Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer examines the personifications of evil in the Christian and Buddhist traditions. The writer discusses how these personifications of evil through Satan in Western Christian tradition compare to the personifications of evil through Mara in Buddhist traditions. The paper shows the important similarities and differences within the two concepts of evil and suffering. The writer concludes that in both cases important similarities and differences can be noted and the roots of these can be found in respective religious teachings.

Outline:
Evil and Suffering
The Two Embodiments of Evil: Mara and Satan
Hell in Early Buddhism and Christianity
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Again, we can find some similarities and differences between hell in early Buddhism and Christianity. In both cases, hell is a symbol of suffering and pain. As such it is used as a device of fear, as a tool to make the followers behave in accordance with moral values and teachings of the doctrine. However, while the Buddhist hell is only one realm of existence in which soul spends only enough time to clean itself and enter another realm (and can re-enter it again from a higher realm later), Christian hell is a place of eternal suffering. This clear difference arises from the differences in the religious doctrines."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Foresyth, Niel. The Old Enemy: Satan and The Combat Myth. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987.
• Wray, T. J. and Gregory Mobley. The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005.
• Von Glahn, Richard. The Sinister Way. The Devine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.
• Ling, Trevor. Buddhism and the Mythology of Evil. Oxford: Oneworld, 1997.
• Davies, Brian. "The Problem of Evil." Philosophy of Religion, An Anthology. Ed. Charles Taliaferro and Paul J. Griffiths. Blacwell Publishing, 2003.

Visitors who viewed this Comparison Essay also liked these:

• Comparison Essay # 134067 : "Evil in Christianity and Buddhism"
• Essay # 85599 : "The Problem of Evil: Karma, Conflict or Justice?"
• Analytical Essay # 139501 : "Social Order, Modernity, Postmodernity, and Religion"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: