Animal Suffering: Christianity's Hardest Problem, Vedanta's Easiest
Christian apologists concede on camera that they have no good answer to animal pain — and an agnostic philosopher has already named the criterion that any real answer must meet.
The problem of evil
Suffering as evidence against, or a puzzle within, theism.
Articles
Episodes
Reincarnation and the Problem of Animal Suffering With Akshay GuptaAkshay Gupta, with host Arjuna, argues that the Vedantic three-body doctrine — an eternal soul plus a subtle body that carries impressions across lives — dissolves the problem of animal suffering that cripples Christian soul-making theodicies, using a Michael Huemer/Graham Oppy discussion as the foil.Akshay Gupta, Graham Oppy, Michael Huemer · Lecture · 46m· Jun 2022
Graham Oppy & Howrard Resnick Debate the Problem of EvilAtheist philosopher Graham Oppy cross-examines Vaishnava theologian Howard Resnick's karma-based theodicy — that a perfect moral agent permits only the minimum suffering needed for an essential good, and karmic 'matching' means no innocent ever suffers — in an unusually cordial exchange where Oppy repeatedly strengthens his opponent's case.Graham Oppy, Hṛdayānanda dāsa Goswāmī · Debate · 1h 24m· Dec 2021
A Repsonse to @CapturingChristianity's Solution to the Problem of EvilReacting to Cameron Bertuzzi's (Capturing Christianity) admission that Christians lack a good answer to animal suffering, Arjuna and Adi Purusha Das argue that karma and reincarnation supply what skeptical theism, soul-building and eschatological 'theosis for animals' cannot: tailored, non-arbitrary, non-gratuitous suffering with unlimited chances of salvation.Adi Purusha Das · Lecture · 56m· Jul 2021
The Problem of Evil @MajestyofReason & Adi PurushaJoe Schmid (Majesty of Reason) argues that hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary animal suffering is strong Bayesian evidence for naturalism over theism, and Adi Purusha Das (Akshay Gupta, Cambridge PhD candidate) answers with a Gaudiya Vaishnava karma-reincarnation theodicy on which the goods of suffering accrue to the sufferers themselves — with Josh Wulf hosting, not Alex.Adi Purusha Das, Joe Schmid, Josh Wolfe · Debate · 1h 8m· Jun 2021
Josh Wulf vs Ben Watkins The Problem of Evil (Debate)Atheist philosopher Ben Watkins lays out axiological and deontological evidential arguments from evil against perfect-being theism, and Josh Wulf — hosting and debating at once — answers with a Bhagavad Gita theodicy in which God is the source of evil too, the world is virtual-reality play, karma settles accounts across lives, and the panentheist oneness behind it all is a move Watkins concedes is philosophy of religion's most promising.Benjamin Watkins · Debate · 2h 1m· Jun 2021
Debate The Problem of Evil - James Fodor vs Adi PurushaAtheist James Fodor argues that apparently pointless suffering is best explained by an indifferent universe, while Cambridge PhD candidate Adi Purusha Das defends a Hare Krishna theodicy of free will, karma, and reincarnation, with the debate deadlocking on whether an omnipotent God could reform souls without suffering.Adi Purusha Das, James Fodor, Josh Wolfe · Debate · 1h 53m· Feb 2021
The problem of evil Debate @Tjump vs Adi PurushaAtheist debater Tom Jump argued against Hare Krishna theology student Adi Purusha Das that a world where consent cannot be violated is demonstrably better than ours, so no all-good, all-powerful God exists; Adi Purusha countered with a three-tier Krishna theodicy in which loving relationship with God, not bare choice, is the highest good, while the host's Socratic needling exposed that Jump's consent principle ends up condemning reality itself as evil.Adi Purusha Das, Josh Wolfe, Kane B · Debate · 2h 1m· Dec 2020- The problem of evil Debate @Tjump vs Adi PurushaAtheist debater Tom Jump argued against Hare Krishna theology student Adi Purusha Das that a world where consent cannot be violated is demonstrably better than ours, so no all-good, all-powerful God exists; Adi Purusha countered with a three-tier Krishna theodicy in which loving relationship with God, not bare choice, is the highest good, while the host's Socratic needling exposed that Jump's consent principle ends up condemning reality itself as evil.Adi Purusha Das, Josh Wolfe, Kane B · Debate · 2h 1m· Dec 2020
The Problem of Evil Christian vs Hare Krishna perspectiveIn the first Seth Hart vs Adi Purusha debate, hosted by Arjuna, an Irenaean Christian theodicy of grown virtue, angelic falls and monergistic grace meets the Gaudiya Vaishnava theodicy of curious souls, pedagogical karma and guaranteed return — and the two systems keep converging until the sharpest objections on either side are about the residue that remains.Adi Purusha Das, Seth Hart · Lecture · 2h 21m· Jun 2020