Suffering, meaning and purpose across worldviews
Why is there suffering, and what makes a life meaningful? Different worldviews answer differently, and the answers are usually connected to their deeper beliefs about reality.
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Explain responses to suffering, meaning and purpose across worldviews
Key learning points
- • Why suffering is a problem
- • Religious responses
- • Non-religious responses
- • Where meaning is located
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 25 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 25
Visual introductionPicture this
Suffering, meaning and purpose across worldviews
Why is there suffering, and what makes a life meaningful? Different worldviews answer differently, and the answers are usually connected to their deeper beliefs about reality.
In a nutshell
Explain responses to suffering, meaning and purpose across worldviews
What you already know
Part 2 of 25
Before we start
What you already know
You should already know core beliefs from at least two religious traditions.
Key words
Part 3 of 25
Key words
Words you'll need today
- Theodicy
- An attempt to justify belief in God despite suffering.
- Free will
- The capacity to choose between actions.
- Dukkha
- The Buddhist concept usually translated as suffering or unsatisfactoriness.
- Humanism
- A non-religious worldview locating meaning in human life and reason.
Reset break
Part 4 of 25
Pause
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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.
Learning cycle
Part 5 of 25
Learning cycle 1 of 2
The problem of suffering
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 25
Learn
Why suffering is a problem
If a deity is all-powerful, all-knowing and wholly good, the existence of severe suffering appears inconsistent. This is the problem of evil, and it is a genuine philosophical challenge rather than a rhetorical one. How a tradition answers it reveals what it believes about God, humanity and the purpose of life.
Explore the idea
Part 7 of 25
Learn
Religious responses
Some Christian responses argue that free will makes moral evil possible, or that suffering can develop character. Jewish thought includes lament and protest as legitimate responses within faith. Islamic teaching emphasises trust in God's wisdom and the moral test of this life. Hindu and Buddhist traditions relate suffering to karma, attachment and rebirth.
Reset break
Part 8 of 25
Pause
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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.
Quick check
Part 9 of 25
Quick check
Part 10 of 25
Learning cycle
Part 11 of 25
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Finding meaning
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Reset break
Part 12 of 25
Pause
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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.
Explore the idea
Part 13 of 25
Learn
Non-religious responses
Humanists generally argue that suffering has natural causes rather than cosmic purpose, and that this makes reducing it a human responsibility. Some argue the scale of suffering counts against belief in a good God. Others hold that meaning does not require external purpose, and that relationships, work and contribution supply it.
Explore the idea
Part 14 of 25
Learn
Where meaning is located
Traditions locate purpose differently: in relationship with God, in liberation from cycles of rebirth, in obedience to covenant or law, in service to others, or in the flourishing of this one life. Comparing them fairly means asking what each is trying to explain, and judging responses by coherence rather than by whether we already agree.
Quick check
Part 15 of 25
Reset break
Part 16 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 4 of 6 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.
Quick check
Part 17 of 25
Common mix-ups
Part 18 of 25
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- People often assume all religions explain suffering the same way. Responses differ sharply between traditions.
- People often assume non-religious worldviews have no account of meaning. Many locate it in this life and in others.
Challenge round
Part 19 of 25
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
Reset break
Part 20 of 25
Pause
That's sitting 5 of 6 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.
Challenge round
Part 21 of 25
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
If a deity is all-powerful, all-knowing and wholly good, the existence of severe ____ appears inconsistent.
How a tradition answers it reveals what it believes about God, humanity and the ____ of life.
Some Christian ____ argue that free will makes moral evil possible, or that suffering can develop character.
Challenge round
Part 22 of 25
Game · Recall cards
The problem of evil questions how suffering fits with a God who is...
Card 1 of 4
Exit quiz
Part 23 of 25
Exit quiz
Show what you've learned
6 questions, marked together at the end. Nothing is timed.
1. Theodicy means...
2. Lament and protest are recognised responses within...
3. Karma relates suffering to...
4. Some argue the scale of suffering counts as evidence...
5. Meaning without external purpose is usually located in...
6. Comparing worldviews fairly means judging by...
Mastery quiz
Part 24 of 25
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Suffering, meaning and purpose across worldviews
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. The problem of evil questions how suffering fits with a God who is...
2. A free will response argues suffering follows from...
3. Dukkha is a concept from...
4. Humanists typically argue that reducing suffering is...
Lesson round-up
Part 25 of 25
Lesson round-up
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