God and the Ancient Chinese by Wang Samuel & Nelson Ethel

Author:Wang, Samuel & Nelson, Ethel [Wang, Samuel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

13

The Most Excellent Way

Fan Chi () asked about love. The Master said, “It is to love men.”1

Now, love is the most honorable dignity conferred by Heaven, and the safest home in which man should dwell.2

The human heart is made for the sole purpose of accepting and transmitting love. The apostle Paul calls it “the most excellent way.”

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

(1 Corinthians 13: 4 - 8).

Jesus, the Holy Man, who came and died on the cross to teach the lesson of love, said:

“If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14: 15).

Jesus’ commandments and those of God are one and the same, for He did not speak on His own authority, “but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” (John 12: 49).

The love of God and the law of God are inseparable, for “love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13: 10). Did the Chinese sages teach love toward God and man? Were they actually teaching the keeping of God’s commandments? The God of Heaven inspired most of the sages to teach this same lesson: reverence to God and love to man!

“Love,” in English is used to express every kind of admiration for God, man, and even inanimate objects. The Chinese, on the other hand, have many different characters for “love” in their language; each has a specific meaning for different relationships. For example, there are several words to describe man’s love to God: to revere Heaven (); to be obedient to Heaven (); to fear Heaven (); to serve Heaven (); and to follow Heaven ().

The respectful, grateful, and fearful attitude of the ancient Chinese toward God can be described by the following statement of the great sage, the Duke of Zhou:

We should be apprehensive and careful,

As if we were on the brink of a deep gulf,

As if we were treading on thin ice.3

Simultaneously, the great king of Israel, Solomon (970 - 930 B.C.), wrote:

Walk prudently when you go to the house of God and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.

Do not be rash with your mouth,

And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.

For God is in heaven, and you on earth;

Therefore let your words be few.

(Ecclesiastes 5: 1, 2).

Solomon, in his old age, wrote his autobiography in the book of Ecclesiastes. He described the emptiness of all the pleasures of earth; he showed that the vanities of the world failed to meet the heart’s real desires. He had pursued intellectual goals, carried out schemes of commercial enterprise, and had lived to the full the splendor of court life.

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