The Tao Te Ching (“The Book of the Way”)

Interspersed with parallels from Christianity

The Tao Te Ching was written by a Chinese sage named Lao Tzu around 500 B.C. In a fairly short collection of sayings, he’s trying to help the reader perceive the quiet cohesion that unites all of creation. Learning to trust this unseen unity is the principal task involved in mastering the art of living.

Possessing neither the insights of modern science nor the tenets of biblical revelation, Lao Tzu is aware of a world-sustaining force that also does not compel conformity. To me, this sounds intriguingly like the God of grace we know through Jesus. Ergo, I’ve tried to provide a sampling of the conceptual overlaps between “The Book of the Way” and some of the ideas associated with Jesus — the man who called himself “the Way.”

If one wanted to, it wouldn’t be difficult to point out where these two bodies of understanding part ways. My goal is to show where they converge.

As you read the comparisons below, ask yourself: Do I know God well enough to recognize Him without the title I’m used to? Or is our familiarity based largely on a name-tag? If nothing else, would you agree that the ineffable, timeless Spirit only relates to human labels as a creaturely concession?

The sayings of the Tao are grouped by number, like tiny chapters of a short book. I have cited a selection of these sayings (using Stephen Mitchell’s paraphrase) with parallel concepts from Christianity below each one.

— 5 —

The Tao doesn’t take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil.

• I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things. | Isaiah 45:7

The master doesn’t take sides, but welcomes both saints and sinners.

• Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. | Matthew 11:28

— 8 —

The supreme Good is like water. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus, it is like the Tao.

• Do not think more highly of yourselves than you ought. | Romans 12:3
• Be willing to associate with people of low position. | Romans 12:16
• When you attend a party, sit in the place of least honor.| Luke 14:10

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
If you are content to be yourself, and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.

• Make it your ambition to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands. | 1 Thess 4:11
• Nothing is better than to eat and drink and enjoy one’s work. | Eccl 2:24
• He has shown you what is good, and what He requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. | Micah 6:8
• A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor. | Proverbs 29:23

— 9 —

Chase after money and security, and your heart will never unclench. Care about people’s approval, and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back: the only path to serenity.

• You cannot serve both God and money.
  Your heart will be with your treasure.
  So don’t worry about your life.
  Don’t worry about what you’ll eat or drink.
  Don’t worry about clothes to adorn your body.
  Life is more than food, the body is more than clothes.
  Worrying won’t add a single hour to your life.
  (Paraphrased selections from Matthew 6)

— 10 —

Can you love people and lead them without imposing your will? Can you deal with the most vital matters by letting events take their course? Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things? Having without possessing; acting with no expectations; leading without trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.

• Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. | Luke 6:35
• Freely you have received; freely give. | Matthew 10:8
• “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” | Luke 22:42
• A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. | Isaiah 42:3

— 12 —

Colors blind the eye.
Sounds deafen the ear.
Flavors numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
Desires whither the heart.
The master allows things to come and go.
His heart is as open as the sky.

• Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. | Matthew 13:13
• The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. | 1 Cor 8:1–2
• Desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. | James 1:14–15

— 13 —

Success is as dangerous as failure. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as yourself, then you can care for all things.

• Do not covet your neighbor’s house… or his wife, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. | Exodus 20:17
• Do not strive after possessions, but seek God’s kingdom (God’s way, as a faint path leading through life). Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. | Matthew 6:32–34
• The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

— 18 —

When the great Tao is forgotten, goodness and piety appear.

• When we turned from God to ourselves, we became obsessed with trying to make sure that we seemed to be good. | Genesis 3

— 20 —

Must you value what others value; avoid what others avoid? Other people have what they need. I alone possess nothing. I alone drift about like someone without a home. I drift like a wave on the ocean. I blow as aimless as the wind.

• Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” | Matthew 8:20
• I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. | Phil 4:12
• You hear the sound of the wind, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. | John 3:8

— 21 —

Since before time and space were, the Tao is.

• Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” | John 8:58
• From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began. | Proverbs 8:23
• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. | John 1:1

— 22 —

If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn, let yourself die.

• Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. | John 12:24

Because the master doesn’t display himself, people can see his light. Because he has nothing to prove, people can trust his words.

• He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood. | John 7:18

Only in being lived by the Tao can you be truly yourself.

• The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works. | John 14:10
• Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. | Galatians 5:25

— 24 —

He who tries to shine dims his own light.

• Let another praise you, and not your own mouth — a stranger, and not your own lips. | Proverbs 27:2

— 25 —

There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene, empty, solitary, unchanging, infinite, eternally present. It is the mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao. It flows through all things, and returns to the origin of all things.

• In the beginning… the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. | Genesis 1:1–2
• All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. | Colossians 1:16–17
• Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3

— 26 —

The master is ready to use all situations and doesn’t waste anything.

• What you intended for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this — to preserve the lives of many people. | Genesis 50:20
• In his hour of greatest need, Peter denied Jesus three times. Afterward, rather than rejecting Peter, Jesus reinstated him. | Mk 14, Jn 21

— 29 —

Do you want to improve the world? I don’t think it can be done. The world is sacred. It can’t be improved. If you tamper with it, you’ll ruin it. If you treat it like an object, you’ll lose it.

• If you believe in a good Creator who knows all and is sovereign over His creation, it’s silly to believe that you can improve on what He has made.

— 30 —

For every force, there is a counter-force. Violence — even well-intentioned violence — always rebounds upon oneself.

• All who draw the sword will die by the sword. | Matthew 26:52
• He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. | Proverbs 26:27
• Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. | Matthew 7:1 (Judgement is a spiritual force. When you hold someone else in judgement, you yourself must bear the spiritual force you apply.)

