I have a new article at Virtuous Planet where I look at the subtle yet explosive twist Jesus adds to our most famous moral command:
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” If there’s one moral command found in almost all religions, this is it. From Judaism to Taoism, Buddhism to Hinduism to Islam, this Golden Rule is ubiquitous.
Christianity, of course, places the precept at its very core. Proof of that emphasis can be seen in today’s Gospel, which begins with Jesus fixing this rule as a requirement for eternal life. However, the command to “love your neighbor” takes an odd twist when a scholar hears it and asks a natural follow-up—“And who is my neighbor?”
What an important question.