Part I Israe’sl axial age was drawing to a close for many reasons in the 5th century. One reason was Jerusalem had become a small an undistinguished city in the corner of the Persian Empire. An axial age commonly occurs in a region that is usually a leader in change and growth. (296.) Second Israel and Judah had suffered greatly from tyranny of the Imperial powers. These powers brought along with them a hint of broader horizons and a bigger and more powerful world. (291.) In addition the exiled survivors were returning and were no longer in the vanguard of current endeavors. They lived discreetly and their struggle for survival had become more important than the vision for new religious beliefs. The belief that Yahweh would return to open the gates for all outsiders and foreigners to offer sacrifices to him was no longer. (292.) Ezra was excluding his own people by telling them they could not associate with the am ha-aretz and take foreign wives. They were the foreigners who settled in Cannan after the Babylonian war, and also the Israelites and Judahites who had not been deported to Babylon. (293.) Ezra held a meeting with all the members of the Golah and told them anybody who refused to attend would be cast out of the community and their property would be confiscated. Ezra did this because he wanted the Torah to be known as the law of the land.

Part II In Athens during the 5th century people were becoming uncertain of their future especially the older generation. Pericles had led them to their pinnacle of power. Athens was flourishing both in the arts and architecturally. Athens and Sparta had agreed upon a thirty year truce, but the younger generation did not appreciate these accomplishments. The younger generation was growing impatient with their aging leader, Pericles. (295.) Also, in China a new of thinking was emerging. The way of enlightenment or rang was no longer. They were heading in to a period known as the warring states.(315.) In China as in Greece walls were being built to defend themselves from enemies. Both China and Greece were fighting among themselves to gain power in their homelands. In Greece cities were defecting from the Delian league and in China families were rebelling against the prince of Jin. Both societies were either going back to the ways of their ancestors, or trying to forge ahead with new ways of thinking. In Greece they were becoming tired of the puzzling beliefs of philosophers such as Zeno the disciple of Parmenides, and Empedocles. These philosophers were celebrity’s not lonely thinkers as it once was. Philosophy was becoming too remote for ordinary people. (297.) A new breed of intellectuals called sophist were trying to make philosophy more understanding for the common citizen. Gorgias a sophist from Sicily and Hippias of Elis are just a few examples. This was all made possible in Greece due to the new way of Democracy were any man could make his mark in the assembly. Consequently, in China this time of war was totally transforming every aspect of their culture as they knew it. (298.) In the past the Junzi fought their battles now the peasants and everyone was called upon to defend their homeland. The way of the Bin ceremony was returning as well as big lavish funerals and sacrifice. (318.) Moderation and restraint were pushed aside. The brutal ways of their ancestors were returning due to war. Towards the end of the 5th century one of the xie turned his back on this militant way of thinking and preached a message of non-violence. He was called Mozi but his name was Master Mo. Little is known of him because he became what he stood for and disappeared behind these ideas. He believed it was possible to persuade human beings to love instead of hate one another. They were an egalitarian group of men only numbering 180. (319.) Mohists were a brotherhood of men who fought to stop wars not to start it. They defended smaller and more vulnerable cities against tyranny from warring neighbors. Both the sophists of Greece and the Xian of China were brought into existence by war and the need for change in their prospective countries. They both represented what they thought were right and want needed to be done at the time. Part III The good as Socrates believed was reaching towards a transcendent notion of absolute virtue that could never be adequately conceived or expressed much like Confucius’s ren. (248.) The Buddha’s idea of Nibbana or Nirvana meant a blowing out or the extinction of the self, which brings enlightenment and liberation from pain and suffering. (516.) They are similar in the way of thinking because in order to become an exceptional human being one must let go of all personal beliefs. Once one lets go of ones sense of self and who they think they are then they can become a blank canvas. Once this is achieved then you can begin to truly understand the proper meaning of life and death. Ones sense of self is only how we perceive it.