# History of Religion

> An interactive timeline of the history of religion: 55 traditions · 182 developments, from Prehistoric & Ancient to Early Modern & Modern, with the connections between them.

- Interactive version: https://timelinegraph.app/examples/religion
- Published on [Timeline Graph](https://timelinegraph.app/), a free diagonal timeline maker
- Sources: [Compiled from public sources; summaries for illustration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_religion)

## Eras

- **Prehistoric & Ancient** (100000 BCE to 750 BCE): 9 items
- **Axial Age** (700 BCE to 260 BCE): 7 items
- **Classical & Late Antique** (27 BCE to 400): 11 items
- **Medieval** (610 to 1499): 12 items
- **Early Modern & Modern** (1517 to 1986): 16 items

## Kinds of connection

- Builds on / influences
- Reforms / breaks from

## Prehistoric & Ancient

### Early Burial Practices (c. 120,000–30,000 years ago)

Intentional burials, sometimes with grave goods, are among the earliest archaeological traces that scholars link to symbolic or religious behaviour. Their meaning is debated, but they suggest care for the dead and possibly beliefs about death and an afterlife.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Paleolithic, archaeology

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_religion)

- Burials at Qafzeh and Skhul in present-day Israel, roughly 120,000–90,000 years old, are among the earliest widely accepted intentional graves, some with ochre or animal remains.
- Graves at Sungir, Russia (c. 34,000 years ago) contained thousands of ivory beads, implying elaborate mortuary ritual.
- Archaeologists read grave goods cautiously: they may express afterlife beliefs, social status or mourning customs.

Later built on by: Göbekli Tepe, Ancient Egyptian Religion

### Göbekli Tepe (c. 9500–8000 BCE)

In southeastern Turkey, hunter-gatherers raised monumental stone enclosures with carved T-shaped pillars from around 9500 BCE. The site is often cited as evidence that communal ritual gatherings may have preceded, or accompanied, the rise of farming.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Institutions, Anatolia, Neolithic

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe)

- Circular enclosures ringed by T-shaped limestone pillars, some over 5 m tall, were erected from about 9500 BCE.
- Pillars bear reliefs of foxes, boars, snakes and vultures, plus stylised human arms, often read as symbolic imagery.
- Excavator Klaus Schmidt, working from 1995, interpreted it as a ritual centre: “first came the temple, then the city”.

Builds on: Early Burial Practices
Later built on by: Mesopotamian Religion

### Mesopotamian Religion (c. 3500–500 BCE)

Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian cities honoured patron deities in temples that were also major economic institutions. Their myths, preserved on clay tablets, include some of the oldest surviving religious literature.

Topics: Institutions, Scripture, Sumer, Babylon

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Mesopotamian_religion)

- In cities such as Uruk, temples of deities like Inanna controlled land, herds and labour.
- The Epic of Gilgamesh includes a flood narrative with close parallels to the later Genesis account.
- The Babylonian creation epic Enūma Eliš celebrated Marduk’s kingship and was recited at the Akitu new-year festival.

Builds on: Göbekli Tepe
Later built on by: Israelite Religion
Later reformed or rejected by: Israelite Religion

### Ancient Egyptian Religion (c. 3100 BCE – 4th c. CE)

Egyptian religion combined many gods, a divinely sanctioned kingship and an elaborate concern with the afterlife. Funerary texts evolved from royal pyramid inscriptions to spells available to wider society.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Politics & Empire, Egypt, afterlife

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion)

- Pharaohs were presented as upholders of maat, the cosmic order of truth and justice, and as mediators with the gods.
- The Pyramid Texts, carved in the pyramid of Unas in the 24th century BCE, are among the oldest known religious writings.
- The New Kingdom Book of the Dead supplied spells for the judgement of the dead, including the weighing of the heart.

Later built on by: Akhenaten’s Atenism
Builds on: Early Burial Practices
Later reformed or rejected by: Akhenaten’s Atenism

### Vedic Religion (c. 1500–500 BCE)

The religion of Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples of northern India centred on hymns and fire sacrifices performed by hereditary priests. Its texts, the Vedas, remain foundational scripture for Hindus.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Scripture, India, Sanskrit

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Vedic_religion)

- The Rigveda’s 1,028 hymns were composed in early Sanskrit around 1500–1200 BCE and transmitted orally for centuries.
- The central rite was the yajña, a fire sacrifice offered to deities such as Agni, Indra and Soma.
- Brahmin priestly lineages preserved the hymns using elaborate mnemonic recitation techniques.
- Vedic thought centred on ṛta, a cosmic order sustained by ritual and the gods.

Later built on by: Zoroastrianism, The Upanishads
Later reformed or rejected by: Mahavira & Jainism, The Upanishads, The Buddha, Bhagavad Gita & Classical Hinduism, Bhakti Movement, Guru Nanak & Sikhism

### Akhenaten’s Atenism (c. 1353–1336 BCE)

Pharaoh Akhenaten elevated the sun disc, the Aten, above Egypt’s traditional gods in a short-lived religious revolution. Scholars debate whether Atenism was true monotheism and whether it influenced later traditions.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Philosophy & Theology, Egypt, Amarna

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atenism)

- Amenhotep IV renamed himself Akhenaten and promoted exclusive worship of the Aten, neglecting older cults such as Amun’s.
- The Great Hymn to the Aten praises the sun as sole creator; parallels with Psalm 104 are often noted.
- Under Tutankhamun the traditional cults were restored, and later kings sought to erase Akhenaten’s memory.

