Tuesday, July 22, 2025
I am the Dao (Way), the truth and the life (John 14:6)
The Bible says “I am the Way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). The “Way” is a path or Dao. “ No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John14:6).
Lao Zi the author of Dao De Zing describes the Dao which existed before the formation of heaven and earth (在天地形成以前就已经存在).
道德经·。第二十五章
[原文]
有物混成①，先天地生。寂兮寥兮②，独立而不改③，周行而不殆④，可以为天地母⑤。吾不知其名，强字之曰：道⑥，强为之名曰：大⑦。大曰逝⑧，逝曰远，远曰反⑨。故道大，天大，地大，人亦大⑩。域中⑾有四大，而人居其一焉。人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然⑿。
Lao Zi says it is the progenitor of all things and for the lack of a better word I call it the Dao, the “Almighty” (可以作为万物的根本。我不知道它的名字，所以勉强把它叫做“道”). The Dao is the Way to eternal life.
God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent(再勉强给它起个名字叫做“大”。它广大无边而运行不息，运行不息而伸展遥远) and so is the Dao.
Lao Zi wrote “Tao is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and man is also great. Genesis 1:1 tells us “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”, and He created mankind in His own image (Genesis 1:27).
Lao Zi says “there are four great things in the universe, and man is one of them. Man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, and the sky follows the "Tao", and Tao is pure and natural”. 所以说道大、天大、地大、人也大。宇宙间有四大，而人居其中之一。人取法地，地取法天，天取法“道”，而道纯任自然。
The Dao is pure (without sin) and natural (eternal and existed before all things). Consider Paul's words in Colossians 1:17, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Everything we can see—and all that we cannot—comes from God. No one created God.
人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然⑿。
取法”or 法 的意思是效法、仿效，也就是把某人或某事作为榜样. 取法 means to imitate of follow the example of. The Bible asks us to be imitators of Christ. He is God who became flesh and dwelt among us to show us the Way, the Truth and the Life.
“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” Ephesians 5:1.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
It is clear that Lao Zi refers the Dao as our Creator. But over time people twist the truth and even refer to Lao Zi as the “Dao”.
“I am the way, the truth and the life.”. That is the Dao道 in Dao De Jing and the Dao in the Bible.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 25
There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.
It flows through all things,
inside and outside, and returns
to the origin of all things.
The Tao is great.
The universe is great.
Earth is great.
Man is great.
These are the four great powers.
Man follows the earth.
Earth follows the universe.
The universe follows the Tao.
The Tao follows only itself.
(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
