Ryan Czerwinski
9/27/15
The Meaning of Suffering in Comparison to the Divinity of Cosmic Connection
While Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita is clear about the cosmic connections of humanity, Yahweh in The Book of Job isn’t quite as straightforward. However, in Yahweh’s theophany, there are many implications that the most divine aspect to humanity is the connection with the rest of the universe and the life in it. While suffering is a part of life, it pales in comparison with the grand scale of life and the divine connection to it all. In both the Bhagavad-Gita and The Book of Job, this is the message delivered in the theophany speeches. The connection of all life in the Bhagavad-Gita is very clearly shown by Krishna, while the connection as
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There is no mistaking the meaning of this quote; Krishna is what connects all life together. He is the divine connection that unifies life as one. Krishna also says, “Eternal and supreme is the infinite spirit; its inner self called the inherent being; its creative force known as action, is the source of creatures’ existence.” (Gita, 8:3) This infinite spirit is the connection Krishna has with everything. The infinite spirit, and Krishna, being the source of existence mirrors how Yahweh created the world and is the source of existence for everything in it. By extension, it can be said that Yahweh is what connects life together.
Yahweh alludes to the interconnectedness of life when he says, “Seek out the proud man, subdue him, crush cruel men where they stand, hide them together in dirt, bind them in the Hidden Place.” (Job, 40:13). He is saying that everyone is together in death, however, humanity is connected in life as well. While the proud man and cruel man are presented here as opposites, when they are dead they are together as one. They aren’t just together in death, but in life as well. They share the world and affect each other, but their connection comes mainly from their life force, from Yahweh. Yahweh also says, “Just look at the River Beast that I put alongside you” (Job, 40:15). When he says this, Yahweh is saying that when he made the animals and humans, he made them sharing the world. They are all his creations, and so they are
John Hick argues in this writing that the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good Christian god is compatible with an abundance of suffering. He offers solutions to the problem of suffering which relies heavily upon a tripartite foundation. Hick divides evil into two: Moral Evil = the evil that human being cause - either to themselves or to each other. And Non-Moral Evil = the evil that is not caused by human activity - natural disasters, etc. He tries to explain that a world without pain and suffering, moral traits such as courage, patience and sympathy would not be developed.
The relationship between man and God is a long and complex journey that has evolved for centuries. This divine and omniscient being has been a center piece for peoples' lives around the world. This single being is so powerful that he is able to make the sick feel strong and the poor feel rich. One being is worshipped around the world for his divine status. But what if he isn't as superior to humans as the world thinks? In the classic biblical works of literature, The Book of Job and Genesis, a new interpretation of God is presented in a form that is human in his relationship and actions with humans.
Suffering has been described as, to undergo or to feel pain or to sustain injury or loss. When the lives of Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Job are placed one a comparative level, clearly on can see that they all suffered some loss or pain. When one examines further their loss or pain, evidently their suffering is placed on different levels as they differ in their intensity even though their suffering share some of the same characteristics. Therefore it can be argued that Gilgamesh, Enkidu and Job all suffered but the result Gilgamesh and Enkidu's sufferings were self-inflicted by a self serving quest to obtain glory, honour and immortality whereas Job's suffering was inflicted upon him by Satan with the permission God to prove a point that Job, no
His nature, however, is problematic to interpret. The God’s concepts in the book differ from the ones described in the New Testament. Here he is not charitable, merciful, and kind God, we used to know. He appears as omnipotent and even egoistic God with uncoherent speeches and deceptive appearances. At the end of the book He has a conversation not only with Job but with the whole Earth population. He requires them to comprehend the complexity of the universe, to admit their ignorance, and to appreciate the difficult work done by Him ruling the universe.
Christianity claims that 2,000 years ago God the son came to the earth to reveal the father to us and then die to save us from our sins. This claim needs to be further elaborated. God the son; Jesus Christ came to earth to remove sin from the lives of people so that he could come into the lives of those who were ready to accept him into their heart and transform them. The relationship with God is based entirely upon the relationship with Jesus.