Builds on: Ancient Egyptian Religion
Reforms / breaks from: Ancient Egyptian Religion
Later built on by: Israelite Religion

### Zoroastrianism (c. 1500–500 BCE (disputed))

Zoroastrianism traces itself to the prophet Zarathustra, whose dates scholars place anywhere from about 1500 to 500 BCE. Its themes of cosmic struggle between good and evil, judgement and renewal are widely discussed for their possible influence on later religions.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Scripture, Iran, Avesta

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism)

- The Gathas, hymns attributed to Zarathustra himself, are in Old Avestan, a language close to Rigvedic Sanskrit.
- Zoroastrians believe humans must choose between asha (truth, order) and druj (the lie), siding with the wise lord Ahura Mazda.
- Achaemenid kings from Darius I invoked Ahura Mazda in their royal inscriptions.

Builds on: Vedic Religion
Later built on by: Second Temple Judaism, Ashoka’s Dhamma

### Israelite Religion (c. 1200–587 BCE)

The religion of ancient Israel and Judah centred on the god Yahweh. Scholars generally see a gradual development from the worship of several deities toward the exclusive monotheism later expressed in the Hebrew Bible.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Scripture, Israel, Judah

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism)

- Inscriptions such as those at Kuntillet ʿAjrud suggest Yahweh was sometimes worshipped alongside other deities before monotheism prevailed.
- Prophets such as Amos, Hosea and Isaiah denounced injustice and called for exclusive loyalty to Yahweh.
- According to 2 Kings, King Josiah (c. 622 BCE) centralised worship in Jerusalem after a law book, often linked to Deuteronomy, was found.
- Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple in 587/586 BCE and deported much of the Judean elite.

Later built on by: Second Temple Judaism, Jesus of Nazareth, Rabbinic Judaism
Builds on: Akhenaten’s Atenism, Mesopotamian Religion
Reforms / breaks from: Mesopotamian Religion

### Greek Religion (c. 800 BCE – 4th c. CE)

Greek religion had no single scripture or church: city-states honoured the Olympian gods with sacrifice, festivals and games, while oracles and mystery cults offered guidance and personal hope.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Institutions, Greece, Olympians

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_religion)

- Homer’s epics and Hesiod’s Theogony (c. 700 BCE) shaped shared Greek conceptions of the gods.
- The Eleusinian Mysteries initiated worshippers into secret rites of Demeter and Persephone, promising a better afterlife.
- Civic worship centred on animal sacrifice, festivals and games such as the Olympics, traditionally founded in 776 BCE.

Later built on by: Roman Religion & Imperial Cult

## Axial Age

### The Upanishads (c. 700–300 BCE)

The Upanishads turned from external sacrifice toward inner knowledge, exploring the self, ultimate reality and liberation. Their ideas underlie much later Hindu philosophy.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Mysticism, India, Vedanta

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads)

- The Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Chāndogya, the oldest Upanishads, are usually dated to roughly the 7th–6th centuries BCE.
- They teach that ātman, the innermost self, is one with brahman, ultimate reality: “tat tvam asi” (“you are that”).
- Doctrines of saṃsāra, karma and liberation (mokṣa) become prominent, emphasising knowledge over ritual.

Builds on: Vedic Religion
Reforms / breaks from: Vedic Religion
Later built on by: Mahavira & Jainism, The Buddha, Bhagavad Gita & Classical Hinduism, Shankara & Advaita Vedanta
Later reformed or rejected by: The Buddha

### Second Temple Judaism (538 BCE – 70 CE)

After the Babylonian exile, Judeans rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple under Persian rule. Over the following centuries the Torah took final shape and diverse Jewish groups and texts flourished.

Topics: Scripture, Institutions, Judaism, Jerusalem

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_Judaism)

- After Persia took Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great allowed exiles to return and rebuild the Temple.
- Many scholars date the final editing of the Torah to the Persian period; tradition links Ezra with its public reading.
- The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the scriptures begun in Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE, served Greek-speaking Jews.
- Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes held competing views; the Dead Sea Scrolls, found from 1947, illuminate this diversity.

Builds on: Israelite Religion, Zoroastrianism
Later built on by: Jesus of Nazareth, Rabbinic Judaism, Paul the Apostle, Christian Monasticism, Muhammad & Early Islam, Protestant Reformation
Later reformed or rejected by: Paul the Apostle

### Confucius (551–479 BCE)

Confucius taught moral cultivation through ritual, learning and right relationships. Whether Confucianism is a religion is debated, but its ancestral rites and ethics shaped religious life across East Asia.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Ritual & Practice, China, Ru

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius)

- He stressed ren (humaneness), li (ritual propriety) and filial piety as foundations of social harmony.
- He upheld Zhou rites, including ancestor veneration, as a means of moral formation.
- From 136 BCE Emperor Wu of Han made the Confucian classics the basis of official learning.

Later reformed or rejected by: Laozi & Daoism
Later built on by: Laozi & Daoism

### Mahavira & Jainism (c. 6th–5th century BCE)

Jains regard Mahavira as the 24th and last tīrthaṅkara (ford-maker) of the present age, reviving an older ascetic path. Jainism emphasises non-violence and self-discipline as the way to free the soul from karma.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Ritual & Practice, India, Jainism

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavira)

- Jain tradition dates Mahavira to 599–527 BCE; many historians place him somewhat later, as an older contemporary of the Buddha.
- Jain practice centres on ahiṃsā, non-violence toward all living beings, along with truthfulness and non-possession.
- Jains understand karma as subtle matter binding the soul, removable through austerity and right conduct.

