Civilization by Bernard Lewis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Civilization by Bernard Lewis - Essay Example Meanwhile, religion plays a crucial role in the definition of civilization. Two of the most popular religions defining civilizations are Christianity and Islam, which interestingly display some similarities while manifesting some differences from each other. In most of the languages in the world, we have two words: "Christianity" and "Christendom." The word "Christianity" would refer to the system of religion itself while "Christendom" would refer to a civilization that basically incorporates both non-Christian and anti-Christian on it. And we also have "Islam" and "Islamdom." Those civilizations are mainly bounded by religious practices that are known all throughout the world. On the other hand, those civilizations defined by region and ethnicity may include perhaps Buddhism and Communism. Buddhism, although, once known as religion, cannot be defined by religion since it was not actually successful in the proliferation in the world unlike Islam and Christianity.