 374-75
Bonhoeffer, Dietnch, 219
Bomface VIII (Pope), ISO
book bum10g (Gemuny), 135
Book of Cnmmon Prayer (BCP), 211
Book of Mormon (Smith, Jr.), 165, 396, 397
The Book of Shadows (Vahente), 409
Book of the Dead (Egypt), 28, 29f, 54 ,
57, 75, 76
Branch DaVIdian cult, 387
Brandwem, Yehuda, 404
Brant, Clare, 323
BRN-C (Bansan Revolusi Nasional-
Koordtnasi), 430
Brous, Sharon, 153-54
Budapest, Zsuzsanna, 409
Buddhtsm (and Buddhtsts), 386; ancestors
and, 335; an representations, 189; burial
rituals, 9; celibacy and , 442; in Central
Asta, 287; environment and, 439-40;
Falun Dafa and, 390; homosexuality,
transsexuals. and. 442; locus Sutra and,
388. 389; Mahayana Buddhism, 30,
388, 411; Mani and, 72, 73; meditation
pracuce, 357, 420; persecutions of, 72;
qigong tradition, 389, 391, 420; rotaung
swastikas symbol, 390f; science and,
439; in Southeast Asia, 289; syncretism
and, 3 18; types of, 20-2 I ; Zen
Buddhism, 198
Buddhtst Tibetans, 4 30
Bunu culture, 324,341-42
Bunu Yoruba men, 324
Bureau of Indian Affatrs, 366
bunal customs, rituals, 5-6; in Buddhtsm, 9;
Coffin Texts (Egypt), 4{}, 47, 54, 75, 76;
emergence of, 31; htlltop tombs, 9; in
Judatsm, 146-48; South African infant
burial site, 30-31; Yoruba funeral mes,
319. See also death
Burning Man festiVal, 360, 368
Byzant10e Emptre, 27; defeat by Seljuq Turks,
246; Eastern Onhodox)' in, 187-88
calendars: 10 anctent world , I 0, 33, 44, 65, 68;
Arabs and, 262; Bahai'i faith and, 400;
Gregonan calendar, 112 , 137; lslanuc
calendar, 262; 10 Judaism, 94. I 12

caliphs, 252
Calvin, Jean , 205, 206, 211- 13
Calvimsm, 206, 212
Campbell, Joseph , 419
Campbell, Man a, 374
Canada: Anishma ubae d rumming
ceremomes, 319; ban on potlatch , 317;
colonialism in, 351; e nding of Truth
and Reconcllmuon Commtsslon, 3 18~
establishment of restdential school
system, 317; Indian Act, 316, 352;
mdigenizatlon of Chnstia n liturgy, 229;
Kanehsatake, Mohawk community,
357; LGBTIQ support groups, 440;
li fting of ban on potlatch , 318; mtssmg,
murdered Indigenous women, 352-53;
mistreatment of Indtgenous peoples.
354-55; Muslim tmmigrants m . 301;
National Hijab Day. 305f; Native
Women's Association of Canada, 353;
Navigation Protection Act, 355; Oka
Crisis in Quebec, 318; Presbyteriamsm
m . 207; REDress Project, 353; sexuality
and, 440; social gospel in, 222
Cappadocian FaLhers, 187
Capuchms, 199
Carey, William, 21 7
cargo cults, 317,363-65
Carmehtes, 199, 209, 210
Canhusians monastic order, 198-99
carvings, lndtgenous traditions, 343-46;
masks, 343-44; moko carvings, 344-46;
tote m poles, 344
Catalhoyuk. 9, 31j, 32-33. 32f
CaLherine of Aragon, 2 10
CaLherine of Stena, 196
CaLhohc Croats, 189
CaLhohc culL, 387
CaLhohctsm. 20
CaLhohc Worker Moveme nt, 224
cave pamtings, Sf, 31
Cayce, Edgar, 419
Cayuga, Nat1ve Amencans, 370
celibacy: Begumes, Beghards. and, 200;
Bud dhism and , 442 ; Easte rn-Rite
Catholic Churches and, 182 ; Greek
ecclestasllcal hterarchy and , 197; latin
Catholicism and, 199; Pagan religtous
traditions and, 185
Cellanus. Martin, 207
Celtic Druids, II
Cente r for the Study of World Re hgions
(Harvard University), 448
Chabad-Lubavltch movement (ludatsm), 138
channeling, 419
Channing, William Ellery, 207
Chauvet cave animal images (France), Sf
Chelmno extermmation camp, 139
Chia, Mantak, 420
Chma: Church of Almighty God (Eastern
Ughtmng), 386,395, 407-9, 42 1; Eastern
Ughtmng in, 386. 407- 9; Falun Dafa m,
386. 389-91; homosexu ahty and, 443;
Islam in, 283, 288-89, 292; Manichaeism
and , 73; qigong tradition , 389
Chippewa, Native Ame ncans, 320, 357
Chopra. Deepak, 4 20
Lhe Christ. See Jesus of Nazamh
Christian Bible. See New Testament; Old
Testament
Christian church: autho rity structures.
leadership roles, 172-75; Eastern-rite
CaLhohc c hurches, 182 ; episcopacy
of. 172- 73; homosexuality and , 441;
relations with soctety, 170-7 1; role of
b ishops, 173; role of bishops, deacons,
173; scriptural canon , 176
Christian church councils: C-Ouncil of
Antioch , 176, 177; Counctl of
Chalced on , 16 2, 178-79, 181, 187;
Council of Consta ntmople, 177, 178.
180;Council of Ntcaea,l65, 176-77,
179, 190; Counctl ofTrent, 165, 208
Christian Goths, 61
Chnstia nity, 161-240; acceptance m Rome,
68; All Saints Day. 6; atonement Lheology,
163; Augustine and, 74; bapusm in, 163,
165. 169, 172 , 175. 177, 182-S3, 207,
212, 221, 230; bel ief in Am>ageddon ,
14; belief m e nd-times, 172; belief in
Second Commg off Chnst, 172, 179,
184, 221; btoeLhics and, 435-36;
cehbacy and , 199; m Central Asta,
287; c hurch-society relations. 170-71;
Constan une and, n65, 171-72; Coptic
Christianity, 178. 179; deity of, 162;
Documentary Hypothesis and , 89;
early Christian an, 184; early church
conOtcts, 169-70; early modern era,
203-13; early vtew of Jesus, 13; Eastern
O rthodoxy, 187; East-West relations and,
181-82 ~ envuonment.al mvolvernem ,
234-35; eptscopal areas (sees) of, 173;
Euchanst (Holy O>mmu nion) in, 163,
165, 169, 173. 175, 182, 183-S4,
202-3, 205-6, 230; Evangelical Great
Awakemngs, 215-17; fe male monastic
comrnunnies, 175 ~ founders and leaders.
162 ; Franktsh Christ ian kingdoms,
293; fundamentalism Lheology, 220-21 ;
global data, 162; good vs. evil duahsm,
362 ; Greek Orthod ox tradition, 187-S9;
Hellemzation of, 2 70, 318; htstorical
Biblical c nucism, 219-20; indtgenizatlon
of liturgy. 229; in lluence o f Parthian
Zoroastrianism. 70; interreligious
movements. activiues, 2 34~ Islam and,
113; Jewish conveTSlons to, 111- 12, 133;
map of spread of, ISOJ; in Mesopotamia,
72; millennials and, 232-34; as
m1ss1onary relig10n, 2 82~ modem era.
213-29; Muslim conversions to, 192;
mystery cults m. 1 5- 16~ Nauve American
influences on, 318~ in Naz1 Gem1any,
Index
219; Pentecostalism movemem , 22 1,
222, 223, 23 1; pluralism and , 234-35;
post modem era, 223; prophets in,
163-64, 167, 170,175, 177, 179; riseof,
26. 27, 110-12 . 16 2-66; Roman Emptre
and, 27, 110-11, 166, 171. 187, 217;
rules of faith, 176; sacraments, 163. 169,
173. ISO. 20 2, 203. 205-6, 2 11. 321 ,
357, 398; scrip tural canon, orthodoxy,
176~ in seventh·l\velfth centum~:s,
116; in Slavic countnes, 188-89;
soctopoht ical context, 21 5; Spam 's ban
on , ll4; spread of in Roman Empire, 27;
syncretism, change, and, 318; theological
controversies, denommattonal splittmg.
218-19; Trinlty d octrine, l l3, 162, 177.
179, 187, 195, 196, 207, 218; women in
mimstry, 175; worship spaces, 182-S4.
See also Christian church ; Ch nstian
church councils; Chnsuanity, documents;
Chnstianity, med1eval era~ Christianity.
modem era; Chnsuan sacraments; jesus
of Nazareth; missions and missionanes;
New Testam e nt~ Old Testament
Christian ity, documents: Apostolic
Con.lililulions. 169~ Aposzofic Tradilions.
169; Didache ('Teaching'). 168-69
Christian ity, medieval era,191-203;
Begumes, Beghards (women's groups).
200-20 I; Carmelites, 199; cehbacy and ,
199; church worshtp, 20 2-3; Crusades,
191-92 ; dechne and expanston, 191;
female monasuc communities, 200~
mendicant orders. 199; monastic orders,
197-99; mysticism and, 195-96;
punishing of heresy, 192; religtous
communities, 197-99; rise of papal
aULhonty, 193-94; saints and sainthood,
20 1- 2; scholasticism and , 194-95;
Virgin Mary in, 202 ; women and,
200-201
Christian ity, modem era, 213-29; in Afnca,
232; changing demographics, 229;
d enomma tional splitung. 218-19;
ecumenism and, 229-30~ Enlightenment
period, 213- 15; e nvironmental
involvement, 234-35; Evangelical
Great Awakenings. 215-17; htstorical
Btblical cnticism, 219-20; human
rights involvement, 235~ interreligious
movements, activnies. 234; left.nght
splits, 23 1-32; hturgical re newal,
230-31; millenmals and, 232-34;
missionary activtty, 21 7- 18~ reactions
to, 220-22; sociopohtical context, 21 5;
Lheological comroversies, 2 18-19;
Lheological d iversity in, 223; theologtcal
educatw n, leadership traming, 231;
twenueth.century social movements,
226-27; Vatican II, 22 7-28; women and ,
217. 223, 225-26
Christian Judatzers, I ll
 Index
Chnstian liturgy, 229-31
Chnstian sacraments, 163, 169, 173, 180,
202, 203, 205-6, 211,321, 357,
398. See also bapusm, m Christianny;
Eucharist (Holy Commumon)
Churc h of Alm1ghty God (Eastern lightmng)
(China), 386, 395,407-9,421
Church of England, 165, 207,211, 216,
225,441
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
(Mormons), 386, 391>-98, 420. See
also C<>mmunity of Chnst; Reorganized
Church of Latter-day Saints
Church of Sctentology, 386, 406, 409,
411-14,421,448
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
(Jerusalem), 189
church-society relations, 170-71
Cicero (Roman philosopher), 27,28
CircUmCISion , 92-93,99,111,151, 170,182
C1sterc1ans monastic order, 198
City of GOO (Augustme of H1ppo), 112
The Cla.<h of Civilizations and tile
Remaking of World Order (Huntmgton),
42S-29
Cleanthes (Stoic p hilosopher), 62
Clement V (Pope). 193
Clericos l.aicos (lkmiface Vlll), 193
Clinton , Hillary, 440
Cluniac monasuc order. 197
Coca-Cola (kosher Coca-Cola), 126
Code of Hammurabi, SO
Coffin Texts (Egypt), 40, 47, 54, 75, 76
colonialism: m Australia, 35 1; m Canada,
351; converswns and, 35 1-52; defined,
34S-49; East Afncan Islam and,
286; European Mushms and, 300;
lnd1genous traditwns and, 314, 320,
321, 348-61; invasions and, 349-51;
kidnapping of Indigenous ch1ldren,
354; loss of land and, 350-51, 354-55,
357; loss of language and, 354; loss of
rehgwn and, 352; missing, murdered
lnd1genous women, g1rls, 352-53;
Mushm crusaders and. 293~ in New
Zealand, 351; Sufi jihad movements
and, 294
Columbus, Christopher, 349-50
Common Era, 16, 52
Communidade.o;. de Base movement (Latin
Amenca), 226, 227
Community of Christ, 396
complementary dualism, 362
concentration camps, 135, 136, 139
Conciliar movement, 19:>-94
Con fessmg Church (Nazi Germany), 219
confi1ct duahsm, 362
Congregauonalism, 207, 212
Congregauonal Umon (England), 212
consciousness revolution (1060s), 418
ConservauveJudatsm, 85, 91,123, 121}...27,
130-32, 149, 152
Constantme (Roman emperor), 68, 74, 110,
165,171-72
com;vencia ("shared hfe"), 284,285, 286
Copernicus, Nic<>laus, 213
Coptic Christianity, 178, 179
Coptic Church , 179
Cordoba, Spam, 286f
Cordovero, Moses, 404, 4{}5
Corinthians (New Testament), 166, 167
cosmic cycles, 9
Cosmic Masters, 415
cosmogony, 3S-39
cosmology, 39
Council of Antioch, 176, 177
Council ofChalcedon (451 CE), 162,
17S-79, 181, 187
Counc1l of Constance, 193-94
Counc1l of Constantinople, 177, 178, 180
Counc1l of Ephesus, 177
Counc1l ofN1caea, 165, 171}...77, 179,190
Counc1l ofTrent, 165, 208
Counter Reformation (mid-1500s to Thirty
Years War), 20S-LO
Covenant of the Goddess, 409, 410
Crammer, Thomas, 21 1
creationism vs. evoluuon debate, 4 32-33
c reation myths, 3S-39, 87-88
c reation vs. evoluuon d ebate, 214f, 432-33
Creator (male deity), 5
Cree. NaLlve Americans. 323
Cnger, Mark "Cat," 370-71,372
Cntias (Athenian playwright), 61
Critique of Pw" Rea.<on (Kant), 165
Crocodile Dundee film, 359
Crowley, AIeister, 409
Cruise, Tom, 414
Crusades: Carmelites and, 199; as challenge
to Mushm power, 293; description,
191-92; First Crusade, 165, 293
cults: characterisucs of. 27~ c harismatic
leaders of, 387; cu lt of Mithras, 66;
defined, 27, 387; Essenes and, 102;
Judaism and, 100; mass suicides m, 387;
in religions of anuquity, 28, 43, 45, 54,
59, 61, 63...Q6; religions of antiquny
and, 28; ritual sacaifice and, 44
Custer Died for Your Sins (Deloria), 321
Cybele. See Magna Ma<£r (Cybele) ("Great
Mother')
Cyrus (Persian ruler), 52
Cyrus the Great (Pers1a.n ruler), 142
Czech Repubhc, 139
Dakota Access Pipeline protests, 318
Dalai Lama, 439
Damascus (Pope), 176
Daoism, 73, 390f, 411, 420
The Dark Night of the Soul (John of the Cross),
209
Darwin, Charles,l65, 214-15
Davis, Jack, 374
Day, Dorothy, 224
Day of Judgment (Day of Doom), 13
Day of the Dead fesuval (Mexic<>), 6, 23
deaconess, Chnstian women's church
office, 175
deaLh: as an endmg. 46~ bunal customs,
5-Q, 9, 30-31; Indigenous concerns
with, 314;Judaism and, 144-48;
mastering of, 47-48; as a passage, 47;
Yoruba funeral rites, 319. See also burial
customs, riLUals
Decalogue (Ten C<>mmandments), 93, 94, 95,
101,141,387
Declarauon on the R1ghts of Indigenous
People (UN), 318, 324
Detsm (Deists), 213
denies. See gods and goddesses
Delaware-Tuscarora, Native Americans. 323
Deloria, Vine, Jr., 320, 321
Delphi, Greece: map location , 30f; oracle of
Delphi , 59; Pythian Games in, 58; as
regional shrine, 43
Delphic O racle, Greece, 12-13
Demnig, Gunter, 139
denominational sphtting, m Chrisuanuy.