Reforms / breaks from: Vedic Religion
Builds on: The Upanishads
Later built on by: The Buddha, Ashoka’s Dhamma

### The Buddha (c. 5th century BCE)

Siddhārtha Gautama, known as the Buddha (“awakened one”), taught a path to liberation from suffering. Scholars increasingly date his death to around 400 BCE rather than the traditional 483 BCE.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Institutions, India, Buddhism

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buddha)

- His Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path offered a “middle way” between indulgence and harsh asceticism.
- Buddhist teaching of anattā (no permanent self) departed from Upanishadic ideas of ātman.
- He founded the sangha of monks and nuns; tradition records a first council at Rājagṛha to recite his teachings.

Later built on by: Ashoka’s Dhamma, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Shankara & Advaita Vedanta
Builds on: The Upanishads, Mahavira & Jainism
Reforms / breaks from: The Upanishads, Vedic Religion
Later reformed or rejected by: Mahāyāna Buddhism

### Laozi & Daoism (c. 4th century BCE onward)

The Daodejing, attributed to the semi-legendary Laozi, describes the Dao as the ineffable source of all things. Philosophical Daoism later fed into organised Daoist religion with priests, rituals and scriptures.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Mysticism, China, Dao

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laozi)

- The Daodejing is now generally dated to around the 4th century BCE, though tradition makes Laozi a contemporary of Confucius.
- It commends wu wei, effortless non-action in harmony with the Dao.
- In 142 CE Zhang Daoling founded the Way of the Celestial Masters, an organised Daoist church that revered Laozi as divine.

Reforms / breaks from: Confucius
Builds on: Confucius
Later built on by: Chan & Zen Buddhism

### Ashoka’s Dhamma (c. 268–232 BCE)

The Mauryan emperor Ashoka embraced Buddhism and proclaimed a policy of dhamma, moral governance and tolerance, in edicts carved across his realm. His patronage helped carry Buddhism beyond India.

Topics: Politics & Empire, Missions & Spread, Maurya, Buddhism

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka)

- His own edicts describe remorse after the bloody conquest of Kalinga (c. 261 BCE).
- Rock and pillar edicts urged non-violence, respect for all sects and humane administration.
- Sri Lankan chronicles credit his son Mahinda with bringing Buddhism to Sri Lanka.

Builds on: The Buddha, Mahavira & Jainism, Zoroastrianism
Later built on by: Mahāyāna Buddhism

## Classical & Late Antique

### Roman Religion & Imperial Cult (c. 1st c. BCE – 4th c. CE)

Roman public religion sought the goodwill of the gods through correctly performed ritual. Under the empire the cult of the emperors became a marker of loyalty, while mystery cults offered personal devotion.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Politics & Empire, Rome

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_ancient_Rome)

- Priestly colleges maintained the pax deorum, “peace of the gods”, through sacrifice and precise ritual.
- Augustus became pontifex maximus in 12 BCE, and emperors were honoured in an imperial cult.
- Mystery cults of Isis, Cybele and Mithras spread among soldiers, traders and city dwellers.
- Christians who refused to sacrifice faced persecution, most widely under Decius (250) and Diocletian (from 303).

Builds on: Greek Religion
Later reformed or rejected by: Constantine & the Christian Empire, Augustine of Hippo
Later built on by: Jesus of Nazareth

### Jesus of Nazareth (c. 4 BCE – c. 30/33 CE)

Jesus was a Galilean Jewish teacher whose followers came to proclaim him the Messiah. Most historians accept that he was baptised by John and crucified under Pontius Pilate; Christians believe he rose from the dead.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Scripture, Christianity, Galilee

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus)

- He preached the coming Kingdom of God, often in parables, and gathered disciples in Galilee.
- He was crucified in Jerusalem under the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, around 30–33 CE.
- His followers proclaimed that he had been raised from the dead, the founding conviction of Christianity.
- The canonical Gospels were written roughly 65–100 CE; most scholars consider Mark the earliest.

Builds on: Second Temple Judaism, Israelite Religion, Roman Religion & Imperial Cult
Later built on by: Paul the Apostle, Muhammad & Early Islam

### Paul the Apostle (c. 5 – c. 64/65 CE)

Paul, a Pharisee who had opposed the early Jesus movement, became its most influential missionary to non-Jews. His letters are the oldest surviving Christian writings.

Topics: Missions & Spread, Scripture, Christianity, Gentiles

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle)

- Paul described a vision of the risen Jesus that turned him from persecutor to apostle.
- His authentic letters, written c. 50–60 CE, predate the Gospels.
- He argued Gentile converts need not be circumcised, an issue debated at the Council of Jerusalem (c. 50 CE).
- His teaching on grace and justification by faith shaped later theology from Augustine to Luther.

Later built on by: Augustine of Hippo, Constantine & the Christian Empire, Nicaea & the Ecumenical Councils, Protestant Reformation
Builds on: Jesus of Nazareth, Second Temple Judaism
Reforms / breaks from: Second Temple Judaism

### Rabbinic Judaism (70 – c. 600 CE)

After Rome destroyed the Second Temple, rabbinic sages reorganised Jewish life around study, prayer and the interpretation of law. Their oral tradition was written down in the Mishnah and Talmuds.

