Within Confucianism their are commonalities of beliefs that are shared among Buddhists and Taoists which make up the Chinese culture. This has resulted in an agglomeration of which all three expressions of faith have harmonized their society in avoiding exclusivity.
The common thread that has fastened these systems together has been their views as related to having a sense of moral values.
When contemplating the ethical teachings of Confucianism it is commendable but not explainable. How does one originate the concepts of evil or good since these terms can be relative in their application as based on the societal norms and individual choices. Morality can only be meaningful if it is standardized under a universal law code which surpasses the human experience of preference. This overarching moral principle needs an objective basis in order for it to be firmly anchored and comprehensive for the survival of the world wide community. The one determining factor that helps to unify this moralistic law code can only come from a supreme law giver who has innately hardwired mankind to have an aptitude towards moral distinctions or principles. This model or concept of course fits nicely with a theistic world view which makes such knowledge manageable.
The bible bears witness to this reality which unifies all of mankind in Romans 2:14-16
14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
Confucianism has avoided God language but rather it attributes such realities to a shadowy concept of a non personable force which He maintains as T’ien or “heaven.” Some have also used other synonymous terms when referring to this mysterious force such as the Tai-chi or the Tao. Anyway this view of heaven was not original to Confucian thought much like most of his views which is attributed to his origins. He even mentions this by stating that he was only a transmitter and not the originator.
Confucius thought of himself as more of a reformer in bringing back the ancient culture of the “Good Ole Days”.
Confucius wanted to maintain these ancient principles while avoiding their views of a transcendent being(s) or a god concept which the ancients referred to as Ti or Shang Ti and therefore he maneuvered his position to avoid the religious conflict of the culture in attempting to remove or at least neutralize this religious element. As a result this updated movement would take more of a philosophical view while avoiding religious chatter. Yet Confucius would not completely eliminate the metaphysical realm by his empirical approach and therefore there remained a residual overtone to the supernatural aspect of heaven which included such things as ancestor worship which deals with the view of an afterlife unlike the naturalistic view of annihilation.
Confucius may have emphasized respect in relationship to ancestor worship but yet there remained a mystical component which was inconsistent in his philosophical approach which may have been a compromise with his contemporaries who were unwilling to completely break free from and abandon this practice.
However how can such a view of the afterlife remain without including the necessity of intelligent design through an omnipotent God who functions beyond this temporal realm of existence. Also this intuitive sense of the after life only makes sense when you realize that it is God who has put the understanding of eternity in their hearts.
God has revealed himself to us silently through the internal moral compass of our soul which differentiates between the law of right and wrong and also through His majestic display of nature Psalms 19:1-4. Nevertheless He also speaks to us personally as well through the medium of Jesus Christ and the bible therefore eliminating the need for the superstitions of mediation through ancestral appeasement.
Even though the teachers of Confucianism have relegated a silence to heaven which is said to be the ultimate source of reality yet it is nonsensical to assign such importance to such a thing that remains aloof and if that be the case then the the teachers of this supposed reality should have remained silent likewise and yet ironically enough we know that through their books they have spoken much about this idealogical realm of silence. After all if heaven is silent then how could a person possibly transform their minds to it?
The truth is that God has not left himself without a witness in remaining silent and He has left us clues to His nature and being but not in such a way so as to elude or tease us but rather as taking the first or initial step towards a destination of a fuller or special revelation which would be idealized in Jesus in a personal and significant way.
I have wrote some blogs on atheism/agnosticism which addresses these very issues of which you may find interesting
The problem with the Confucian model of a humanistic approach to morality in specifying a sort of class distinction can only produce limited results especially if everybody is not on board from the governmental agencies to the common citizen. It is a wonderful model and concept yet in reality it is not attainable.
If you look at human history there are volumes that speak of corruption, warfare and the evils of society which mankind has never remedied. This proposed gospel of moral humanism has only been theorized rather than actualized. The reason for this undeniable failure of impossibility is due to the human element of evil.
Confucius hinted that man kind is basically good and later Mencius solidified this position even though Hsun-tzu took an opposing view. This is perhaps because Hsun-tzu saw the reality rather than the dream state of this philosophical approach.
If we look at the advancement of man or the evolution of society we have not come so far that we have advanced moralistically and even this last century was considered to be one of the most brutal and bloodiest eras of world history due to its unrestrained capacity towards ethnic cleansing and genocide. Even China itself who has had its history in these ancient movements along with its contemporary philosophies of Marxism and Communism have not obtained a utopian state of being which is evidenced by its own bloody demonstration that took place just a few short years ago.
