The Importance Of Religion In The Ancient World

Religion in the ancient world played a vital role to society. Religion is the moral foundation of a civilization and it gives meaning, worth and determination. Even though not all religions encourage people to do what is right, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Confucianism tells those who practice to obey their deity or god and do what is ethical within their religion. In some religions, doing this was a way to reach afterlife so their souls could maintain a continuing existence. Each of these religions has their own way of encouraging such behavior, whether it is from a holy book, sacred principle, making a sacrifice or meditation.

Christianity was a monotheistic religion that was practiced in the ancient world. Christianity was a religion

Unlike Christianity and Islam, there was not a god that was worshiped. Siddhartha was known to be the Buddha. Reaching enlightenment from meditating under a Bodhi tree, Siddhartha was given the perfect insight into the processes of the universe. Buddhism taught the right way of living through various traditions, beliefs and practices. Buddha led by example rather than being some type of divine being. The caste system was not enforced so everyone was accepted. The Buddha’s first sermon was on the four noble truths. The four noble truths was a message that life is pain, suffering is made worse by desire, suffering can be ended by controlling desire and conduct and to follow the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold path served as the code of conduct for Buddhism. He wanted his people to be aware of things such as illness was suffering, death was suffering and thirst was threefold. The Eightfold path consisted of a list of steps. It began with acknowledging the entirety of suffering also known as “right knowledge”. Then they were to choose whether to break away from the suffering, which was known as “right purpose”, and then choosing “right conduct”, “right speech,” “right livelihood,” and “right endeavor.” Step seven was “right awareness,” which included continuous thought of a person’s actions and whether or not they lead to enlightenment. The eighth and final step was

It was more of a guide to show people how to behave, which meant doing what was ethical. Confucius, the mastermind behind Confucianism, was disappointed with the way the governmental system was being ran. This turmoil led to him creating the moral code. Heavy value was placed on virtue and education. Eventually, his teachings became the foundation for spiritual and ethical being all through China. He taught from the Analects. He didn’t leave writings so the Analects was recounted for by his disciples. Being a follower of Confucianism meant to follow what Confucius had to say. That’s what this religion told its people to do, to simply obey. Confucius taught that people should take on an upright life, become educated and make contributions so society could improve. In one part of his teachings, coming from the Analects, he notes that someone with superiority must respect their elders, be fair, and maintain relationships with those who mean good. These sayings just proved that all he wanted was for all of his people to set great examples. Confucius believed in five key relationships as a way to place people in society. These relationships were ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, elder and younger brother and friend and friend. This shed light on the importance of family respect and loyalty. He insisted that people learn five important virtues as well. These virtues included Ren, which