Topics: Scripture, Institutions, Judaism, Talmud

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_Judaism)

- Roman forces destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE, ending sacrificial worship.
- Tradition holds that Yohanan ben Zakkai founded an academy at Yavne, where prayer and study replaced sacrifice.
- Judah ha-Nasi compiled the Mishnah, a code of oral law, around 200 CE.
- The Babylonian Talmud, redacted c. 500–600 CE, became the core text of Jewish law and learning.

Builds on: Second Temple Judaism, Israelite Religion
Later built on by: Maimonides & Kabbalah, Muhammad & Early Islam
Later reformed or rejected by: Haskalah & Modern Judaism

### Mahāyāna Buddhism (c. 1st c. BCE – 3rd c. CE)

Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) Buddhism produced new scriptures and celebrated the bodhisattva who seeks awakening for all beings. It became the dominant form of Buddhism in East Asia.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Missions & Spread, Buddhism, Silk Road

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana)

- New scriptures such as the Prajñāpāramitā and Lotus Sutra appeared from around the 1st century BCE.
- Mahāyāna texts exalt the bodhisattva who vows to liberate all sentient beings.
- Nāgārjuna (c. 150–250 CE) founded the Madhyamaka school, teaching the emptiness (śūnyatā) of all phenomena.
- Monks carried Buddhism along the Silk Road to China by the 1st century CE; Kumārajīva (d. c. 413) translated key sutras into Chinese.

Builds on: The Buddha, Ashoka’s Dhamma
Later built on by: Chan & Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shinto, Shankara & Advaita Vedanta
Reforms / breaks from: The Buddha

### Bhagavad Gita & Classical Hinduism (c. 2nd c. BCE – 6th c. CE)

The Bhagavad Gita, part of the Mahabharata epic, synthesised duty, knowledge and devotion. In the following centuries temple worship of Vishnu, Shiva and the Goddess grew into the forms of Hinduism familiar today.

Topics: Scripture, Ritual & Practice, India, Hinduism

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita)

- The Gita presents Krishna’s counsel to the warrior Arjuna on duty (dharma) and liberation on the eve of battle.
- It integrates paths of knowledge, selfless action and loving devotion (bhakti) to the divine.
- In the Gupta period (c. 320–550) temple worship (pūjā) spread, and the Puranas recorded the myths of the great gods.

Later built on by: Bhakti Movement, Shankara & Advaita Vedanta
Builds on: The Upanishads
Reforms / breaks from: Vedic Religion

### Mesoamerican Religion (c. 1st – 16th century CE)

Peoples of Mesoamerica built monumental ceremonial centres and shared ritual calendars, cosmologies and deities such as the Feathered Serpent. Their religions were deeply tied to kingship, agriculture and time.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Politics & Empire, Teotihuacan, Maya, Aztec

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_religion)

- Teotihuacan’s Pyramid of the Sun and Temple of the Feathered Serpent (c. 200 CE) made it a great ceremonial city.
- The Aztec Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan honoured Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, with offerings that included human sacrifice.
- After the Spanish conquest from 1519, missionaries imposed Christianity, though many indigenous practices persisted in blended forms.

Later built on by: Yoruba & African Diaspora Religions

### Constantine & the Christian Empire (313–392)

Constantine’s support transformed Christianity from a persecuted minority into an imperially favoured church. By the end of the 4th century Nicene Christianity was the state religion and public pagan sacrifice was banned.

Topics: Politics & Empire, Institutions, Rome, Christianity

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity)

- The Edict of Milan (313) granted Christians and others freedom of worship.
- Constantine funded churches, including the first St Peter’s Basilica, and granted privileges to clergy.
- Theodosius I’s Edict of Thessalonica (380) made Nicene Christianity the religion of the empire.
- Laws of 391–392 prohibited pagan sacrifice and led to the closing of many temples.

Reforms / breaks from: Roman Religion & Imperial Cult
Builds on: Paul the Apostle
Later built on by: Nicaea & the Ecumenical Councils, East–West Schism
Later reformed or rejected by: Enlightenment & Church–State Separation

### Nicaea & the Ecumenical Councils (325–451)

Church-wide councils defined Christian doctrine about the Trinity and the nature of Christ. Their creeds became standards of orthodoxy, but also produced lasting divisions.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Reform & Schism, creeds, councils

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea)

- The Alexandrian priest Arius taught that the Son was created by the Father, sparking empire-wide controversy.
- The Council of Nicaea, convened by Constantine in 325, declared the Son “of one substance” (homoousios) with the Father.
- Chalcedon (451) defined Christ as one person in two natures; churches rejecting it became the Oriental Orthodox communion.

Builds on: Constantine & the Christian Empire, Paul the Apostle
Later reformed or rejected by: Muhammad & Early Islam
Later built on by: East–West Schism

### Christian Monasticism (c. 270–560)

Christian ascetics withdrew to the Egyptian desert in pursuit of prayer and holiness, and communal monasteries soon followed. Monastic rules shaped spiritual, educational and economic life for over a millennium.

Topics: Institutions, Mysticism, desert fathers, Benedict

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_monasticism)

- Antony of Egypt (c. 251–356) became a desert hermit; Athanasius’s Life of Antony spread the ideal.
- Benedict of Nursia’s Rule (c. 530), written for Monte Cassino, balanced prayer, work and study and became the Western norm.
- Irish monks such as Columba, who founded Iona in 563, carried monastic Christianity across Britain and Europe.

