Compare and contrast the teachings of Jesus and Confucius
...person to do, or by choosing what you wanted to do (free will). “But rather seek you first the kingdom of Heaven and the righteousness thereof and all these things shall be administered unto you”. For Jesus, fathers were providers and they took care of their children. However, children were to respect and honor their father with the reward to come to the children in their obedience - “…your father which sees in secret, shall reward you openly”. son. “Being good as a son and obedient as a young man is, perhaps, the root of a man’s character”. It was seen that the respect a son had for his father and his father’s traditions provided the son with those aspects of character deemed so important. Both Confucius and Jesus viewed fathers as somewhat god-like in the respect to the high level of human respect given to fathers. It was the traditions of the fathers which made sense of the daily lives of the sons and which provided models for the children. To Confucius, the individual was deemed as important and the maker of his own destiny. It was the individual choices, which made him a person of character. Property often stood in the way of an individual’s growth as a person. Individuals should do their best to work hard and to be the best that they could be. Confucius said, “A subject should serve his ruler by doing his best”. In his discussion of the individual, Confucius acknowledged that, “In a hamlet of ten households, there are bound to be those who are my equal in doing their best for others and in being trustworthy in what they say…” “Virtue never stands alone. It is bound to have neighbors”. Confucius recognizes the connection between virtue and the other attributes of character. The Master instructs under four heads: culture, moral conduct, doing one’s best, and being trustworthy in what one says. Even with the strong virtue of the Master, it was recognized that he, the Master, could still learn from others. Likewise, Confucius recognized the difficulties that one encounters in being a person of virtue. He said, “It is these things that cause me concern: failure to cultivate virtue, failure to go more deeply into what I have learned, inability when I am told what is right to move to where it is, and inability to reform myself when I have defects”. It is this ability of being able to look at oneself inwardly and to self-evaluate and then top do what is the hardest to acknowledge and change that provides the springboard toward the virtuous person. Both Jesus and Confucius taught that individuals have an important role in society, but that role was a direct reflection on the values and respect of one individual for another. Individuals are accountable for their actions, but they are also accountable for the actions of others because of the ripple effect their actions will have on others. It is the standards of the individuals that ultimately determine what society will be like. Confucius said, “To work for the things the common people have aright to and so keep one’s distance ...