The Problem of Suffering

Description

Every religion addresses suffering in one way or another. In the Indian religious tradition, the world is seen as being full of suffering (dukkha), and much of this suffering is caused by karma. In Buddhism, suffering is caused by desire and the three poisons; greed, hatred, and ignorance. In Chinese cosmology, we suffer when we are out of alignment with the Dao.  In the Abrahamic traditions, the problem takes on a different form because it has a different concept of God. This is called theodicy, which comes from the Greek words theos (God) and dike (Justice), so it is literally the question of the justness of God. The problem is traditionally formulated like this: If God is all good (omnibenevolent), all-powerful (omnipotent), and all-knowing (omniscient) then why do the innocent suffer? I go into some detail on this in the video that I asked you to watch on theodicy. What do you think is the best answer to the question of suffering? Reflect on God’s answer to Job. You  may also draw upon any of the religions that we’ve covered so far in the class to explore the nature of suffering and the religious response to suffering.