The Human Problem

Jessica Peckham

Module 6

What is the human problem that religion attempts to solve? According to Livingston the human problem is that "most human beings agree that life is not what it should be" (Livingston 211). We humans are plagued by moral guilt, failure, stress, ignorance, hostility, and failure; seeking enlightenment, forgiveness, and peace (Livingston 212). Why do we feel these things or seek forgiveness for our sins? While studying the assigned material a common theme kept springing up; fear. Within many religions fear of everything from God's wrath to the condition of our next / after life has motivated believers to live their lives a regulated way. But through fear comes respect. Another aspect of life that religion struggles to solve it that of social order and behavior. The questions of how should one behave, live their life or what to do in any circumstance can be answered by any religious tradition. Living by the ways of their father is a common theme in many religions, and holds the answers to how to behave socially.

Theodicy is defined by Livingston as "justifying the ways of God" (Livingston 235). Christianity teaches that you are indebted to God from your first breath of life. "Human life is created and therefore derivate and dependent. Human life does not have an existence in and of itself: life is a gift of God" (Livingston 217). A great example of this is The Biblical Book of Job; the story efforts to validate the ways of God to humanity. Job was a man that was "perfect and upright, and one that feared God" (Job 1:1), without getting to in depth of the story: this man was struck by misfortune from the death of his children to physical pain. Even when Job was at his lowest he still worshipped his God and did not condemn him. He stood his ground and proclaimed his innocence form sin when his friends came to see the poor man. The story ends with God coming to Job and because of his faithfulness returned his fortune. After reading the story of Job one will hopefully understand that you are who you are by the choices you make. Livingston also writes on the Book of Job, sees four theocracies suggested in Job. Suffering as the recompense for sin is the first; a "justification of suffering is to see it as a punishment for sin... this was the view that was taken by Jobs three friends" (Livingston 247 -48). Hinduism's The Ksatriya (7.18) states that "punishment alone governs all created beings, punishment watches over them while they sleep: the wise declare punishment to be the law (dharma)" Also, (7.22) the whole world is kept in order by punishment, for a guiltless man is hard to find; through fear of punishment the whole world yields enjoyments.."(Fieser & Powers 55). This theocracy is one that I believe most closely relates to fear. Without the dread of consequence the world would be in chaos. The next theocracy Livingston sees in Job is "suffering as a test and as a necessary condition of "soul making"", in Job "suffering is a divine test or trial of faith". "A theodicy of submission" is Livingston's third theodicy, "God's mysterious ways, pass that of human understanding" (Livingston 250). The fourth and final theocracy found in Job by Livingston is that of the "theodicy of protest", which puts God on trial for his decisions and demands answers for what we think are unjust actions. To justify the ways of God is to justify the ways of mankind. There is no real right or wrong, each decision made is one that must be lived with and if you as a person believes it are just, then there should be no moral guilt in your heart.

This leads to the next of the problems in which religion is attempting to solve; the who, what, when, why, and how of the afterlife. Fear is still a very large factor in this problem. "According to Buddhism, every living being exists by virtue of an individual force or energy peculiar to that being" (Livingston 223). The Buddhist goal is to achieve enlightenment, but until Nirvana is reached the fear of not attaining it is present. "Perhaps the most common religious theocracy is that which looks to the reversal of present suffering and evil in a future life beyond this Earth in Heaven or Paradise"(Livingston 236). The apprehension of living this life in order to be granted passage through the gates of Heaven is a very real motivation in many religions. Hinduism would have sided with Job's friends when they assumed sin as the reason of his misfortune, but the Hindu may have thought that his misfortunes may not have been form the actions of his present life but those of a past life (Livingston 245). The Sudra states (10.128.) "the more a (sudra) keeping himself free from envy, imitates the behavior of the virtuous, the more he gains...in this world and the next" (Fieser & Powers 56). Living a life like those of your ancestors will insure you the right to be with them in the next life. Some religions believe in the law of karma or cause