Page 14 - Built For God Handbook (Annotated and Explained Edition) - The Christian Edition of the Tao Te Ching - The New Evangelization - Pope John Paul II

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The second part of the Tao Te Ching gives further details
about “Te” (chapters thirty-eight through eighty-one), which means
its virtue or its power. “Te” is the energy that can be cultivated by a
person through living harmoniously with the Tao. Ching is a term
that means book. Together, Tao Te Ching is the book of the way
(Tao) and of how it manifests itself in the world (Te). In other words,
the Way of God by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

I am a Christian practicing as a Catholic, so I understand
these concepts might sound strange or peculiar to many Christian
ears. But I strongly believe they contain and help reveal the wisdom
of God—the same wisdom of God found in the Bible. After
researching and studying over fifty leading authors of the Tao Te
Ching, I utilized words from a Christian context with the same
meaning and chose Christian scriptures that parallel with the Tao
Te Ching. In so doing, I hope to help Christians and non-Christians
alike to see that God’s wisdom as contained in the Bible also flows
through the Tao Te Ching, for I believe that without God, the Tao
Te Ching would not exist as one of the wisest books ever written.

How Do I Read This Book?

Although the Tao Te Ching can easily be read in just a few
hours, the text becomes much more powerful when it is read
slowly, mentally digested through patient prayer and meditation,
and its principles actually put into practice. The richness of the Tao
Te Ching is a lifelong exploration of discovering something new
about yourself every time you read it.