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I do not believe that the idea of karma is compatable with Christianity. When Joe Clark is standing up in heaven, hovering over the trapdoor, karma will not keep him safe from God's judgement. We are not really rewarded for the good we do. We are praised for the good we do. God expects us to do good things but does not punish us for things we have done wrong. Instead He forgives us and says "do better next time." God does not keep score of our sins or the good we do. Instead on judgement day He "calculates" our sins and the good we have done along with our loyalty and faith in Him to determine if we are worthy of heaven. Jon, age 15

The idea of Karma is incompatable with Christianity. Unfortunately for the detective, his manipulations are useless without the basis of a belief in Christ as the Son of God who died and was raised again to cover our sins. That very grace that covers our sins also takes away the need to work for the love of God or entry to heaven. We've already got it as believers! Our place in heaven is assured with our salvation. There are rewards in heaven for those things we do in Christ's will, but no assurance that we will receive those rewards here. God has promised to forget those past sins we lay before Him in true repentance. Thank goodness He does not keep score. I would be done for sure at this point in the game! While His grace and mercy may seem beyond comprehension, I think it is truly awesome. Who needs Karma or manipulations with my God at the helm?! Stephanie, age 32

I don't think that the idea of Karma has much to do with Christianity. There are plenty of Christians who do good things all their lives and never get rewarded or something bad happens to them, like a death in the family. Same as with bad things. It's the decisions that you make that determine what's going to happen to you. Not the fact that you pushed someone in the lunch line when you were in kindergarten. God is forgiving and I am sure He won't hold a grudge against you and plague you with disease after disease for doing something wrong. Norma, age 15

I don't believe karma is ture. I belive that God does reward us for doing good in our lives, but doesn't punish us for doing bad. As long as we are Christian and believe in God's Son, the Bible says that we will go to heaven. It doesn't say but if you do bad things while being a Christian you can't enter through the gates. It does say to store up your treasure in heaven, not here on earth. I take this to mean, if you do something good here on earth, but are not rewarded with anything physical, then God is adding to your riches in heaven. Kimberly, age 16

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I feel like God doesn't follow the rule of Karma. However, I do feel like God rewards us when we obey Him. But if I do something bad and something bad happens then that is a result of my actions--not God’s. I am so thankful that God does not measure His love for me by my actions but that He just loves, just because. Laura, age 16

Okay, so I think that Christianity is incompatible with the idea of karma. I took a Bible class in school, and our teacher told us that the only way to get into Heaven was to accept Jesus Christ into your heart. He said that no matter how many "good deeds" you do on Earth to try to buy your way into heaven, Jesus is still the only way. I also don't think that God keeps score of the good or bad you do. Of course, He is disappointed when you disobey Him, and He is delighted when you obey, but He never loves you any less or any more than he already does. God's love for us is already at the peak. I don't believe that our "good karma" can be a safe cloud over us, because we should do good because it's what Jesus would do, not because we think it will benefit us later in life. Jordan, age 14

I think God cares about karma. But if you have bad karma and you are Christian then God wont care about it. He looks at our good karma and forgives our bad karma. Michael, age 14.

Well I would have to say that karma is awfully similar to the "reap what you sow" philosophy that states if you sow good things then that's what you'll get, and if you sow bad things well...yeah it's pretty obvious. However I do not believe that good deeds are enough to get into heaven. We can't do enough good to make up for the bad in our life, because there is no "making up" for the bad, once it's there then it's there for good. Except through Jesus Christ who is the ultimate good and who takes all of our bad and washes it away thus making us blameless before God. So I guess if we sow Jesus into our lives then we reap the benefits of that. Do we get rewarded? Oh heck yeah, but not necessarily here on earth (though sometimes it seems to work that way) our ultimate rewards are in heaven, so what we sow on earth is reaped up there. I would say it's not a stretch to use the word Karma in our Christian lives and it's definitely a good starting point for our conversations with our friends that are into eastern religions. But I think we have to be careful when using terms and ideas from other religions even when they seem so compatible with our own. Matt, age 20