21S-19
Depp, Johnny, 359
Desen Fathers and Mothers, 185, 186
Deuteronomy, 85, 86, 90, 93, 101, 125, 129,
131,149,150
dhillr (•remembrance") ritual, Sufism, 279
d himmts ("protected pe<>ple")
communities, 282
Dialogue (Catherine ofSiena),l96
Dialogue with Trypho (Martyr), Ill
dianetics, 411-12,414
Dianetic.<: The Modern Science of Mentnl Healtit
(Hubbard), 411,421
Didache ("Teaching"), 168...Q9
d iet: Chma and, 288; Hare Krishna
movement and, 394; Islam and, 264;
Jewtsh dietary laws, 84. Ill, 124, 125,
126,127,170; monasticism and, ISS;
New Age movement and, 419,421
Diocleuan (Roman emperor), 60, 73, 74
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Greek
author), 68
d ivmation (divmatory practices): in
Babylonta, 52; Constantine~ policy, 74;
in Greece, 58; m Mesopotamia, 4S-49;
oracles and, 59; in Rome, 28, 66
d ivme splendor (divine light) of
deiues, 35-36
d ivorce: Eastern Orthodoxy and, 228; English
Reformation and, 210; Islam, Qur'an,
and, 302;Judaism and, 108, 110, 113,
149-52; new religtons and, 387,
400,420
Docetism, 179
Docuine and Covenant< (Smith, Jr.), 396
Documentary Hypothesis, 89
Dodona, Greece, 59
Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem), 14 2, 294

Dominicans monasLic order, 199
"Don\ Ask, Don\ Tell" pohcy, 442
Douglas. Tommy, 222
dragon lore, 5
dream catchers, 360
Dreyfus AITau, I 34
duahsm: ancient Greece and, 58~ Christian
good vs. evil, 362; complementary
dualism, 362; conOict dualism , 362;
Gnosuc1sm and. 179; Indigenous culture
and, 362; Manichae~sm and, 26. 72; of
Plato, 45, 61; sacred vs. secular, I 74 ;
Zoroastrianism and, 26, 69, 72
Dumngton Walls (Neolithic village), 4
Dutch Refonned Church, 226
dyophysi tism, I 79
"The Earthquake" chapter (Qur'an). 256
East Africa: Islam in, 281}...87
Eastern Europe: Ashkenazic Jews, I I 4. I 20,
134-35,144; Has1dic)ews, 120-22;
Hasidtm vs. t-.•liLnagdim, 122
Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God)
(China), 386, 395,407-9,421
Eastern Orthodox Chnstians, 182, 187-88
Eastern-me Catholic churches, 182
Easter services, 189
Eastwood, Clint, 420
Eben, Roger, 36 I
Ecclesiastes, 86. I 44
ecclesiastical ,;rg;ns, I 75
Eckankar (aka Paul T\\;tchell), 420-21
ecsLatk sLates, 7
Edwards, Jonathan, 21&-1 7
Edward VI (King of England), 211
Effendi, 'Abbas, 399
Effendi, Shoghi, 399, 400
Egypt, 47; afterhfe and, 53; Akhetaten
(modem Amarna), 4 3, 55, 56; Bast, cat
goddess, 10; beliefs on death, 4 5; Book
of the Dead, 28. 29f, 54, 57, 75, 76;
Christlanny m , I 78; Coffin Texts, 40,
47, 54, 75, 76; Crusades and, 191-92;
denies of, 33; ln..;;tructionsfor Merikare.
55; Jewish communny m, 98; Khoiak
fes tival, 57; ma'at (truth-justice) concept,
38, 39, 40, 49, 53. 54,5 7-58; Middle
Kingdom , 47; Muslim Brotherhood in,
298; myths of, 30, 4 I ; Nabta Playa.
33; New Kingdom, 34-35. 47f; Old
Kingdom , 47; pnests, 44-45; Pyram1d
Texts, 4 7. 53; rule of Akhenaten, 29j.
54, 56, 57f; services to the gods, 42-43;
trade route connecuons, 14
Elchasaites, 72
elders: CongregationaliSts rejection of, 212;
Indigenous tradiuons, 218. 324,339,
340, 346,370, 371; roles in Reformed
tradition, 20&-7
Eleusmian mystery tradiuon (Greece), I S. 61
Eliade, M!Tcea, 7
Eliot, T. S., 323
Elizabeth I, 2 II
EI-Messid1, Tarek, 154
el-Nunein, Gaafar Moltamed, 29S-99
EI-Shabazz, El Hajj Mahk (formerly Malcolm
little), 403
Emergent Church movement, 229
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 419
E-meter (electro-psychometer), 412-14
end-umes, 172, 187,402 ,407, 408
England: Act of Supremacy, 21 I ; Porvoo
Common SLatemen t rat1ficat1on, 230~
Presbytenamsm in. 207; schism wiLh
Rome, 210; Swiss Reformation in,
206; Unitananism in, 207; Wesleyan
movement, 212~ Yoruba funeral ntes
in, 319
Enghsh Reformation, 2<l3, 210-12; Baptists.
212; Congregationalism, 207, 212;
Pietism, 212, 216; political basis of. 210;
Puritans, 211 ; Quakers. 21 I
engrams, 412-14
Enlightenment: eighteenth-century. 212,
21 3-IS; Jemsh, 122-23, 132
Enuma Elish (Epic of Crearion), 34, SO, 52
Environics lnsutute, 440-41
environment: Christianity and, 234-35, 366,
437~ Eastern religious tradiuons and ,
4 38-39; lnd1genous people and , 340,
366, 369; Jews and, 438; Muslims and ,
4 38; Native Amencans and, 438; Raelian
Movement and, 4n 7; religion and,
234-35. 437-40; W1cca and, 409
EpheSians (New TeSiament). 167
Epic of Erra, 50- 51
Epic of Gilgamesh, 36, 3 7. 41 , 46, 49
Epictetus (Roman Stoic), 30
Epicureanism, 66
episcopal areas (sees), of Christianny, I 73
Epistles of Paul. See Pauline Epistles
Erasmus, 203, 205
Erdrich,louise, 374
Esalen lnstilute, 419
Essenes, 101 , 102-3,185
Ethiopia: Chnstianity in, 178;
Muslims in, 317
Etsi de Statu (papal bull ) ( Bomface VI II), 193
Eucharist (Holy Comm.umon), 163, 165, 169,
I 73, 175, 182, 183-84. 202-3,
205-6.230
Europe: Chrisuanity in, 162; Great
Awakening movement~ 2 15~ lnd1genous
people in, 317; theisuc mysticism,
15-16
Euthyphro (Greek pnest). 28
Evangelical Church (Germany). 206
Evangelical Great Awakenings, 215-17
Evangelicalism. 220
evolution, 214-1 5~ cre:aLion vs. evolution
debate, 2 I 4J. 432-33
excommunicaLlon, 192 . 204
Exodus, 84, 85, 86,89-91,93,95-96, 101,
106,12 5, 127. 130-31
Index
"Exploring Muslim Cultures" program
(Chicago). 306
extemlination camps, 139
Faceless Dolls Pro;ect, 353
Fanh and Order Commission (World Council
of Churches), 230
Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) ("Energy of the
Wheel of law"), 386, 389-9 I
family honor, 303
Fard , Wallace D., 401-3. See also Nation of
Islam
Farrakhan, louis, 403-4, 421. See also Nation
of Islam
Farrow, Mia, 420
fasting: Indigenous carvers and. 343-44~
Islam. Ramadan. and, 260-62, 2 74. 400;
Juda~sm and, 101 , 128. 148
Fasti (Ovid), 35- 36
fate: free mll VS., 38; Greek Interpretations
of, 60; Mesopotamian understanding,
48; mystery rehgions and, 66; predictive
omens and. 49
Father, Son, and Holy Spmt. Su Trimty
doctnne
fatwas (rehgious legal opmion), 269, 293,
303.307-8. 428
Faustus, 73
femmistn: Islam and, 305; Wicca and, 409
Ferrari,]. D.• 372
Fertile Crescent, 27, 32; emergence of
relig10n, 3 1
festivals: Burning Man, 360, 368; to gods and
goddesses, 44; ISKON fesuvals, 395;
Islam and, 260. 262, 263, 446;Judaism
and, 86, 90, 91, 94, 100, 110, 112.
131. 148, 446; medJ£\'lll Christiamty
and, 202; Nation of Islam festivals, 403;
Nigeria and, 34 I ; religions of anuquity
and, 42, 44-46, 52, 54, 5&-57, 60,
63-64; Wicca and, 410
First Crusade, 165, 293
First J£\Vlsh Revolt, I 03
First Nauons territory, 355
First Temple Qerusalem). 142
First Vatican Council, 165
Five Books of Moses (Torah). 85, 89. 90,
101. 118
five pillars of Islam. 25S-64
The Flowing Ught of the Godhead ( Mechthild of
Magdeburg), 200-20 I
food offe nngs to denies, 48
Ford, Henry, 134
Four Square Gospel Church, 222
Fox, George. 2 1I
France: ChauveL cave: animal1mages, Sf;
Jnquisitton in. 192~ Mushm communnies
in, 300; S\\;ss Refonnauon in, 206
Franciscans monasLic order, 199
Francis I (Pope), 22S-29
Francis of ASSJsi, 199
Francis (Pope). 165
 Index
Frankel, Zacharias. 126. See af.so Consen'ative
Judaism
Franktsh Christiamty, 293
Frederick II (Holy Roman Emperor), 192
Free Zone groups (Scientology), 412
Freud, Sigmund, 19, 148
friars, 199
fundamentalism: Chnstianity, 19, 23.
