Belief Systems, 1450–1750
Introduced| English |
|---|
| The Protestant Reformation/ðə ˈprɒtɪstənt rɪfɔːˈmeɪʃn/ |
| Sunni |
| Shi'a |
| Sikhism/ˈsiːkɪzəm/ |
| syncretic/sɪnˈkretɪk/ |
A break that grew the whole
- The Protestant Reformation 新教改革 marked a break with existing Christian traditions, and both the Protestant and Catholic reformations contributed to the growth of Christianity.
- The CED's sentence contains a paradox worth noticing: a split grew the religion.
- Reform on both sides produced new institutions, new schools and new missionary effort.
The Reformation reduced the overall reach of Christianity.
The CED says both the Protestant and Catholic reformations contributed to the growth of Christianity.
A political rivalry deepened a religious split
- Political rivalries between the Ottoman and Safavid empires intensified the split within Islam between Sunni 逊尼派 and Shi'a 什叶派.
- Note the direction of causation: politics intensified a religious division that already existed.
- It is the clearest case in the unit of 3.1's political and religious disputes running together.
The Ottoman–Safavid rivalry's effect on the Sunni–Shi'a split was to...
The division long predates both empires; the CED's verb is intensified.
A new religion from an interaction
- Sikhism 锡克教 developed in South Asia in a context of interactions between Hinduism and Islam.
- The CED's phrase is in a context of interactions — not "a mixture of".
- It is a syncretic 融合的 development: something new emerging where two traditions met, not a blend of both.
Which mechanism is at work?
Sort each case by how the change happened.
Sikhism developed in a context of ____ between Hinduism and Islam.
The CED's phrase is in a context of interactions, not "a mixture of".
The Ottoman–Safavid rivalry did not create the Sunni–Shi'a split; it intensified it. The CED's verb is intensified, and the division long predates both empires. Getting the direction of causation right is what separates a correct answer from a plausible one.
Select all the changes the CED names in this subtopic.
The CED never describes a religion disappearing in this period.
Continuity and change, together
- The objective asks for continuity and change within the various belief systems.
- Change: a new branch of Christianity, an intensified Sunni–Shi'a split, a new religion in South Asia.
- Continuity: all three happen inside traditions that continue — the CED never describes a religion disappearing.
Match each case to its mechanism.
Name the mechanism, not just the case.
Three cases, three mechanisms
- Reformation: internal reform producing a break, and growth on both sides of it.
- Sunni–Shi'a: an external political rivalry deepening an internal division.
- Sikhism: contact between two traditions producing a third. Name the mechanism, not just the case.
Two empires with a contested frontier each adopt the other's rival branch of Islam as a state creed. The theological difference is old; what is new is that crossing the border now means changing which authority you are supposed to obey. Politics did not invent the split — it made it a matter of state.
The Protestant Reformation marked a break, and both reformations grew Christianity. Ottoman–Safavid political rivalry intensified the existing Sunni–Shi'a split. Sikhism developed in a context of interactions between Hinduism and Islam. Three cases, three different mechanisms — name the mechanism.