of unexpected situation is famously seen in “The Book of Job” from the jewish bible when Job loses his wealth, assets, and family and is plagued with a skin disease, seemingly for no reason. This situation of suffering that Job who is a “blameless and upright man” (Job 1:8) occurs due to an Adversary presenting God with the notion that Job is righteous, innocent, and blessed merely because he fears God, that if his prosperous life were taken away, he would lose faith and trust in God. The Adversary’s…
God allows us to suffer. Looking back on scripture is how we get the answer to these difficult questions. Through the book of Job, we can begin to form an answer to the question of why we suffer still. What is being discussed by recounting the story of Job? In other words, what is the point of the book of Job? The theological message behind the book of Job is to show us why we suffer. Job 1:1b says “He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.” Job is…
In the Book of Job a great quarrel or debate between Job and his three friends, liphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. This debate only occurs after Job’s outburst in which he cursed the day of his birth and began wondering why those who long for death continue to live. Following his cries, Job’s friends offer their though that ultimately lead Job in the wrong direction. Each friend of Job’s offers a reason to Job’s suffering. For example, Eliphaz justifies his…
The Book of Job has often been seen as an explanation of why good people suffer. After all, it is very clear that Job is not being punished for something that he did wrong, as seen when even an omniscient God can call him blameless and upright (Job 1.8). Yet, his life still falls apart around him. However, there is a very interesting character involved that may seem surprising initially to the readers. Satan, an angel many associate with the Devil, is present in Heaven and even has a…
Job understands/presents the problem of human knowledge about God as humans are incapable of actually understanding God in his full omniscience. Throughout the book of Job, the man Job continually asks God to meet with him in trial-esque setting. Job declares God unjust in His treatment towards him, and he wants to know why God has decided to punish him. In Job’s eyes he has done nothing to deserve this punishment. Eventually, God grants Job this “trial,” and the following quote is an excerpt…
The above passages from “Hecuba” and The Book of Job exhibit moments of suffering induced by the forces of beings in positions of power and influence. In such suffering Job and Hecuba are plagued by grief and loss of nearly all that was significant to them, save for their own lives. Of course, Hecuba and Job beg the question of “why”; why are they enduring such grief and suffering despite being relatively ‘good’ in a moral sense. The answer is never clear, if such an answer exists for these…
Tarell El Masri Dr. Greenberg Religion 125 Theodicy and The Book of Job The book of Job is one of the most well-known and controversial of the books of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible, believed to be written between the 7th and 4th centuries BCE. The story not only questioned the conventional wisdom of the time, but provides the framework for addressing the issues of theodicy and man’s attempts to rectify the intrinsic good/omnipotent nature of god with their suffering. The story of Job shows that…
It was another moment of transition for Job in his constantly dynamic thinking, only to be interrupted by Bildad who failed even more miserably than before to make a meaningful contribution. Job pounced on Bildad’s brief allusion to God’s peace-making presence in the heavens (25:2). After a sarcastic jab about how helpful Bildad’s counsel was, Job unleashed a vibrant description of what God actually does in those heavenly realms. Some of his discourse described the visible heavenly realms – the…
expressing his anger at Job as well as the friends for not doing justice to the difficult issues and adjudicating some of the fine points of the arguments. He also set the stage for the appearance and voice of the LORD. Then the LORD Answered Job (chs 38-41) Finally – the LORD responded. Perhaps it would be better to say the LORD appeared, majestic and overpowering with His questions about Job’s own lack of power and knowledge. Job’s plight was not at all in the script of God’s remarkable…
The book of job portrays a lesson to us about how, as claimed by Hebrew culture, we ought to react in the face of life’s sufferings. Job is a prosperous man whom lives in the land called UZ with his enormous family. He is a blameless and upright man, who never commits evil and does very well in avoiding it. Things start turning south for Job and his family when the Adversary, one day, appears before God and argues, that Job is only Loyal to him because of the blessings God has provided him…