220-21 ~ conservauve HindUJsm and,
434-35~ creationtsrn vs. evolution
debate, 432-33; definitions, 433;
religious fundamentalism, 432-35;
Scopes legal case, 4 32-33; vtewpoint of
fundamentalists, 433-34
Tite Fundamelltals, 165,432
Gaddafi, Muammar, 299,403
Galatians (New Testament), 166, I 70, 236
Galilei, Galileo, 2 13
Gardner, Gerald B., 409
Ga~has (hymns of AveSla), 68
Gaudiya Vmshnava (Vaishnava
Hinduism), 392
gays and lesbians, I 35-35. I 35-36, 152
GeiTen, Tobtas, 126
Geiger, Abraham, 12:>-24. See also Refonn
Judaism
Gemarah, 110
gender: Biblical creauon accoum and,
87; Christianny and, 225-26; Great
Awakemngs and, 21 7; Indigenous
traditions and, 324, 331-32,334, 335,
352, 373;Judaism and, 83. 108, 118,
12 7, 152-54; LGBTIQ tdentity and,
440, 442; Muslims and, 302, 305,
307; Pentecostalism and, 22 I ; Raelian
Movement and, 416-1 7; religions of
antiquity and, 67-68; role fluidny 10
Indigenous tradiuons, 324; sex'l.lalny
and, 440-43; Sufism and, 281; women
10 Christian ministry, 175
Generation Y. See millenmals
GenesiS, 85, 86-88,91-93, 108, 112,
146, 148
genocide: 10 Africa, 226, 350; in the
Amencas, 350, 351; 10 Australia, 350;
Indigenous cultures and, 350; by Nazts,
135; in New Zealand, 350
Gentile Chrisuans, I II
Gem>any: All Sa10ts Luther Church in, 204f;
anti-Semitism in, 135; Baha'i House of
Worship, 399f; continental refom>ation
and, 203; Lutherans in, 206; Muslim
communnies. 139; Muslim communities
10 , 300; Nazt Pany, 134-39, 142, 146;
rise of Hitler, 134-36; Scientology 10,
412; World War II and, 136, 139-4 I
Ghost Dance, 3 I 7, 365-66
Ghulam Ahmad, Mirza, 295
Gibson, Mel, 338
Gnosticism, 66, 12, I 79, 287
Gobekll Tepe (Turkey), 31-32
gods and goddesses, 33-38; appropnatlon
of, 36; of Babylonia, 34, 48-49; divme
splendor of, 35-36; early gods, 34-35;
of Egypt, 33, 34-35; festtvals and, 44;
functions of, 34; of Greece, 10, 28, 34,
36-38. 40-4 I, 58--63; homes of, 5;
Horus, 37, 39, 42 , 48; human-divine
relationshtp, SO; immonality of, 36; of
lndta, 295,392, 429; of Mesopotamia
and, 34, 36, 48; ommsctence of, 36;
Osiris, 39, 47, S:>-54, 57, 14; power of,
35; ntuals and, 43-44; of Rome, 27, 28,
36, 6:>-66; servtces to, 4 2-45; of Sumer,
36, 48; varieties of, 36-38; Vishnu
(Hindu deity), 295, 392, 429; Yoruba
gods,362
The God< MtL<I Be Crazy film, 359-60
Gondarra, Djmiyint, 362
Gospel ofJohn, 17, 164-65,237
Gospel of luke, 164,237
Gospel of Mark, 164, 169, 188,237
Gospel ofMat~1£w,IOl, Ill , 164,169, 170,
188,202, 237
Gospels (New Testament), 101, 162-64, 166,
I 70, 172-73, 175, 200,220
Grahamstown, Battle of, 317
Graves, Robert, 409
Great Awakenings, 212 , 21 5-17; Edwards
and, 216-17; Holmess Churches
and, 21 7; misstonary work and,
21 7-18; Wesley and, 216; women and
revivalism, 2 I 1
Great Bmam: Great Awakenmg movernem,
21 S;Jews and, 134; miSSionaries from ,
20 7~ Muslim communities in. 300
Great Synagogue of Aleppo, 141
Greece: communal pieLy in, 60~ cosmology
myths, 39; deities of, 10, 34, 36-38,
40-4 I , 58-63; dtvinatory practices in,
58; Eleusinian mystery tradition, IS,
60, 61; fate, interpretations of, 60; map,
30f; oracle 10 Dodona, 59; philosophical
schools, 66; public vs. private
expressions of piety, 28; temples, 4 3f
Greek Orthodox tradition, 187-SS, 187-91
Gregorian chant, 202
Gregory of Nanzianzus, 187
Gregory of Nyssa, 187
Gregory the Great, 181 ,202
Gregory XII (Pope), 228
Gregory XI (Pope), I 93
Grouus, Hugo, 206
The Guide of the Perplexed (Matmonides), 84,
115, 116
GurrmininguS Morcuary Fea.'il
(Malangt), 332f
Guzman. Domimc. 199
A Hadith (Saying) of the Prophet
Muhammad, 245
hadith tradition: collections, 245, 265, 268;
Hanball law and, 268; Ja'fari (Shi'i)
law and, 269; Khan's rejection of, 296;
Malik• Jaw and, 267; Persia and, 287;
Qur'an and, 255, 257-58, 265; Shafi'i
law and, 268~ as source of mystical piety,
275; Sufism and, 278; women's rights
and, 304
Haggadah, 90
hagiographtes (btographtes), 69, 220
Hair~ mustcal. 419
Haisla culture, Briush Columbia, Canada, 344
Halakkah Oewish law), 83, 101, 109, I 10,
125-26, 152
Hallowe'en, 6, 23
Hamburg Talmud Torah School, 138
Hammurabt, 34, 49; Code ofHammurabi, SO
Hanafi Jaw (Sunm Islam), 266, 267
Hanbal, Ahmad ibn, 268
Han bali school of jurisprudence (Jslamtc
law), 266
Handsome Lake, 317, 362
Hanfi school ofjurisprudence ( Islamic
law), 266
Hanukkah (Fesuval of Lights), 100
Haram ai-Sharif ('Noble Sanctuary"),
Israel, 294
Haredtm subgroup (OnhodoxJuda~sm), 84,
125-26
Hare Krishna movement, 387, 391-95. See
also Jnternational Soctety £or Krishna
Consctousness
Harran, Mesopotamia, trade cemer. 52
Harns, Barbara, 225
Hamson, George, 395
Hartshorne, Charles, 223
Hasid•cJews(Has•dim), 120,122,126
Haskalah Qewish Enlightenment), 122-23
Hasmonean priests, I 00
Haudenosaunee people. Natwe
Amencans, 370
Headley, Marc, 414
Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), 82,85-87,89-90,
97, 101 ,102, 105, 11 3,124, 141, 152,
I SS. See also Deuteronomy; Exodus; Ftve
Books of J>.•toses~ Genes1s~ l.e:vnicus
'heel stone" (of Stonehenge), 4
Heiss, Anna, 315
Hellenization: Alexander the Great and, 84;
Christians and, 270, 318;Jews and, 99,
100, 103,270
Henry VIII (Kmg of England), 165, 210-1 I
Heracllt us, 6 I
heresies: Apolllnananism, 179-80; Docetism,
I 79; Donausm, 179-80; Gnostictsm, 66,
12, I 79, 287; Gregory the Great and,
181, 202; Manichaeism, 73; medieval
Christianity and, I 92; Montamsm,
179~ Nestonanism. 177; Nestorianism
heresy, 177; Pelagianism, 179; Spanish
Inquisition and, 1 16-17; St. Augustine
of Hippo and, 180-81
Hem1eticism, 66
Herodotus (Greek historian), 58

Herzl, Theodor, 134
H1ghway, Tomson, 3 74
h~ab (veil), 304, 305f
Hildegard of Bingen, 196
hilltop tombs, 9
HmdU!sm, II, 387; Bhagavad Gita (Hindu
text), 15, 387; environment and,
438-39; fundamentalism and, 434-35;
UpanL<had.< (Hmdu leX!s), 411;
Vaishnava HmdU!sm, 392, 395; Vedanta
teachmgs. 419
Hippocrates, 45
H~rsch, Samson Raphael, 124-25. See also
O rLhodox Judaism
History of Arab Americans: Exploring Diverse
Roots (AI-Deen), 306
Hnler, Adolf, 134-36, 146,219,417
hogans, 348
Holmess Churches, 21 7
Holocaust (1933-1945),134-44;
concentration camps, 135, 136, 139;
death camps, 136, 139; Ktistallnac.ht
(•Night of Broken Glass'), 136; rise
of Hitler and, 135-36; stolpersteine
memorial, 139
Holocaust Memonal Day (Yom
HaShoah), 137
The Holy Booh of \\bmen~ Mysteries
(Budapest), 409
Holy Communion, 163
Homer: Iliad, 63; Odyssey, 40
Homeric Hymn to Dionysus, 61
homosexuali1y: Buddh1sm and, 442; China
and, 443; Chnstian church and, 441;
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, 442;
Environics Institute survey findings.
440-41; fundamentalism and, 4 32;
gays and lesbians, 135-36, 152;
Japan and, 443; lesbian, gay, b1sexual,
transgendered, intersex. or questiomng,
440; Russian Orthodox Church
stance, 235
Horus, 37, 39, 42,48
House Made of Dawn (Momaday), 318, 374
Hubbard, L Ron, 411-14,421
Hubbard, Mary Sue, 412
Huguenots (French Protestants), 205
Hulme, Keri, 374-75
Humanae Vitae (•On Human life") (Pope Paul
VI). 228
human behavior, myths and, 38-39
human.divine relationship. 50
Humanism, 203
Humanisuc j udaism , 123, 127, 149
Hume, David, 213
Hungary: swlper>teine m, 139; Sw1ss
Reformation in, 206~ Unitarianism
m, 207
hunting rituals, 7-8
Huntington , Samuel, 428-29
Hus,John, 212
Husaymd 1mams, 2 74
Hymn to Zeus, 62
Hymn to Zeus (Ciean~1es), 62
Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, Muhammad, 293
Ibn 'Arabi, Muhyr ai-Di.n, 246, 278
Ibn lbad, 'AbdAllah, 267
Ibn Khaldun, 'Abd ai-Rahman, 272
Ibn Rushd (Averroes), 2 72
Ibn Sma (Avicenna), 217
Ibn Taymiyyah, 293
I Clring (Yying), 419
ICHTHYS (Greek ·fish"), 185f
icons: in Greek O rLhodox tradition, 189-91
!dan Raiche! Project, 143/. 144
Idle No More, 318
ijma (general consensus), in Islamic law, 266
ijtihad (personal reasorning). in Islamic law,
266,268-68
Ikeda, Da1saku, 389
Iliad (Homer), 63
lmam1s (Twelver Shi'ism), 269, 270, 2 74. 286
imams, 244, 252,259, 261; Husaynid imams,
274; role in Shi'ism, 272-73; 1welfth
imam, 269,270
irnmonalny of deiues, 36
The Incoherence lor Collapse! of the
Philosophm (Ibn Rushd), 272
India: avatar(a) (Sanskrit tenn), 16; Bhagavad
Gila (Hmdu teX!), 15; church union
issues, 230; Hindu approach to
rehgion, 19~ Islam.ic reform movement,
296-87; Mughal d ynasty, 296; Muslim
communities in, 289~ nagas (cobras) in
rehgions of. 5~ nat iona1ists in, 4 29~ nse
of aboruons in, 437; Upanc<had.< (Hmdu
texts), 411
Indian Act (Canada), 316, 352
Indian Horse film, 374
indigemzaLion, 229
·'Ind1genizing Space and Place" (college
course). 372
Jndigenous Lradnions. 31~~ academic
m1sconcepuons about, 320-21, 325;
in Afnca, 232, 283-84. 286; afterlife
stories, 326; Anglicans m Canada, 229;
appropnauon of, 357-QO; art fonns,
373-74; Atlantic slave trade and, 362;
Australian Abongines, 317-18, 323,
328-29, 354-55, 366; authomative
texts. 314~ autonomy and equality.
366-69; autonomy and equality, quest
for, 366-69; SaLLie of Grahamstown,
317; boundanes, perspectives, 324-25;
buildings in, 346-48; Bunu Yoruba men,
324; Bummg Man festival and, 360,
368; cargo cults, 317, 363-65; caLLie
massacre, 365; changes m relig10us
pracLlces, 373~ Chrisuan misslonanes
and, 218; colomalism's 1mpact on,
314, 320,321 , 3'1.8-QI; Columbus
and, 349-50; common elements, 324;
complementary dualism worldview, 362;
Index
contemporary trad!lions, 369, 373-76;
Copts, Egyptian Christians, 178;
defimt ion issues, 316-17; deities/gods
of, 314; diversity in, 316-18; education
and, 316; efforts at reclarmmg land, 366-
77; elders in, 218, 324, 339, 340, 346,
370, 371; films, relig1on-focused, 374;
founders and leaders m, 314; gender
role Ouidlly, 324; genocide and, 350;
global data, 314;historical periods, 314;
identny 1ssues, 357-59~ indigenization
of Chnstian liturgy for, 229; ind1genizing
Leaching and leammg. 372; tnteracttons,
adaptations, 362-66; Kewa culture, 326-
27; kidnappmg of Abonginal children,
317; kinship role in, 316-17; literature
(contemporary), 374-76; location role
in, 316-17; New Age 1eachings. 360;
non-Indigenous religrons, 366; non-
Indigenous view of, 322-23; North
American language families, 319f;
noteworthy 1eachings. 314; orality in,
322,324-25,326, 376; origrn stories,
327-29; paths of resistance, 364-65;
religrons, religrous tradnions, 315-16,
318-20; relig1ous clashes, 364-Q5;
rituals, rites of passage, 314, 323,325,
327, 329, 335-39, 341; sacnfice in,
338-39; shape changer stones, 331-32;
Sla,;c culture, 188; ··Stolen Generations,"
317; stories and storytelling. 326-27;
syncretism, change, and , 318-20;
Limeline, 317-18; Limeline of events.
317-18; trickster stones, 327,329,
331,332, 334-35; Ts1msh1an people,
344; victories of, 367-Q9; writing vs.
speakmg. 325-26, 32 7; Xhosa peoples,
317,338, 339, 362, 365-Q6. See also
Abongines~ Amshinaubae~ AusLrallan
Abongines~ Jnd1genous tradiuons.
cultural expressions~ Jo.•taon culture~
Nat1ve Americans
Indigenous traditions. cu1Lura1 e.xpresslons.