The Bible definitely doesn't support the idea of karma. We are saved by admitting and embracing the fact that no amount of good can make up for our sins. We then trust Jesus to save us in spite of our inability ot save ourselves. So, no, karma cannot save. Our actions, however, do play an important role in our Christian lives. They serve as confirmation that we are truly Christians (1 John 1:6-7). They show the world the love of Jesus (Matthew 5:16). They gain us eternal rewards in heaven (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Wait! Did I just say that we are rewarded for our works? Yes, but only after we have the foundation of salvation through faith. In other words, works cannot save us, but they are absolutely vital after we are saved. Ben, age 16

While God will reward us for the good thing we do in His name, karma absolutly does NOT exist in Christianity. No matter how much good we do, works will not get us into Heaven. It’s not about how good or bad we were during our lifetime that counts, what counts is whether or not we gave our life over to Christ and aknowleged Him as our Lord and Savior. Lindsay, age 18

I don't believe it is. I believe that Christianity is not works based and karma. So works don't get you into heaven. Faith in Jesus does. According to Christianity, yes we are rewarded for good things we do. To a point we are punished. No, God forgives and forgets. Robert, age 16

I don't think that karma is compatible with Christianity. Sure, we get rewarded for doing good deeds. Some people say it adds jewels to your crown in Heaven, but the good things don't determine whether we get into Heaven. Neither do the bad things we do. Getting into Heaven depends on whether or not you've accepted Jesus Christ into your heart. He's the way the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father but through Him. He's our lifeline. I don't believe God is keeping score at all. In 1 Corinthians 13: 1-4, it talks about love and how love doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Since God loves us I don't think He'll keep a record of what we've done wrong. Then again there are consequences for our actions here on earth but God is a forgiving God. He'll convict us and when we ask He'll forgive us. Chrisitanity and karma just don't go hand in hand. Danielle, age 16

Christianity isn't about the works you do. It's about accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and living for Him. Yes, part of living for Him is doing good works, but those are out of our love for God. Not to get "good Karma." Works will not save you when you are standing in front of God on judgment day. As a Christian, we are rewarded in heaven for the good works we do for God, but again, we do those out of love. And because we love God, we obey His commands. Now for the bad things we do, or sin, we are punished. God is just. For the sins we commit, there are consequences. On judgment day, we will have to answer for the sins we committed. Thankfully, for us who are Christians, our sins are forgiven through Christ. Pretty much all the religions dealing with karma are based on works. Christianity is not based on works. It is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ. Kelsey, age 17

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In my opinion, karma is NOT compatable with Christianity. Karma, Horoscopes, palm readers, zodiaks, fortune cookies, etc. are not of God and anything that is not of God, is of satan and is evil. I just pray for Joe Clark. His karma will not save him. He will be lucky to get close to the pearly gates without salvation. Salvation comes from a relationship with Jesus NOT karma. We are rewarded for the good we do but it is for rewards in Heaven not earth. Because God is a just and faithful God, we are corrected for disobeying Him, just like a child is punished by their parents on earth for doing bad. But God does not keep score. When God forgives, he also forgets. He doesn't remember. Our sins are forgiven as far as the East is from the West. Because God is a just and loving God, He does not hold things against us. He loves us enough to allow us to make our own choices. And a choice could be to believe in Karma. I am sure the terrorist who flew his plane into a WTC tower thought he had good Karma. I am sure if he could come back, he would tell a different story as to where he really is. Dena, age 39

I believe Karma is kind of true in Christianity. According to the golden rule “do onto others as you would like them to do onto you” if we do good to others then we will have good done onto us. However, I don’t believe in Karma affecting your eternal life. I think Christianity's form of Karma is really do good because as Christians we should do good to show others Christ. Ethan, age 17

Will his karma keep him safe? No. The only way you'll go to heaven is if you have accepted Christ as your savior and have a personal relationship with Him. Yeah, God rewards us for our good works, and punishes us for what we do wrong. But I mean our parents do the same thing. I wouldn't really consider that karma. Just consequences. but then again, i don't buy in to that karma stuff. Kelsey, age 15

