This book presents a new examination of ethical dictum 'The Golden Rule' exploring its formulation and significance in relation to the world's major religions. The Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. This ethical dictum is a part of most of the world's religions and has been considered by numerous religious figures and philosophers over the centuries. This new collection contains specially commissioned essays which take a fresh look at this guiding principle from a comparative perspective. Participants examine the formulation and significance of the Golden Rule in the world's major religions by applying four questions to the tradition they consider: What does it say? What does it mean? How does it work? How does it matter?Freshly examining the Golden Rule in broad comparative context provides a fascinating account of its uses and meaning, and allows us to assess if, how and why it matters in human cultures and societies.
Jacob Neusner is the author or editor of over 700 books including The Incarnation of God: The Character of Divinity in Formative Judaism.
Preface; 1. Introduction: Parsing Reciprocity: Questions for the Golden Rule, William Scott Green (University of Miami, USA); 2. The Golden Rule in Ancient Israelite Scripture, Baruch A. Levine (New York University, USA); 3. Alternatives to the Golden Rule: Social Reciprocity and Altruism in Early Archaic Greece, Carolyn Dewald (Bard College, USA); 4. The Golden Rule in Graeco-Roman Religion and Philosophy, Robert Berchman (Dowling College, USA). 5. The Golden Rule in Classical Judaism, Jacob Neusner (Bard College, USA); 6. The Golden Rule in Zoroastrianism, Mahnaz Moazami (Columbia University, USA); 7. The Golden Rule in Earliest Christianity, Bruce D. Chilton (Bard College, USA); 8. The Golden Rule as the Law of Nature, from Origen to Martin Luther, Olivier du Roy (French National Center for Scientific Research, Paris); 9. The Golden Rule in Islam, Emil Homerin (University of Rochester, USA); 10. The Golden Rule in Buddhism [I], Kristen Scheible (Bard College, USA); 11. The Golden Rule in Buddhism [II], Charles Hallisey (University of Wisconsin, USA); 12. A Hindu Golden Rule in Context, Richard Davis (Bard College, USA); 13. The Golden Rule in Confucianism, Mark A. Csikszentmihalyi (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA); 14. Conclusion, William Scott Green (University of Miami, USA).
Review in Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol.25, no.2, 2010.