Customer Reviews

Jesus and Lao Tzu: The Parallel Sayings

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I strongly recommend this book to those who are interested in
or involved with Christian, Jewish, and/or Tao outlooks.

The author and editor take the position that Jesus and Lao Tzu
represented 2 separate philosophical disciplines that branched
from the same originating river (GOD). This is,to my way of
thinking, quite extraordinary,considering the vast differences
of East and West histories and cultures, and communication.

It's too bad that this book is not in more people's hands

(and lives!). You get 3 basic things from the book:

1) An excellent overview of Jesus' and Lao Tzu's teachings,
and how they relected on each others', as presented
in the preface.

2) A breakdown of all the teachings into 9 catagories;
1 catagory per chapter. Each chapter comprises many paired
quotes from each teacher; you be the judge to just how similar
they are to each other.

3) A Commentary section following the 9 chapters/topics
that is well worth having all by itself. Tremendous insight,
backed up by the referred to precious chapters.

If all the above isn't enough, and it is, the binding
ends with a fine list of recommended books for furthur
study.

Again, if you are a serious Jew, Christian or Taoist
(or seeker of deeper meaning in life) I think you should
have this as one of your key reference books.

P.S. Jesus' sayings in the book are just Jesus' sayings
alone, not mixed up with what disciples and clergy added
to the Gospel from their vantage points.

Of corse all Taoists in America and Europe are influanced or affected by Christianity... it is woven into the fabric of our society. This is why is is good for a Taoist to read this book. It will bring him/her some "comfort" with regard to Christianity, and help them to understand the nature of Jesus, thus, understand more about their Christian neighbor.

"Liberal" Christians will probably enjoy this book as well... and may even begin to regard Lao Tzu as a bit of a prophet :)
I would recomend it as a gift from Taoist to Chrisian or Christian to Taoist.... NOT as a "conversion" tool, but as a tool for mutual understanding.

Although I enjoyed seeing the parallels... I thought that some of the sayings did not really match very well as far as their actual meanings, also I was suprised by some of the verses that were *not* included... there are some better verses that show the simular intents of Lau Tzu and Jesus than some of the ones chosen by the Author.
One might do better to read the Tao Te Ching and the "words in red" of the new testiment for his/herself! However, if you can't be bothered to do that, this book is a nice quick referance and a nice teaching tool.

I wish there was a Lao Tzu and Muhammad book.. I'd like to see what would be made of that! :)

This book is loaded with thought-provoking parables of life that could interest people of any religion. These life parables are universal and quite entertaining. Definitely not a heavy read --easy to pick up and set down anytime. One page has a sentence from Jesus and the opposite page has Lao Tzu's version. Seems good for teaching.

I bought this book thinking the parallels would be helpful, and they might have been if I could have seen any parallel between the 2 texts. I just didn't "get it." The connection wasn't there for me.
I'm a pastor and we were doing a book study on Lao Tzu's writings. As pastor I felt compelled to find similarities between the 2 teachers.
I found a few but not with the help of this book.
Everyone enjoyed the book discussion anyway.

This book is a good attempt at demonstrating parallels between the words of Christ and Lao Tzu - but is falls short. For one thing, other biblical writer's words are used as parallels, such as Paul, and I believe one of the psalmists, so the title is misleading. Some of the parallels are impressive, while others are tenuous, stretching it quite a bit. Some of the chapter introductions are pretty well-written, though. It's a light read, not the least bit scholarly, and probably won't give you any more parallels than you could have quickly found yourself from reading the Tao, assuming you are familiar with the New Testament.

Not so sure about the comparisons made (Jesus - Lao Ze) on opposing pages. Interesting, though.