Job Vs. The Book Of Job

In addition, how can humans treat each other as though another human is just a bug that needs to be exterminated? Through the shocking stories, the reader also begins to question where God is; however, there needs to be a separation of blame. Human’s evil actions are not the responsibility of God. It must be recognized that humans have freewill to choose to do good or evil. Evil is of the world, but since God is not of the world, God is not responsible for the evil in the world.

by Thomas Warren is a product of the final chapter of his doctoral dissertation in Philosophy entitled “God and Evil: Does Judeo-Christian Theism Involve a Logical Contradiction?” (Pg. xii). The book begins with a survey of the attacks atheists launch against Christianity on the problem of evil. He includes excerpts of quotes from prominent antagonists to Christianity including; J. L. Mackie who stated in so many words that there is no rational proof for the existence of God because evil exist, David Hume who argues that the existence of a good God and existence of evil demonstrate a logical contradiction, and others from further back like Epicurus whose belief is like that of Mackie. The existence of evil and human suffering is perhaps the strongest argument atheists have brought froth to create some doubts in the minds of Christians, specifically those who are weak in knowledge because of lack of study.

Maybe… evil is where we meet God.” The book of Job is an encouraging testament to the suffering soul, but anyone who would seek out Job’s pain for himself is beyond ascetic. He is morbid, wretched, and dangerously deluded. Suffering accomplished by internal motivation bears no goodness or

McCloskey argues, “No being who was perfect could have created a world in which there was unavoidable suffering or in which his creatures would (and in fact could have been created so as not to) engage in morally evil acts, acts which very often result in injury to innocent persons.” (McCloskey, 56). The argument is based on the assumption, that for God to exist and be omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent there should be no evil since He would have the power to eliminate it. “It does not seem to be true…that a good being always eliminates evil as far as it can. What is true, perhaps, is that a good being always eliminates evil as far as it can without the loss of a greater good or the allowance of a worse evil,” (Evans ad Manis, p. 160).

Bert Ehrman's book "God's Problem" is a thought-provoking exploration of the problem of evil in the world. Ehrman asks the question of how an all-powerful and loving God can allow suffering and pain to exist in the world. The book is divided into several chapters, each examining a different aspect of the problem of evil. Ehrman begins by exploring the biblical accounts of suffering and how they have been interpreted throughout history. He then looks at various philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God in light of human suffering.

Christian doctrine fundamentally gives two reason for the human suffering: original sin and the free will of human being. It is not the plan of God that human beings should suffer, but because of free will which was given by God as a gift, made him to suffer and to perish into the eternal suffering, breaking the relationship with God. Here enters the word poena which means pain, punishment, and compensation and it denotes that if one has done something wrong, he has to undergo suffering because

God knows Job is flawless and upright, but he hands Job’s status over to Satan who wants to give Job pain and take away his all of possession to test him. Here, there is a theological confliction between the viewpoint of traditional Wisdom literatures and Job’s viewpoint. Dell focuses on theological issues that are the disinterested righteousness and the doctrine of retribution. According to Dell, “Proverbs has the view of life as a path by which the right choices lead to the right outcomes. However, Job’s experience of suffering leads him to question this assumption – again it is an ethical assumption that good is always rewarded, but it is treated in a profound theological manner in the dialogues of Job such that the problem of innocent suffering comes to the fore as the main theological theme here, and arguably of the whole book” In this assumption of Job, it is hard for readers to have certain conclusion of why God gives a virtuous man suffering, which is still arguable.

Another main idea of Christianity is the problem of evil, how it came about, and how it hurts God’s people. The Bible gives many reasons as to why God would allow evil for a greater purpose, but it does not answer every question that

Why does the innocent and/or the good person suffer? The suffering of innocent people is the foundation of religions because pain and suffering is part of the human conflict, but it is recognized in religions by blaming themselves, others, or they considered it to be the way of life. Suffering of the good person is still in effect in this world from worldly events to everyday life, but is there a answer? To find a some answers to suffering of the good person, history, religions perspectives on suffering is required. Theodicy is a branch of philosophy and attempts to solve the issue of evil with ideas of philosophy.

When a tornado destroys a town people come from all over the United States to help rebuild. When an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, relief came from multiple countries. Without evil there wouldn’t be a need to bring relief or generosity, or kindness, but we would not be challenged to be the best person we would be either. In his article “Why did God Let this Happen?”

Suffering is inevitable. Everyday people experience all sorts of suffering. Whether it be through human cruelty, emotional stress, physical pain, spiritual, illness, or death, in one way or another, humans suffer. In the end, it boils down to one question: why is there suffering in the world? If God is omnipresent (everywhere present), omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing), and wholly good, why does he not do anything about it?

This brings up the questions; “What constitutes evil or the punishment of sin?” In addition to, “What is evil exactly?”. Evil is a phenomenon experienced as a result of society’s teachings; what behavior is okay or, in a religious sense, approved by God; people experience evil when they fail to meet the conventional definition of evil. People look for justification as to why evil exists in the world and often struggle to comprehend why innocent people suffer. People desire things to be explainable and the ability to see cause and effect.

Why would such a loving God permit such evil? : This is the question that has been haunting philosophers and theologians for centuries. It seemingly does not make sense for an all-knowing, all-good, and all-powerful God to permit the evils that exist in this world. While many arguments are insufficient in explaining God’s permittance of evil, certain beliefs from those arguments may be combined to create a clearer explanation for this seemingly illogical notion. Cleaerly, God must have created evil for a specific purpose.

Suffering is a way in which the characters can find moral redemption and an improved faith in God. It is looked at as a personal experience valuable in the development of one’s self. In addition, it is through these sufferings by which the characters can let go of their egotistical desires and share with others who suffer as well. The Christian view of suffering is

Throughout life, there is a constant struggle between antagonistic items. These items could be light and dark, peace and war, or sunshine and rain. However, there are two antagonistic items that are the route of all problems throughout the world: good and evil. While good and evil are found in many aspects of life, throughout history, even from the times of Adam and Eve, these two items have been the center of Christianity. With good and evil being the base of the struggles that Christians faced throughout history, the plots of many stories were centered upon exploring those who could not overcome such struggles.