Our Religions Quotes

“unity is not uniformity.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“The original Confucian intention, as envisioned by Confucius and Mencius is, simply put, to cultivate ourselves and bring peace and comfort to others.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“a Confucian declaration of faith, a profoundly religious articulation of the meaning of being human; Heaven is my father and Earth is my mother, and even such a small creature as I finds an intimate place in their midst. Therefore that which fills the universe I regard as my body and that which directs the universe I consider as my nature. All people are my brothers and sisters, and all things are my companions. … Even those who are tired, infirm, crippled, or sick; those who have no brothers or children, wives or husbands, are all my brothers [and sisters] who are in distress and have no one to turn to. When the time comes, to keep him from harm—this is the care of a son. To rejoice in Heaven and to have no anxiety—this is filial piety at its purest. One who knows the principles of transformation will skillfully carry forward the undertakings [of Heaven and Earth], and one who penetrates spirit to the highest degree will skillfully carry out their will. Do nothing shameful in the recesses of your own house and thus bring no dishonor to them. Preserve your mind and nourish your nature and thus (serve them) with untiring effort. … Wealth, honor, blessing, and benefits are meant for the enrichment of my life, while poverty, humble station, and sorrow are meant to help me to fulfillment. In life I follow and serve [Heaven and Earth]. In death I will be at peace.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“Mencius’ strategy for social reform was to change the language of profit, self-interest, wealth, and power into a moral discourse with emphasis on rightness, public-spiritedness, welfare, and exemplary authority. Mencius was not arguing against profit. Rather, he implored the feudal lords to opt for the great benefit that would sustain their own profit, self-interest, wealth, and power from a long-term perspective. He urged them to look beyond the horizon of their palaces and to cultivate a common bond with their ministers, officers, clerks, and the seemingly undifferentiated masses. Only then, he contended, would they be able to sustain their rulership or even maintain their livelihood for years to come.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“Confucius did not accept the status quo, which held that wealth and power spoke the loudest. He felt that virtue, both as a personal quality and as a requirement for leadership, was essential for individual dignity, communal solidarity, and political order.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“Religion itself is a method of engaging the ultimate; the various religions are various methods of doing so; their histories are a record of the results of these efforts.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“Although moral truths are eternal, their actual application is subject to temporal modification.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“Since the New Testament in the form in which we now have it did not receive acceptance in the churches until the fifth century, it is well to remember that for nearly three hundred years Christians did not have it but considered the Old Testament their only scripture.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“in asking the question, Who was Jesus?, we must expect different answers because only part of the response can come from history. The other part comes from the heart of the person answering the question. The query is both historical and personal, so the answers will be both as well.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“The Jewish prophets had constantly foretold the coming of a Reign of God. John the Baptist, Jesus’ immediate forerunner, had said it was imminent. But Jesus himself said it was present, now occurring in and around his hearers. Still, what probably made the congregation in Nazareth especially upset was Jesus’ insistence that this divine reign would now include those who were frequently excluded from its benefits, the poor and sick and ritually impure and foreigners. It was not that Jesus had invented anything entirely new with which his hearers would not have been familiar. He simply made it unavoidably present in a way that disturbed them.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“In America alone there are estimated to be nearly five hundred separate and distinct forms of Christianity.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“The Confucian commitment to self-cultivation, family cohesiveness, social stability, political order, and world peace is predicated on an anthropocosmic vision that regards the secular world as sacred. Intent on transforming the system from within, the Confucian life-orientation takes the existential human condition of the concrete, living person as its point of departure. The ultimate meaning of life is realized through ordinary practical living. This pragmatic idealism enables Confucian societies to transform creatively the world without appeal to any form of radical transcendence.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“Mencius observes that the main cause of conflict in the political arena is the abandonment of righteousness as the raison d’être for the ruling minority to enjoy privilege and status without involving themselves in productive labor. Any attempt to profit unjustly or abuse their power in this way in fact makes their legitimate claim to leadership suspect. Their ability to govern is undermined and the public sphere over which they reign becomes privatized.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

“The concept of “the chosen people” is thus turned, in the plastic hands of Hinduism, into the “choosing people”—Hindus choose the gods they worship.”
― Arvind Sharma, Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition