Scripture Guideby The Faith Vault
Ask the Vault
  1. Home
  2. Questions
  3. Suffering
  4. Why do people suffer?

Suffering

Why do people suffer?

One question. Nine perspectives. Original sources.

Hand-checked editorial pageWritten and citation-checked by Anthoney Hamrick, Founder and editor, The Faith VaultLast citation review Not yet reviewed by a scholar of every tradition — see who has, and who we are looking forReport a correction

Overview

Suffering is where the traditions do some of their deepest thinking. Christianity, Islam and Judaism wrestle with suffering before a good and sovereign God; Buddhism makes it the starting point of the whole path; Hinduism and Sikhism read it through karma and divine order; the Bahá'í writings call it hidden mercy; Taoism looks at resistance to the natural way; and Shinto attends to pollution and its cleansing.

Nine perspectives

Christianity

From scripture

The Bible does not give one answer. Job refuses easy explanations; Jesus blesses those who mourn; Paul says suffering produces endurance, character and hope, and that God's grace is sufficient in weakness. Christian theology has variously understood suffering as a consequence of a fallen world, as testing, as participation in Christ's suffering, and as mystery — with the cross at the centre.

  • Job 38–42 — God answers Job from the whirlwind without explaining his suffering.
  • Romans 5:3–5 — Suffering produces endurance, character and hope.
  • 2 Corinthians 12:9 — 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.'
  • Matthew 5:4 — 'Blessed are those who mourn.'
Explore this perspective →

Islam

From scripture

The Qur'an presents hardship as a test through which the patient are known and rewarded, promises that God does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear, and assures that 'with hardship comes ease.' The prophet Job (Ayyub) is a model of patient endurance. Suffering is also understood as a means of purification and a reminder to turn toward God.

Explore this perspective →

Judaism

From scripture

Judaism holds the tension openly. The book of Job rejects the idea that suffering is always deserved; the Psalms cry out and trust; Lamentations mourns and still affirms God's mercies. The Talmud debates 'afflictions of love' and sufferings that purify, while much Jewish thought insists that the right response is protest, comfort and action alongside faith.

Explore this perspective →

Buddhism

From scripture

Suffering (dukkha) is the first of the Four Noble Truths. Its cause is craving and clinging in a world of impermanence; its cessation is possible; the Eightfold Path leads there. The Buddha's image of two arrows distinguishes unavoidable pain from the added suffering of resistance and aversion — the second arrow we shoot ourselves.

Explore this perspective →

Hinduism

From scripture

Hindu texts relate suffering to karma across lifetimes and to attachment to the changing world. The Gita counsels the wise to bear pleasure and pain with equanimity, since both come and go, and to act without attachment to results. Devotional traditions add that suffering can turn the heart toward God; Advaita sees it as arising from ignorance of one's true self.

Explore this perspective →

Sikhism

From scripture

Guru Nanak's striking line — 'suffering is the medicine, and pleasure the disease' — reflects the Sikh view that hardship turns the mind toward God while comfort breeds forgetfulness. Everything unfolds within Hukam, the divine order, and the whole world is seen as suffering when separated from the Name. Acceptance of Hukam with remembrance and service is the way through.

Explore this perspective →

Bahá'í Faith

From scripture

Bahá'u'lláh writes: 'My calamity is My providence; outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy.' Bahá'í teaching regards tests as the means by which the soul's capacities grow, much as physical exercise strengthens the body, and calls believers to respond to suffering with patience, service and trust.

Explore this perspective →

Taoism

From scripture

The Tao Te Ching locates much suffering in striving against the way things are: favour and disgrace alike disturb those who cling to self (ch. 13), and the stiff and unyielding break while the soft endures (ch. 76). The Zhuangzi's sages meet illness and loss by accepting what cannot be changed. Suffering is eased by yielding, simplicity and returning to the Tao.

Explore this perspective →

Shinto

Expressed through practice — no direct text

Shinto does not offer a theory of suffering. Misfortune is associated with kegare (pollution) and disruption of harmony, and the response is harae — purification — together with sincerity and renewed gratitude toward the kami. The Kojiki's story of Amaterasu withdrawing into the cave, and the kami working together to draw her out, is often read as a model of communal response to darkness.

Explore this perspective →

Where traditions overlap

  • None of the nine treats suffering as meaningless; each locates it within a larger order (God's purposes, karma, impermanence, the Tao, harmony).
  • Most see suffering as capable of deepening a person — through patience, wisdom or turning toward the divine.
  • Several traditions distinguish unavoidable pain from the extra suffering added by our response (Buddhism, Taoism, the Gita).

Where they differ

  • Theistic traditions ask how suffering fits with a good God; Buddhism and Taoism analyse suffering without reference to divine intention.
  • Karma-based views (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism) trace suffering across lifetimes; Abrahamic views focus on this life, testing and the fall.
  • Shinto treats misfortune as pollution to be cleansed rather than a problem to be explained.

Sources

TraditionPassageSummary
ChristianityJob 38–42
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
God answers Job from the whirlwind without explaining his suffering.
ChristianityRomans 5:3–5
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
Suffering produces endurance, character and hope.
Christianity2 Corinthians 12:9
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.'
ChristianityMatthew 5:4
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
'Blessed are those who mourn.'
IslamQur'an 2:155–157
Quran.com
'We will surely test you... give good tidings to the patient.'
IslamQur'an 94:5–6
Quran.com
'Indeed, with hardship will be ease.'
IslamQur'an 2:286
Quran.com
God does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear.
IslamQur'an 21:83–84
Quran.com
Job's plea and God's response.
JudaismJob 1:21
Sefaria
'The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away.'
JudaismPsalm 34:18
Sefaria
God is close to the broken-hearted.
JudaismLamentations 3:22–23
Sefaria
God's mercies are renewed every morning.
JudaismTalmud, Berakhot 5a
Sefaria
Rabbinic discussion of suffering and 'afflictions of love'.
BuddhismDhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11)
SuttaCentral, Sujato
The Four Noble Truths.
BuddhismSallatha Sutta (SN 36.6)
SuttaCentral, Sujato
The two arrows: pain, and the suffering added to it.
BuddhismDhammapada 277–279
Access to Insight, Buddharakkhita
Impermanence, suffering and not-self.
HinduismBhagavad Gita 2:14–15
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
Pleasure and pain come and go; the wise bear them with equanimity.
HinduismBhagavad Gita 2:47
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
Act without attachment to the fruits of action.
HinduismBhagavad Gita 18:58
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
Fixing the mind on God, one crosses all obstacles.
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 469 (Asa di Var, Guru Nanak)
SikhiToTheMax
'Suffering is the medicine, and pleasure the disease.'
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 1 (Japji Sahib)
SikhiToTheMax
All happens within Hukam, the divine order.
Bahá'í FaithHidden Words, Arabic 51
Bahá'í Reference Library
'My calamity is My providence... inwardly it is light and mercy.'
Bahá'í FaithHidden Words, Arabic 50
Bahá'í Reference Library
Adversity in God's path as a means of growth.
TaoismTao Te Ching 13
ctext.org, Legge
Favour and disgrace bring anxiety; the body brings trouble.
TaoismTao Te Ching 76
ctext.org, Legge
The hard and stiff are companions of death; the soft and yielding, of life.
TaoismZhuangzi, ch. 6 'The Great and Most Honoured Master'
ctext.org, Legge
Master Yu's illness and calm acceptance.
ShintoKojiki, Book 1, Sect. XVI (Amaterasu and the heavenly rock-cave)
Sacred Texts, Chamberlain 1882
Light withdraws after violence; the kami restore it together.
ShintoEncyclopedia of Shinto — 'Kegare'
Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin
Pollution, the opposite of purity.
ShintoEncyclopedia of Shinto — 'Harae'
Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin
Purification that removes defilement.

All citations on this page were opened in the linked reference editions and compared with the summaries (last full pass September 12, 2026). Links open at the verse, paragraph or section wherever the edition supports it; otherwise at the chapter or entry. Translations vary; we link to widely used public editions so you can compare. Evidence labels on each perspective follow our editorial standards.

Frequently asked questions

Does any religion say suffering is always deserved?

No. Even karma-based traditions distinguish present actions from past conditions, and the books of Job in Judaism and Christianity explicitly reject the idea that suffering proves guilt.

What are the Four Noble Truths?

The Buddha's core teaching: suffering exists; it arises from craving; it can cease; and the Eightfold Path leads to its cessation (SN 56.11).

How do the traditions say we should respond to suffering?

Common threads are patience, compassion for others who suffer, non-attachment, purification and turning toward the divine — expressed differently in each tradition.

Go deeper

Ask the Vault your own version of this question

Answers are AI-assisted, drawn from nine traditions and linked to original sources. No account needed.

The Scripture Guide uses artificial intelligence to help organize and explain religious texts and traditions. AI-generated responses may contain errors or omissions. When accuracy is important, consult the original scripture and authoritative sources.