Douglas Jacoby Podcast

SOTM 35-Gold

Episode Summary

Douglas continues his series on the Sermon On The Mount, looking today at Gold. This Podcast was originally published on Feb 4, 2020.

Episode Notes

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

Comment

• This sentence sums up much of what Jesus has been teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, i.e. the ethical parts of Matt 5-6.
• God is good to us, a loving Father. We too should reflect his divine love.
• This verse is called the Golden Rule. Whereas the Golden rule says Do unto others…, the Silver rule only says Don't do unto others…
• Early Christians frequently paraphrase the Golden Rule both in the positive form and the negative form (e.g. Romans 13:10; Didache 1.2; Origen, Commentary on Romans 2.9.1.)
• While the Golden Rule implies the Silver Rule, the Silver Rule does not imply the Golden Rule.
• The Golden Rule embraces all of Jesus’ teachings about loving our neighbor, and Jesus gave both positive commands and negative commands. For example, we are not to be angry or to insult others. We are not to lust or desire someone else’s spouse. Nobody likes being physically, emotionally or verbally abused. No one wants to be slandered, cheated, assaulted, or robbed.
• To hurt others is hardly praiseworthy—it’s the minimum standard of human decency!
• The Silver Rule is much easier to follow than the Golden Rule.
• The Silver Rule is already written in the hearts of all humans (Rom 2:15).
• Chrysostom: “Jesus signifies that morality is concise, easy, and readily known to all men.” Homilies on Matthew 23.6.

Examples of the Silver & Golden Rules in the world’s philosophies and religions

Examples of the Silver & Golden Rules in the world’s philosophies and religions:

• Jainism: “A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated.” — Sutrakritanga, 1.11.33 [Golden Rule]
• Seneca the Younger: "Treat your inferior as you would wish your superior to treat you.” [form of the Golden Rule]
• Islam: “A bedouin came to the prophet, grabbed the stirrup of his camel and said: O the messenger of God! Teach me something to go to heaven with it. The Prophet said: ‘As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don't do to them. Now let the stirrup go!’" — Kitab al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 146. [Golden Rule and Silver Rules]. Although such sayings may be genuine, these hadith are not found in the Qur’an, which does not feature the Golden Rule.
• Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.”— Udanavarga 5:18 [Silver Rule]
• Confucius: “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” — Analects XV.24 [Silver Rule]
• Zoroastrianism: “Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.” — Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29 [Silver Rule]
• Old Testament Apocrypha: “Do to no one what you yourself dislike.” — Tobit 4:15 [Silver Rule]
• Hillel: “What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; go and learn it.” — Shabbat 31a (Babylonian Talmud) [Silver Rule]
• Sextus: "What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either. " — Sextus the Pythagorean. [Weak form of the Silver Rule]
• Mahabharata: One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Other behavior is due to selfish desires. — Mahābhārata, Shānti-Parva 167:9 [Silver Rule]
• The medical principle: “Do no harm.” [Silver Rule]
• Christianity: So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).

A Proactive Rule:

“Jesus’ Golden Rule is unique in that it requires positive action. The Golden Rule not only requires us to refrain from doing to others what we would not have done to us, but also to proactively do to others what we would want done to us. It is not enough that we do not harm others. We also must actively be doing good things to our neighbor. Jesus not only calls on us to turn the other cheek, but also to be peacemakers and to love our enemies. We must pray for those who persecute us, give to the poor, and forgive others. All of these are the outworking of love.”—David Bercot

As one commentator has pointed out, "The Golden Rule [is] just eleven words; by contrast, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the U.S. government's attempt to oblige ethical character into the financial statements of American corporations, has eleven titles (major sections). It is one of the most complicated pieces of legislation in the history of the American republic and, in the economies of scale, places a disproportionate burden on small companies which were not the cause of the adoption." (Richard David Ramsey, "Business Ethics in the Sermon on the Mount," Leaven: A Journal of Christian Ministry (Pepperdine University), vol.16, no.4, Fourth Quarter 2009. How convoluted are human attempts to exact honesty and fairness! How simple is the command Jesus gave us!

In short, the Golden Rule is more easily repeated than followed.

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