恩典 vs. 业力：救赎的根本区别

核心论证 Core Argument

佛教的因果轮回说面临一个根本的哲学难题：如果没有持续存在的"自我"（无我），那是谁在承受业力的果报？是谁从一世轮转到下一世？传统比喻——如蜡烛火焰从一根蜡烛传到另一根——并不能真正解释道德责任的传递：新蜡烛的火焰为什么要为旧蜡烛的"行为"负责？ 基督教的替代方案有清晰的哲学基础：有一位公义的上帝作为道德的终极标准和审判者。人有真实的灵魂和持续的人格同一性，因此可以为自己的行为承担真实的道德责任。罪的刑罚不是无尽的轮回，而是与上帝永远的隔绝——但上帝在基督里为我们承担了这个刑罚。 轮回的另一个问题是：它实际上使善恶变得无意义。如果一个人受苦是因为前世的业，那帮助他就是干预他的业力清偿——这就是为什么印度教和佛教文化中有时会出现对苦难者冷漠的态度。基督教则教导每个人按上帝形象被造，有固有的尊严和价值，帮助受苦者是上帝的明确命令。 此外，轮回系统没有起点也没有终极公义：业力只是机械的因果链，背后没有位格、没有意图、没有怜悯。但人类对公义的渴望不仅是要因果报应，更是要一位理解我们、关心我们的公义审判者。

Buddhism's karma-samsara faces a fundamental philosophical problem: if no enduring 'self' exists (anatta), who bears karmic consequences? Who transmigrates between lives? Traditional metaphors — like a candle flame passing between candles — cannot truly explain moral responsibility transfer: why should the new flame be responsible for the old candle's 'actions'? Christianity's alternative has clear philosophical grounding: a just God as the ultimate moral standard and judge. Humans have real souls and enduring personal identity, enabling genuine moral responsibility. Sin's penalty isn't endless reincarnation but eternal separation from God — yet God in Christ bore this penalty for us. Another problem: karma effectively renders good and evil meaningless. If someone suffers from past-life karma, helping them interferes with their karmic repayment — explaining occasional indifference to suffering in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Christianity teaches every person is made in God's image with inherent dignity, and helping the suffering is God's explicit command. Furthermore, samsara has no beginning and no ultimate justice: karma is merely a mechanical causal chain with no personhood, intention, or mercy behind it. But human longing for justice wants more than causal retribution — it wants a just Judge who understands and cares for us.