There is Too Much Evil and Suffering For God to Exist ?

Atheists often claim that the presence of evil is an argument against the existence of God. The Christian God is supposed to be both loving and all-powerful. Despite these characteristics, God seems to be unable or unwilling to prevent the vast amount of evil and suffering in the world. The atheist concludes that either God is not loving or not all-powerful or that God does not exist, because if He did exist, He could stop all the suffering. The atheistic arguments contain some subtle assumptions that, as I will show, do not apply to the God of the Bible and His created universe. Even the assumption that evil and suffering are bad for us must be questioned in light of what the Bible says. This page specifically defends the principle that moral evil must exist. Another page examines the reasons why natural evil must exist. Although many atheists claim the presence of moral evil precludes the existence of God, others admit that God would be completely justified in allowing moral evil.

The atheists' logical argument

What I have found is that atheists like to say that their arguments against God's existence specifically exclude the God of the Bible as a God who could exist. However, in reality, atheists produce generic arguments against a generic God whose characteristics and creation do not match those that are described in the Bible. Atheists may not accept what the Bible says, but they cannot say the God of the Bible cannot logically exist and then ignore what the Bible has to say about the characteristics of God. If the atheist states that the God of the Bible is logically impossible, he cannot pick and choose which arguments from the Bible to accept in order to "prove" his point. Let's formalize the atheist's arguments:

God is all-powerful, loving, and perfect.

A perfect, loving God would create a universe that was perfect (e.g., no evil and suffering).

The universe is not perfect but contains evil and suffering.

Therefore, God does not exist.

The Bible's Response

The Bible does state that God is "all powerful." In the Old Testament, one of God's titles is "El Shadday," which is translated "God Almighty." The Bible also states that God is loving. In fact, the Bible indicates that God is love. The Bible also indicates that God is perfect. So, we can agree that the first statement is a correct interpretation of what the Bible says about the characteristics of God.

The next statement indicates that a perfect, loving God must create a universe that is perfect. This is the statement that is false and invalidates the argument. Nowhere does the Bible state that the universe was created to be perfect. God Himself called it "good" and "very good," but never "perfect." In fact, God Himself stated that part of the original creation was "not good." The Bible states that the current universe is not perfect, but was designed to be temporary and will be replaced with a perfect universe that will be permanent. Science also tells us that the universe was designed to be temporary.

Why two creations instead of one?

Why would God create an imperfect, temporary universe only to replace it later with a perfect one? Why wouldn't God have created a perfect universe in the first place? This is a good question, but shows a lack of understanding of the biblical reason of why God created the universe. One can find the reason for the creation of the universe in the first few chapters of the Bible. God created humans in order to have a personal relationship with them, which He had with Adam and Eve before they sinned (Genesis 2). Jesus said that the first and foremost commandment was to "Love the Lord your God..." A personal relationship, characterized by the possibility of love, is only possible if created beings are given free will. If God had created the universe with no possibility of evil or sin, then the created beings would have had no free will, and, as such, would essentially be programmed computers. Such beings would be incapable of love, since love involves making a choice - which requires the ability to choose not to love.

For example, I can program my computer to say "I love you" when it starts up. Does this mean that the computer really loves me? Of course not! Likewise, God could have programmed humans to say that they loved Him, without the possibility of rejecting Him or performing evil deeds. However, these programmed beings would exhibit about as much true love as my computer - not a very satisfying relationship. Therefore, God created the universe for the express purpose of allowing free will spiritual beings the opportunity to have fellowship with Him (and likewise, reject Him).

What does God want?

God's purposes in creating the universe go beyond merely creating free will beings that love Him in this temporary universe. Jesus explained the ultimate goal of God in the parable of the banquet:

Jesus replied: "A certain man [representing God] was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. (Luke 14:16-23)

This parable tells that God wants not only a relationship with humans in this universe, but a relationship with billions of these creatures in His future, perfect creation. If God's purpose is to have relationships with free will beings in a future creation, then there must be a means by which these beings can make a choice to enter or not enter into this relationship. The means by which we make this choice is exactly the message of the Bible.