If powerful men and women could remain centered in the Tao, all things would be in harmony. the world would become a paradise. All people would be at peace, and the law would be written in their hearts.

• I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts… they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. | Hebrews 8:11

— 33 —

If you embrace death with your whole heart, you will endure forever.

• Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. | Luke 9:24
• He took the form of a servant, becoming obedient to death. | Phil 2:7
• They did not love their lives so as to shy away from death. | Rev 12:11

— 36 —

The soft overcomes the hard.

• A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. | Proverbs 15:1
• Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. | Matthew 5:5

— 38 —

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith, the beginning of chaos.

• The Tao is like Eden. Goodness, like Cain and Abel. Morality, like Mosaic Law. Ritual, like the empty Jewish traditions that Jesus rebuked.
• You nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. | Mark 7:13

— 39 —

The master doesn’t glitter like a jewel, but lets himself be shaped by the Tao, as rugged and as common as a stone.

• He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. | Isaiah 53:2
• Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. | Hebrews 5:8
• Jesus, although he was God, did not cling to his position of highest privilege. | Phil 2:6

— 41 —

When a foolish man hears of the Tao, he laughs out loud. If he didn’t laugh, it wouldn’t be the Tao.

• The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those being saved it is the power of God. | 1 Cor 1:18

The path into the light seems dark.

• If the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! | Matthew 6:23

True power seems weak.

• When I am weak, then I am strong. | 2 Cor 12:10

The greatest wisdom seems childish.

• “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. | Matthew 18:3 (Please don’t confuse this with “going to heaven.”)

The Tao is nowhere to be found, yet it nourishes and completes all things.

• [God is spirit, yet] in him all things hold together. | Colossians 1:17

— 46 —

There is no greater illusion than fear. There is no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself. No greater misfortune than having an enemy.

• God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. | 2 Tim 1:7
• If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. | Proverbs 25:21
• Our struggle is not against flesh and blood… God gave us the ministry of reconciliation. | Eph 6:12, 2 Cor 5:18

— 47 —

The more you know, the less you understand.

• Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. | 1 Cor 8:1–2

— 49 —

The master is good to people who are good and to people who are not good. This is true goodness. The master trusts people who are trustworthy, as well as those who aren’t trustworthy. This is true trust.

• He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. | Matthew 5:45
• Jesus called Judas, too. Jesus trusted men, not because men are trustworthy, but because his trust in God was that much greater than men’s untrustworthiness — and not because God always did what he wanted.

— 56 —

The Tao gives itself up continually. That is why it endures.

• For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. | Matthew 23:12

— 58 —

Try to make people happy, and you lay the groundwork for misery. Try to make people moral, and you lay the groundwork for vice. Thus, the master is content to be an example instead of an imposing his will.

• The law merely brings awareness of sin. | Romans 3:20
• The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. | 2 Cor 3:6
• Jesus set aside the law that exposed our sin, and modeled the path of kingdom life. | See Hebrews 10:1-9

— 61 —

Humility means trusting the Tao, thus never needing to be defensive.

• Jesus replied, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what was wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why did you strike Me?” | John 18:23

A great man considers those who point out his faults as his most benevolent teachers.

• Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. | Proverbs 9:8

— 62 —

Why did the ancient masters esteem the Tao? Because, being one with the Tao, when you seek you find, and when you make a mistake you are forgiven.

• Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. | Matthew 7:7
• Seek the LORD while He may be found… Let the wicked man return to the LORD… that He may have compassion, for He will freely forgive. | Isaiah 55:6–7

— 64 —

The master simply reminds people of who they have always been. He cares only for the Tao. Thus, he can care for all things.

• You are the salt of the earth… the light of the world. | Matthew 5:13–14
• Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. | Matthew 6:33

— 65 —

The ancient masters didn’t educate the people, but kindly taught them to not know. When they think they know the answers, people are difficult to guide.

• You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. | Acts 7:15

— 71 —

Not knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease. First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health.

• Jesus answered, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” | Luke 5:31–32

— 76 —

Men are born soft and supple. Dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant. Dead, they are brittle and dry. Thus, whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life.

• Wisdom: “Whoever finds me finds life… all who hate me love death.” | Proverbs 8:35–36
• I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. | John 10:10

— 77 —

The Tao takes from what is too much and gives to what isn’t enough.

• God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. | James 4:6
• Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. | Matthew 21:43

Other notable sayings of the Tao Te Ching

3. If you over-esteem great men, people become powerless. If you over-value possessions, people begin to steal. The master leads by weakening people’s ambition and toughening their resolve. He helps people lose everything they desire, and creates confusion in those who think they know.

18. When the body’s intelligence declines, cleverness and knowledge step forth. When there is no peace in the family, filial piety begins. When the country falls into chaos, patriotism is born.

19. Throw away wisdom and holiness, and people will be a hundred times happier. Throw away morality and justice, and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit, and there won’t be any thieves.

26. The unmoved is the source of all movement. (Predates Newton’s laws of motion by two millennia.)

32. Smaller than an electron, the Tao contains uncountable galaxies.

43. That which has no substance enters where there is no space. (Personally, I feel this is one of the most profound and important insights in the whole book. It has something to do with the reason a child can speak truth in a way that can enter a hardened heart. It has to do with the way humility — the lack of substance — can pass through the defenses of pride — the place where there is no space. It is the Holy Spirit’s humble mode of reaching us while we are anything but holy).

42. The Tao gives birth to one. One gives birth to two. Two gives birth to three. Three gives birth to all things. (Anticipation of the Trinity?)

61. A great man thinks of his enemy as the shadow that he himself casts.

Other related biblical passages

When I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. | John 12:32

The one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field. | James 1:10

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self? | Luke 9:25

Make it your ambition to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands. | 1 Thess 4:11

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? | 1 Cor 1:20