ABSTRACT
As pointed out earlier,1 there are basically two ways of introducing the idea of an ultimate (or divine) reality: either as that which guarantees salvation, that is, as the ultimate goal of everything, or as the divine creator, that is the ultimate source of everything. While Christians affirm ultimate reality in both senses, Buddhists seem to do so only in the first, denying it in the second.2 The analysis of the traditional Buddhist arguments against the existence of a divine creator has shown that the major motive behind their criticism is the defence of human freedom and responsibility within a soteriological context that encompasses the cosmic moral order of just karmic retribution, together with a non-deterministic understanding of karma which brings salvation/liberation into the reach of everyone. Laying these motives bare enables us, from a Christian perspective, to identify the truth behind the Buddhist rejection of a divine creator. It is intrinsically connected to the problem of evil.