Therefore. the Bible says that God allows temporary, bounded evil in order to allow free will beings to have the ability to love and to make choices. I am going to propose something which seems to support the atheists' arguments regarding evil. I agree that there is a lot of evil in the world. In fact, there is too much evil in the world from what would be expected from chaos theory or the laws of physics. Evolution does not explain the vast amount of evil done by mankind. None of the other creatures on our planet have the capacity for evil that mankind have. No other mammals kill arbitrarily. They only kill to eat and survive - but not mankind. Just watch the nightly news or read your newspaper. Look at all the evil perpetuated in the last century alone - 6 million Jews killed by Hitler, 40 million Russians killed by Stalin, 2 million Cambodians killed by their own government in the 1970's. In fact, the Pol Pot regime specifically preached atheism and sought to exterminate all religious expression in Cambodia.

In addition to these atrocities, there have been hundreds of massacres committed in virtually every nation of the world. The Bible says that the presence of evil is due to the spiritual component of our nature - something that animals do not possess. God endowed His spiritual creatures (humans and angels) with free will to love God or to oppose Him. The most powerful created being (the angel Satan) rebelled and led one third of the angels into opposition against God. Those humans who oppose or ignore God follow Satan into rebellion - either consciously or unconsciously. Some people blame the evil on "society." However, society is composed of individuals who make individual choices. Most of the evil is committed by people who oppose the will of society. In contrast, there are many examples of societies in the animal kingdom, especially among the An order of mammals including man, apes, monkeys, etc., often characterized by large brains and flexible hands and feet.primates. None of these societies have the capacity for evil that we have. We are different from all other animals on our planet - a fact that has no scientific or evolutionary explanation.

Why pain is necessary

The atheist also makes the assumption that all pain, suffering, and death are bad or evil. In fact, physical pain is absolutely vital to our survival. If we felt no pain, we would do things to ourselves that could be very destructive. For example, if we didn't feel pain when we touched a hot object, we would not react until we saw our flesh smoking. This is obviously not a good thing to do. Pain tells us we need to react to a situation before serious damage occurs.

Evil as a means of spiritual growth

Many things that people consider to be bad are, in fact, useful in our spiritual growth. The Bible says that trials in our lives produce perseverance, which helps make us mature and complete. These trials also increase our faith - a "refining by fire." The Bible tells us that "all things to work together for good to those who love God."

Conclusion

God did not design this universe to be perfect, but as a temporary creation where free will beings make choices about where they want to spend eternity (in the new creation, which will be perfect).

The new creation will be perfect, but will not have absolute free will for its inhabitants. We must agree in this life to give up some of our free will in the next life. Those who are unwilling to give up their own free will choices will not be forced to do so in the next life. However, they will have to be separated from the new creation, since God is unwilling to compromise His character.

All people will suffer at least somewhat because of bad choices that others make. In addition, because of the temporary nature of the universe, some bad things will happen to us due to "bad luck" or chance. However, these things will teach us to be more sensitive to the needs of others, and will prepare us to show God's love to others when they suffer through similar things. God want us to learn from this life, not just have a party.

Handling Guilt or Shame

She had been a stripper, prostitute, drug addict and demon-possessed witch. It was hard to imagine a perversion or Satanic form of depravity she hadn't wallowed in. Two thousand years ago, Christ agonized on a Roman cross, shedding his life-blood for those very sins. She continued in her extreme degradation. Finally, she joined herself to Jesus, by faith trading her wickedness for Christ's holiness. One day Jesus appeared to her and said, ?You are a chaste virgin in my sight.'

None of us have an infallible conscience. In fact, most of our consciences are at times wildly inaccurate. If you want Scriptural proof of this, you'll find plenty.

So when facing guilt feelings, the most important thing is to establish whether your guilt is real or imaginary. Tragically, most people stand guilty before God and are hardly aware of it. They wrongly imagine that if there is a heaven, they have a good chance of going there. On the other hand, there are countless thousands whom God regards as spotlessly pure and innocent, and yet are riddled with guilt feelings.

We must clearly differentiate between deceptive feelings and spiritual reality.

You have every right to feel guilty and fearful before God if:

1. You have not asked God's forgiveness for your sin, trusting Jesus to have paid the full penalty for your sin by dying on the cross for you. Christ alone is capable of the divine miracle needed to wipe out all guilt.

