The Christian Commandment of Love Is a “New” Commandment: Chapter 1 - Comparison With Pittacus, Solon and Thales

Mosaic of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece

...Chapter One: A)

Chapter One: B) Comparing the Christian Commandment of "Love" With Pittacus, Solon and Thales

a) Pittacus of Mytilene died in 570 BC. This "sage" from among the famous "seven" is credited with many edifying sayings, instructive for any time. Among these are, for example, are the following: "forgiveness is better than revenge", "do not slander not only a friend, but also an enemy", "do not do what you condemn in others", "love your neighbor, even if he slightly oppresses you", "forgiveness is better than repentance", "even the thought of evil will not be hidden from the gods", "know thyself" and many others.[28][29] Honor to this pagan thinker, who rises against revenge, against slander, against even evil thoughts. This is a profound sermon! Honor to him, who preaches forgiveness, love for one’s neighbor (even if one does not reciprocate love in return), self-knowledge, and an equal standard for evaluating one’s own and others' actions.

All of this is remarkable, provided that the aforementioned sayings truly belong to Pittacus,[30] and not to a later period, as some suppose — namely, not to any other individuals (for instance, the saying 'know thyself' is also attributed to Chilon, 560–556 B.C.).[31] However, what is interesting for us is the very content of the sayings, which we will now turn to.

The Christian Commandment of Love Is a “New” Commandment: Chapter 1 - Comparison With Confucianism

Introductory Remarks

Chapter One: A) Comparing the Christian Commandment of "Love" With Confucianism

So, what do we find in Confucius (551–479 BC)? A great deal of commendable insight. According to Confucius, "We must love others as ourselves; we must wish for them what we wish for ourselves." With the presence of such love, "the entire world will resemble one family, all people will embody one person." Such phrases and thoughts fill the moralistic Chinese texts: “Xiao,” “Lunyu,” “Mencius,” “Zhongyong,” “Daxue,” “Xiaojing,” “I Ching,” “Wujing,” “Shijing,” “Chunqiu,” “Zhu Xi,” “Liji”.[9] When reading such reflections on love, one cannot help but recall the New Testament sayings: "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Gal. 5:14; Matt. 22:35–40; Luke 10:27; James 2:8; 1 John 13:34–35; 1 Cor. 13; Eph. 5:2; Col. 3:14; Gal. 6:2; 1 Tim. 1:5; 1 John 4:7–9, 11, 12, 16, 20, 21, 2:10, 11; 1 Pet. 1:22, 3:8–9; 2 Pet. 1:7; Heb. 13:1…), "Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them" (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31; Acts 15:20). If the word of God commands us to "do good to all" (Gal. 6:10), then we also read in Confucian texts that "one must love all"[10] and similar sentiments.