339-48; ancestral houses, 346-47;
carvmgs. 343-46; hogans, 347; masks,
341,343-44, 346,360, 369; shrines,
340,347, 348f; spirit baskets, 342-43;
totem poles, 340.344, 345f, 347, 348;
weaving, 340-41
Indo-European (IE) cultural system, 10-11
indulgences, 203
Inner-City Muslim Acuon Network, 306
Innocent Ill (Pope), 193
Innocent VIII ( Pope). 192
lnquisnions,l92,213
Institute fo r Social and Policy
Understanding, 306
Institute of Islamic Stud1es (McGill University,
Canada), 448
Institutes (Calvm), 165
Instruction.< for Merihare (Middle Kmgdom,
Egypt), 55
 Index
interfaith dialogue, 44&-4 7
The Interior Ca.<lle (Teresa of Avila), 209
Inte rnational Baha'I Council, 399
Imernattonal Free Zone Associatton
(Scientology), 4 12
Imernauona1 Society for Krishna
C<msc10usness (ISKON), 386, 387,
391-95; Maha Mantra (great man1ra)
chant, 391-92; practice and lifestyle of
devotees, 393-95, 394f; recruilment by,
448. See also Hare Krishna movement
Iqbal, Muhammad, 297
Iran: Iranian Revoluuon. 303; Iranian Shi'isrn,
399~ Manichaean tradiuon in. 73; as
religious center, 27~ relig10us tradnions
of, 27, 68; ZoroasLnanism 10,68-72. See
aJso Zoroastrianism
Iraq: Karbala c ity, Importance to Shi'a, 274
Iroquois, Nauve Americans, 362
ISKON. See International Society for Krishna
Conscious ness
Islam: adulte ry, fornication , "family honor"
and, 303; bioethics and, 4 35; caliphs
10 , 252; in Central Asia, 287-88; 10
China, 288-89; Christian ity and, 11 3;
contemporary revivalist movements,
298; com;venda ("shared life") and,
284, 285, 286; Day of Judgmenl in,
13; dh1mmis ("protected people")
communnies. 282 ; doctnnes o f, 244~
emergence of, 27; family, mamage,
and, 302-3; five pillars o f, 258-64;
fo undations of, 252-55; historical
beginnings, 247, 249-52 ; 100uence of
mysticism, 28 2-83; in Iran , 287-88;
J udaism and, 112-16; as missionary
re ligion , 28 2; modernity, modem
re formers, 293, 295-96; 10 Myanmar,
430-3 1~ nineteenth.century reviValism,
294-95; in North Africa , 283-84; 10
North America, 300-302; pre-Islamic
Arabia, 247; p re modern re form
movements, 293-94 ; prophets 10 ,
244, 245, 248-74, 287, 289, 293-95;
p rotocol of acceptance of, 25 1-52;
recognnion of Hebrew p rophe1s, 13;
rights of women, 304-8; sacred texis
of, 309; scriptural approach to re ligion ,
18; separatist groups, 429- 30 ; shari'ah
(Islamic law), 244; in SouLh Asia, 289;
10 SoutheasLASia, 289-90; in Spain,
284; spread of, 28 2-90; in sub-Saharan
Africa, 284, 286-87; 10 Turkey, 287-88;
twenueth-century revival1sm and.
297-98~ twentieth-century secularism
and, 297; Umayyad caliphate and,
283-84; in Western Europe, 299- 300.
See aL<o Muhammad (Prophet); Qur'an;
shari'ah (lsla m1c law); Shfls m (Shi'a
Islam); Sunm Islam
Islamic architecture, 290-92
Islamic an, 256, 292-03, 292-93
Islamic calligraphy, 29 lf, 292
Islamic law. See shari'ah (Isla mic law)
Islamic philosophy, 254, 264, 271- 72
Islamic Revolution (1978-1979), 300, 428
Islamic Soc~ety Oama'at -i lslami), 298
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), 429
Islamic SLate of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL), 429
Islamic State of Iraq (lSI), 294 ,429
lsma'ilis Sh1'1s (Seveners), 274-75
Israel: Abrahanuc prophetiC tradttions. 1 3~
Arab-Israeli War, 142, 143; found10g
of, 141-44; Haram al-Shanf ("Noble
Sanctuary") site, 294; Holocaust
Memonal Day in, 137; losLtribes of,
295, 396; S1x-Day War, 143-44, 298;
slatehood gained b y, 142; Tell Megiddo,
arc haeological site, 14, 14]; Western Wall
site, I 07. See aL<o J erusalem; Judaism
.. ,, Gets Better" campaign ( LGBTIQ
1eens), 442
Jabal, Muradh ibn, 266
Jackson, Michael, 341
Jacobson , Israel, 123
Ja'fari legal, religious system (Sh•'•law),
269- 70
Jainism, 386, 439
Jalal al-Oin Ru mi (Persia n mystical poet), 246
Japan: abonion and, 437; Ainu Ind igenous
people, 318, 338, 354; Christian
m1ssionanes in, 2 16~ hornosexualny
and, 443; landscape spmts, 5; marned
Buddh ists priests i n , 442; New Komeito
Pany, 389; N1buta ni island, 354; Obon
m ual, 6; Soka Gakka1, new religion,
386,388-89, 420 ; Zen Buddh ism,
20-21, 198, 419
Jehovah's Witnesses, 95
Jemaah lslam•yah , sepa ratist group, 4 30
Jerusalem (Israel): Arab-Israeli War and,
142; Arab Muslims cap ture of, 191;
Babylonians conquest of, 84, 90; Church
of the Holy Sepulcher, 189; David's
tak10g of, 8 4; Dome of the Rock , 142,
29 4; First Temple. 97; Hasmonean
family and , 100; HolocauSI Memonal
Day 10, 13 7; as holy fo r Abrahamic
1radn ions, 168;Jewish pilgnmage to, 9 1;
Jewish synagogues and, 129; Maccabean
Revolt and, 99; Mount Zion hilltop 10,
118, 134; Roma ns siege of, 8 4, 98, 100,
108; Second Te mple, 103, l 06f; SLx-Day
War and, 107, 142, 143
Jesuits (Society of Jesus), 208
Jesus movemem , 16 2,164, 166, 169
Jesus of Nazaret h: ApoUiinariamsm view
of, 179-80 ; atonem ent Lheology and,
163; belief in Second Coming of, 172,
179, 184, 221; bin h and death of, 165;
Chnstian doctn ne and, 16-17; C<>uncli
of Ephesus and, 177-78; C<>uncil of
Nicaea and, 177; early Chnstianity's
v~ew of, 13; Eastern Ughming and,
407; Gospel of Mathew on deaLh of,
Ill; Handsome Lake's VISions of, 3 17,
362; historical B1bllcal c nticism , 220;
historical Jesus. 220; as incarnation
of Lhe d1vine Word, 164; Islam and,
13; Judaism of, Ill ; Manichaeans
and , 72, 73; miracles of, 164; Origen's
information on, 26; parables of, 164;
Pauline Epistles on , 167; Q ur'an's
presentation of, 254-55; Santa
Pudenziana mosaic of, l84f; self-VIew
of,l69
Jewish Chnstianity, 72
Jewish Diaspora, 97, 13 7
Jewish nationalism , 134
The ]ewL<h State (Da]udenstaal)
(Herzl), 134
Jewish Zealots, 44 7
Jews and Judaism. See Judaism
jihad ("struggle") movements, 294-95
John, Gospel of ( King James
Vers10n), 17
John of Damascus (Greek Lheologian), 187
John of Lhe Cross, 209, 2 10
Johnson, Pauline, 3 17, 374
Johnston, Basil, 323
John XXIII (Pope), 227, 230
John XXII (Pope), 165
Jones, J•m. 387, 44 7
Jonestown tragedy (Peoples Temple),
387, 447
Josephus, 101
Journal of Islamic Law and Cul1ure, 306
]ourney of !he Mind 10 GOO
(Bonaventure), 196
journey (quest): of heroes, 3 26, 336-37;
for s piritual insight, 419; viston quest.
336-37, 361
Judaism: Abraham1c prophetic 1radnions,
13; agunah women, 149-51; Alexander
Lhe Great and, 98-100; an ti-Semitism,
132-34; Ashkenazic Jews, 114, 120,
134-35, 144; atmudes toward gays,
lesbians, 152; authorilative texts of, 82 ;
Babylonian e"ile, 97-98; Babylonian
Jews, 98, 109, 110, 114; Battle of Uhud
wiLh Muslims, 25 1; bloodline, 152;
branches of, 123-27; bull association
wlLh creaLor god, 10~ m Cemral Asia,
287; Chabad-l ubavnch movement, 138;
Christiamty and, 116-22 ; Christian
j uda1zers and , 111~ circumcision
ritual, 92-93,99, Ill, 15 1, 170, 182;
Conservative branch , 85, 91, 123,
126-27, 130-32, 149, 152; conversions
to. 151; converstons to Chnstianity.
111- 12, 133; c reation story, 87-88;
death and, 144-48; deity in, 82 ; d~e tary
laws, 84, Il l , 124, 12 5, 126, 127;
dispersion from Assyria, Babylonia, 27;

divorce and, 149-51; Documentary
HypoLhesis and, 89; earliest htstory,
27, 85-98; m Egypt, 98; expulsion and
migration from Europe, 117f; Faustus's
defe nse of, 73; founders and leaders
of, 82; gender equalny and, 152-53;
global data, 82, 145f; God in, 85-98,
90-95, 101-4, 112, 115-16, 118. 122,
125-30, 135. 145-46; Halakkah (lewtsh
law). 83, 101 , 109, 110, 125-26, 152;
HasidtcJews, 120,122, 126; Haskalah
(Jewish Enlightenment), 122-23;
Hasmonean priests. 100; HellemzaLion
and, 99; herednary priesthood in, 11;
histoncal background, 11; Holocaust
and, 134-44; Humanistic branch,
123, 127,149; mterfaiLh dialogue
with Muslims, 85; Islam and, 112-16;
Jewish calendar, 112;Jewish Diaspora,
97-98; Karm's persecution of, 72;
keLUbah. Jewish marriage contract,
148-49; kmgs and messiahs, 95-97;
life-cycle events m, 144-51; lunar-based
calendar, 112; Maccabean Revolt, 84,
99-100, 185; marriage and, 148-49;
mezuzah placement in homes, 150~
MtzrahiJews, 114,144, 15 1; modem
period, 122-34; modem synagogue
m, 127-32; monotheistic beliefs, 105;
Muhammad and, 250; mysticism and,
18-19,84, 117-19, 122, 284, 404-7;
Oral Law, 102, 110, 125; Orthodox
branch, 84, 89, 90, 91, 108, 122,
123, 124-27. 131-32, 145-47, 149,
151-53; PalestinianJudaism,162, 318;
as "People of Lhe Book," 282; Pharisees,
101-2; pogroms against, 134; prayer
services, 130-32; prophets m, 82,
86, 89. 91, 93, 95, 97-98, 131. 155;
Reconstructionist branch, 91, 123.
126-27, 149, 152; Reform branch, 85,
91, 94, 123-27, 129-32, 152; rehgions
of antiquny and, 75; Romans and,
104-6.108-112; Sabbath m, 93, 99,
101, 104, 107, 110, 112, 114, 119, 123,
131; sacred books, 155; Sadducees,
100-102; scriptures of, 82; Second
Temple penod, 98-104; sects, 101;
SephardicJews,114, 116, 134-35,
151; Shema prayer, 129, 13 1, 150f;
m southern Mesopotamia, 72; Spains
ban on, 114; Spamsh Inquisition
and, 116-17; support for LGBTIQ
rights, 441-42; syncretism, change.
