Taoism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Comparisons with other religions === Comparisons between Taoism and [[Epicureanism]] have focused on the absence of a creator or gods controlling the forces of nature in both.<ref>[https://societyofepicurus.com/contemplations-on-the-tao-series] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008084805/https://societyofepicurus.com/contemplations-on-the-tao-series/|date=8 October 2022}} Contemplations on the Tao Series</ref> Lucretius' poem ''[[De rerum natura]]'' describes a naturalist cosmology where there are only atoms and void (a primal duality which mirrors [[yin-yang]] in its dance of assertion/yielding), and where nature takes its course with no gods or masters. Other parallels include the similarities between Daoist "wu wei" (effortless action) and Epicurean "lathe biosas" (live unknown), focus on naturalness (ziran) as opposed to conventional virtues, and the prominence of the Epicurus-like Chinese sage Yang Chu in the foundational Taoist writings. Some authors have undertaken [[comparative religion|comparative studies]] of Taoism and Christianity. This has been of interest for students of the [[history of religion]] such as [[J. J. M. de Groot]],{{sfnp|Werblowsky|2002 |p=25}} among others. A comparison of the teachings of Laozi and [[Jesus of Nazareth]] has been made by several authors, such as Martin Aronson,{{sfnp|Aronson|2002|p={{page needed|date=March 2021}}}} and Toropov & Hansen (2002), who believe that there are parallels that should not be ignored.{{sfnp|Toropov|Hansen|2002|pp=169β181}} In the opinion of J. Isamu Yamamoto, the main difference is that Christianity preaches a [[personal God]] while Daoism does not.{{sfnp|Yamamoto|1998|pp=69β70}} Yet, a number of authors, including [[Lin Yutang]],{{sfnp|Ruokanen|Zhanzhu Huang|2010|p=137}} have argued that some moral and ethical tenets of the religions are similar.{{sfnp|Zhiming|2010|p={{page needed|date=March 2021}}}}{{sfnp|Chung|2001|p=141β145}} In neighboring [[Taoism in Vietnam|Vietnam]], Taoist values have been shown to adapt to social norms and formed emerging sociocultural beliefs together with Confucianism.{{sfnp|Napier|Pham|Nguyen|Nguyen|2018}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page