The Golden Rule: The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions (2024)

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The ​“gold­en rule” is preva­lent in every sig­nif­i­cant monothe­is­tic reli­gion and deeply influ­ences many oth­er traditions.

In Judaism, the rule is exem­pli­fied in the bib­li­cal oblig­a­tion to ​“love your neigh­bor,” which was adopt­ed by Rab­bi Hil­lel to mean that which is hate­ful unto you do not unto oth­ers. Jesus inter­pret­ed the rule to mean ​“do unto oth­ers” and brought it to great fame and promi­nence. The book traces the twists and turns of the jour­ney tak­en by the gold­en rule and spot­lights its appear­ance in Greek Altru­ism, Zoroas­tri­an­ism, Islam, Bud­dhism, Hin­duism, and Confucianism.

After read­ing this col­lec­tion, there can be lit­tle doubt that this pow­er­ful rule has had an enor­mous influ­ence in shap­ing reli­gious beliefs through­out the cen­turies and around the world. This study lends cre­dence to the prin­ci­ple that reli­gions have at their core cer­tain over­ar­ch­ing con­cepts that empha­size basic eth­i­cal teach­ings and that instruct believ­ers to act moral­ly and honorably.