Builds on: Second Temple Judaism
Later built on by: Augustine of Hippo, Sufism, Aquinas & Scholasticism, Catholic Reformation

### Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, Augustine was the most influential theologian of Latin Christianity. His writings on grace, sin and the church shaped both Catholic and Protestant thought.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Latin Church, North Africa

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo)

- His Confessions (c. 397–400) recount his search through Manichaeism and Neoplatonism to conversion in 386.
- The City of God (413–426), written after the sack of Rome in 410, contrasted earthly and heavenly cities.
- Against Pelagius he argued that salvation depends on divine grace, developing the doctrine of original sin.

Builds on: Paul the Apostle, Christian Monasticism
Reforms / breaks from: Roman Religion & Imperial Cult
Later built on by: Aquinas & Scholasticism, Protestant Reformation

## Medieval

### Muhammad & Early Islam (c. 570–632)

Muslims believe Muhammad was the final prophet, to whom God revealed the Quran through the angel Gabriel. He united much of Arabia under a new community (umma) before his death in 632.

Topics: Scripture, Politics & Empire, Islam, Arabia

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad)

- According to Islamic tradition, revelations began around 610 in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca.
- His migration to Medina in 622, the Hijra, marks year one of the Islamic calendar.
- The Quran was compiled into a standard text under Caliph Uthman around 650.
- Within a century Arab conquests reached from Spain to Central Asia, though conversion of conquered populations was gradual.

Later built on by: Sufism, Sunni–Shia Divide
Builds on: Second Temple Judaism, Jesus of Nazareth, Rabbinic Judaism
Reforms / breaks from: Nicaea & the Ecumenical Councils

### Sunni–Shia Divide (632–680)

Disagreement over who should lead the Muslim community after Muhammad produced the main division in Islam. Shia Muslims hold that leadership belonged to Ali and his descendants; Sunni Muslims accept the historical caliphs.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Politics & Empire, Islam, succession

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succession_to_Muhammad)

- After 632 most accepted Abu Bakr as caliph, while a party (shīʿa) supported Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law Ali.
- The killing of Ali’s son Husayn at Karbala in 680 is mourned by Shia Muslims each year on Ashura.
- The Safavid dynasty made Twelver Shiʿism the state religion of Iran from 1501.

Builds on: Muhammad & Early Islam
Later reformed or rejected by: Bábí & Baháʼí Faith
Later built on by: Modern Islamic Reform & Revival

### Chan & Zen Buddhism (c. 6th–13th century)

Chan Buddhism developed in China with an emphasis on meditation and direct insight into one’s nature. Transmitted to Japan as Zen, it shaped monastic life and arts across East Asia.

Topics: Mysticism, Ritual & Practice, China, Japan, meditation

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen)

- Chan tradition reveres Huineng (638–713) as Sixth Patriarch; the Platform Sutra attributed to him teaches sudden awakening.
- Song-dynasty masters compiled kōan collections such as the Blue Cliff Record (1125) for meditative training.
- Eisai brought Rinzai Zen to Japan after 1191, and Dōgen founded Sōtō Zen after returning from China in 1227.

Builds on: Mahāyāna Buddhism, Laozi & Daoism

### Shinto (c. 6th–8th century onward)

Shinto is the veneration of kami, sacred powers of nature, ancestors and place, at shrines across Japan. Its myths were written down in the early 8th century, and for centuries it intertwined with Buddhism.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Politics & Empire, Japan, kami

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto)

- Buddhism arrived from Korea in the mid-6th century, and the two traditions blended in shinbutsu-shūgō.
- The Kojiki (712) and Nihon Shoki (720) traced the imperial line to the sun goddess Amaterasu.
- Meiji-era policy (from 1868) separated Shinto from Buddhism and built State Shinto, which was disestablished in 1945.

Builds on: Mahāyāna Buddhism

### Shankara & Advaita Vedanta (c. 8th century)

Adi Shankara systematised Advaita (non-dual) Vedanta through commentaries on the Upanishads and related texts. Later tradition also credits him with organising Hindu monastic orders.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Institutions, India, Vedanta

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara)

- Shankara taught that brahman alone is ultimately real, and that the world of multiplicity is māyā.
- He wrote influential commentaries on the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita.
- Tradition credits him with founding monastic centres (mathas) such as Sringeri.

Builds on: The Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita & Classical Hinduism, Mahāyāna Buddhism, The Buddha
Later reformed or rejected by: Bhakti Movement
Later built on by: World’s Parliament of Religions

### Bhakti Movement (c. 6th–17th century)

Bhakti, loving devotion to a personal god, spread from Tamil poet-saints across India. Often composed in vernacular languages, its poetry frequently questioned caste and priestly ritual.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Reform & Schism, India, devotion

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_movement)

- Tamil poet-saints, the Vaishnava Alvars and Shaiva Nayanars, composed devotional hymns from about the 6th to 9th centuries.
- Ramanuja (trad. 1017–1137) grounded devotion philosophically in Vishishtadvaita, “qualified non-dualism”.
- The 15th-century weaver-poet Kabir criticised caste and ritual formalism among both Hindus and Muslims.
- Chaitanya (1486–1534) led ecstatic congregational chanting (kirtan) devoted to Krishna in Bengal.