God is not keeping score; we are saved by grace, not by works. However, you reap what you sow! God has completely saved us from the eternal consequences of our sins if we accept Him, but He does not promise to make us immune to the consequences of our sins here on earth. So, karma may be somewhat true here on earth, as in, "what goes around comes around;" however, the concept of grace completely defies all notions of karma as an eternal principle: if we accept Jesus, we don't get what we do deserve (eternal death), and we do get what we don't deserve (eternal life with our creator)! What could be better?! Kari, age 18

No, as a matter of fact karma does not fit in with the ideals of Christianity. All of our nature, thanks to ole Adam, is contaminated. No good in it even if we think we are doing good, most of the time it ends up being for the worng reasons. The Rolling Stone guy basically summed it up probably without knowing it, thats he was trying to work his way, sneak his way into heaven. We tell ourselves, "i can make there if i do this or this, and NOT do this and this", but what we are really saying is " I, my wonderful self, which is sooo awesome and doesn't need any help from anyone or anything, can make it to paradise and be on the same level with God, without Gods help!" Sorry, wrong answer...the bad we do is bad, and sorry to say, the good we do is bad, if we do it ourselves. When we accept Christ, we die to our old selves, and live with Christ in us...now we have Christ doing the good through us, and since God is the only true "good", he is able to do good through and in us us for the right reasons, which is for his glory and honor...and by aknowledging that, and accepting his Son, thats our ticket to heaven... "not by works, but by faith". Chris, age 25

I do believe God rewards us in heaven. But not nessecarily for our "good deeds". More just for trying to live our lives to bring Glory to him. If we're living in this way we are bound to do "good things" because it brings Glory to our Father. We aren't doing it to earn any kind of points though. We do it to bring a smile to God's face and bring others to known him by showing them his love, through being a "good person", so to speak. God does not keep score, fortunately for us. He loves us unconditionally no matter how many good or bad things we do. Having good karma wont keep anyone safe. Having a relationship with the Lord and trusting and loving him, and living your life to glorify him will. anonymous

Christianity has nothing to do with Karma, good or bad. No God does not keep score once you are forgiven your sins are scatter as far as the east is from the west. If your a christian and you do bad then you will feel convicted about it until you ask forgiveness. You can not work your way into heaven, however faith without works is dead. Rose, age 51

I don't think that in any way we must earn eternity spent with God. (please keep Dana Karvey's Church Lady in mind as you read) I'm certain that some pretty sorry "sinners" -myself included - will be sharing eternity with some quality, diciplined followers of Christ, but I don't think that He makes the above statements capriciously. I do think that there is an intimacy with God that comes from obedience to Him. "Remain in My love as I remain in my Father's love... If you love Me, obey My commands." In Him. wow! Rae, age 21

Good or bad karma, either way it doesn't matter which one you have because it's not gonna get you to heaven. It's true that we are punished for the things that we do by God, but if you believe in Jesus and through him we are saved and our sins are erased with his blood. Jess

Wow. Karma. Thats a toughie. But i do not think that karma is really a part of the Christian faith. I say this based on Jeremiah 29:11. "for i know the plans i have for you..." God knows the choices we will make and he knows what will happen to us. So no, I don’t think karma really exists. Jesse, age 15

INCOMPATABLE! Once you are broken from your sin and you are forgiven God –forgets- he cannot possibly keep points, you are blessed from the moment you are born. And you should not think that because you do well that god would reward you; be faithful to him and worship him no matter what comes at you! Monica

I don’t think that karma is tied into Christianity but I do believe that we will be held accountable for our actions when we die - punishment may be extreme - and i don’t think that God keeps a score necessarily, but as Christians we should watch how we treat people and our actions because like I said earlier we can be held accountable for them, but not judged. Linda, age 52

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Hey Bryan! Good to hear from you and great question! We, especially our youth, are being faced with so many confusing ideas about God and faith. It's a good reminder that God does not keep score (we all should be greatful for that!) if we have been saved He loves us and we will not have to manipulate our way into heaven, not that we could! Remember that if one is not saved all the good works in the world won't get him into Heaven! God expects us to strive to be like Him and rejoices when we make good decesions and do good things, but still loves us when we fail! Sherri, age 43