and, 318; Talmud study, 83; timehne,
84-85; Torah scripture, 82; varieties of,
100-104; women's leadership, 153-54;
women's role in. 8~~ Zoroastriamsm~
mOuence on, 68, 70. See also Judaism,
holidays; Judaism, sacred books
Judaism, holidays: Passover, 90-91, 94, 96,
114, 126, 127, 131. 134, 194, 285;
Purim, 102, 103f; Rosh Hashanah, 128;
Shalosh Regalim holidays, 94; Shavuot,
91, 94; Sukkot, 91, 95; Yom Kippur,
128, 131. 250
Judatsm, sacred books: Babylontan Talmud,
84, 88. 98. 105, 110, 128, 155;
Kabbalah teachmgs. 84, 117-19, 122;
Mishnah, 82. 84, 94, 102, 106, 110,
125, 139, 155; Talmud , 82-83, 100,
106-10, 113, 122-23, 125. 146-47;
Tanakh (Hebrew Btble), 82, 85,86-87,
101 ,113, 141, 155; Torah (Five Books
of Moses), 82,84-86,89-91,93-94, 96,
98-99, 101-2 , 1(}4-6, 109, 110, 113,
118, 122, 124-25, 129-31, 153
judaism as a Civilizatioll (Kaplan), 126
Julian of Norwich, 196, 197
Jung, Carl G .• 419
junsprudence, in Islamic law, 266, 293
"Justice," "Peace," and " Poveny of Lhe
Church" conference (Latin America). 227
Justinian I (Roman Emperor). 173
Kabbalah Cemre (U.S.), 386, 395,404-7,
421; global branches, 406-7; practices,
404-7; Scientology companson, 406;
thoughts on God, 405; Tree of l.!fe and,
404-5, 406f
Kabbalah teachings (lewtsh mysticism), 84,
117-19, 122
Kaddtsh prayer (Judaism), 146-48
Kagedan, Lila, 153
Kanehsatake, Canada, Mohawk communny, 35 7
Kant, Immanuel, 165, 213
Kaplan, Mordechai, 126. See also
Reconstructionist judaism
Karakhamd Mongols, 287
Karuk, NaLive Americans. 357
Keeshig-Tobias,lenore, 320
ketubah (Jewish mamage contract), 148-49
Kewa, Indigenous culture, 326-27
Khalaf, Dawud ibn, 267
Khan, Sayyid Ahmad, 296
Khattab, Um.ar tbn al-, 252
Khop community (East Africa), 286-87
Khomeim, Imam Ruhollah, 299
Kidnapped by a Cult (Shen Xiaommg), 407-8
King. George, 415
King. Stephen, 359
King. Thomas, 315, 374
King of Heaven (male deity), 5
llippah (scullcap), 127, 131-32
Kirab al-Umm (The Exempler or The
Foundation) (Shafi'l), 268
Kitab-i Agdas (The Most Holy Book)
(Baha'u'llah), 399
Kitab-i lqan (The Book of Certitude)
( Baha'u'llah), 399
Knights of St. John, 198
Knights Templar, 198
Komeno,389
Koptmt ('Copy Me"), 388
Index
Kopimism, 388
Koresh, Da\;d, 447
Kraemer, Hemrich, 192
Krishna ConsciOusness, 392
Kristallnaehr ('Night of Broken Glass"), 136
Ladmo,language group, 114, 116
Lady Gaga, 341
Lakota (Native Amencans), 218, 318,326,
351,360,361, 365-66
Lalibene, Ntcole, 372
Lane, libby, 165
language(s): Mayan wnting, 322f; North
Amencan distributton map, 319f; UN on
loss of, 354
laLin Amenca: Chnstianity in. 232; social
change in, 226, 227
Latter-Day Saints. See Church ofJesus Chnst
of Latter-Day Saints
lebanese Ctvil \\>\tr ( 1975-1990), 300
Legends of Witches film, 409
legitimation in myths, 41-42
lesbtan. gay. bisexual, transgendered. intersex.
or questioning (LGBTIQ), 440; support
of Judaism for, 441-42
levues, 11
levnicus, 85, 86, 125, 152, 157
leWIS, C. S., 4 35
LGBTIQ (lesbtan, gay, btsexual,
transgendered. interse..x. or quesLioning).
440,442
Uberal Protestantism, 225
Uberation Tigers of Tamil, 429
life-cycle events: in Baha'i, 400; in Judaism,
144-51; m Wicca, 410. See also burial
customs. riLUals; death~ dJVorce ~ marriage
lJ Hongzhi, 390
l.!hth, story of, 89
l.!ndsey, Theophtlus, 207
l.!ule, Malcolm (Malcolm X), 402-3. See also
Natton of Islam
liturgy: Christianny and, 162, 169, 182, 184,
202, 208; Indigenous traditions and,
229; Judaism and, 123, 127, 128, 146
Uvingstone, David, 216
loew ben Sezalel,Judah, 146
The lone Ranger film, 359
looking Horse (Lakota Chtef), 361
lost tribes of Israel, 295, 396
Lotus Surra, 388, 388, 389,389
"love Magic" (Australtan Aborigme), 331
Loyola, Ignatius, 208
lunar-based calendar (ludatsm), 112
luna, Isaac, 84, 118-21 ,404
luther, Manm, 165,204-6,210, 318
Lutherans (Lutheranism), 165, 204-5, 206
luther Standing Bear, 326
ma'ar (truth-justice) concept (Egypt), 38, 39,
40,49,53,54,57-58
Maccabean Revolt, 84,99-100, 185, 198
Macumba reltgion (Brazil), 362
 Index
Madonna, 34 I, 406
Magic, Science, and Religion (Malinowski), 7-8
Magna Mater (Cybele) ("Great Mo~>er•). 63,
64,66
Maha Mantra ("great mantra'), 392
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 420
Mahayana Buddhism, 20, 388, 4 II
Mahdi rebelhon, 294-95
Ma~monides, Moses, 84. 113-14, I 16,
118, 195
Mak1guchi, Tsunesaburo, 388
Malangi, David, 332f
Malcolm X (Malcolm Lmle), 402-3
Maliki law (Sunm Islam), 266, 267-68
Malinowski, Bronislaw, 7-8
Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches)
(Kraemer and Sprenger): 192, 192
Mandela, Nelson, 318
Mam , 72-73
J>.•tamchaeism (Manichaean tradiuon):
A lbigens~anism companson, 199;
defined, 239; disappearance of, 27, 73;
emergence of, 27; foundmg of, 72-73;
Roman emperors opimons on, 73; as
"world• rehgion, 26
Mansmgh, Aja!, 439
Maori culture: gender roles, 324, 340; moko
can;ngs, 344-46, 360; purification
rituals, 319; spmt baskets, 342-43;
tattoos, 339,344, 348; wea,;ng, 340-41
f>.•larcellinus. Ammianus, 73
Marduk, patron god of Babylonia, 34-36, 39,
49-52
mamage: Christiamty and, 169, 199, 209;
Hare Knshna movement and, 394~
Indigenous peoples and, 344, 355;
mtem1arriages, 96, 127, 300; Islam and,
256, 302-3;Juda~sm and, 91, 110, 127,
135, 148-51; polygamous marriages,
249; pOl latching ritual and, 355; same-
se..x unions, 441~ women, religions or
antiquity, and, 45, 67
Marsili us of Padua (Lheologian), 19}-94
Martyr, Justin, II I
Marx, Karl, 19
Mary I, 211
Mary (mother ofJesus), 163, I 77-79, 202
masks, lnd1genous traditions, 34 I, 343-44,
346, 360, 369
mass sutcide. Peoples Temple UonesLown,
Guyana), 387
Mathison, Volney, 412
Maurin, Peter, 224
Mawdudi, Mawlana Sayy1d Abu ai-A'la, 298
Mayan Apocalypse (2012). 320
mbari shrine, Jnd1genous cultures. 340,
347, 348f
McKay, Mabel, 340, 342-4 3
McKay, Stan, 366
McPherson, Am>< Semple, 222
Tile Meaning and End of Rtligion (Smith), 20
Mecca, Saudi Arab~a: as bmhplace of
Muhammad, 248; conquest of, 252;
conversion of, 251; hajj (pilgrimage)
to, 258, 262-64, 305; hijrah to Medina
from, 246, 251; Ka'ba shrine m , 247,
250; Muslim migrntions to, 250; spread
of Islam map. 283j
Mechthild of Magdeburg, 200-20 I
medieval Christlamty. See Christianity,
medteval era
Medina, 246,250, 251-52, 255, 266-69,
273,275, 283f, 294
meditation: Buddh1sL Meditation, 420, 443;
Falun Dafa and, 391; Hindu meditation,
443; Indigenous traditions and, 357;
Islam and, 262;Judaism and, I 18;
med!fval Christianity and, 196; Raelian
f>.•lovement and, 4 n7; Transcendental
Meditation, 420
mediums, 419
Mein Kampf (My Ufe) (Hitler), 135
Mellaan,James, 9-10
MenchU, R1gobena, 374
Mendelssohn , Moses, 85, 123
mendicant monastic orders. 199
Mennonites, 207
Menocal, Mana Rosa, 284
Merton, Thomas, I 98
Mesmer. Franz Anton, 419
mesmensm, 419
Mesopotamia: amhropogony and, 40; behefs
abouL deaLh, 47; beliefs on death ,
45~ ChrisuaniLy in, 72~ divination m,
48-49; faith m/fear of the gods m , 28;
food offerings to gods, 48; gods and
goddesses, 34, 36, 48-49; Harran trade
center. 52; judaism in. 72; map location.
31f; myths of, 30, 41; omens, types of,
49; pagan worship in, 52; priests, 30,
4 I; sacnfices, 27, 44, 49; traditions
of, 27
messengers, m Islam, 252-55
mess1ah: Islam and, 295;Jesus, Christianity,
and, I 6:>-66, 295 ;Jews and, 103-4,
I 12, 122; Sabbatalz,; as, 84, 119; tenu
denvation. 95
Metamorphoses (Ovid), 4 I
Methodists, 212,213, 216
mezuzah, I 50
Middle Kingdom (Egypt), 40, 47, 54, 55
millennials: Chrisuanity and, 232-34
Milhon Man March, 403-4
The Mirror of Simple Souls (Porete), 201
Misca,;ge, David, 412
Mishnah Torah Oewish text), 82, 84, 94, 102,
106, 110, 125, 139, 155
Missionary Tra\'els and Researche-s in South
Africa ( Livingstone), 216
missions and missionaries: in Afnca, 317~
of Eastern Lightmng, 408-9; Great
Awakenings and, 21 7-18; missionary
rehgions, 444; Pre:sbytenan, 207;
Roman Catholic, 188; World Missionary
Conference, 229-30
Mitchell, Blackhorse, 338
M1thra1sm, 66
Mltnagdim , Hasidim vs., 122
MmahiJews, 114,144, 151
modem era ChrisuaniLy. See OuisLianny,
modem era
Modem Onhodox Freedom Jf\V!Sh Cemer
(New Jersey), 153
f>.•tohawk. Nauve Americans, 323
moko caMngs, Maori culture, 344-46, 360
Momaday, N. Scott, 318, 374
monasucism: anchonLic monasticism. 185~
cenobnic monasticism, 185-86; rise
of. 184-86~ women's communnies.
175, 200
monastiC orders: Carthusians, I 98-99;
Cistercians, I 98; Cluniac FaLhers, 197;
Therapeutae, 103
monotheism: AkhenaLenS refom1s and, 56~
descnption, 105, I 71; dualism versus,
72. See also Christianity; Juda~sm;
Muslims
Moolaade film, 374
Moonsh Sc1ence Temple of America, 40 I
Moravian Brethren, 212
More, Thomas, 2 I 0
Morgan, Sally, 374
Monuons (Church ofJesus Chnst of Latter-
Day Saints), 386, 39~98, 420
Morsi , Mohammed, 299
Moses, 82, 84, 86, 87, 89,93-95, 101-2,
I 17,125,129,254
Moses, Dame! DaVId, 323
Mosque-Cathedral of C<>rdoba, 286f
mosques: decorative an m, 256; functions
and features, 290-92; gender and, 281;
Islamic architecture and, 290, 292; m
Saudi Arabia, 251; in United States, 301
~·loLher's Umon, 226
Movement for the Restoration o£ the Ten
Commandments m Uganda, 387
Mubarak, Hosni , 298, 299
Muhammad, Elijah (Elijah Poole), 301
Muhammad, Sayyid 'Ali, 398
Muhammad, Wallace (Wamh Deen
Muhammad), 403
Muhammad ( Prophet), 18, 244; hijrah
from Mecca to Medina, 246; Jews and,
250; hfe of, 24 7, 249; message of,
249; Mushms beliefs in, 13; Qur'an's
presenLaLion of, 255; Shi'a and Sunm
behefs about, 252; Sufism and, 275;
v1hfication of, 249-50
muphidin, 303, 428
Muslim Albanians, 189
Muslim Bosmans, 189
Muslim Brotherhood, 298, 299
Muslims, 243-310; 'Abbasid caliphate period,
244; in Afnca, 232,31 7; Ahmadiyya
Musilm Community USA group, 154;

Almohad puritanical sect, I I 4; Arab
Muslims, 72, 191; Baule of the Trench ,
251; Bau le ofUhud, 251; behef in Allah,
113; beliefs about Muhammad, 13;
btoethtcs and , 436; 10 China, 2SS-88;
comacLwith Jnd1genous Africans, 314~
contemporary revivalist movements,
298; conversions to Chrisllanity, 192;
Dome of the Rock of, 142; expulsion
from Spa10, 246; flight from Mecca to
Medina, 25 1; global data, 244; identity
charactenstics of, 245; in lndta, 289;
IOte rfaith d ialogue with Jews, 85; Jews
and, 85. I 13; medieval ChnSiianity and,
191; Medina communny, 246,250,
251-52, 255, 26&-69, 273. 275, 283/.
294; migrations to Mecca, 250; modern
re fonners. 29:5-96~ monotheistic
behefs of, 105; mysticiSm in, 15-16;
nineteenth-century reviValism, 294-95~
Ottoman cahphate penod, 244;
p hilosophical contributions o f, 195,
271-72; pnncipal historical periods,
244; Ramadan festival, 249-50, 258,
260-62,306, 400, 446; rejection of
secularism. 48; relations wiLh Christmns.
284; relations wuh Jews, 85, I 13.
117f, 154, 284; nghtsofwomen,
304-8; sexuality and, 440; shahadah
(professtons of faith), 245, 258, 279;
10 South Asta, 289; in Southeast Asia,
289-90; in Spain, 284; in sub-Saharan
Africa, 284, 28(}...87; twenueth-century
secularism, 297; Umayyad caliphate
period, 244~ war. terrorism. violence,
and, 303, 307-8; Zoroastnans and, 72.
