Merriam-Webster defines Karma as, “the force generated by a person’s actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person’s next existence.” So, do Christians believe in Karma?
The Buddhist term Karma directly translates to action, work, or deed. But in the West, especially within popular culture, people are more often talking about the principle of karma. This is where present actions alter future consequences, especially as it applies to an individual’s temporal existence.
The original Buddhist or Hindu concept may have been more attached to samsara (the cycle of life and rebirth) and reincarnation. And this may have more similarities to Christianity’s concept of Judgement. But this article will focus primarily on the idea that present moral actions (positive or negative) have immediate effects within the lifetime of a person (i.e. if a person does something wrong, they have bad things coming).
The Bible doesn’t make reality out to be this simple. And many who follow the Bible are surprised to find a hard road ahead of those who do the right thing. I would actually argue that the Bible is in closer agreement with Amy Winehouse’s statement, “Love is a losing game,” than with the concept, “what goes around comes around.”
What does the Bible say about Karma?
The Bible says a lot of things that sound very close to Karma. Here are just a few examples:
“A man reaps what he sows” – Galatians 6:7
“From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things,
and the work of their hands brings them reward.” – Proverbs 12:14
“As I have observed, those who plow evil
and those who sow trouble reap it.” – Job 4:8
The Bible attaches great importance to a person’s actions, and it’s clear that each action, good or bad, has consequences. Many passages in the Proverbs come very close to the concept of Karma because they are general truths about existence. The idle often go hungry. Those who gain from violence or theft often pay dearly for their immediate rewards.
But we can read too much into the Proverbs and begin to think that these generalities are a law. The Bible is very clear that these patterns are just that: patterns. We cannot expect perfect reciprocity between each of our actions and the results of our actions. There is not a perfect ethical Law of Cause and Effect, at least not in Christianity’s vision.
What the Bible says against Karma
The Bible says many things that run counter to the Western idea of Karma:
“The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.”
– Ecclesiastes 9:11
There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
Fools are put in many high positions,
while the rich occupy the low ones.
I have seen slaves on horseback,
while princes go on foot like slaves.
– Ecclesiastes 10:5–7
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” – 2 Timothy 3:12
The Bible communicates a disconnect between right action and right consequences, at least in this life. The writer of Ecclesiastes laments this division, but the New Testament teaches an acceptance of it. The hope of the Christian is that one day, in the next life, things will be made right. The New Testament never communicates the expectation that this life will be just.
A case study
The strongest argument against a type of Christian Karma is the life of Jesus of Nazareth. When God Himself inhabited a human body, He lived as an outcast and died a painful and gruesome death. Isaiah 53:3 writes of the Messiah, who Christians assert is Jesus, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”
This is the exact negation of the idea that good action beget good results. If God, being perfect, lived a life full of suffering and pain, loneliness and isolation, it is difficult for Christians to argue that they should expect immediate good from their actions. The only good that a Christian should expect is a next life that makes sense of the present difficulties.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16–18
Christianity rejects Karma
Jesus teaches his disciples near the end of His life that they will experience hardships because of their attachment to Him, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” [John 15:18–19]
Peter tells the church to expect almost the same, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” [1 Peter 4:12–14] And he speaks extensively about the suffering that Christians should expect in chapters three and four.
Why Christians shouldn’t believe in Karma
Christians simply shouldn’t believe in Karma because the Bible simply doesn’t teach it. Christians can often become morbid when they expect punishments for mistakes that they’ve made in their past. The opposite is also true: they may become prideful and impossible to live with if they expect wealth and honor for the good things they’ve done.
The New Testament teaching is antithetical to the idea that people get what they deserve. It rather teaches that for those who have faith, even the size of a mustard seed, all is forgiven. This is not Karma, at least in the way most of us talk about it. So it’s time that we put down the concept that this life can be so simple that the good receive good and the bad receive bad. The only hope and only promise of the Bible is that after this life our actions and lives will be understood. Only in eternity will there be justice. This will be much better than a temporal reward.
Please reach out if you want to talk further through this topic. This article isn’t meant to be the definitive answer to this question but rather the beginning of a conversation.