In a comparative study of karma theodicy and atonement theodicy, as developed by some Hindu and Christian theologians, this article argues that they present teleological visions where individuals become purged, purified, and perfected in and through their worldly suffering. A karma theodicy operates with the notion that there is some form of proportionality between past evil and present suffering, even if such correlations can only be traced by an enlightened sage or are known to the omniscient God. Christian mystics too seek not so much to explain suffering as to identify suffering with the agony of Christ on the cross, and they envision such suffering as part of a unitive journey where their love of Christ is purified. In these ways, both styles of theodicy use rational resources towards the goal of explanation, while reminding their adherents that the faltering intelligibility that they seek is to be seen as an integral component of their active participation in a sense of theological mystery that enfolds, and yet transcends, their finite existences.

在由一些印度教和基督教神学家发展的业力神学和赎罪神学的比较研究中，本文认为它们提出了目的论的愿景，个人在世俗的痛苦中和通过他们的世俗苦难得到净化、净化和完善。业力神义学认为过去的罪恶与现在的苦难之间存在某种形式的比例关系，即使这种相关性只能由开明的圣人追踪或为无所不知的上帝所知。基督教神秘主义者也不寻求解释苦难，而是将苦难等同于基督在十字架上的痛苦，他们将这种苦难视为他们对基督的爱得以净化的团结之旅的一部分。通过这些方式，两种神学风格都使用理性资源来实现解释的目标，同时提醒他们的追随者，他们寻求的摇摇欲坠的可理解性将被视为他们积极参与神学神秘感的一个组成部分，并且却超越了他们有限的存在。