RidingtheScree

yes, It is also forwarded by Thomas Hobbs, as the Inverse Golden Rule. It makes a wholelotta sense more, as you described, than a golden rule that lets crazies do unto others as they would do unto themselves.

judge

I have never heard anyone suggest these principles were unique. Did someone really suggest they were?

Some of His teachings do appear to have been unacceptible to his followers, who were jewish of course.
At one pint in John chapter 6 (?) many turn and stop following him because they cannot accept what he says.
On another occaision Jesus tells his listeners how hard it is for wealthy people to enter the Kingdom, and the people reply..."Who then can be saved?"

This may have sounded strange to a people who saw wealth as a sign of Gods blessing.

This might be helpful, on a another tac

comparative sayings of Jesus and Buddah

jjramsey

I doubt that Jesus would have needed to know of Plato, Cynicism, or Stoicism to have come up with similar sentiments. Good grief, Buddha hadn't likely heard of them, and came up with similar ideas.

ETA: I should also point out that if one thinks the end of the world is coming soon and that the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked burned, then not fighting back against one's enemies makes some sense, as it minimizes the chance that one will sin in the process of fighting back, and since one's enemy is going to get his just deserts soon anyway and oneself will be vindicated shortly, one might as well wait it out and let God do all the smiting.

RUmike

This isn't applicable to the passages I gave. They were specific ways of self-defense and resistance. Jesus wasn't telling people to not fight back, but rather he was giving advice on how to fight back (in non-conventional ways). Where does Epictetus give similar advice?

No Robots

countjulian:

Would you be so kind as to provide references and links for your classics quotations? I can't find anything on them except at websites whose aim is exclusively to argue that Christ's teaching is derived from Hellenistic thought.

John Kesler

See Proverbs 25:21-22 and 24:17-18:

See Lamentations 3:30:

Vorkosigan

Downing, F. Gerald. 2001. The Jewish Cynic Jesus. In Labahn, Michael, and Schmidt, Andreas, eds. 2001. Jesus, Mark, and Q. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 214. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press. pp184-215.

Downing, Gerald F. 1998. Cynics, Paul, and the Pauline Churches. London: Routledge.

Downing, F. Gerald. 1988. Christ and the Cynics: Jesus and other Radical Preachers in First-Century Tradition. Sheffield UK: JSOT Press

There's nothing new in the Jesus tradition.

Michael

Amaleq13

You claimed they were "radically unique" and that is clearly not the case. They are neither radical nor unique.

RUmike

Neither of these instruct to love one's enemy.

The passage you cited advocates complacency/acceptance. The sayings of Jesus that give advice to victims (i.e. turn the other cheek, go 2 miles instead of 1, give not just your coat but your shirt also) are forms of resistance, which is quite the opposite.

RUmike

The commandment to love one's enemies is rather radical and unique, at least in Jewish teachings.

I would also consider the parable of the good Samaritan extremely radical and unique for 1st century Palestine. Scholars tend to agree.