Tao te Ching and the Bible - Similar Concepts

Just some interesting concepts from the Tao te Ching and the Bible placed next to each other. (Bible first followed by Tao te Ching, with the reference following each)

Do good to them which hate you. (Luke 6:27)
Requite hatred with virtue (Chap. 63)

Resist not Evil (Matt. 5:39)
It is because [the sage] does not contend that no one in the world can contend against him (22)

They that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matt. 26:52)
The violent man shall die a violent death (42)

Except ye ... become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt 18:3)
In controlling your vital force to achieve gentleness, Can you become like the newborn child?(10)

Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29)
Who bears himself the sins of the world Is the king of the world (78)

If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all (Mark 9:35)
The Sage puts himself last, And finds himself in the foremost place (7)

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (Matt. 16:25)
He who aims at life achieves death (50)

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth ... where thieves break through and steal (Matt. 6:19)
When gold and jade fill your hall, You will not be able to keep them safe (9)

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Matt. 6:26)
One's own self or material goods, which has more worth? (44)

Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. (Matt. 23:12)
He who is to be laid low Must first be exalted to power (36)

Parable of the lost sheep (Matt. 18:12)
Did [the Ancients] not say, "to search for the guilty ones and pardon them?" (62)

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin (Matt. 6:28)
[Tao] clothes and feeds the myriad things (34)

There are a great many similarities between religions.

Is that the best you could come up with????...........lol

yeah.

😂

😐

I figure there are a few possibilities

1) Religions steal from earlier religions. So at some point all religions derived from the same religion.

2) God exists and has inspired people in areas where the Bible, or whichever is believed, is not available to begin religion. The conflicts come from differing interpretation of non-conflicting statements, and/or clergy of any given faith messing with the statements to further their personal ends.

3)Religion is somehow an innate construct, or derived from some thing that is part of the general human experience and so all religions have similarities due to this.

more possibilities exist, but I don't want to type that much atm

Originally posted by Regret
Just some interesting concepts from the Tao te Ching and the Bible placed next to each other. (Bible first followed by Tao te Ching, with the reference following each)

Do good to them which hate you. (Luke 6:27)
Requite hatred with virtue (Chap. 63)

Resist not Evil (Matt. 5:39)
It is because [the sage] does not contend that no one in the world can contend against him (22)

They that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matt. 26:52)
The violent man shall die a violent death (42)

Except ye ... become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt 18:3)
In controlling your vital force to achieve gentleness, Can you become like the newborn child?(10)

Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29)
Who bears himself the sins of the world Is the king of the world (78)

If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all (Mark 9:35)
The Sage puts himself last, And finds himself in the foremost place (7)

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (Matt. 16:25)
He who aims at life achieves death (50)

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth ... where thieves break through and steal (Matt. 6:19)
When gold and jade fill your hall, You will not be able to keep them safe (9)

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Matt. 6:26)
One's own self or material goods, which has more worth? (44)

Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. (Matt. 23:12)
He who is to be laid low Must first be exalted to power (36)

Parable of the lost sheep (Matt. 18:12)
Did [the Ancients] not say, "to search for the guilty ones and pardon them?" (62)

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin (Matt. 6:28)
[Tao] clothes and feeds the myriad things (34)

This reminds me of the Book Of Mormon. It's all quotes or similarities from those who already have read some or all of the Bible. Funny how something that no one believes gets used so often. 😛

Originally posted by Justbyfaith
This reminds me of the Book Of Mormon. It's all quotes or similarities from those who already have read some or all of the Bible. Funny how something that no one believes gets used so often. 😛

Given that the Tao te Ching is at least 500-600 years older than the verses I referenced it would seem "funny how something that no one believes gets used so often."

Originally posted by Justbyfaith
This reminds me of the Book Of Mormon. It's all quotes or similarities from those who already have read some or all of the Bible. Funny how something that no one believes gets used so often. 😛

It's the other way around. Teachings from the bible where taken from older texts. There are some of the same kind of this in the Lotus sutra and it is 500 years older.

Originally posted by Justbyfaith
This reminds me of the Book Of Mormon. It's all quotes or similarities from those who already have read some or all of the Bible. Funny how something that no one believes gets used so often. 😛

Originally posted by Alliance
Its not suprising at all...It just goest to show the vagery, interchangableness, and unoriginality of religion.

Does anyone believe in Christ in this Religion thread or am I enjoying the fellowship of the Spirit here alone?

It's totally fine with me. I can do all things through Christ who strenthens me. 🙂

Originally posted by Justbyfaith
Does anyone believe in Christ in this Religion thread or am I enjoying the fellowship of the Spirit here alone?

It's totally fine with me. I can do all things through Christ who strenthens me. 🙂

I believe in Christ. I also find it immature to claim things that are not true. My interpretation of the similarities is that there were people that God inspired in other areas as well. If this isn't the case, then Christ just copied things others had said.

Originally posted by Regret
I believe in Christ. I also find it immature to claim things that are not true. My interpretation of the similarities is that there were people that God inspired in other areas as well. If this isn't the case, then Christ just copied things others had said.

What do you think about the dangers of those who claim to have new revelations? How can we verify the validity of them Regret?

Originally posted by Justbyfaith
Does anyone believe in Christ in this Religion thread or am I enjoying the fellowship of the Spirit here alone?

It's totally fine with me. I can do all things through Christ who strenthens me. 🙂

Originally posted by Justbyfaith
What do you think about the dangers of those who claim to have new revelations? How can we verify the validity of them Regret?

Could anyone ever verify the validity of anyone claiming revelation? The majority of prophets during Jeremiah's his time were killed for this belief. There are few prophets that have not been questioned. Christ was questioned when he claimed it.

Amos 3:7

7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

I have never seen a verse of the Bible that claims God stopped revelation to prophets. That is an interpretation of most Christians with little evidence to support it.

Perhaps prophets are more to do with hindsight than wth present analysis?

Originally posted by Alliance
Perhaps prophets are more to do with hindsight than wth present analysis?

Not sure where your coming from with this

I'm saying how a religion determines its porphets is most often done in hindsight, years after thier death.

THen you can: boost the mystecism surrounding them, and hope that people dont remember that they were crazy/justy like everyone else.

Originally posted by Alliance
I'm saying how a religion determines its porphets is most often done in hindsight, years after thier death.

THen you can: boost the mystecism surrounding them, and hope that people dont remember that they were crazy/justy like everyone else.

Perhaps. Just is attacking the Mormon belief that God actually speaks to a prophet at the present time. Mainstream Christianity does not believe that such a thing is possible. My response is defending what I believe following that post. He is going off topic to attack my faith because I defended my initial post to the thread.