Builds on: Bhagavad Gita & Classical Hinduism
Reforms / breaks from: Vedic Religion, Shankara & Advaita Vedanta
Later built on by: Guru Nanak & Sikhism, New Religious Movements

### Tibetan Buddhism (8th century onward)

Buddhism entered Tibet under royal patronage in the 7th–8th centuries, drawing on Indian tantric (Vajrayāna) traditions. Large monastic schools later became centres of both religious and political authority.

Topics: Mysticism, Institutions, Tibet, Vajrayāna

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhism)

- Tibetan tradition reveres Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) as the master who established tantric practice there.
- Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) founded the Gelug school, stressing monastic discipline and scholastic study.
- The Mongol ruler Altan Khan conferred the title Dalai Lama on the Gelug leader Sonam Gyatso in 1578.

Builds on: Mahāyāna Buddhism

### Sufism (8th century onward)

Sufism is the mystical dimension of Islam, seeking direct experience of God through love, remembrance and spiritual discipline. Sufi orders played a large role in spreading Islam across Africa and Asia.

Topics: Mysticism, Missions & Spread, Islam, tariqa

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism)

- Rabiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya of Basra (d. 801) is remembered for teaching love of God for God’s own sake.
- Al-Ghazali (1058–1111) reconciled Sufism with Sunni theology and law in The Revival of the Religious Sciences.
- Orders (tariqas) such as the Qadiriyya formed from the 12th century and carried Islam to Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Builds on: Muhammad & Early Islam, Christian Monasticism
Later built on by: Guru Nanak & Sikhism, Modern Islamic Reform & Revival

### East–West Schism (1054)

Long-growing differences between the Latin West and Greek East came to a head in 1054 with mutual excommunications in Constantinople. The rupture separated what became the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Institutions, Catholic, Orthodox

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East–West_Schism)

- In July 1054 papal legate Cardinal Humbert and Patriarch Michael Cerularius exchanged excommunications.
- Disputes included the Western addition of the filioque (“and the Son”) to the Nicene Creed and the extent of papal authority.
- Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I lifted the mutual excommunications in 1965.

Builds on: Nicaea & the Ecumenical Councils, Constantine & the Christian Empire
Later built on by: Protestant Reformation, Interfaith Dialogue

### Maimonides & Kabbalah (12th–13th century)

Medieval Jewish thought produced both rationalist philosophy, epitomised by Maimonides, and the mystical tradition of Kabbalah. Both remain central to Jewish learning.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Mysticism, Judaism, Sepharad

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides)

- Maimonides (1138–1204) compiled the Mishneh Torah (c. 1180), a systematic code of Jewish law.
- His Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190) sought to harmonise Jewish faith with Aristotelian philosophy.
- The Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah, appeared in late-13th-century Castile; many scholars attribute it to Moses de León.

Builds on: Rabbinic Judaism
Later built on by: Aquinas & Scholasticism, Haskalah & Modern Judaism

### Aquinas & Scholasticism (12th–13th century)

In the new universities of Europe, scholastic theologians used logic and recovered Aristotelian philosophy to systematise Christian doctrine. Thomas Aquinas’s synthesis became a cornerstone of Catholic theology.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Institutions, universities, Aristotle

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas)

- The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) defined transubstantiation and required annual confession and communion.
- Latin translations of Aristotle, with commentaries by Averroes (Ibn Rushd), reached Western scholars in the 12th–13th centuries.
- Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae (1265–1274) argued that faith and reason are compatible, offering “Five Ways” to God’s existence.

Builds on: Augustine of Hippo, Maimonides & Kabbalah, Christian Monasticism
Later reformed or rejected by: Protestant Reformation
Later built on by: Catholic Reformation

### Guru Nanak & Sikhism (1469–1708)

Sikhism began with Guru Nanak in the Punjab and developed under a line of ten Gurus. Sikhs believe in one formless God and emphasise devotion, honest work, service and equality.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Institutions, Punjab, Sikh Gurus

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism)

- Guru Nanak (1469–1539) taught devotion to one God (Ik Onkar) and rejected caste distinctions.
- The langar, a free communal kitchen where all eat together regardless of caste, became a hallmark of Sikh practice.
- Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth in 1604 and installed it at the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar.
- Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699 and declared the scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, the eternal Guru before his death in 1708.

Builds on: Bhakti Movement, Sufism
Reforms / breaks from: Vedic Religion

## Early Modern & Modern

### Protestant Reformation (1517–1555)

Martin Luther’s challenge to indulgences grew into a movement that rejected papal authority and stressed scripture and faith. The Reformation split Western Christianity into Catholic and multiple Protestant churches.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Scripture, Luther, Calvin

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation)

- Luther circulated his Ninety-five Theses against the sale of indulgences in Wittenberg in October 1517.
- His German New Testament (1522), spread by the printing press, made vernacular scripture widely available.
- John Calvin’s Institutes (1536) and church order in Geneva shaped the Reformed tradition.
- Henry VIII’s Act of Supremacy (1534) made the English monarch head of the Church of England.
- The Peace of Augsburg (1555) let German princes choose Lutheranism or Catholicism for their lands.

