Karl Jaspers, in his Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Geschichte (The Origin and Goal of History), identified a number of key Axial Age thinkers as having had a profound influence on future philosophy and religion, and identified characteristics common to each area from which those thinkers emerged. Jaspers saw in these developments in religion and philosophy a striking parallel without any obvious direct transmission of ideas from one region to the other, having found no recorded proof of any extensive inter-communication between Ancient Greece, the Middle East, India and China. Jaspers held up this age as unique, and one which to compare the rest of the history of human thought to. Jaspers' approach to the culture of the middle of the first millennium BCE has been adopted by other scholars and academics, and has become a point of discussion in the history of religion. лучшая эротика
In its later part, the "Axial Age" culminates in the development of monism and monotheism, notably of Platonic realism in Hellenistic philosophy, the notion of atman in Vedanta and the notion of Tao in Taoism.
Middle Ages
The present-day world religions establish their distribution throughout Eurasia during the medieval period: Christianization of the West, Buddhist mission to East Asia, decline of Buddhism and rise of Hinduism in India, and spread of Islam throughout the Near East and much of Central Asia. In the High Middle Ages, Islam is in conflict with Christianity during the Crusades and with Hinduism in the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent.
Many medieval religions movements emphasize mysticism, such as the Cathars and related movements in the West, the Bhakti movement in India and Sufism in Islam. Monotheism reaches definite forms in Christian Christology and in Islamic Tawhid. Hindu monotheist notions of Brahman likewise reach their classical form with the teachings of Adi Shankara.
Modern period
European colonisation results in the spread of Christianity to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, Australia and the Philippines. The 18th century sees beginning secularisation in Europe, rising to notability in the wake of the French revolution. In the 20th century, the regimes of Communist Eastern Europe and China are explicitly anti-religious. A bewildering variety of new religious movements originates in the 20th century, many proposing syncretism of elements of established religions. Adherence to such new movements is limited, however, remaining below 2% worldwide in the 2000s. Adherents of the classical world religions account for more than 75% of world population, while adherence to indigenous tribal religions has fallen to 4%. As of 2005, an estimated 14% of world population identifies as nonreligious.