See aL<o Mecca, Saudi Arabta; Shi'ism
(Sht'a Islam); Sunm Islam
Muslims of Ind ia, 298
Muslim Ughurs, 430
Myanmar, 430-32
Myanmar International, 430
mySiery rehgions, 15, 61, 66; Eleusiman
Mysteries, 15, 61; fate and, 66
mysticism (mystical traditions): Begumes
and, 200-201; C<>unte r-Refom>ation,
208-10; defined , 195; description ,
195-96; female mystics, 196; Islam
and, 276; Judaism and , IS-19, 84,
117-19, 122, 284, 404-7; medteval
era, 187, 196; Neoplatonism and, 271;
Quakers and, 21 I; Spanish , 209; Su fism,
118, 275-81; Teresa of Avila and, 209;
theiSitc mysticism, 15-16
"My Sweet Lord" rong (Harnron), 395
"The Myth of W<Sierness 10 Medieval Library
Historiography" (Menocal), 285
myths, 38-42; anthropogony and, 38, 40;
anthropology and, 40-41; c<>smogony
and, 38-39; cosmology and, 39-40;
creation myths, 38-39; households
and, 42; human beha,;or and, 38-39;
legiumation a nd, 41-42; nature and ,
38; netherworld , 39; purpose of, 34;
succession myths, 36~ Sumenan. 48
Nabonidus (Babylonian king), 52, 53f
Nabta Playa (Egypt), 33
naga.< (cobras), 5, 23
Napoleon , 295-96
Nasser, Gamal Abdel, 298
National HiJab Day (University of
Toronto), 305f
Nauonal lnstnute for the Research of
Kabbalah. See Kab balah Centre
National League for Democracy Party
(Myanmar), 431-32
Nation of Islam (NOll (U.S.), 301, 386, 395,
401-4,4 18,421
Nat1ve Amencans: American Indian
Movement, 321; C ree, 323; Delaware-
Tuscarora, 323; Ghost Dance, 317,
365-66; influence on Chrisuanity,
318; Lakota, 218, 318, 326, 351, 360,
361, 365-66; Moh awk, 323; Navajo,
323,348, 349; Oglala Sioux, 320, 321;
smudging ceremon y, 372; Sun Dance,
317,318, 338-39, 352,367, 369; sweat
lodge ceremomes, 360, 361
Nauve ~'omenS Assoc1atton o f Canada
(NWAC),353
Natural Theology (Paley), 213
Navigation Protection Act (Canada), 355
Nazi Party (Nauonal Socialist Gem1an
Workers' Party), 134-35, 134-39,
142,146
Near East, 27; deities an d , 33-34; map, 3 If.
Su also Egypt; Iran; Mesopotamia
Neolithic era, 4, 8, 9-10
Neoplatonism, 45,66
Nestorianism, theologtcal movement. 177
Netherlands: Mennonites m. 207; Muslim
communiLies in, 300~ stolpersttint in,
139; Swtss Refomution 10, 206
neLherworld, 39
New Age movement, 360, 418-22; historical
roots of, 4 19; lndtgenous religions and,
360; tenn denvati<>n, 4 IS-19
New Amsterdam (New York), 207
New Israelite Temple Associatton
(Gennany), 123
New Kingdom (Egypt). 34-35, 47J
New Komeito Party Oap an), 389
new rehgions, 386-423; Abrahamic lineage,
395-409; Aetherius Society, 415;
Baha'i Faith, 386, 395, 398-401, 420;
defined, 386-88; Eastern Lightning,
386,395, 407-9, 42 I ; Eastern new
religions, 388-95; Falun Dafa, 386,
389-91; lntem auonal Society for
Krishna Consciousness, 386, 391-95;
Kabbalah Centre, 386, 395, 404-7,
4 21; Monnons, 396-98; Nauon <>f
Islam, 301,386,395,401-4,418, 42 1;
Index
Raelian Movement, 415-18; rise of, 388;
Sctentology, 386, 406,409,411-14,
421, 448; Soka Gakkai, 386,388-89,
420; Wicca, 386,409-11,421. Su also
New Age movement
New Testament: Galauans, 166, 170, 236;
Gospels, 17,101, Il l , 162-64, 166,
169, I 70, 172-73, I 75, 188, 200,
202, 220, 237; KmgJames VeTSJon, I 7;
Pauhne Epistles, 164,166, 175,236. See
also specific Gospels
New Vrindaban Temple, West VJTgmia, 393
New Zealand: church union 1ssues, 230~
coloniahsm in, 351 ~ indigenizaLion
of ChnSiian liturgy, 229; lndtgenous
settlers in, 317; moko carvings, 344;
Presbyterianism m, 207~ Tasman's arrival
in,317
Nibutam,Japan, 354
Nicene Creed, I 77, 181
Nichtren (Budd hist monk), 388
Nichtren Shoshu (·True Nichire n"), 388, 389
9/11 terronst attack, 244,303, 307
"95 Theses• (Luther), 165, 204, 210
Nongqawuse, viston of, 365
North Africa: spread of Islam in, 283-84, 300
North America: Abonginal Sun Dance ritual,
338; contact wnh Ind igenous peoples,
314; emerg10g church movement, 232;
Indigenous language families, 319f;
Indigenous pe<>ple in, 317; language
dtstnbution map, 319f; missionanes
from. 207; Mushm communiues in,
300-302; platns Aborigmes, 338;
Unuanamsm in, 208
Nostra Aetate ("In Our Time") (Vatican), 234
Nuku, George Tamthana, 339
Numbers, 85, 86, 108, 129, 131
nuns, Chnstian , 200,209
Nuri, MJTza Husayn 'Ah (Baha'u'llah), 398-99
Nyanga of ZaJTe, 326
Obama, Barack, I 54
Obon ntual Oapan), 6
Oceania: ChriSitanity in, 162; lndtgenous
peoples, 314, 324
Odyssey (Homer), 40
"Of the Nine Chmrs and How They Sing"
(Mechthild of Magdeburg), 201
Oglala Lakota, Native Americans, 218
Oglala Sioux, Nauve Amencans, 320, 32 I
Old Amtsh Fanners, 207
Old Babylonian period, 49-50
Old Jewish Cemetery (Prague, Czech
Republic), I 46
Old Kingdom (Egypt), 47
Old TeSiament. 82, 85-87, 89-90,97, 102,
105, 124, 152, 155. Su also Hebrew
Btble (Tanakh)
omens: ancient world, 29, 49, 51-52;
dtagnosuc and predicLive, 49
Once We,. Warriors film, 374
 Index
On the Nature of the God.< (Cicero), 28
On the Otigin of Specie.< (Darwin), 165.
214-15
Operation Snow Whne. 412
oracles: cult practices and, 63; Delphi,
Greece, 59; Dodona, Greece, 59;
Sibylhne oracle, 64; Theodosms I~
outlawing o f. 60
oralny. in lndtgenous tradnions. 322,
324-25,376
O ral uw Qudaism). 102, 110, 125
O rder of Deaconesses. 2 I 7
Til< Ornament of the World (Menocal), 284
OrthodoxJudaism,84,89, 90, 9 1,108, 122.
123, 124-27, 13 1-32, 145-47, 149,
151-53; gender equahty and, 152-53;
Haredim subgroup. 84, 125-26; Hasidic
Jews, 120, 122, 127
Osiris, 39, 47,53-54,57, 74
Ottoman Emp1re: Chnstianity in, 187. 191;
defeat, breakup in First World War. 297;
expulsion of Jews, I 16; Islam and, 267,
287-88. 295-96
Ovid: Fa.<ti, 35-36; Metam01phoses, 4 I
Pachomms. Saini, 185-86
Packer, James, 441
paganism: Chrisuan conversions to, 1 7 1~
Chrisuans coex1stence wiLh, 191 ~ deaLh
of, 74; descnption of followers. 73; in
Harran , t-.•tesopotamia, 52
Pakistan: church umon issues, 230~ f>.•tuslim
communn.ies in. 300
Palaeoanthropos palestiniensis ("Mount Cam1el
man'), 6
Palestinian Judaism, 162,318
Paley, Wilham. 213
Palmer, Susan Jean . 4 I I}... I 7
Pandley,Jyoti Smgh . 436f
papal authority, Popes: Benedtct XVl, 165,
228; Boniface Vlll, ISO; Clement V. 193;
Damascus, I 76; Francis, 165; Franc1s I,
228-29; Gregory XI, 193; Gregory Xll,
228; Innocent Ill, 193; In nocent Vlll,
192;John XXll, 165;John XXIII, 227.
230; Paul VI. 228; Urban II. 165,191;
Urban VI, I 93
Paracelsus (Phthppus Aureolus Theophrastus
Bombast von Hohenhetm), 4 I 9
Parham, Charles, 22 I
Paris InqUisition , 20 I
Panhian Zoroastnamsm. 70
Passover Qewish hohday), 90-9 1,94,96,
114, 126, 127, 131. 134, 194, 285
Paul (Chnstian apostle). 162, 165, 166
Pauline Eptstles, 164, 166, 167, 175, 236. See
also C<mnthians; Ephes1ans; Phihpptans;
Romans; 2 Timothy
Paul VI (Pope). 228
pax deorum ("harmony with the gods"), 27
The Pearl of Gomt Plice (Smnh , Jr.), 396
Pelagius. I 79
Pennsylvania Dutch , 207
Pentateuch . See Five Books of Moses (Torah)
Pentecostalism, 221, 222, 223,231
Peoples Temple Qonestown , Guyana).
387,447
Peter (Chnstian apostle). 162
Petrarch , 203
Pet Semataty film (King). 359
Pew Forum on Rehgion and Pubhc life,
Religious undscape Study, 232
Phaedo (Plato), 61
Pharisees, I 00-102
Phtlemon (New Testament), 166
Phtlippians (New Testament), 166, 167
phtlosophy: ChnSiian . 194; early modern
era, 203; Enlighte n ment era, 213-14;
existentialism, 223; Greek, 66, I 16;
Islamic, 244, 254. 264,270-72,
271-72; Jewish, I 10, I 16. 123, 152;
f>.•lamchaeism, Zoroastnanism. 26;
modem era, 2 13; Mushm, 195, 271-72;
political, 221; Scholasticism and , I 94
phylacteries (tejillin), 131
ptlgrimages: Catholicism and , 174;
Cistercians and, 198~ continental
refom1at1on and, 203; Crusades as, 191;
Ethtopia n Orthodox Tewahedo Church
and, I 78f; Franciscans and , 199; Islam
and, 252, 258. 260, 262-64, 305;
Judaism and, 9 1, 94; pre-Islamic Arabta
and, 247; sainthood and , 201; Voudou
adherents and , 363
Pindar (Greek poet). 36
Piscean Age, 4 I 9
Plato: d ialogues, 28; d u alism of material body
and nnmaterial sp·irit, 45; mystery cults
and. 48; wnLings o n naLUre of the divine.
61-62
Platonism, 66
pluralism, 234-35, 443. 445-46,448
Plutarch (Delphian prieS!), 59
Poem of the Righteous Sufferer, 5 I
pogroms against Jews, l34
pohtics: AnabaptiSis an d, 207; Cathenne of
Stena's involvement. 196; OuisLianny
and, 181; Hildega<d ofB10gen's
involvemem, 196; Indigenous Lradiuons
and, 369; Myanmar and , 430-32; new
rehgions and, 389; religion and, 428-32;
Russ1an religton and, 188; separatiSI
movements, 429-30
polythetsm, 26
pontifex maxinHc< (high priest) (Rome). 64
Pontius Pilate, I 77
Poole, Elijah (Eltiah Muhammad). 301, 401-2
Popes. See papal authority, Popes
Porete, Marguerite, 201
Pon•oo C-Ommon Statement, 165
PosiLive-HJstorical Judaism. See Conservative
Judaism
potlatch ritual: ban on, 317. 352; description,
355; lifting of ban on , 318, 355, 367
power objects, 5
Prabhupada, A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami, 392-93, 395. See aL<o
International Society for Krishna
Consciousness
prayer: 10 ancient world, 28, 33. 36. 45. 47,
5 1. 56, 70; m Baha'i faith, 400-401; m
Christianny. 169, 175. 183-85. 188.
19&-97, 227. 229-31; in Indigenous
traditions, 335.340, 342, 349,357,
374; in Islam, 258-60,258-64, 272,
274, 284; 10judaism, 86. 92, 97, 101,
105, 107-8, I 18-25. 130-32, 250; in
Nation of Islam, 402
predestination teachings (Calvin). 206
prehiSiory, 27, 30-33; Catalhoyuk. 9, 3 If,
32-33, 32f; Gobekh Tepe. 3 1-32; NabLa
Playa. 33
Presbyteriamsm, 20&-7, 212
pnest: early functions of, 9
pnests: Egypt. 44-45; female pnests, 45;
Indo-European . 10; Mesopotamia, 41,
44; Plutarch (Delphian pnest), 59;
Rome, high priest, 64
prophetic religion, I 1-13; Abrahamic
traditions, 13; ZarathuSira (Zoroaster),
prophet, 13
prophets: in ancient world, 69; in Baha'i faith,
398-400; m Christianny. 163-64. 167,
I 70, I 75, 177, 179; in Church ofJesus
Ch rist of utter-day Samts, 396, 397; in
Eastern Ughtning, 407; m Ind igenous
traditions, 388; in Islam, 244, 245.
248-74, 252-55,287, 289, 293-95; in
Judatsm, 82, 86, 89. 91, 93, 95,97-98,
13 I , 155; 10 Nation of Islam. 403; in
Rae!ian Movement, 417-18; in Sufism,
275,278-80
Protestantism, 20, 204-5, 225
Protestant Reformation , 173, 203-8;
Anabaptists and, 206, 207, 212; Arab
rena1ssance and, 296~ Calvin and.