"Kharna is really just about doing the right thing." - JD from Scrubs Does Kharma stand well with Christianity? That's similar to the question of fate and how it stands in Christianity. God says He was and is and is to come. He states that he knows what will happen. If kharma is getting rewarded for the good things and punished for the bad things, then it seems that Jesus's death would have been pointless. Because then you could earn your way into Heaven. Then you COULD be good enough to get in. But even so, the idea of kharma can be placed in everyday life. Last week, I scratched a car in the school parking lot and waited for the owner to come to the car. He never showed. And I left. The scratch wasn't that bad. Still, I worried. I had sort of done the right thing by waiting. Would I be punished or rewarded? The answer came the next day during an FCA meeting. Actually, it was after the meeting. I walked to my car and there sat the car I had scratched, its owner being someone I was walking with - a new found brother in Christ. We quickly came to a settlement - I gave him twenty bucks, he bought gas, and neither of us worried about it. I was free. I had been rewarded. Still, I was plagued with guilt that I had messed up. I was punishing myself for doing something as stupid as scratching a car in a parking lot. I felt ridiculous. I don't believe God punishes or rewards us while we're on earth. Our rewards are being built up in heaven. Or, our punishment is death. Still, God gives us knowledge if we ask for it, and doesn't let us do things we aren't ready for. That isn't reward or punishment, it's love. And that's what God does for us while we're on earth, in my opinion. He loves us. Scott, age 16

In my opinioun I think the idea of Karma is incompatible with Christianity. As humans beings we do make mistakes, a lot. But living a life with God is like a video game, it doesn't matter how many times you might for example get shot, fall off a cliff, and other stuff like that. With God if you accept him into your heart, you get a redo, a new game. You get to start off fresh and new; all the stuff you did before is erased, maybe not as quickly in the world's opinioun but in God's it starts off new. Also I do think we get rewarded for the good stuff we did, but good grades, popularity, and appearance is not what he will reward us of. It is of sharing his message and following the ten commandments. The bible does mention judgement, personally whenever I think about it, I get goosebumps. It's hard enough looking your parents straight in the eye when they tell you that you did something wrong. But thinking of God judging you on your life that you lived here on earth, it's scary to think that he knows things that maybe no one else does. I really don't think God is keeping score, it's hard to example what you think on this, because you really can't find the words. I just have a feeling that he doesn't keep score, we all mess up, were not perfect. Abbie, age 15

The Bible doesn't talk about KARMA, but there is a divine order to everything. All things were created by God, and the Bible says that everything holds together by His will, so while there isn't such a thing as KARMA, there is a divine sense of justice, right and wrong, action and reaction, act and consequence. God keeps score only as long as He remembers, and that's until we ask for forgiveness. Then He stops keeping score. After that, any score keeping is done by Satan, who wants to remind us of our past sins to keep us from being effective for God. Are we punished for bad? Sure. The Bible is full of examples where even God's people are punished for not following the rules. And heaven holds rewards for us, not just because we belong to Jesus, but also because we obey Him and walk with Him every day. Connor, age 15

I think that if God is keeping score of the good and bad things we do until we repent, then the bad thing are forgotten and the good remembered. Also, when we repent, we are supposed to turn away form the things we have done. I personally need to get better at that and some other people know that they need to work on that. So yes, Karma is compatable with Christianity. Nick, age 13

Hey! Many people at my school always use the "karma is gonna get you back" line. I don't take the karma line seriously. I do believe that people should do good things in life, but I believe that people should do good things out of the kindness of their hearts. We should be doing good things to glorify God and show him through our actions. I think if we don't have our priorities straight in life, God can take something away or put us in positions to make us realize that we need to put Him first. I don't think that God wants to punish us, but sometimes we just flat out need it! I don't really think that God keeps "score" or counts how many good things we do, but He remembers HOW we do those things and the QUALITY of our work for Him. For example, I think God will remember the times that we, with His help, restrain ourselves from talking back to our parents in a heated discussion. Or if we serve others joyfully instead of with the "oh my gosh-this-is-so-stupid-i-want-to-go-home-right-now" attitude. I don't think that karma has a significant correspondence with Christianity. Kenzie, 17

