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The great transformation : the beginning of our religious traditions  Cover Image Book Book

The great transformation : the beginning of our religious traditions

Summary: In the ninth century BCE, the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world created the religious and philosophical traditions that have continued to nourish humanity to the present day: Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, monotheism in Israel, and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Later generations further developed these initial insights, but we have never grown beyond them. Now, Karen Armstrong reveals how the sages of this pivotal "Axial Age" can speak clearly and helpfully to the violence and desperation that we experience in our own times. The Axial Age faiths began in recoil from the unprecedented violence of their time. There was a remarkable consensus in their call for an abandonment of selfishness and a spirituality of compassion. The traditions of the Axial Age were not about dogma--all insisted on the primacy of compassion even in the midst of suffering.--From publisher description.

Record details

  • ISBN: 0375413170
  • ISBN: 0676974651
  • ISBN: 9780375413179
  • ISBN: 9780676974652
  • Physical Description: xviii, 469 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
    print
  • Edition: 1st ed.
  • Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references (p. [435]-446) and index.
Formatted Contents Note: List of maps and plans -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. The Axial peoples (c. 1600 to 900 BCE) -- 2. Ritual (c. 900 to 800 BCE) -- 3. Kenosis (c. 800 to 700 BCE) -- 4. Knowledge (c. 700 to 600 BCE) -- 5. Suffering (c. 600 to 530 BCE) -- 6. Empathy (c. 530 to 450 BCE) -- 7. Concern for everybody (c. 450 to 398 BCE) -- 8. All is one (c. 400 to 300 BCE) -- 9. Empire (c. 300 to 220 BCE) -- 10. The way forward -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index.
Subject: Religion -- History
History, Ancient
Philosophy, Ancient
Social evolution
Religion and civilization

Available copies

  • 6 of 6 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
  • 1 of 1 copy available at Prince Rupert Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 6 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Holdable? Status Due Date
Prince Rupert Library 200.9 Arms (Text) 33294001690361 Adult Non-Fiction Volume hold Available -

More information


Summary: In the ninth century BCE, the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world created the religious and philosophical traditions that have continued to nourish humanity to the present day: Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, monotheism in Israel, and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Later generations further developed these initial insights, but we have never grown beyond them. Now, Karen Armstrong reveals how the sages of this pivotal "Axial Age" can speak clearly and helpfully to the violence and desperation that we experience in our own times. The Axial Age faiths began in recoil from the unprecedented violence of their time. There was a remarkable consensus in their call for an abandonment of selfishness and a spirituality of compassion. The traditions of the Axial Age were not about dogma--all insisted on the primacy of compassion even in the midst of suffering.--From publisher description.

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