Page 17 - Built For Greatness - The Christian Edition of the Tao Te Ching

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leaders to practical advice for everyday people. It is probably the
most influential Chinese book of all time, and it may have been
translated into English more times than any other Chinese
document. Many believe it is the most famous and influential of all
Taoist texts that teaches one undivided truth at the root of all
things.
The text of the Tao Te Ching is divided into two parts. The
first (chapters 1–37) concerns the Tao, which is the way of the
universe, the source of life, and the power in all nature. It exceeds
our senses, thoughts, and imagination, and if it were to reveal itself
in all its fullness and glory, humanity would not be able to bear the
vision. These early chapters explain how we can orient our lives to
this way of the universe.
The second part of the Tao Te Ching gives further details
about “Te” (chapters 38–81), which means virtue or power. “Te” is
the energy that can be cultivated by a person through living
harmoniously with the Tao. Together, the Tao Te Ching can be
called the Way of Power, or, in other words, the Way of God by the
Power of the Holy Spirit.
I am a Christian practicing as a Catholic, so I understand
that these concepts might sound strange or peculiar to many
Christian ears. But I believe deeply they contain and help reveal the
wisdom of God—the same wisdom of God that is found in the Bible.
After researching and studying over fifty leading authors of the Tao
Te Ching, I utilized words from a Christian context with the same
meaning, and chose Christian scriptures that parallel the Tao Te
Ching. In so doing, I hope to help Christians and non-Christians
alike to see that God’s wisdom as contained in the Bible also flows
through the Tao Te Ching, for I believe that without God, the Tao
Te Ching would not exist as one of the wisest books ever written.