Later built on by: Wars of Religion & Toleration, Great Awakenings & Methodism
Builds on: Augustine of Hippo, Paul the Apostle, East–West Schism, Second Temple Judaism
Reforms / breaks from: Aquinas & Scholasticism
Later reformed or rejected by: Catholic Reformation, Wars of Religion & Toleration, Great Awakenings & Methodism, Latter Day Saint Movement

### Catholic Reformation (1545–1648)

The Catholic Church answered Protestantism with doctrinal definition, internal reform and new religious orders. Missionaries, especially Jesuits, carried Catholicism to the Americas, Africa and Asia.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Missions & Spread, Trent, Jesuits

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Reformation)

- The Council of Trent (1545–1563) reaffirmed Catholic teaching on scripture and tradition, the sacraments and justification.
- Ignatius of Loyola’s Society of Jesus, approved in 1540, became a major force in education and missions.
- Francis Xavier preached in India and Japan in the 1540s, and Matteo Ricci reached Beijing in 1601.

Later reformed or rejected by: Second Vatican Council
Builds on: Aquinas & Scholasticism, Christian Monasticism
Reforms / breaks from: Protestant Reformation

### Yoruba & African Diaspora Religions (16th century onward)

Yoruba religion of West Africa honours a supreme being and many orishas through offerings, possession, music and divination. Through the Atlantic slave trade it shaped new religions across the Americas.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Missions & Spread, West Africa, Americas

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_religion)

- Practitioners venerate Olodumare, the supreme being, and orishas such as Ogun, Shango and Yemoja.
- Ifá divination, with a vast oral corpus of verses, was proclaimed a UNESCO Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage in 2005.
- Enslaved Africans carried these traditions to the Americas, shaping Candomblé in Brazil and Santería (Lucumí) in Cuba.

Builds on: Mesoamerican Religion

### Wars of Religion & Toleration (1598–1689)

After a century of confessional wars, European states moved haltingly toward legal coexistence of churches. Philosophers began to argue that the state should not coerce belief.

Topics: Politics & Empire, Secularism, Europe, toleration

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia)

- Henry IV’s Edict of Nantes (1598) granted French Protestants limited toleration; it was revoked in 1685.
- The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended the Thirty Years’ War and recognised Calvinism alongside Lutheranism and Catholicism in the Empire.
- John Locke’s A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) argued that civil government should not compel religious belief.

Builds on: Protestant Reformation
Later built on by: Enlightenment & Church–State Separation
Reforms / breaks from: Protestant Reformation

### Great Awakenings & Methodism (1730s–1840s)

Waves of Protestant revival in Britain and North America emphasised personal conversion and emotional preaching. They gave rise to modern evangelicalism and spurred social reform movements.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Missions & Spread, evangelicalism, revival

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Great_Awakening)

- Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield led colonial American revivals in the 1730s–40s, stressing the “new birth”.
- John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience (1738) launched Methodism, with field preaching and small-group discipline.
- The Second Great Awakening (c. 1790–1840), with camp meetings like Cane Ridge (1801), spread Baptists and Methodists across the frontier.

Later built on by: Latter Day Saint Movement, Pentecostalism
Builds on: Protestant Reformation
Reforms / breaks from: Protestant Reformation

### Enlightenment & Church–State Separation (1730s–1905)

Enlightenment thinkers subjected religion to rational critique, and revolutions in America and France reshaped relations between church and state. Constitutional separation became a model for many modern states.

Topics: Secularism, Philosophy & Theology, deism, laïcité

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state)

- Deists such as Voltaire affirmed a creator but rejected revelation and miracles.
- The US First Amendment (1791) barred Congress from establishing a religion or prohibiting its free exercise.
- France’s 1905 law separating the churches and the state established laïcité.

Builds on: Wars of Religion & Toleration
Later built on by: Secularization & the “Nones”, Haskalah & Modern Judaism, Modern Islamic Reform & Revival, Second Vatican Council
Reforms / breaks from: Constantine & the Christian Empire

### Haskalah & Modern Judaism (1760s–1880s)

Emancipation and the Enlightenment prompted Jews in Central Europe to rethink tradition, producing Reform, modern Orthodox and Conservative movements. Earlier, Hasidism had renewed Eastern European piety.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Philosophy & Theology, Judaism, Europe

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism)

- Hasidism, traced to the Baal Shem Tov (d. 1760), spread joyful, mystical piety across Eastern Europe.
- Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786) led the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment, and translated the Torah into German.
- The Hamburg Temple (1818) introduced German sermons, organ music and a revised prayer book.

Builds on: Maimonides & Kabbalah, Enlightenment & Church–State Separation
Reforms / breaks from: Rabbinic Judaism

### Latter Day Saint Movement (1830–1896)

Joseph Smith founded the Latter Day Saint movement in upstate New York during the Second Great Awakening. Adherents believe he restored the original church of Christ through new revelation and scripture.

Topics: Scripture, Institutions, United States, Mormonism

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latter_Day_Saint_movement)

- Smith published the Book of Mormon in 1830; adherents believe he translated it from ancient golden plates.
- He organised the Church of Christ on 6 April 1830; the movement faced hostility in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois.
- After Smith was killed in 1844, Brigham Young led the largest group to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

Builds on: Great Awakenings & Methodism
Reforms / breaks from: Protestant Reformation

### Bábí & Baháʼí Faith (1844–1963)

The Baháʼí Faith emerged from the Bábí movement in 19th-century Iran. Baháʼís believe in the oneness of God, the unity of religions and the unity of humanity.

