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 language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | The Oxford Handbook of World History |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780191744051 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780199235810 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 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