Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← Religion & Worldviews
Religion & WorldviewsHindu, Sikh and Buddhist traditions25 min★★ difficulty

Suffering: four answers worth comparing

Why is there suffering? Every worldview has to answer, and the answers reveal what each one thinks reality is like.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Explain responses to suffering, meaning and purpose across worldviews

Key learning points

  • • Buddhist and Hindu responses
  • • Christian, Jewish and Muslim responses
  • • Non-religious responses

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 16 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

responsessufferingmeaningpurposeacross

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 16 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 16

Watch first

Suffering: four answers worth comparing

An English teaching video on this topic from Illustrate to Educate. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Explain responses to suffering, meaning and purpose across worldviews

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 16

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Buddhist and Hindu responses

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 16

Learn

Buddhist and Hindu responses

Buddhist teaching starts from suffering as a fact and locates its cause in craving and attachment, with the eightfold path as the response. Hindu teaching often frames suffering within karma and dharma across many lives, with duty and devotion as the response.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 16

Learn

Christian, Jewish and Muslim responses

These traditions face the problem of evil: if God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there suffering? Common answers include free will, the idea that suffering can develop character, the value of compassion in response, and honest lament — the book of Job and many psalms protest rather than explain.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 16

Quick check

What does Buddhist teaching identify as the cause of suffering?

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Quick check

Part 6 of 16

Quick check

What is the problem of evil?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 16

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 16

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Non-religious responses

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 16

Learn

Non-religious responses

Humanists usually answer that suffering has natural causes and no cosmic purpose, and that meaning comes from reducing it: medicine, justice and kindness. This is a different kind of answer — it declines the question of why and concentrates on what to do.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 16

Quick check

How do humanists typically respond to suffering?

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Quick check

Part 11 of 16

Quick check

What makes an evaluation strong?

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 16

Worked example

Worked example: evaluating an answer

Claim: 'Free will explains all suffering.' Strength: it accounts for cruelty caused by human choice. Weakness: it does not explain an earthquake or a childhood illness, where no choice is involved. A strong evaluation names both, then reaches a judgement — the argument works for moral evil but not for natural suffering.

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 16

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 16

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Buddhist teaching starts from ____ as a fact and locates its cause in craving and attachment, with the eightfold path as the response.

Hindu teaching often frames suffering within karma and dharma ____ many lives, with duty and devotion as the response.

Humanists usually answer that suffering has natural causes and no cosmic purpose, and that ____ comes from reducing it: medicine, justice and kindness.

15

Mastery quiz

Part 15 of 16

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Suffering: four answers worth comparing

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. What does Buddhist teaching identify as the cause of suffering?

  2. 2. What is the problem of evil?

  3. 3. How do humanists typically respond to suffering?

  4. 4. What makes an evaluation strong?

16

Lesson round-up

Part 16 of 16

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

Two teachings on forgiveness

In Christian teaching, Jesus is asked how many times a person should forgive. He answers not seven times but seventy-seven — meaning forgiveness should not be counted at all. The Lord's Prayer links the two directions together: forgive us as we forgive others.

In Islamic teaching, one of the names of God is al-Ghaffar, the Ever-Forgiving. Muslims are taught that God's mercy is greater than any wrong a person can do, and that those who pardon others are closer to God than those who take revenge.

Both traditions distinguish forgiving from forgetting. A person may forgive and still expect justice, and may seek safety from someone who has harmed them.

Original paraphrases written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. What does each teaching say about how far forgiveness should go?
  2. Explain how a believer might use one of these teachings after being hurt by a friend.
  3. "Forgiving someone means letting them off." Give two views on this and say which is stronger, with reasons.

  • Reading and response

    Reading

    Read the lesson text again — especially any scripture, story or quotation — then write what it teaches and how a believer would use it.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Answer the lesson's big question as an exam answer would: a clear view, a reason, a teaching or example as evidence, and a different view weighed against yours.

    250–350 words

  • Belief in your own words

    Writing

    Explain what this belief means and give one example of how it changes what people do.

    8–10 sentences

  • Different views

    Writing

    Write two different views on this question and say which you find stronger, and why.

    2 paragraphs

  • Symbol or belief diagram

    Diagram

    Draw the symbol, place of worship or idea from this lesson with labels explaining what each part means, then photograph it.

    1 labelled drawing

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