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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 4 page paper discusses the Buddhist and Christian concepts of theodicy (the problem of how a wise and loving God could create a world with evil in it). Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KV32_HVthodcy.rtf
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paper examines the Buddhist and Christian concepts of theodicy. Discussion Theodicy is variously defined as justifying God, or dealing with the problem of evil; no matter what definition is used,
the idea is that there is there is a fundamental dichotomy in the universe. If God is good, evil should not exist. Yet as we know, there is a great
deal of evil in the world, everything from natural disasters to virulent diseases to famine to terrorism. Theodicy tries to explain how God and evil can coexist. The Buddhist concept
of theodicy is probably best understood in terms of karma, which "answers the problem of both moral and natural evil" (Maraldo, 1998). Buddhism has no Supreme Being in the same
sense Christianity does, but it does embrace the concept of reincarnation: "Karmic retribution means that every deed or action has consequences and evil deeds bring about suffering" (Maraldo, 1998). In
this tradition, it is not God whose acts cause evil to enter the world, but man. Buddhism holds that evil and suffering are not punishment "by a God who is
free to punish or not, but rather is an inevitable consequence of evil actions" (Maraldo, 1998). The idea of karma, in early tradition, also included transmigration: "Karma is ...
the momentum of our actions that propels us through sa?sara, the continuous cycles of birth and death" (Maraldo, 1998). Because a persons acts in this life determine what his next
life will be, its easy to see why it is preferable to "avoid evil and do good" (Maraldo, 1998). In terms of theodicy, it would seem that Buddhism uses the
concept of karma to reconcile the fundamental contradiction here. If a person behaves well and is moral, he or she will be considered good, and will return as a higher
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