Topics: Philosophy & Theology, Institutions, Iran, Haifa

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baháʼí_Faith)

- In 1844 the Báb in Shiraz proclaimed a new revelation; he was executed in Tabriz in 1850.
- Baháʼís regard the founders of the major religions as successive messengers of one God.
- The Universal House of Justice, the faith’s elected governing body, was first elected in 1963 and sits in Haifa.

Reforms / breaks from: Sunni–Shia Divide
Later built on by: World’s Parliament of Religions

### World’s Parliament of Religions (1893)

Held alongside the Chicago World’s Fair, the 1893 Parliament was the first major formal gathering of representatives of Eastern and Western religions. It is often regarded as the birth of the modern interfaith movement.

Topics: Institutions, Missions & Spread, Chicago, interfaith

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_World%27s_Religions)

- The Parliament convened in Chicago in September 1893 with speakers from Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other traditions.
- Swami Vivekananda’s addresses introduced Vedanta to many Americans; he founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897.
- A centennial Parliament in 1993 issued the Declaration Toward a Global Ethic, drafted largely by Hans Küng.

Builds on: Shankara & Advaita Vedanta, Bábí & Baháʼí Faith
Later built on by: Second Vatican Council, New Religious Movements, Interfaith Dialogue

### Pentecostalism (1901 onward)

Pentecostalism emphasises direct experience of the Holy Spirit, including speaking in tongues and healing. Born in early-20th-century America, it became one of the fastest-growing forms of Christianity, especially in the Global South.

Topics: Ritual & Practice, Missions & Spread, Azusa Street, charismatic

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecostalism)

- Charles Parham taught in Topeka (1901) that speaking in tongues is the evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit.
- William J. Seymour, an African American preacher, led the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles from 1906, notable for interracial worship.
- Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity spread rapidly in Latin America, Africa and Asia, with adherents estimated in the hundreds of millions.

Builds on: Great Awakenings & Methodism
Later reformed or rejected by: Secularization & the “Nones”

### Modern Islamic Reform & Revival (late 19th c. – 1979)

Muslim thinkers and movements responded to colonialism and modernisation in diverse ways, from reconciling Islam with modern science to calls for Islamic social and political order.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Politics & Empire, Islam, modernity

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_revival)

- Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905) argued Islam was compatible with reason and modern science.
- The Turkish Republic abolished the Ottoman caliphate in 1924, reshaping debates on religious authority.
- Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928 as a movement of religious and social renewal.
- The 1979 Iranian Revolution established an Islamic Republic based on Ayatollah Khomeini’s doctrine of guardianship of the jurist.

Builds on: Sufism, Enlightenment & Church–State Separation, Sunni–Shia Divide
Later reformed or rejected by: Secularization & the “Nones”

### Second Vatican Council (1962–1965)

Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council to renew the Catholic Church’s engagement with the modern world. It reformed the liturgy and reshaped Catholic attitudes to other churches and religions.

Topics: Reform & Schism, Institutions, Catholic, aggiornamento

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council)

- John XXIII opened the council in October 1962, calling for aggiornamento, “bringing up to date”.
- Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963) permitted vernacular languages in the Mass.
- Nostra Aetate (1965) expressed respect for other religions and rejected blaming Jews collectively for Jesus’s death.
- Dignitatis Humanae (1965) affirmed religious freedom as a civil right.

Reforms / breaks from: Catholic Reformation
Later built on by: Interfaith Dialogue
Builds on: World’s Parliament of Religions, Enlightenment & Church–State Separation

### New Religious Movements (1950s–1970s)

The mid-20th century saw a wave of new religious movements in the West and Asia, many drawing on Asian traditions or novel revelations. Scholars use the neutral term “new religious movements” rather than the pejorative “cults”.

Topics: Missions & Spread, Institutions, counterculture, globalisation

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_religious_movement)

- A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York in 1966.
- The 1978 deaths of more than 900 Peoples Temple members at Jonestown, Guyana, intensified public scrutiny of new movements.
- Sociologists such as Eileen Barker advanced the neutral category “new religious movements” in academic study.

Builds on: Bhakti Movement, World’s Parliament of Religions

### Secularization & the “Nones” (1917–present)

Sociologists long predicted that modernisation would erode religion. Religious practice has declined sharply in some regions while remaining vigorous in others, and scholars now debate how secularization works.

Topics: Secularism, Philosophy & Theology, sociology, unaffiliated

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularization)

- Max Weber described the “disenchantment of the world” in his 1917 lecture Science as a Vocation.
- Peter Berger’s The Sacred Canopy (1967) predicted religious decline; by the late 1990s he wrote instead of “desecularization”.
- Church attendance fell steeply across much of Western Europe from the 1960s.
- Pew Research estimated that about 16% of the world’s population was religiously unaffiliated in 2010.

Builds on: Enlightenment & Church–State Separation
Reforms / breaks from: Pentecostalism, Modern Islamic Reform & Revival

### Interfaith Dialogue (1986–2019)

Late-20th and early-21st-century religious leaders increasingly met in formal dialogue, issuing joint statements on peace and shared values.

Topics: Institutions, Philosophy & Theology, dialogue, peace

Further reading: [Read more](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interfaith_dialogue)

- Pope John Paul II invited leaders of world religions to pray for peace at Assisi in 1986.
- In 2007, 138 Muslim scholars issued “A Common Word Between Us and You”, an open letter to Christian leaders.
- Pope Francis and Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of al-Azhar signed the Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

Builds on: Second Vatican Council, World’s Parliament of Religions, East–West Schism