2. You do not want God to take your sins from you. To refuse to be delivered from your pet sin is like a drowning man stubbornly refusing to let his rescuer drag him from the water. If you have no intention of giving up a particular sin, you'll die in that sin. The sins you love are as deadly as the sins you despise.

Everyone who is not trusting Jesus for forgiveness, or does not want a sin-free life, is guilty before the Judge of the universe, regardless of how they feel.

If, however, you have met these two conditions, God's smile is upon you. Any pangs of guilt or fear you suffer are simply an illusion like fearing there's an intruder in the house when it was only the sound of the wind. The feelings might exist, and they might be most unpleasant, but they are groundless. They have no correspondence to reality.

Just to be sure, let's briefly expound these conditions for spiritual cleansing. Then we'll move to some exciting facts.

1. You must believe the Scriptures that teach that Jesus, and only he, can remove your sin. (He alone can pay sin's penalty because he alone has no sins of his own for which he must suffer.)

2. Once you put your faith in God, trusting that he is infinitely wise and good and always has your best interest at heart, [more] the only logical thing is to resolve to follow his leading on every matter, regardless of how scary and costly it may sometimes seem. This is simply a decision. A state of mind. It means that despite some sins still seeming attractive, you decide that God's way is best and sign over to him control of your life. It means refusing to enjoy the ?benefits' of past sin. You will repay money you have stolen, not let people to continue believing a lie you have told, and so on. And it means shunning the hypocrisy of wanting God's forgiveness while refusing to forgive someone else.

Sin's full penalty is death, and the sinless Son of God died for you. Why punish yourself? He's already taken your punishment! Are you morally bankrupt? No way! Paid in full is stamped over your every account. By joining yourself to Jesus, a divine exchange takes place in which Jesus takes your sins upon himself (that's what killed him) and his perfection becomes yours. The holiness of Jesus floods your entire being, flushing out every trace of sin. That makes you spotlessly pure and perfect in God's eyes. Almighty God can embrace you and delight in you as intimately as he does his own eternal, sinless Son. Every whiff of sin is obliterated because Jesus died for your every sin. This central spiritual truth is expounded over and over in Bible. Scripture repeatedly promises this to you, but no where does it say you will feel that it has happened. The whole of Christianity is about choosing to believe spiritual reality instead of your inner feelings.

It is worth prayerfully studying, and even memorizing, the Scriptures listed in the above link, because this is a crucial area of spiritual attack. Just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and he overcame by believing and quoting the Scriptures, so you will be tempted over this matter and you can overcome by clinging to the dependable Word of God. Satan will disguise the true nature of the temptation, but it is actually a temptation to believe God is a liar. The Deceiver is trying to fool you into believing that God lied when he said that all your sins are forgiven, when Jesus said that all that come to him he will not cast out, etc. Don't blacken God's name by entertaining such a thought.

No one can be any more guilty than the nicest person

No matter how horrendously evil you might have been, by God's standards, you are no more guilty than anyone else. We were all dead in our sins, says Scripture. You can't get any deader, than dead! Without exception we were all a total write-off.

Relative to each other, some of us seem fairly innocent and some seem very guilty. But this is by our sinful standards. It's like someone who has murdered twenty people feeling superior to someone who killed two hundred people. Perfection is God's only standard. We get just one shot at living a perfect life and we have all blown it. We have all missed the mark. Whether we missed the mark by a millimeter or a kilometer, means nothing. We all missed, and that's all that counts.

On the other hand, when you receive divine forgiveness through Jesus, no one can be more forgiven than you. Although outside of Christ, we all stand condemned, in Christ, we each stand spotlessly pure before the Holy One.

Simple logic suggests that our spiritual enemy, whom Scripture calls the Deceiver and the Accuser, would muster all his evil cunning to distort this simple truth. If the Evil One wanted to keep people from the wonderful forgiveness that Jesus offers, he would try to convince them that they are not bad enough to need forgiveness. Or failing that, he would try persuading them that they are so bad that they cannot be forgiven. Either way, the result is the same. If he utterly lost that battle, and people became Christians, he would then try to get them to feel less sinful than others ? producing bigots, arrogant fools and hypocrites. For those resistant to this attack, he would try the opposite lie, hissing that they are too sinful to be fully blessed by God or be mightily used of God. Either way, it would render them powerless. So it's obviously to the Deceiver's advantage to make you feel that total cleansing is impossible for you. Don't let him get away with such lies.

