Jewish and Christian Responses to Suffering
Traditionally, Judaism and Christianity were thought to have very different understandings of suffering. This is not the case. Whilst traditional answers to do with punishment or suffering as character‐building are rejected, there is in both religions an emphasis upon human responsibility, a sharing by God in human suffering, and a call to bring good out of evil. The concept of an afterlife cannot simply be dismissed. But a sense of protest against suffering, which is strong in Judaism, remains an important moral pointer.
Keywords: afterlife, protest, punishment, sharing, suffering
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