What is the Golden Rule and where is it found?
The principle known as the "Golden Rule" appears in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel: "Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them." The same saying occurs in Luke. Jesus adds a weight to the sentence: "for this is the law and the…
The principle known as the "Golden Rule" appears in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel: "Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them." The same saying occurs in Luke. Jesus adds a weight to the sentence: "for this is the law and the prophets" — this one line is presented as the summary of Old Testament ethics. The rule's force lies in its positive formulation. Many cultures state a similar principle negatively: "Do not do to others what you would not want done to you." That counsels avoiding harm, and can be satisfied by standing still. Jesus' formula calls for action: doing for the other person the good you would wish for yourself. The Golden Rule is therefore not a passive principle of politeness but an active measure of good. Torn from its context, the rule could read like a bargaining strategy; its place in the Sermon on the Mount says otherwise: immediately before it come giving to the one who asks, prayer and God's generosity, and immediately after it the call of the narrow gate. The rule rests not on expected reciprocity but on how God treats people. Its expanded form is the command "love your neighbor as yourself," which Jesus counts, together with love of God, among the two greatest commandments. The chapters containing the Golden Rule can be read on this site; the whole Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is its natural context.