Conclusions
Conclusions
A Second Axial Age
This concluding chapter reviews how in the twelfth century midpoint, major religious traditions throughout Eurasia and North Africa experienced a great spiritual transformation. The rise of commercial wealth and trade and the interactions between different faiths sparked this spiritual revival. This could be called a Second Axial Age: a world historical transformation marked by profound changes and encounters both within and between matured religious traditions and cultures. A rise of mystical thinkers and esoteric knowers of universal spiritual truths came to change the nature of religious traditions throughout Eurasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Mediterranean. But perhaps the most profound changes occurred in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism and the twelfth-century mystical awakening of Sufism, Kabbalah, and the Minor Friars.
Keywords: Second Axial Age, religious traditions, spiritual transformation, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Sufism, Kabbalah, Minor Friars
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