John Nelson October 20, 2000 Religious Studies 10 Prof. Carr Confucianism as a Religion How does one define religion? What characteristics does a view need to have in order to be considered a religion? Questions similar to these have been asked many times, and no concrete answer has been universally accepted. Some characteristics have been found common in most world religions: an afterlife, a notion of sacred, rules or guides for behavior (i.e. how to lead a "…showed first 75 words of 1635 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1635 total…Confucianism in the religious canon. Confucianism has provided many problems for individuals attempting to find concrete answers in religion. What is hard to see is that religion is somewhat of a pluralism, different answers for different people in different situations. Confucianism provided a basis for behavior and thought that fit that particular time and place, and this shows in the length of time that Confucianism was one of the prominent religions in China. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**