If, after God has forgiven us, we won't forgive ourselves, we are implying we have a higher sense of justice than the Holy One. Anyone having the impertinence to make such an accusation is on dangerous ground. We are also implying that Jesus is inadequate - that he didn't suffer enough for our sins, or that his sinlessness cannot swallow up our sinfulness. There is no shame in a forgiven person feeling guilty. That is simply the Deceiver at work. For a forgiven person to believe he or she is guilty, however, is a concern.

Enjoy!

Some dear people are so aware of the seriousness of sin that they don't feel it's right that God should let them off scot-free and so they try to punish themselves! The most common self-imposed punishment is to deliberately feel miserable and deny oneself certain legitimate pleasures for a period of time. (This generally includes not allowing themselves the right to enjoy their relationship with God.)

On the surface, it seems a noble thing to punish oneself for sin and it indicates a strong desire to please God. However, it is important to realize that your life is not your own (1 Corinthians 6:19). You're God's child (John 1:12) and you belong to him. The way a parent disciplines his child is solely the parent's concern. Just as it would be wrong for you to interfere and punish someone else's child, so it's wrong for you to play God and try to punish yourself for your own failings.

Some people even punish themselves in the vain hope that it may help to secure their Lord's approval. But this only insults Jesus by implying that his death wasn't sufficient to gain your full forgiveness. Furthermore, believing you can help gain the Lord's approval by punishing yourself, puts yourself in a spiritually dangerous situation. It is vital to your forgiveness that you place your complete faith in Jesus alone. Only Jesus is able to obtain God's approval of you, and so you must place no faith in your own futile attempts to please God.

Unforgiven sin separates us from our Holy God (Isaiah 59:1-2). The sooner this rift is healed, the better. So if you happen to sin, return to God straight away, sincerely ask his forgiveness and trust him for the strength to overcome that sin, so that you will not commit it again. Once God has forgiven you, you are obligated to forgive yourself, because you should have God's attitude towards all things. To refuse to forgive ourselves is to imply we have holier standards than God!

Exciting facts

Let's explore some of the many wonderful word pictures the Bible uses to describe forgiveness. It could prove the most thrilling experience of your life.

Some of these word pictures are from the Old Testament, penned because in God's sight Christ was ?slain before the foundation of the earth' (Revelation 13:8). They were written under the inspiration of Almighty God, who knew how all sin, throughout all human history, would be finally dealt with by his eternal Son.

our sins have been removed / taken away [Scriptures]

If you had a limb surgically removed you might still suffer pain that seems to come from the missing limb. Phantom limb pain is the medical term. You could remember having that limb, but it is gone forever. It could still cause you pain, and yet it is no longer a part of you.

You can also remember your sins. Their presence can seem so real as to actually cause you pain. But despite what you feel, those sins are no longer part of you. They are gone forever. This is an important concept to grasp. Let it soak into the deepest part of you by taking time out to think about it.

In contrast to the removal of a limb, Jesus' removal of your sin does not leave you crippled. On the contrary, it heals you, like the removal of a tumor.

If you had a cancerous tumor, you would be alarmed. But if a surgeon said it had all been removed, you could have peace. You could not personally verify that every trace of cancer had been removed. You would have to take the surgeon's word. Your sins, more deadly than a tumor, have all been removed. The only way you can know this for sure is to take your Savior's word, and that makes it not just more certain than any surgeon's word, but more certain than anything in the universe. Jesus' word has more authority than that of any other being in any world. It is his word that spoke the galaxies into existence. He is truth. He, like no other, is utterly trustworthy. If he says your sins are removed, they are removed!

Your sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west

(Psalm 103:12)

To the Hebrew mind, you could travel east forever and never touch west. You were once in your sin. It was once part of you. But now, God has placed an infinite distance between you and your sins. The memory might still be with you, but the sin itself is no where to be found.

