1982/11/01 by Shmuel N. Eisenstadt · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Indian and Buddhist Studies #Eurasian Exchange Networks #Karl Barth and Christian Theology #Transcendental number #Vision #Zoroastrianism #Christianity #Realm #Islam #Conceptualization #Buddhism #Philosophy #Ancient history #Religious studies #History #Political science #Law #Theology #Epistemology
paper · doi:10.1017/s0003975600003908
openalex publication_date 1982/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
In the first millennium before the Christian era a revolution took place in the realm of ideas and their institutional base which had irreversible effects on several major civilizations and on human history in general. The revolution or series of revolutions, which are related to Karl Jaspers' ‘Axial Age’, have to do with the emergence, conceptualization and institutionalization of a basic tension between the transcendental and mundane orders. This revolutionary process took place in several major civilizations including Ancient Israel, Ancient Greece, early Christianity, Zoroastrian Iran, early Imperial China and in the Hindu and Buddhist civilizations. Although beyond the axial age proper, it also took place in Islam.