“The moral teaching of Jesus, detached from later doctrines, is the most sublime guide to conduct.”
— Ram Mohan Roy[verifiable: theme of The Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness (1820); wording to be checked against the first edition]
Commentary
The Precepts of Jesus presents an English selection of the Gospels, arranged by Ram Mohan Roy to separate the moral teaching from what he regarded as later theological accretions. The approach reflects his conviction that rational ethics, rather than dogma, is the proper basis of religion. Sophia Dobson Collet's biography of 1900 places the work within the context of Roy's debates with Christian missionaries, whose ministry he both respected and challenged. David Kopf, in The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind (1979), shows how the selection supported Roy's broader argument for a universal moral religion grounded in conscience. Roy's choice of Gospel passages was controversial among Christians, who objected to the exclusion of miracles and the Trinity. The attribution of the central claim is secure, but its formulation here is a summary of the book's purpose, and the first edition should be consulted for the author's wording.
Commentary
The Precepts of Jesus presents an English selection of the Gospels, arranged by Ram Mohan Roy to separate the moral teaching from what he regarded as later theological accretions. The approach reflects his conviction that rational ethics, rather than dogma, is the proper basis of religion. Sophia Dobson Collet's biography of 1900 places the work within the context of Roy's debates with Christian missionaries, whose ministry he both respected and challenged. David Kopf, in The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind (1979), shows how the selection supported Roy's broader argument for a universal moral religion grounded in conscience. Roy's choice of Gospel passages was controversial among Christians, who objected to the exclusion of miracles and the Trinity. The attribution of the central claim is secure, but its formulation here is a summary of the book's purpose, and the first edition should be consulted for the author's wording.