Analysis Of The Book Of Job

Ranging back to the fifth century B.C., The Book of Job, is considered one of the poetic books of the Old testament of the Bible. This work has been the subject of theological discussion since the ancient times, but has also been the forefront of extensive philosophical commentary in modern times. The books depiction of a righteous man who is the subject of underserved hardship and anguish, has served as means to support the foundations of traditional morals, as well as a starting block for philosophical questions invoking the problem of evil. The Book of Job provides a possible answer to the problem of evil by asking the question of whether or not humans can possibly fathom the “why’s” of their suffering. For the purpose of this analysis, …show more content…
While God is at a divine meeting, per se, God praises the good follower Job for his piety and how he fears God and turns away from evil. Satan, hearing this praise, makes a bet with God, that if he made Job have a reason to fear him, he would curse God. God allows Satan to impact Jobs life, as long as he does not kill him. Job then experiences an extensive amount of suffering, including the loss of all of children as well as a sickly disease that causes sores all over his body. Job lashes out towards the injustice of his suffering, and is answered by each of the three friends, who castigate him for challenging God and suggest that these injustices are due to some hidden sin that Job is unaware of. Job rejects these arguments, and speaks out to God begging him for a fair hearing, and begging him to see his …show more content…
Here the reader can take away that Job was put through suffering to humble him back into his immortal role. When you question God, you betray him, and even worst when you condemn God to justify why you should not suffer. The author again provides a possibly answer to the problem of evil. That even though it may not be an ideal answer, some times the suffering that occurs is because mankind needs to be humbled. When humans loose track of their role as immortals, and how little power they have, God humbles them to remind them of the power he has and the little amount of power humans have. The chapter continues with God reminding Job of all the benefits and gifts he has provided for Job during the course of his life. The fact that God reminded him of all the good he 's done to justify why Job has no right to question God’s actions, the author once again has provided a possible answer to the problem of evil. The reasoning here would be that just as mankind is provided with joy and gifts, they must also partake in suffering if they are to receive God’s gifts. They cannot always be blessed and joyful and then praise God, they also need to learn that praising God also comes in times of suffering; cursing God in times of despair demonstrates lack of faith in God’s work and his plans, which must never be done, as God has illustrated in these chapters by questioning Job’s authority to ask