Job and the Problem of Suffering

Job's Wife tries to offer him advice

Time to get religious; I have been listening to a course called “Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, 3rd Edition”.  It has a very interesting lecture on Job and the Problem of Suffering, which is lecture 14.  This is a very large and in-depth course on intellectual endeavour through the ages.  I have not gone through all the lectures, since there are around 84 lectures that are around 30 minutes each.

This particular lecture is taught by Professor Philip Carey

Well going back to this lecture. I have sometimes wondered why some people worship some God even if terrible things happened to them time and time again.  What does it take to have faith in an all-powerful deity even though you cannot see them, feel them or comprehend them?  This is the concept behind the story of Job.  The story is quite famous and for those who do not know the story they can read it in the bible titled ‘The Book of Job’ found in the Old Testament.

The book of Job raised up deep fundamental questions.  What happens when bad things happen to good people? I am quite amazed that a bible or christen text actually has a story that raises questions on God or the nature of God.  The story goes that God has been boasting about Job and how Job worships God faithfully, until in the throne of God, someone challenges God to test Job’s faith by causing bad things to happen to Job.  Job’s faith will be tested to the limit.  What happens is a truly remarkable story.

The lecture breaks down the story in precise detail and goes over the questions the story raises.  The lecture brings out Job’s famous sayings such as:

Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised

I will not mention the other sayings; you will have to listen to the lecture to gain more insight.  What of the implications of the story?  The ultimate implication would be perhaps why did the holocaust happen? Why did God not protect the Jews or other followers? Such questions are not brought up in this lecture, but it does make on think about the nature of evil and how it can weaken faith.

Some have gone on to state that calamity actually strengthens our resolve to survive with the use of knowledge, some mention that evil causes man to have empathy towards others.  There are some philosophers who state that there is usually a reason for evil and that it does not have to do with religion or something that is difficult to explain, we could have natural disasters, evil within man and his society, disease and poverty, why does evil need to come from Satan or from a God who might not protect us?

Another good explanation is that God is mysterious; we could never understand God’s motivations or even comprehend the actions of God. 

When you have the time, check out the course and have a listen to the lecture.  Maybe read The Book of Job or watch some interpretations of story sometime.

I would also like to mention that the use and concept of Dust is very important in the story of Job.