205, 21 1-13; ChnSiian d ivisions and ,
23 1-32; Continental Reformation and,
203-5, 208; Counter Reformation ,
208-10; Enghsh Reformation and, 203.
210; evangelical awakenings and, 2 15;
Great Awakening and, 2 I 5; Luther
as fat her of, 204-5; Presbytenanism
and, 20&-7, 212; sixteenth-century
denom1nations. 206; Swiss Refom1auon
and, 205, 206; Unitanans and, 207-8.
4 I I ; Wars of Religton and, 205; women
and, 208; worshtp and, 212; Zwingli
and , 205,206, 207, 212
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 134
Psalms, 86, 97, 112, 145,236
Pure u nd school, Mahayana
Buddhism, 388
Punm, 102, 103f
Puntans, 211, 216
Pyramid Texts (Ancient Egypt), 4 7. 53

qi, 389-91
qigong (Chma), 389,391, 420
Quakers (Rehgious Soc~ety of Friends), 211
quest. See journey (quest)
Questions of Faith (Al-Deen), 306
Qur'an, 17, 18, 19; commentary (tafsir) on,
257; compilation of, 256; concept of
God m, 257; ·The Earthquake" chapter
excerpt, 256; on faith and action, 257-58;
on people of Medina, 251; on pre-
lslanuc Arab history, 247; presentation
of Islam m, 245; presentation ofJesus
m, 254-55; presentation of Moses in,
254; presentation of Muhammad in,
255; prophets and messengers in, 252;
source of, 244; status of, 255-56; story
of Abraham in, 253; Sufism and, 275. See
also shan'ah (lslam1c law)
Qurb, Sayyid, 298
rabbis (teacher), in Juda~sm, 83-84
Rabbit-Proof Fence film, 374
Rabi'a al-'Adaw1yah of Basra, 276
Rae! (Claude Vonlhon), 415-16
Raehan Movement, 415-18
Raiche!, !dan, 143f
Ramadan, 249-50, 258, 260-Q2, 306, 400, 446
Rasool, Elijah, 402
Rauschenbusch, Walter, 221-22
Ray, James Arthur, 360
Reagan, Ronald, 303
reciprocity, 30
ReconstructionistJudaism, 91,123, 12&-27,
149, 152
REDress Project (Canada), 353
"Red Willows" (Anishmaubae tale), 332-34,
334,{, 373-74
Red Willows painting (Johnson),
334,{, 373-74
Red Injun film, 374
Reformed churches (Calvimst churches), 206
ReformJuda~sm, 85, 91, 94, 12:>-27,
129-32, 152
rehgion: defimtion , 315-16; emotional
dimenstons. 6; functions, 19; gender,
sexuality, and, 440-43; methods for
studying, 21-22; poliucs and, 428-32;
reasons fo r studymg, 20-21 ; scnptural
religion , 17-19; word derivation, 19;
"world" rehgion deSignation, 26, 320,
323, 325, 326
rehgious diversity: mter£anh dialogue and ,
44&-47; misswnary rehgions and, 444;
p luralism and, 443, 445-46
Religious landscape Study (Pew Forum on
Religion and Pubhc life), 232
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), 211
Religious Tec hnologies Center
(Scientology), 412
Remim, leah, 414
Reorganized Church of latter-day Saints, 396
repLilian monsters, S
Republic (Plato), 61
The Revivification of the Religious Science.s
(lhya 'ulum al-din) (al-Ghazali), 272
Rida, Muhammad Rashid, 297
Rig Veda (Hindu text), n0
rites o£ passage, Indigenous traditions,
33&-38, 341
ritual centers. 5, 9. See ar.so Stonehenge
rituals: m Christiamty, 16:>-64, 169-70,
172-73, 175, 182-85, 187-89,
205; hero~ journey or quest, 49; m
lnd1genous tradnions, 314,323, 325,
3 27,329, 335-39, 341; in Islam, 258,
261-63, 309; in Judaism, 82, 85-86,
90-92,94-96, 99, 102, 110-11, 114,
123, 144-49; in rehgions of antiquity,
7-8, 2&-28, 32-33, 43-45, 48-49; in
Sufism , 279
Rohingya people, Myanmar, 430-32
Roma (Gypsy) people: Holocaust and,
135-35
Roman Catholic Church : Second Vaucan
Council , 227-28; sexual abuse by
clergy, 228~ twentieth-century move to
ecumenism. 230
Roman Catholicism, 162,165, 169, 173, 174,
182, 188, 199, 20 5-6, 208, 210-11,
218-19, 223, 224-25
Romans (New Testament), 166, 167
Rome: acceptance of fore1gn gods, 6:>-64;
Chnstianity, rise an d spread of, 27,
66,68, 110-11, 166,171,187, 217;
cults, 4 5, 66; deiues of, 36, 64-66;
divination m, 28. 66; DominaLe era, 74~
gender relations, 68~ Jesus movement
in, 166;Judaism in, 105, 108; Magna
Mater ("Great MoLher") and, 63;
map, 30f; marketin g of rehgion in,
66~ monasudsm in. 185; Montanism
in, 179; mystery rehgion in, I S; pax
deorum ("harmony WILh the gods"), 27;
persecution of Christians, 73; pontifex
maximus (htgh pnest), 64; power as
defining characterisuc, 63~ Principate
phase, 74; ·'rebirth" of the sun ceremony,
4 ; Saturnalia festival, 4; Severan dynasty,
66; shnnes, 45, 66; temples, statues,
images, 4 3; Vestal Virgins, 64
Romero, Oscar, 165
Roncalli, Angelo Giuseppe (Pope John
XXIII), 227
Roosevelt, Theodore, 367
Rosh Hashanah (Jewish hohday), 128
Rudaki (PerSian poet), 287
Rumi,Jalal al-Dm, 278, 279
Russia: anti-Semitism in. 134; ChrisLianny
in, 162
Russian Orthodoxy, 188
Sabbath: Chnsttanity and, 211 ; Islam and,
260;Judaism and. 93, 99, 101, 104,
107, 110, 112, 114, 119, 123, 131
Index
sacred places: in anciem world, 4-5~ for
Ayma ra people, 356; in lnd1genous
traditions, 354; in Islam, 247; m
Juda~sm, 107, 128; Neolithic era creation
of, 9; m Roman Catholicism, 174
sacred texiS, 2 7; Bhagavad Gita, I S; of
Christianity, 236; Coffin Texts, 40, 4 7,
54, 75, 76; Epic of Creation (Enuma
Elish), 34, 50, 52; Epic of Erra, 50-51;
Epic ofGilgamesh, 36, 37, 41, 46,
49; Fasti, 35-36; Iliad, 63; oflslam,
244, 309; ofJuda~sm, 82, I SS;
Metamorphoses, 41 ; Odyssey, 40; Pyramid
TexiS, 47, 53, 75; Rig Veda, 10; Theogony,
39; Yasna text, 68. See also Judaism,
sacred books
sacred thread/weavers. l\•laon culture, 340-41
sacnfice (sacnfices): bunal customs and, 6;
for healing illness, 9; in the Hebrew
B1ble, 12; m Indigenous tradiuons,
338-39; m Mesopotamta, 27, 44, 49;
in Rig Veda (Indian text), 10; shaman's
perfonnance of, 7, 9; at Stonehenge, 4;
Valley of Sacnfices (Egypt), 33
Sacrosancta decree (Council of
Constance), 194
Sadducees, 100-102
saints and sainthood, 201-2, 220
same-sex unions. 441
Sanders, Alex, 409
Santeria rehgion (Cuba), 362
Sanusi movement, 294
Saperstein, David, 442
Sarsour, Linda, 154
Saturnalia festival ( Romans), 4
Saut d'Eau, Ha~ti, 363f
Saviour~ Day festival, 403
Scandinavia: Christianity in, 191; "hule
people"/trolls of, 8; Lutherans m , 206
Schadow, Johann Gottfned, 204f
Schi'ism (Shi'a Islam), 20, 244; beliefs about
Muhammad, 252; Husayn1d 1mams,
274; role of 1mam in, 272-73. See also
Ja'fari legal, rehgious system
Schleiermacher, Friedrich, 212, 21 3- 14
Schneerson, Menachem Mendel, 121-22
Schumacher, E. F. , 440
Schweitzer, Alben, 220
Scientology, 386,406, 409,411-14,421,448
Scientology and the Aftermath TV show
(Remini), 414
Scivias (Know the Ways [of God}) (Hildegard of
Bmgen), 196
Scotland: Presb)1eriamsm in, 206, 207; Swtss
Reformation m , 206; World Misstonary
Conference, 229-30
Scott, N., 318
scriptural rehgion, 17-19; fundamentalists,
18-19; Hindu approach , 19; lslam1c
approach, 18;Jewish approach, 17-18
Second Coming (ofJesus), 172, 179,
184, 221
 Index
Second Temple (Jerusalem), 142
Second Vatican Council (Vatican II), 227-28
Secrerariat for Lhe Promouon of ChnsLian
Unity, 230
sects, in Judaism, 101
secularism: Chnstianity and, 221 ;
fundamentalism vs .• 432; Muslims
stance agamst, 428; p luralism vs.•
446; rise of, 296; twentieth-century
secularism, 297
Seljuq Turks, 191 , 246, 287, 2SS
separatist groups, 429-30
Sephardun (SephardicJews), 114, 116.
134--35, 151
September 11 , 200 1, terronst attack, 244,
303,307
Septuagint, 84, 98. 162. See also
Hebrew Bible
Serb1an Onhodox Church, 189
Seveners (lsma'ilis Shi'is). 274-75
The Seven Valleys (Baha'u'llah), 399
Severan dynasty, 66
sexual abuse by clergy ( Roman Catholic
Church), 228
sexual heahng, 4 20
sexuality: Catholicism and, 228; gender and,
440-43; Islam and, 302;Judatsm and,
108, 152; Raelian Movement and , 416;
trickster stories and, 332; Wicca and,
409-10. See also homosexuality; lesbian.
gay, b1se:xual, transgendered. lnLerse..x, or
questiomng
Seymour, William J.. 22 1
Shari, Muhammad ibn ldris al-, 268
Shafi'1law (Sunni Islam), 266. 268
shahadah ( Muslim professions of fanh), 245.
258, 279
Shah Wah Allah of Delhi, 296
Shnlosh Regalim holidays (Judatsm), 94
Shnmanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
(Eiiade). 7
shama ns and shamanism, 7, 9, 359, 360,374
shape changer stories, 331-32
sharfah (Islamic law): categories of actions,
265-66; central concerns of, 264;
deliverance by messenger, 252-53; early
JUrisprudence, 260-Q7; fa twas (legal
opmions), 269; hadith collections, 265;
1j11had (personal reasoning) in, 266,
268-68; jurisprudcence (jiqh), 266.
293; Qur'an as source, 264-65; scope
of, 265-66; swmah (traditions of the
prophet), 252, 255, 262. 265. See also
Ja'fari legal, relig1ous system
Shavuot (Jewish hohday), 91,94
shaykh's (masters). m Sufism, 278
Shema (Jewtsh p rayer), 129, 131. 150f
Shen Xiaoming, 407-S
Shftsm (Shi'a Islam): Ashura anniversary
celebration, 274~ central tenets of.