. . . search will be made for Israel's guilt,
but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive . . .(Jeremiah 50:20)

Your sins have been thrown into the depths of the sea

(Micah 7:18-19)

Almighty God trampled your sins under his feet, thus destroying them, then banished them forever by hurling them into the ocean depths. The Israelites' technology was such that anything below a few meters of water was utterly inaccessible. Anything dropped into the ocean depths was lost forever. No one would ever see it again. That's like what has happened to your sin. It's gone forever.

The Holy Lord has given his word to never remember your sins [Scriptures]

You no longer need try to justify your past, or apportion blame, because it is totally erased from heaven's data banks.

Retaining the blessing

The screams of a tormented conscience can be transformed into contented sighs. I've prepared more for you to ensure this becomes your experience. If your troubled mind is already so soothed that you feel no inclination to read further, that's wonderful. I beg you, however, to copy or print off this page and those listed below, in readiness for when the attack resumes.

The Evil One does not give up easily. No matter how much you feel the matter has been resolved, I assure you, the truths you have just read will gradually fade from your mind and a new round will commence in the fight for your spiritual peace and enjoyment of God.

I also suggest having in readiness many Scriptures on this subject. Mark them in your Bible. You might choose a chain reference system whereby you write next to one verse the Scripture reference to another related verse and keep adding cross references until you are back to the first one. That way, once you find one verse you can find your way to all the rest. I also suggest writing the references in the back of your Bible, displaying some on your wall, and also memorizing some.

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Buddhism and Christianity 2

III. Suffering

A. Buddhist Teaching

The Buddhist teaching regarding suffering is based on the "Four truths":

1. Suffering is an essential part of life. Troubles are basic and inherent to life.

2. The cause of suffering is human desire.

Man suffers because of his desire for personal enjoyment and possessions, but especially because of the desire to continue to exist as an individual, separate and distinct from others. The highest destiny of man, according to many Buddhists, is to cease existence as a separate and distinct individual, and enter the state of Nirvana. The earthly life is an illusion, but due to ignorance man continues to desire to exist. This desire causes rebirth to other lives and since life involves suffering, we continue to suffer.

3. The solution to suffering is to eliminate earthly desires, especially the desire to exist as an individual.

4. The steps to defeat these desires are the "Eightfold Path" (see point IV below).

B. The Bible Teaching about Suffering

It is true that suffering is a part of life. (Job 5:7) "But man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward."

This basically agrees with the first "truth" of Buddhism.

Suffering exists as the consequences of man's sin or as a temptation to sin.

(1 Peter 2:19-22) Jesus suffered, though he was guilty of no sin. We should suffer in the same way.

1 Peter 4:14-16, Some suffering is the result of our evil doing, but instead we may suffer because others do some evil to us. So not all suffering is the result of our own sins. Sometimes we suffer because others sin.

Hence, suffering may or may not be the result or our own wrong desires.

Buddhism teaches us to eliminate all natural desires. The Bible says that every natural desire has a good and proper way to be fulfilled.

The proper goal of man is, not to eliminate all desires from his life, but to know God's will and control the desires accordingly.

The way to overcome suffering is, not to strive to defeat it yourself, but to trust in God and serve Him.

Romans 8:16-18 - If we suffer with Christ we receive a reward far greater than the suffering. [James 1:12; 2 Corinthians 4:16f; Matthew 5:10ff]

Buddhism does not have a solution to suffering. Only the Bible provides a true solution.

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IV. Achieving the Goal of Life

A. Buddhist Teaching

Conservative Buddhists follow the "Eightfold Path"

This is a way of life consisting of 8 steps in which one disciplines himself till all earthly desires are eliminated. The idea is to avoid two extremes: avoid indulging in luxury and pleasures, but also avoid self-torture or depriving oneself of necessities.

The eight steps are: right views, aspirations, speech, conduct, mode of livelihood, effort, awareness, and concentration. Great self-control is needed to develop these to necessary perfection.

This process depends on human effort without divine aid (remember, conservative Buddhism has nothing to do with God).

Liberal Buddhists teach that there are many different methods to accomplish the purpose of life.

