Practice_Dbq

Religious Attitudes and Traditions from 600 B.C.E. to 600 C.E. – DBQ There is 1 main similarity and 1 main difference in the documents given. There’s the similarity of the idea of a better future and the difference of the way to achieve this better future. One similarity most of the documents exemplify is the idea that a better future can be reached. Documents 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are part of this group. Document 1is in this group because it refers to the way into Heaven. In document 2, Plato ponders the probability of what happens after death. One of his ideas is that death is the journey to another place. Plato arrives at this idea because his teacher, Socrates, is to be executed for treason, so being a philosopher he considers what happens after death and comes up with two possibilities: you’re conscious of nothing and remain in an eternal slumber or you reach an afterlife. Document 4 refers to a special covenant with Noah and God where God promises a better life for Noah, his descendants, and every living creature. Document 6 indicates of an afterlife by mentioning that people who are righteous through faith will live. Document 7 shows that the Buddha has already achieved a better future as indicated by the halo that signifies divine recognition and his hand gesture that signifies he has reached Enlightenment. Document 8 mentions that our bodies will end but our Self is indestructible implying that even though we will die we can still live on in another way. A difference observed in most of the documents is the way to achieve a better future. Most of the documents have separate ways of reaching the better future. Document 1 mentions that to withdraw into obscurity is the way to Heaven. Laozi states this because it is the basis for Daoism, the religion he created. Daoism’s main philosophy is basically to stay away from the political world and be in harmony with nature. Document 2 says all that’s needed is death for an afterlife to be obtained. Document 3 indicates that you must follow the Noble Eight Fold Path. Document 5 states that you must first improve yourself to reach a better future, which are the main philosophical teachings of Confucianism, by mentioning that you cannot question the dead until you know of the living and that you cannot serve spirits until you serve men correctly. Saint Paul from document 6 says you need righteousness through faith to achieve a better future. In document 7, Buddha who once was a normal person that attained Enlightenment through meditation that can be proven by the halo and hand gesture that symbolizes he has “awakened.” An excerpt from the Bhagavad-Gita, document 8, indicates that even if the body dies, another form still survives. This implies that death of the body can allow you to reach a better future. Document 9 shows Vishnu being worshiped implying that worship is necessary for retribution. Another document that might be useful would be one speaking of Legalism so that we can compare more religions in the time period than the 4 already mentioned in the other documents.