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[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
"Do not return evil to your adversary;

Requite with kindness the one who does evil to you,

Maintain justice for your enemy,

Be friendly to your enemy."

So says a 3rd millennium BCE text, "Counsels of Wisdom," (1) a sort of Ann Landers column from the Mesopotamian (Iraqi) land of Akkad. If it sounds familiar, read Matt. 5:38-41 ( "... if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also ..."), Matt. 5:44 ("Love your enemies,"), Luke 6:27-30, and in a similar vein Lev. 19:18. Any similarities between the pagan and later Biblical passages are probably no coincidence.

One of the most pervasive claims of the Judeo-Christian tradition is that morality comes from the Biblical god and belongs only to Jews and/or Christians. It's like a mantra for some religious fundamentalists.

The very phrase "Judeo-Christian morality" explicitly takes credit for modern moral concepts, implying that non-believers are essentially incapable of moral virtue. (2) Jewish scripture has Moses introducing morality into a pagan, immoral world when he purportedly brought the 10 commandments and a long list of other laws down off Mt. Sinai. (3) Christians add Jesus as the final arbiter of moral issues.

I hope this sampling of parallels between Biblical and Bronze Age, pre-Biblical literature - by no means comprehensive - will show that claim is a myth. The Bible's moral ideas, both those that modern society still accepts and those it has rejected, are the products of pre-Biblical societies, which stressed virtue in an abstract sense and offered practical advice on everyday ethics.

Nice work, Hank. I'm embarassed to say that it took me about this long to realize that you'd lifted the post via Google skills. Still, a worthy contribution which should put and end to the nattering.

S_A_M