Soteriology is the comparative study of doctrines, narratives, or beliefs concerning salvation, liberation, or ultimate human fulfillment across religious, philosophical, and metaphysical systems. It answers the questions, “What is the cause of suffering and guilt?” and “How can I escape them?”
It explores how various traditions understand the problem of the human condition, the means of deliverance or transformation, the agents involved (divine, human, or otherwise), and the goal or end state (e.g., heaven, enlightenment, union with the divine, liberation from suffering, etc.).