Similar Teachings in the Major World Religions

For the kind information of the readers, I would like to share with you some similar teachings in the major world religions based on my research which include:  love – the golden rule, good ethics, sin and life after death: Heaven and Hell, Reincarnation, & Purgatory. Though there are similarities in these world religions, it is a must that we should still be vigilant in finding the real truth, for the truth shall set us free.

a. Love - the Golden Rule:

Simply  stated that for most religions, in fact, the Supreme Being who planned and created a Jew, created a Christian or a Muslim, the same God created the hands of a Hindu created the feet of a Christian and the brain of a Buddhist and the eyes of a Taoist and the liver of a Jew or Muslim... Yes!, in fact, we are all brothers in God the creator of each one of us... and we are all brothers in God to love us, never to hate not to have prejudice of anyone.

    The Golden Rule: Yes, most religions preach and try to practice the Golden rule, love each other, because we all are brothers in God:    

    - Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. Talmud, Shabbat 3id...  Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. - Leviticus 19:18, NIB
    - Christianity: All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets... All the Bible!, Matthew 7:1... Do to others as you would have them do to you, Luke 6:31 NIB
    - Islam, No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. - Hadith recorded by al-Bukhari, Sunnah
    - Hinduism, This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you. Mahabharata 5,1517
    - Buddhism, Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. Udana-Varga 5,18
    - Taoism, Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien
    - Jainism, Therefore, neither does he cause violence to others nor does he make others do so. - Acarangasutra 5.101-2
    - Confucianism, Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state. Analects 12:2
    - Zoroastrianism, Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others. - Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29.
    - Baha'i Faith, He should not wish for others what he does not wish for himself. - Baha'u'llah, Bahá'í Faith.
    - Humanism, don't do things you wouldn't want to have done to you. - British Humanist society
    - Wicca: Bide the Wiccan Rede ye must, In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust; Live ye must and let to live, Fairly take and fairly give, the opening statement
    - Socrates, Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others
    - Epictetus, What you would avoid suffering yourself, seek not to impose on others
    - Ancient Egypt, Do for one who may do for you, / That you may cause him thus to do.- The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 109-110, tr. R.B. Parkinson.

     The Golden Rule, the positive Egyptian, Leviticus, Confucianist art of virtue, Christian, Muslim, and Wolf Bahá'í versions call for active interactions,, which allows a masochist to harm others without their consent. This differs from the negative/passive version of the rule, sometimes called the Silver Rule, which says that one should abstain from certain actions.

b.    Ethics:

Most religions agree to preach and promote good ethics, good human conduct in the light of good moral principles.

We already mentioned the Golden Rule... Love, and, of course, anything that goes with it, goodness, forgiveness, faithfulness, benevolence, friendliness, generosity, good will, honesty, kindness, mercy, righteousness, humility, humility, humility...

The 10 Commandments are promoted by most religions, "don't kill," or "don't steal.", "don’t lie"...

   

Plato emphasized four virtues in particular, which were later called cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance and justice.

Aristotle argued that virtues are good habits that we acquire, which regulate our emotions.  For example, in response to my natural feelings of fear, I should develop the virtue of courage which allows me to be firm when facing danger.  Aristotle also argued that most virtues fall at a mean between more extreme character traits.  With courage, for example, if I do not have enough courage, I develop the disposition of cowardice, which is a vice.  If I have too much courage, I develop the disposition of rashness which is also a vice.

    Our duties:

        - Fidelity: the duty to keep promises and to do with diligence our job
        - Reparation: the duty to compensate others when we harm them
        - Gratitude: the duty to thank those who help us
        - Justice: the duty to recognize merit and to pay in justice our workers
        - Beneficence: the duty to improve the conditions of others
        - Self-improvement: the duty to improve our virtue and intelligence
        - Non-malfeasance: the duty not to injure others.

Some Normative Principles of Ethics:
  - Personal benefit acknowledge the extent to which an action produces
    beneficial consequences for the individual in question.

  - Social benefit: acknowledge the extent to which an action produces beneficial

                consequences for society.
              - Principle of benevolence: help those in need.
              - Principle of paternalism: assist others in pursuing their best interests when they

       cannot do so themselves.
  - Principle of harm: do not harm others.
  - Principle of honesty: do not deceive others.
  - Principle of lawfulness: do not violate the law.
  - Principle of autonomy: acknowledge a person's freedom over his/her physical

    or spiritual actions or physical body.
   - Principle of justice: acknowledge a person's right to due process, fair

     compensation for harm done, and fair distribution of benefits, fair payments in

     the job
   - Rights: acknowledge a person's rights to life, freedom, pursue of happiness,

     information, privacy, free expression, and safety.

c.      Sin:

Sin has always been a term most usually used in a religious context, and describes any lack of conformity to the will of God; especially, any willful disregard for the norms revealed by God is a sin... any bad ethic behavior is actually a sin... but the greatest and most deceiving sin for most religions is the lack of faith in God, in the Ultimate Reality, in the Supreme Being.

Religions acknowledge the sins of every individual and of the society in general, so, most religions preach and promote to avoid sins and errors.

