Comparing Hinduism, Confucianism, And Christianity
779 Words4 Pages
Throughout history, religious and philosophical statements have exemplified cultures across the world by providing an insight as to what followers of the culture believed and held to be true. Hinduism, Confucianism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism all preached peace and nonviolence. Each religion or philosophy had standards or beliefs that followers abided by in order to live their lives to the fullest potential. Hinduism and Confucianism encouraged followers to strive for purity and to follow the spiritual path in order to set an example for people among them. To the contrary, Christianity and Zoroastrianism focused on individual salvation which determined if an individual spent his or her afterlife in heaven or in hell. In Ancient India, the Vedic Age (1700-1000 B.C.) created a culture that gave rise to a caste system that placed Brahmins, also known as priests, at the top of the caste which gave them control over…show more content… The Confucian philosophy was introduced by Mencius who popularized the works of Confucius, a very respected scholar and teacher in China during the Axial Age. Confucius believed that man should lead an upright life, be well educated, should have contributed themselves to aid in the betterment of society while setting examples that others could follow. Among these, he discussed the characteristics that made individuals become an authoritative person. Within the text of The Analects of Confucius, he stated, “Authoritative persons establish others in seeking to establish themselves and promote others in seeking to get there themselves. Correlating one’s conduct with those near at hand can be said to be the method of becoming an authoritative person” (Analects, 110). Placing others before oneself was valuable when an individual related to the people around him or her because it allowed peaceful flourishing within