2 73; dl\;sions wnhin, 274-75; Iranian
Shi'ism, 399; lsma'llis Shi'1s, 274--75;
role of nnams, 2 72-73~ tenstons wuh
Sunni in Arabia, 429~ Twelver Shi'isrn,
269, 2 70. 274, 286. 398
Showings (Sixteen Revelation.< of Divine Love)
(Julian of Norwich), 196, 197
shrines: Gobekli Tepe, Turkey. 31-32;
lnd1genous tradnions. 348f; Roman
Empire, 45
Silko, leslie Mannon, 374
Simons, Menno, 207
Sisebut (Vtsigothic king), 111-12
Sivaraksa, Sulak, 4 39
Six-Day \Var, 14:>-44. 298
Sky Father (male deity), 5
slavery: Atlanuc slave trade, 314. 362; Baha'is
and. 400; unpact on depopulation m
Australia, Americas, 350; Jews liberated
from, 89,90-91, 93; in libya. 307;
in pre-lslam1c Ara'b1a, 247; in Roman
Empire, 111; U.S. civil nghts movement
and, 227
Slavic countries, Christianity, 1SS-S9
Small Is Beautiful (Schumacher), 440
Smith, Jonathan Z. , 19, 20f
Smith,Joseph,Jr.,6, 7, 19, 396-98.Seea1so
Church ofjesus Christ of latter-Day
Saints
Smith , Wilfred Cantwell, 6, 7. 20, 448
smudging ceremony, 372
soctal gospel, 221-22
Society ofjesus (Jesuits). 208
Society of Muslim Brothers, 298
Soka Gakkai ("Association for Creating
Values'), 386. 3SS-S9, 420
Soka Gakkai International (SGI), 389
Sokoto caliphate, 294
Solar Temple cult, 387
Sollnvictus (•The Unconquered Sun"), 68
South Afnca: Anglican Church, 226-27; anu-
apanheid movement, 226~ apanheid in,
165, 226-27, 367; homosexuality and,
441 ; Presbyterianism in, 207; Roman
Cathohc Church, 227
Sovtet Union (fom1er): invasionAvtthdrawal
from Afghanistan, 303, 428;Je\\;sh
emigralion rrom, 144
Soymka, Wole, 374
Spanish lnquisnion , 116-17
spmt baskets, Maori culture, 342-43
spmts: early beliefs about, 7-8; unfnendly
spirits, coping \Vlth , 8-9
Spi1irual Exerdses (Loyola), 208
Spott, Roben, 365
Sprenger, Johan n, 192
Sn lanka: struggles of Hmdu Tamil
separatists, 429
S.S. St. l..ouL<, 136
St. Pete's Basilica, Rome, 174
Standmg Rock S1oux Reservation, 318
Stoictsm, 30, 45,66
"Stolen Generations· of Aboriginal
children, 317
stolpasteine, commemorauve sLones,
139, 140f
Stonehenge. 4, 7, 9, 23, 410f
stonmg. 303
stories and storytelling: afterlife stories, 326;
chaos and order m. 334-35~ conte:xt
of, 32 7; ongin stones, 327-29; shape
changer stories, 331-32~ Lrickster sLones,
327.329,331, 332, 334--35; truth in,
326-27; wnting vs. oral, 327
Strabo (Greek geographer), 38
sub-Saharan Afnca: Christianity in, 162;
Islam m , 284, 286-87; Portuguese
exploration of, 3 17
SUCC£55100 m y Lhs, 36
Sufism, 246. 2 75-8 1; ai-Hallaj and, 276-77;
asceticiSm and, 2 75-76; development of,
277-76; devotional practices, 2 79-80;
dhikr (•remembrance") ntual, 279; Ibn
'Arabi and, 278; mfluence of hadith
traditions, 275; influence on Kabbalah,
118;jlhad refom1 movements m . 294-
95~ mysticism in. 276; name denvat.ion,
275; orders and saints, 278-79; Rabi'a
and, 276; Rumi and, 278, 2 79; shaykh's
(masters) in, 2 78-79; Suhraward1 and,
277-78; Whirling Dervishes of, 2 79-80,
28lf; women and, 281, 282f
Suhraward1, Shihab al-Dm. 277- 78
Sukkot Oewish holiday), 91, 95
Sumer: deities of. 36; myths, 48
Sumerian King List, 48
Summa Theologae (Summation of Theology)
(Aquinas), 195
Sun Dance, 317,318, 338-39, 352. 367,369
Sunday School movement. 2 17
Sunm Islam: Hanafi legal school, 267; Maliki
legal school, 267-68; Shafi'1legal school,
268; sunnah (tradnions) of the Prophet
followed by. 252
Sunm Muslim, 20
supernatural world, 33
Suppress>Ve Persons (SPs), in Scientology. 414
Suu Ky1, Aung San. 431-32
sweat lodge ceremonies, 360,361
S\vtss Refom1ation, 205, 206
symbols (symbolism): Chauvet cave am mal
images, Sf; emergence of, 31; huma n
symbolic behavior, 30
synagogue (injuda~sm), 127-32
syncretism: defined, 36; Indigenous traditions
and, 318-20
Synoptic Gospels, 164, 183-84, 237. See also
Gospel of Luke; Gospel of Mark; Gospel
of Matthew
Syria: Chnstianity in, 111; Great Synagogue
of Aleppo. 141
Syrian Jews, 141
lafsir (commentary), on the Qur'an. 257
Tahban, 294, 304
tallit, 124, 125, 131, 149

Talmud (lew1sh text), 82-83, 100, 106-10,
113, 122-23, 125, 146-47. See also
Babylonian Talmud; Gemarah; Hamburg
Talmud Torah School; Mishnah
Tanakh. See Hebrew B1ble (Tanakh)
Tanna, Republic of Vanuatu, 364
taqlid, 270
Tasman, Abel Janszoon , 31 7
tattoos, Indigenous cultures, 339,344, 348.
See aL~o moko carvings, Maori culture
teleotowcal arguments, 213
Temple Mount (Jerusalem), 134, 142
Temple of Hephaestus (Greece), 43f
temple rehgion, 10-11; Delphi, Greece,
12-13; Gobekh Tepe temple complex,
31-32; Indo-European priesls, 10-11;
Jewish temples, 11
temples: Babyloma, 52; Egypt, 4 3; Greece,
43; Mesopotamia, 43; Roman Empire, 43
Ten Commandments (Decalogue), 93, 94, 95,
101,141,387
Teresa of Av!la, 209
terra nullius, 351
Tetragrammaton, 95
texts. See sacred texts
Thales (Greek philosopher), 34
theistic mysticism, 15-16
theocracy, 205, 396
Theodosian C<>de, 74
Theodosius I (Chrisllan emperor), 60
Theogony (Hesiod), 39
theologtcal controversies, in Christianny,
218-19
Theosophical S<lc~ety, 415
Therapeutae, 103
Theraveda Buddh1sm, 20, 4 30
Thessalonians (New Testament), 166
thetan, 411-14
They Took Me to Their Planet (Vorilhon), 416
Things Fall Part (Achebe), 318,358, 374
Tilhch, Paul, 223
Timaeus (Plato), 61
Tiridates Ill (Armenian Kmg), 178
Toda,Josei, 388-89
tombs (hilltop tombs), 9
Torah (Fwe Books of Moses), 82, 84-86,
89-91,93-94,96,98-99,101-2,
104-6, 109, 110, 11 3, 118, 122,
124-25,129-31,153
Torquemada, Tomas de, 192
lotem poles, 340,344, 345f, 347,348
Towards a World Theology: Faith and
Comparative History of Religion
(Smith), 448
t ranee state. 7
Transcendentalism, 419
Transcendental Meditation, 420
Transnationar Musfims in American Society (AI-
Deen), 306
1ranspersonal psychology, 418-19
transubstantiation, 205, 228
Trappists, 198
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, 179
Tree of Life, 404-5, 406f
Treiger, Alma, 83f
Trench, Battle of, 25 1
trickster stories, 327, 329, 331, 332 , 334-35
Trinity doctrine (ChnsLianity), 113, 162 , 177,
179, 187, 195, 196, 207, 218
Trobriand Islanders, 8
trolls, 8
Troublemaker: Sutviving Hollywood and
Scientology (Remini), 414
Trump, Donald , 142, 154, 303,438
Truth and Reconciliation C-Ornmisston
(Canada), 318
Tsimshian people, 344
Tudor dynasty, 211
Tutu, Desmond, 165, 226-2 7, 366
twelfth imam, 269, 270
Twelver Shi'ism, 269, 2 70, 274 , 286, 398
Twitchell,l'aul (aka Ecl<ankar), 420-21
2 Timothy (New Testament), 167
Tyndale, Wilham, 210
Ubuntu,366
Uhud, Battle <>f. 25 1
Umayyad caliphate, 244, 246, 274, 283-84
Unam Sanctum (papal bull) (Boniface
Vlll),193
UNESCO World Hemage list, 178f
Umficatlon Church ( .. Moonies"), 448
Unitarians, 207-8,411
Umted Church of Canada, 165, 225,
230,231
Umted Church of Chriist, 230
Unued Nauons (UN): Baha'is consultative
status with. 400; Declaration on the
R1ghts of Indigenous Pe<>ple, 318, 324;
Ind1genous people estimates, 3 14; on
loss of languages, 354; role m Israel
statehood, 142
Umted Nauons (UN) Human R1ghts
Council , 430
Umted Nations (UN) Security Council, 299
Umted Refom~ed Church, 230
Umted States (U.S.): African Amencan
Muslims, 300-301; ba n of Sun Dance,
3 17; Bapusts in, 2 12 ; B1ghorn Medicine
Wheel, 335; bin laden~ attacks <>n,
246; church umon issues, 230; c1vil
nghts movernem, 226~ consciousness
revolution ('60s), 418; lifung of ban on
Sun Dance, potlatch, 3 18; massacre of
Lakota S1oux, 318; Muslim Immigrants
in, 301; Mushm mosques in, 301;
Nation of Islam in , 301, 386, 395,
401-4, 418, 421 ; new religions, 387;
9/11 terrorist attack, 244, 303, 307;
Presbytenan!Sm in, 207; return of land
to Taos Pueblo, 3 18,366, 367; sexuality
and, 440; theft <>f land from Ind1genous
inhabitants, 357; Unitarianism m , 207
UpanL<hads (Hindu texLs), 411
Index
Urban II (Pope), 165, 191
Urban VI (Pope), 193
U.S. Bureau of India n Affmrs, 366
Ulah, envnonmental concerns. 4 38
Vmshnava Hmdu1sm, 392, 395
Vajrayana Buddhism, 20, 21
Valiente. Doreen, 409
Valley of Sacrifices (Egypt), 33
Vatican ll, 227-28
Vatican ll (Second Vatican Counc1l), 22 7-28
Vedanta teachmgs (HindUism), 419
Vestal Virgins (Rome), 64
V11lebrun, Knsten, 353
Vugm Mary, 177, 202
V1shnu (Hindu deity), 295,392 , 429
vision quest, 336-37,361
Vita Cm10nica, 200
Vorilhon, Claude (aka Rael), 415-16. Su also
Raelian Movernem
Voudou rehgion (Haiti), 362
\ Vadud, Amina, 305
\Vahhabi movement, 293, 294, 296
\Valker, Dennis, 403
\Vars <>f Rehgion (Protes~ant
Reformation), 205
The Way of Perfection (Teresa of Avila), 209
weavtng, Maori cuiLUre, 340
Webb, Muhammad Alexander, 301
Weber, Max, 387
Wellhausen,Julius, 89
Wesley, John, 165, 216
Wesleyan movement, 212
Western Wall, Israel, 107
Whale Rider film, 374
Wh1rling Dervishes, 279-80, 281f
White, Viben, L., Jr. , 403
The White Goddess (Graves), 409
Whitehead, Alfred Nonh, 223
White Shaman.< and Plastic Medicine Men film,
374
Wicca, 386,409-11,421
·widow, Chnstian women's church office. 175
William the Conqueror, 191
William the P1ous, 197
Wilson, Lois, 225
Wine, Sherwm, 127. See also Humamstic
Judmsm
Wiradjuri culture, rites of passage, 337-38
witchcraft, 192, 362, 365, 386, 409-11, 421.
See ar.so \Vicca
women: abonion and, 45, 350,433-34,
436-37, 450; Sahai'l faith and, 400;
Begumes and Beghards, 200-201 ;
Christian mmistry by, 175; c<>lonialism~
negative impact on, 352-53; c<>mmunal
ptety in Greece, 60~ conunent.al
refom1ation and, 208~ remale monastic
communities, 175, 200~ female mysucs.
196; hadith traditions and, 304;Judaism
and, 83-84; medieval Chriisuanity and,
 Index
women (cont.)
200-201; modem e ra Christianity and,
217, 223, 225-26; priestesses, 45, 68;
re\;valism and, 21 7; rights of, in Muslim
tradiuon, 304-8~ roles m antiquity
tradiuons, 67; Scientology and , 413;
Sufism and, 281, 282f; Wicca and, 409
Woodstock, New York, music festival, 419
The Wom Appears in the Flesh (Yang X~angbin),
407,408
Word of God: Christlanny and, 205;
Indigenous tradiuons and , 322; Islam
and, 255-56;Judaism and , 125; Sufism
and, 277
World Council of Churches, 165, 225,
230, 234
World M1ss1onary Conference ( I 910),
229-30
·world" relig1on designation, 26, 320, 323,
325, 326. See also specific religions
Worlds Parhament of Religions (Chicago), 410
worship spaces, 182-S4
Wounded Knee, North Dakota, 318, 351
Wovoka, 314,318,365
Wovoka, v1sion of, 365
Wychffe,John, 210
Wychffes B1ble, 210
X, Malcolm (Malcolm Uule), 402-3
Xenophanes, 29, 61
Xenophon (Greek historian), 36
Xhosa peoples, 317, 338, 339,362, 365-66
Yahm school, 267
Yahweh (YHWH), 82, 84,90-91, 93, 95,
97-99, 105, I 13, 405,407,415-16
Yang Xiangbm, 407, 408
Yasna text (of AvesIn), 68
Yatin (communny healers), Aymara
culture, 356/
YHWH. See Yahweh
YUing Q Ching), 4 I 9
ym-yang (tayi) symbols, 390/
yoga, 419, 420
Yog1, Maharishi Mahesh, 420
Yom K1ppur (Jew1sh hohday), 128,
131,250
Yom K1ppur (Judaism, Day of Atonement),
128,250
Yoruba gods, 362, 363/
Yugosla~a. Chnstianity in, 189
Yurok culture. Native Americans. 357
Zakariya, Mohamed, 291/. 292
Zarathustra (Zoroaster), prophet, 13,68-69
Zealots, 103
Zen Buddhism , 20-21, 198,419
Zhao Weishan, 408
Zhen Shen Church (Church of Almighty God)
(Chma), 407
Zia-ui-Haq, Mohammad, 299
Zion (in Jerusalem), 134
Ziomsm, 134
Zohar (book of Jewish mysticism),
18-19, 404
Zoroastrian1sm: Ahura Mazda, princ1pal god.
68-70, 71f; A\'<.<la text on, 68-69; m
Central Asia, 287; dualism and, 26, 69,
72; emergence of, 27; hagiographies
(biograph~es), 69; inOuence on Judaism,
68. 70; teachings of, 69-72; as "world"
relig10n, 26; Zarathustra as prophet, 13,
68-69
Z~. Sabbatai, 84, I 19
Zwmgli, Ulrich, 205, 206,207, 212