The Problem of Evil: Karma, Conflict or Justice?

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the problem of evil as described in three religions: Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism. It introduces the concept of Karma and discusses evil as an essential component of the human condition, a part in the universal conflict between good and evil and the result or punishment of justice. The paper concludes that a Judeo-Christian description of evil is the most preferable.

From the Paper:

"Centuries before the establishment of modern religion, the problem of evil already plagued humanity. Early philosophers discussed its defining characteristics at length. Socrates, who roamed the Greek city-state of Athens nearly 400 years before Christ's birth, claimed that good and evil could only be distinguished through self-knowledge (Davis, 2000, sec. The Good). However, it seems that this discovery was no easy task; over 2000 years later, theologians continue to debate the problem of evil. At the core of this debate is a struggle to discover the essence of evil and to describe this essence in a way that will force humanity to confront and to judge its own actions. For Socrates, this confrontation took the form of knowledge. The world's theologians, however, sought to define the problem in more concrete ways. "

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