hist.g6.s.cul.classical_religions_buddhism_hinduism
Analyze the comparative-religions arc 200 BCE - 500 CE — Buddhism's spread via Ashoka and the Silk Road, Vedic-to-Hindu development (Bhagavad Gita), Jewish diaspora after 70 CE, Christianity emergence, Zoroastrianism as Sasanian state religion, indigenous Mesoamerican religion, African Traditional Religions
Analyze 7 living religious traditions through their 200 BCE - 500 CE developments: (1) Buddhism — Theravada / Mahayana split, Ashoka's missions, Silk Road transmission to Han China; (2) Hinduism — Vedic religion's transformation into early Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita c. 200 BCE - 200 CE, Gupta-era temple architecture; (3) Judaism — destruction of Second Temple 70 CE, rabbinic Judaism's emergence, Mishnah c. 200 CE; (4) Christianity — Jesus c. 4 BCE - 30 CE, Pauline letters c. 50-60 CE, Gospel composition c. 70-100 CE, Constantine + Theodosius establishment; (5) Zoroastrianism — Avesta compilation, Sasanian state religion under Shapur I; (6) Indigenous Mesoamerican religion — Maya religious cosmology in Popol Vuh + Long Count + Tikal stelae; (7) African Traditional Religions — Aksumite pre-Christian polytheism transitioning to Christianity under Ezana 350 CE; ALL 7 are LIVING traditions today.
- Analyze the Gupta Empire of India (c. 320-550 CE) as the INDIAN MATHEMATICAL GOLDEN AGE — Aryabhata 476-550 CE, decimal place value with zero as a numeral, π estimation, foundational positional algebra — refusing the Eurocentric chronology that calls the SAME century 'the Dark Ages'
- Analyze the ancient Hebrews and the development of monotheism — including the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) as both a religious text and a historical text, the biblical narrative of Abraham + Moses + the Exodus from Egypt + the Davidic kingdom + the Babylonian Exile + the Second Temple period, and the survival of the Jewish people through diaspora after the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome in 70 CE
- Treating Christianity as a 'Roman' religion and not as a Jewish-messianic religion that emerged within first-century Judaism — Jesus, Paul, the disciples, and all New Testament authors were Jewish
- Treating any of the 7 religions as 'ancient/past' — all are LIVING traditions today with billions of practitioners total
- Confusing the Vedic religion of the Rigveda with later Hinduism — Hinduism developed FROM Vedic religion across centuries; they are not the same