So whether it is the Ritual Music Culture or the ism’s of Confucianism, Taoism/Daoism or Buddhism these movements which span 3000 years have had only limited moments of glory yet overall they have failed to bring any kind of long term or lasting result according to its truth claims to save society.
In retrospect the bible shows mankind to be morally deficient and even though we retain the image of God which has the ability to produce a shadow or reflection of goodness it is the evil nature that takes precedence. Goodness and love may be preferred among the ideals of mankind but it is not the natural path or course to life as exampled by the things I have already shared.
The saying of Confucius regarding his silver rule of “Jen” was a negative restraint on evil by emphasizing (1)not doing unto others what you don’t want them to do unto you showing that love is not natural especially if you have to instruct others on how to do it. Even Mencius admits to the mind falling into or gravitating towards evil.
Ironically enough Confucius has admitted that he has never seen anybody who really loves humanity and even he realized that he didn’t obtain this perfect love and perhaps this was a reflection of (2)his failed marriage which resulted in divorce. So if the grand master himself who has been deified among his followers was unable to obtain this mindset then how is it possible for this model to be a standard for resolving the conflicts of human society.
Their are biblical examples of these kind of failures as well even among men of noble character who had a zeal for upholding the moral law code of God. One of these individuals was the Apostle Paul who describes in detail his struggle against evil and good in Romans 7:21-25.
21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The bible states that mankind can not reach this state of moral excellence on its own as the bible makes it clear that it is impossible for man and yet it gives us hope by stating that with God all things are possible. A person can only find true peace and harmony with God and others on the basis of the supreme and divine qualities of mercy and forgiveness which results in a restored relationship with God against whom we have violated through the moral failure of sin.
In the equation Jesus becomes the solution as He is the idealized person of the Jen. He is the Chun-tzu or the superman who stands as a representative for mankind and who was morally perfect having achieved the ultimate sense of Yi or righteousness and therefore has brought us back into a state of harmony and peace with God by transforming us by means of spiritual regeneration into a new man who has a new nature thus restoring mankind to his original created state of goodness much like the Hsin Hsing.
The ultimate consummation of reconciling us unto God will be in reaching Gods domain of heaven in which we will inhabit apart from the antithetical state of hell. The judgment of hell is confirmed when our hearts condemn us with guilt and shame as we violate God and others through the moral failures of sin which ultimately results in eternal banishment from the divine presence.
Finally the conclusive act will be when a messianic state of rulership will bring forth a restoration of all the created order as found in Isaiah 11:6-9 , Isaiah 2:2-4 .
Though Confucianism has attempted to reach societal order it has not succeeded to bring us into a new world order. Kung fu-tzu is like so many of the past religious and philosophical gurus who sought after a means of achieving happiness and like the contemporary efforts of the psychoanalyst or the sociologists who meticulously research, analyze, and predict the problems of human society we are no more closer to treating the social ills of our times than these primeval societies. We can invent new religions and develop new philosophies and manufacture new drugs as alternatives in attempting to resolve these problems but in the end it will only lead to deluding the masses by over medicated them on pharmaceuticals or deceiving them through the superstition of religion/philosophy with some new self help program or snake oil remedy as a means to find a miracle cure concerning the ailments of the human soul.
Yet after all this striving and groping for solutions the world at large will still be left as largely uncivilized in much of its behavior.
Mankind can not ultimately change His environment because he is not able to significantly change himself through the self effort of good works as found in religious or secular expression.
In returning to the ancients they were not land locked to their beliefs of looking inward but rather their attention was in peering heavenward beyond themselves for answers. Perhaps they needed guidance to their answers but at least they discerned the necessity of ultimate reality as being beyond themselves much like the Apostle Paul did as he previously states in Romans 7:24-25 by making a bold move in giving the antidote to mankind’s sickness as stating who will rescue me from this body of death of which he answering conclusively “it is Jesus Christ the Lord.”
Finally Jesus invites you by saying in Matthew 11:28 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
AMG’s World Religions and Cults, AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, Tennessee
All marked references are attributed to:
© 2009 Josh McDowell Ministry. All rights reserved. No part of these Materials may be changed in any way or reproduced in any form without written permission from Josh McDowell Ministry, 660 International Parkway, Richardson, TX 75081. www.josh.org. +1 972 907 1000. Used by Permission.