If Karma were all true, then "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The ole famous question that everyone seeks an answer to. It is easy to mix Karma into Christianity. But bad things don't just come to people as punishment. Sometimes bad things happen because you're doing something right. Maybe Satan is trying to discourage you or maybe God is allowing it so that your faith can be tested. I do believe that there are punishments for sin though. Tabby, age 21

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Karma sounds like something I eat. Karma and carmal have something in common. They are both good and bad. Carmal is good tasting. But it is bad for our health. Bad karma can be bad for our spiritual health but if it’s good karma it can one of God’s Goodies. That leads me to my next point. God doesn’t keep score. He probibly keeps track of what we do. But we do have bad karma. We're not God. That means we’re human because alians aren’t real and it also means we need to read the Bible beacuse it is one of God's goodies. Michael, age 14

The apostle Paul used the pagan idol in the Parthenon dedicated to the "Unknown God" as an opening to deliver the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people worshiping in the temple there. I think we could use the concept of Karma in this way. If a person has a real concept of good and evil at least we have something to work with. Surely the idea that they can be forgiven for their sins and not doomed to "bad karma" forever. Americans, especially, are not predisposed to belief in the "universe," but they are programmed to be open to a belief in God. As for rewards, we as Christians cannot count on rewards on this earth for the good we do. But we can count on rewards in heaven. For us doing good is its own reward. It has been my experience that God does punish the wrongs that we do if we do not repent of those wrongs. And while God will forgive us our trespasses he will most assuredly not protect us from the consequences of our own actions. Vickie, age 43

I don't believe in Karma because it’s stupid and what is the point to it? Why do people think of such a thing? Karma doesn't give you a good day and a bad day anyways. So I looked up Karma and found out what it means so in that it has nothing to do with God. God is the only one who can give use a good and bad day besides us a good or bad day with out Karma. Kathleen

I SAY IT'S INCOMPATABLE, BECAUSE KARMA IS WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING, GIVE SOMETHING, ECT. AND THEN IT COMES BACK TO YOU THE WAY YOU GAVE IT!!!!! BUT CHRISTIANITY IT WHERE EVEN THOUGH YOU GIVE YOUR ALL, YOU MIGHT NOT GET THE BEST BACK. AND THE THINGS WE DO TO GOD, HE DOESN'T DO TO US BACK!!!!! WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DO US WRONG, WE'RE NOT SUPPOST TO DO IT TO THEM BACK! anonymous

My thought on karma is it is real. You do something wrong and there are consaciusis and something is most likely to hapen to you. And if you do good then good will happen to you to. anonymous

OK, in order to give my opinion about Karma, I have to ask another question. It is my understanding that Karma works like this. An individual seeks out good Karma (acts of good works) throughout their life, so that when they are reincarnated, they will bump up in the cosmic food chain. So, someone with good Karma might actually move from, say a chicken, to a horse or from a poor person to a richer person in their next life. A person with bad Karma would conversely move down the food chain. The idea here is that each life builds on the previous life until a person obtains Nirvana, a state of perfection or completion.
Bottom line: A person "works" on making sure this life is better than the last life in whatever state I find myself in (a hefer, a snail or Donald Trump) until I "get it right" and reach Nirvana.
Now, here's what I understand about reincarnation (which is not much, and this is probably oversimplification). Those that believe in reincarnation can only give you little pieces of information about their previous lives: "I THINK or I BELIEVE that I was a peasant in my previous life" or "I was a princess in my previous life" or "I was a cockroach in my previous life". However, they can't give you any specific details about that life. They can't tell you what they did or didn't do, they can't tell you what choices they made or even how they made those choices in their previous life. They can barely tell you what they were. I've never heard a reincarnationist say "I was a cowboy named Earl and I lived in Wyoming with my wife, Esther, our fourteen children, three dogs, two hogs and 10 head of cattle." They just can't give you much information about their previous lives.
OK, so here's the million dollar question I mentioned earlier: If Nirvana is reached by a person working to get their life to a state of perfection and perfection is reached by working toward making better choices in this life than in the previous life, how does a person build on their previous life if they can't remember the choices they made from that previous life? Hmmm... Grant, age 39



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