Religions and World History

Zvi Ben Dor Benite

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

    Abstract

    This article examines the link between religions and world history. Samuel Purchas's initial approach to world history was simply 'observing' all the world's religions. The project grew to encompass much more, but the idea of 'pilgrimage' remained prominent. Religions are often presented as a universal human experience, yet there is in fact no universal definition of religion. In some cultures a religion is more a system of faith or of thought or philosophy. The discussion argues that without the concept of religion, world history is impossible. One of the most enduring outcomes of encounters or clashes between polities, civilizations, and cultures, is religion. as long as human encounters continue, new religions will keep emerging, and old religions will keep changing. The discussion closes by describing the holy site of Mt Moriah, or the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of World History
    PublisherOxford University Press
    ISBN (Electronic)9780191744051
    ISBN (Print)9780199235810
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Sep 18 2012

    Keywords

    • Global knowledge
    • Jerusalem
    • Pilgrimage
    • Samuel Purchas
    • Temple Mount
    • World history
    • World's religions

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Arts and Humanities

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Religions and World History'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this