The leading concept of realizing perfection among liberal Buddhists involve Bodhisattvas. These are people who earn perfection (as above), but postpone Nirvana in order to provide perfection for others. Other Buddhists, at lower stages of perfection, can obtain Nirvana by appealing to their favorite Bodishattva - honoring, praying, repeating his name. Thus his merit is transferred to them. This is much easier than the conservative view, for not all must earn perfection.

B. The Bible Teaching

Man cannot save himself without God.

Jesus is the Savior.

Liberal Buddhism says some men can save other men. The Bible says no man can save himself, nor can anyone else save him except Jesus.

Romans 3:23 , All men have sinned. How can another man who sinned die to pay the penalty for my sins? He deserves to die for his own sins. Jesus was the Divine Son of God who died for our sins though He was sinless (1 Peter 2:21-24).

It is not true that some must be perfect to be saved but others can be saved on lesser conditions. All must be saved by accepting the same conditions.

Acts 10:34,35, God is no respecter of persons; in every nation, he who fears God and works righteousness will be acceptable.

Conclusion

Buddhism worships either no god or else false gods. Many Buddhists believe that man must achieve the solution to his own problems over a period of many lives by human effort.

The gospel provides the only true way to worship the only true God. It provides a way for man to be forgiven by the death of the Son of God who paid the penalty for our sins. To receive the benefit, we must trust Jesus and obey Him in this life. Then we have the hope of eternal life.

Buddhism and Christianity 1

Tolerance is something we wouldn't hold to when considering a medical question. If someone with questionable qualifications were giving medicine to our child, surely we wouldn't stand back and ignore it on the basis of tolerance. Why then should we ignore dangers, inaccuracies, etc. when it comes to the well-being of the soul? Taking a critical stance is not always wrong. The Bible is not silent when it comes to speaking out against false teachings.

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The History of Buddhism

Buddhism is similar on a number of points to Hinduism. Buddhism began in India in about the 6th century B.C., and from there it spread throughout Asia. Today it is found mainly in Japan, China, and the Far East.

The system was begun by Gautama Buddha (the title "Buddha" means "one who is enlightened"). He was born about 563 B.C., and raised in a very wealthy family where he was protected from problems and suffering. Later he was exposed to suffering and became concerned with the cause of it. At age 29 he left his wife and son to seek a solution.

He tried and rejected both Hinduism and extreme self-deprival (asceticism). After 6 years of seeking, he arrived at the system that became Buddhism. He established an order of monks and one of nuns devoted to his plan of overcoming suffering, then he spent the rest of his life as a wandering religious teacher.

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Major divisions of Buddhism

Buddhists have tried to adapt their religion to the views of people converted from other religions. The result was that people could believe almost anything and be Buddhist. The differences within Buddhism can be likened, not to the differences between Catholics and Protestants, but to those between Christians, Jews, and Moslems. These vast differences make it extremely difficult to characterize Buddhism in general. No matter how you attempt to describe Buddhism, many Buddhists will object because they believe some different variation of Buddhism. [WR 169]

We will examine two major branches of Buddhism:

* Theravada is the older, conservative wing which follows the original teachings of Gautama. These Buddhists are found mainly in Southern Asia - Thailand, Burma, etc.

* Mahayana is the newer, liberal wing of Buddhism. Those of this view refer to conservatives as the "little vehicle" and themselves as the "great vehicle" because they believe their views are more practical for most people. They are found mainly in central and northern Asia - Japan, China, Korea, etc.

We will attempt to describe some concepts often accepted in Buddhism, but please remember that there are vast variations within Buddhism. The material here presented is based on the Encyclopedia Britannica .

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I. God

A. Buddhist Teaching about God

The Conservative View : Gautama taught nothing about God. He refused even to deny or affirm God's existence. He definitely denied that he himself was divine.Instead his teachings were designed to obtain relief from suffering by means of human effort alone. Original and conservative Buddhism involves neither faith nor worship, neither prayer nor praise nor forgiveness of sins. In that sense, conservative Buddhism is not really a religion but a moral philosophy designed to overcome suffering.