But what about with those sins or errors already committed?: How are they punished, or atoned or forgiven:

1- Most religions agree that sins are punished by God directly or by his rules of

         creation: If you drink too much you became an alcoholic, if you take too many

         drugs you became a drug-addict, if you steel or kill you may end up in jail, if you

          have sexual sins you may end up with syphilis or herpes or AIDS...
2- But most religions also claim the mercy of God for the cleaning and atonement of

         any sin.

Judaism: God is said to have thirteen attributes of mercy:

God is merciful before someone sins, even though God knows that a person is capable  of sin.

God is merciful to a sinner even after the person has sinned.

God represents the power to be merciful even in areas that a human would not expect or deserve.

God is compassionate, and eases the punishment of the guilty.

God is gracious even to those who are not deserving.

God is slow to anger.

God is abundant in kindness.

God is a god of truth, thus we can count on God's promises to forgive repentant sinners.

God guarantees kindness to future generations, as the deeds of the righteous patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) have benefits to all their descendants.

God forgives intentional sins if the sinner repents.

God forgives a deliberate angering of Him if the sinner repents.

God forgives sins that are committed in error.

God wipes away the sins from those who repent. Talmud (tractate Rosh HaShanah 17b).

   

Christianity:
Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary paid for all the sins of humanity... and to appropriate His redemption, His ransom is easy, free, by grace, without any effort, without any work, Just have faith in Jesus, do what He tells you, and your sins will be forgiven, completely erased, all of them!...
    - Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29, 35).
    - "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission

       of sins." (Matthew 26:28).
    - Jesus appeared so that he might take away our sins (1John 3:5)
    - The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. (1John 1:7).    
    - Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be

      condemned. (Mark 16:16)
    - Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you

      will be saved–you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31).

      Jesus gave to his disciples the power to to forgive sins or not to forgive them... just    

       confess your sins and they will be forgiven:
    - The first item in the first apparition to the Apostles Jesus told them: "receive the Holy  

      Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven tem; if you retain the sins of

      any, they are retained" (Jn.21:23).
    - "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse

      us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn.1:9).

Islam:

Islam sees sin (dhanb ذنب) as anything that goes against the will of Allah. Muslims believe that God is angered by sin and punishes some sinners with the fires of Hell (Jahannam), but that He is also the Merciful (Ar-Rahman) and the Forgiving (Al-Ghaffar), and forgives those who repent and serve Him:, Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Qur'an 39:53)

Some of the major sins are held to be legally punishable in an Islamic state (for example, murder, theft, adultery, and in some views apostasy; see sharia). Most are left to God to punish (for example, backbiting, hypocrisy, arrogance, filial disrespect, lying).

Hinduism:

In Hinduism, the term sin or papum is often used to describe actions that create negative karma, bad deeds, with disastrous consequences in the next reincarnation.

Sin, in Hinduism, besides creating negative karma, is violating moral and ethical codes as in the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In fact, it is much described in the scriptures that chanting the name of Hari or Narayana or Shiva is the only way to atone for sins, prevent reincarnation, rebirth, and attain moksha, the liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth.

The residue of sin is called papa, (bad merits that occur due to bad deeds), sometimes conceived of as a sticky, astral substance which can be dissolved through penance (prayashchitta), austerity (tapas) and good deeds (sukritya). Note that papa is also accrued through unknowing or unintentional transgressions of dharma, as in the term aparadha (offense, fault, mistake).

d.  Life After-Death: Heaven and Hell... Reincarnation... Purgatory:

Most religions believe in a life after death:

1- In the West it is eternal Heaven or eternal Hell. If you die without sin, with all the sins forgiven, you go to eternal Heaven. If you die with sins, you will go to eternal Hell, belive it or not, like it or not, it is a fact. Heaven-Hell

2- In the East it is usually Reincarnation:
Reincarnation is the rebirth in new bodies or forms of life after death... This "belief" is not a thrill for a Hindu, nor even a good happening to expect, it is the worse imaginable "curse"!... the greatest fear for a Hindu is not to die, but to reincarnate... all the ascetic sacrifices, all the yoga and puja practices, is to avoid reincarnation... to live nude, without food of a Jainist is to avoid the next reincarnation... the great sacrifices of a Buddhist in a monastery for life, is to avoid reincarnation...

And the final aim of life, the ultimate dream of a Hindu is "moska", the final union of his soul with Brahman, with no more reincarnations, the liberation of the curse of reincarnation...

Remember the above Argument of Pascal: "If you believe in Heaven and Hell and turn out to be incorrect, you have lost nothing -- but if you don't believe in Heaven and Hell and turn out to be incorrect, you will go to hell. Therefore, again, it is foolish to be an atheist."

What about Purgatory?

It is a clear and firm doctrine in Catholicism and also in many primitive religions: The great festivities in China, for example, are either to pray for the death ancients or to ask them a favor for  help... if it is to pray for them, it is because they may be in a place similar to Purgatory where the prayers help the death ancients... if it is to ask them for help, it is because they are in a place similar to glorious Heaven where they can help.