Reading outline · Peace & conflict
How do these texts respond to conflict?
Reading difficult teachings in context.
Read these passages on hatred, peacemaking and peace in their own settings. Each addresses a different audience and situation.
In this reading
Dhammapada · Buddhism
Hatred and its cessation in the opening verses.
Read passage · Dhammapada →For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.
Bible · Christianity
Peacemakers within the Beatitudes.
Read passage · Bible →Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
Quran · Islam
An instruction about responding to an inclination toward peace.
Read passage · Quran →And if they incline to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in Allah. Lo! He, even He, is the Hearer, the Knower.
What changes when we read them together?
These are not three answers to one modern policy question. A short selection cannot establish that an entire tradition is peaceful or violent.
Words in these readings
- Hatred
- The Dhammapada verse concerns hatred and its cessation.
- Peacemakers
- Matthew’s saying belongs to the Beatitudes.
- Inclination toward peace
- The Quranic instruction includes a stated circumstance. Read the larger surah.
Sources & reading notes
These are selected passages, not a complete account of any tradition. Introductions and explanations are editorial writing. Quotations use the named translations; an ellipsis marks a shortened selection.
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