The Liberal View : Liberal Buddhists do accept existence of Deity, an absolute Supreme Being or power. In fact they deify Gautama Buddha as divine, even though he himself denied it!. Prayers and worship are offered to Buddhas, including use of images.

B. The Bible Teaching.

Romans 1:20 - "Though God is invisible, His power and divinity can be seen through the things that are made."

The Conservative View says, "There is no God who created the world and controls man's destiny. Man is his own master. The way is one of self-effort, free from prayer and superstition" .

Well This reminds me with scripture when God said "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2: 13).

Furthermore, man cannot be divine and cannot become God.

Ezekiel 28:2,6-10 - God brings a curse on any man who claims to be God.

Conservative Buddhism contradicts the Bible evidence that God exists and that the purpose of religion is to please God. Liberal Buddhism contradicts the Bible teaching that there is one God and that man is not divine.

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II. The Destiny of Man

A. Buddhist Teaching about God

Rebirth (reincarnation)

Regarding the spirit of man, conservatives believe man has no spirit or inner part that lives after death. Only the consequences of past deeds (karma) lives from life to life. Liberals believe man has a spirit that continues from life to life. Many Buddhists believe that, when a man dies, he will return to live as another human on earth. The cycle of birth and rebirth continues indefinitely until one is "released."

Karma (action)

Everything (good or bad) that happens to a man is the result of his conduct in previous lives. What happens in future lives is determined by his actions now. Nothing is really a result of a person's environment, the acts of others, or the work of God. All is payment for what the person himself did in the past.

Nirvana (release)

Conservative Buddhists believe that the ultimate goal of man is to be released from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. This is a state of rest without continuation of earthly desires. Whether or not this state is conscious is not defined. They deny annihilation, but they also deny existence as individuals distinct from others. Liberal Buddhists do believe in a concept of conscious happiness.

B. The Bible Teaching.

Rebirth (reincarnation)

Man lives and dies (physically) only once. In Hebrews 9:27 "It is appointed to man once to die."

"and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it."[Ecclesiastes 12:7]. Man lives one life then dies. At Jesus' return, the spirit is reunited with the body and man is judged for that one life. There is no other life on earth and no other chance to please God after this life.

Karma (action)

I'll start by really explaining what karma is defined as. When you really look at it, karma is just about cause and effect. If you do good things, good things will happen to you. If you do bad things, bad things will happen to you. When you apply this to the idea of reincarnation (the origin of the idea of karma), then a person that leads a good life will be reincarnated into a higher state of being, while a person that leads a bad life will be reincarnated into a lower state of being. The way you live your life causes you to either be rewarded or punished.

Whether or not you attribute karma to reincarnation, the idea of "what goes around comes around" is not at all compatible with Christianity. Christianity teaches that we all have done bad things, and we all deserve punishment. We can't atone for our misdeeds by trying to do good deeds. Christianity believes in grace, not karma. They are two completely contradictory ideas, and you cannot logically believe in both. Karma says you get the reward or punishment that you deserve. Grace says you get the reward even if you deserve the punishment.

"The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair." -Be My Escape by Relient K

If we always reap what we sow, the Bible would clearly confirm this. To the contrary; let's look at just a few passages of scripture that contradict karmic philosophy:

Jeremiah 12:13: "They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns, they have strained themselves to no profit."

Psalm 126:5: "Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting."

Galatians 6:7: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

In contrary to karmic philosophy, we won't necessarily reap what we sow! John 4:38 states, "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored [sown]; others have labored and you have entered into their labor."

And 1 Corinthians 3:7 states, "So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth."

As we can see, believers who think that karma is a Christian concept are mistaken (missing the mark). Nothing we think, say or do determines a karmic cycle, for the Bible tells us that our "righteous works" are as filthy rags to the Lord (Isaiah 64:6), and that our righteousness is only in Jesus Christ, our Savior (2 Corinthians 5:21)!

Whilst on the cross, Our Lord promised the good thief he would be with him in paradise that very day. Under karmic law, a thief of his ilk would have necessitated hundreds of life times to remove his own karma. Our Lord carries this burden for each of us. If reincarnation were a reality, perhaps some might like to spend hundreds of lifetimes on this very sad world to be released - but why would they?

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To be Continued "Buddhism and Christianity 2"