★1My View on Ancient Mesopotamian Civilization★2Greek Influence On Western Culture .论文★3My View on Comparison between Socrates and Confucius Referring to Socrates, some people may think that Socrates is a Western Confucius. They have much in common. Both of them are the father of the world whom influenced many people around home and abroad from ancient to now.;both make great contribution on education,philosophy and politics; Both of them had great influence on their followers and so on.However, as a result of differences in thought, background and other aspects, there were also some differences between them. One key point is that Socrates emphisized individualism while confucius the collectivism.(这句是瞎掰的，不知道对不对)Socrates and Confucius had many similarities as well as difference, yet their contribution to human being in education, philosophy and other aspects are indelible.★4 Greek civilizationGreek civilization as we think of it is primarily an idealized view of one group of Greeks based in and around the city statesAthens which has come to symbolize the development of rationality, ethics and logic.It was a period of political, philosophical, artistic, and scientific achievements that formed a legacy with unparalleled influence on Western civilization.★17 How about the development of democracy in the West?1Demoncracy is usually thought to have begun with Greeks,. 2To the Greeks, membership in the polis or the city state was the epitome of freedom.3The Roman Republic, in the centuries preceding the coming of Christ, succeeded in the establishing a form of government with more continuity and more positive demoncratic elements than that of Greek city states.4Then in the fourth century the Empire turned into something new with the legalization of Christianity. What resulted was a strange hybird in which empiror and pope struggled over the centuries for the previlege of holding political power. During this period ,certain development did take place which led in the direction of mordern democracy.5In a theocratic(神权)government, king and priest were both present, and the fact provided a beginning measure of separationof powers which was to become important in the growth of demoncratic governments.6In England demoncracy was deeply influnced by the old testament. In France, demoncracy grew in a situation which emphasized human autonomy(自制) and human reason. In the United States we can see a mixture of the two influnces.7So Christianity has played a significant role in the development of Western demoncracy.★5Roman Empire (教材P195)The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC).Arising from a small group of pastoralists in the northern Italy the romans conquered and absorbed traits and characteristics from many nations of themseves. In spreading out and controlling lands far from their own they imposed a coda of laws which has a profound influnce on western world.Law, lauguage,writing, engineering and military all descend in in unbroken passage from the Latin Ameis. French,Spanish, German and English all bear the Roman imprimateur.?★13Why was the influence of Roman laws so far-reaching?★6On the Influence of Greco-Roman Heritage of the Western Civilization. 这个不考★8The Middle Agesis a period of European history from the 5th century through the 15th century, traditionally dated from the fall of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance, or a period from the end of classical antiquity (or the deposition of the last W Roman emperor in 476 ad) to the Italian Renaissance (or the fall of Constantinople in 1453). The period followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, ended with the Renaissance and preceded the Early Modern Era.★9HumanismA cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that emphasized secular concerns as a result of the rediscovery and study of the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome.10My Understanding of the European Renaissance(教材P196) (trade with Asia,growth of trading cities,humanism,printing press)The Renaissance was built on trade with Asia and the growth of independent trading cities.Renaissance thinkers focused on the ideas of humanisim,and the printing press helped spread their ideas across Europe★12What are the main sources of Western Culture?On the basis of ancient civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Greek and Roman Culture, and Christianitan They are Greco-Roman Genesis（起源，发生），Judeo-Christan maturation, Humanism and Nationalism.★7My View on the Influence of Christianity on the Western Culture (上交)★14General Introduction of Christianity1Since its introduction into Europe around 1600 years ago Christanity has been the predominant religion shaping western culture and civilization.2In terms of religious development Chrictanity is usually seen as an offshoot支流，分支of Judaism (the religion of the Jews.). 3As Judaism,the precursor先导of it,Christanity are monothesistic. Christanity recongnize Jesus as the son of God. Arising during the latter Roman Empire Christanity was originally persecuted until made the official state religious by the emperor Constantine following his conversion in 312AD.★15Who are ancient Hebrews?1Some 3800 years the ancestors of Jews—the Hebrew--- wandered through the deserts of the middle East. They weremigratory pastoralists游牧者that was how they came to be called Hebrews which means wanderers.2The Hebrew were among the many people who occupied the Fertile Crest,(which lies at the conflunce of Tigris and Eurphrate in the southern Iraq and extends into Tran)3Believing in God, they recorded events and laws in the Torah律法；圣经旧约之首五卷,their most sacred text,acording which they had lived near Ur in the Mesopotamia and immigrated about 2000BC into a religion known as Cannan.4In time ,Hebrew beliefs evolved into the religion we known today as Judaism.Acrording to the Torah,their Hebrews had lived near★16What are the major Christian beliefs?1Christians believe in one God whom they call father2Christians recognize Jesus as the son of God3Humans are created at a distance from God and are responsible for there own lives.4God revealed himself in Trinity---father son and holy spirit5Justification by faith6Life after death7The Saints, once a generic term for all Christians used by and of themselves is mostly used in mordern times to refor to aperson sanctified使圣洁by a particular Church as an embodiment化身具体化of Christian virtue and principle.西方文明精髓: 哲学，法律，民主，基督教。