I even I have said in my heart with the regard to the sons of mankind that the [true] God is going to select them, that they may see that they themselves are beasts. For there is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies, and they have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. All are going to one place, they have all come from dust and they are all returning to dust.
However, the same cannot be said, for the God that were portrayed in the “Book of Job.” At the beginning of the book, God was presented as Job's protector and defender; however, at the end, God appeared as the supreme being lecturing and preaching to Job with hostility and allowed Satan to wreak havoc on Job’s life causing the death of his children as well as the destruction of land just to prove a point that Job worships God despite many bad things happening to him. Although Job could not begin to understand why many unfortunate events happened to him and his family, he knew God was aware of it. He did not react, as Satan had predicted, by cursing God. Rather, Job told his wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?
Throughout history, humans have displayed beliefs in the existence of some sort of higher being. The existence of God gives an explanation of why the world is the way it is and is a reassurance for life after death. However, even believers of a deity find themselves questioning their own god, asking themselves, “If there is so much suffering in the world, how can God exist?” and this is understandable. Suffering is defined as the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. Theorists have attempted to answer this question, some arguing for the existence of God and some arguing against it, but there’s no real way to answer this question. After all, there’s no definite proof of God’s existence in the world. Two dominant arguments for the existence of
In the book of Job, the relationship between Job and God is
First, think about humans. Second, think about animals. Do they usually interact? Do animals and humans go through similar journeys? The University of Michigan is home to a jungle. It’s full of students, plants, and animals all living and growing in their own way. They are all things that are full of chaos and also order. They are all headed towards the same inevitable place that is death. Are these animals and
Human being and non-human creatures should participate together in God’s creation (Johnson). God created the world “for life together”, and “the structure of existence-in-community” represents “God’s own life in triune communion” (Migliore, 108). The Scripture proves that nonhuman creatures are company with human beings, as well as both of them cannot be separated from each other. In Genesis, God says “good” after created the each group of creatures. God says “very good” when the entire group together (Migliore, 101). The creatures are coexisting and interdependent among themselves (Migliore,
In stark contrast to God’s presence in Genesis, the character of God in Job strays from the ideal perfection of the divine. The concept of the ideal manifested in Genesis is embodied in God’s moral, reasonable, and rational behavior. In Job, on the other hand, rather than being reasonable, methodical, and creating life, God displays more human characteristics and plays the role of both creator and destroyer. The book of Job begins with God’s boastful bargain with Satan, which subsequently leads God to allow the total destruction of Job’s family and livelihood. Job is even attacked physically with “loathsome sores… from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7). In an uncharacteristically immoral decision, God gives Satan the power do
From a religious aspect, God also puts the fear of man into the animals and again animals are used to fill the needs of men (Genesis 9:1).
The concepts of suffering addressed in "The Book of Job" have no relevance to the ideas of suffering expressed in eastern religions such as Buddhism and Jainism. In fact, for Buddhists, the cause of suffering was discovered some 2,500 years ago by a prince from India named Sidhartha Gautama. This man, who was known as the Buddha, taught that suffering was caused by the craving for material things; ergo, cessation from suffering could be attained by detaching oneself from the things of this world (Ianuale). Had Job been exposed to these strictly eastern concepts of suffering, his outlook on his vicissitudes would have been quite different indeed.
The catholic four common core questions, what is our relationship to God, How does one live a life of meaning and purpose, what is our relationship with the natural world and how can we form a more just society for the common good can be answered differently. However, the great books in the Catholic Intellectual tradition answered these questions in a broad distinctive way. This essay will examine the question, what is our relationship with God, from the view point of three writers, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Pope Paul. What is our relationship with God was a better one answered by these writers. Most Christians refer a relationship with God to praying and communicating with him. As an explanation, many well-meaning Christians will explain that you can develop a personal relationship with God by “seeing Jesus. However, the great books in the Catholic Intellectual tradition such as Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness, Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain, etc. have a broader explanation of our relationship with God. They say a relationship with God is being fully human, living a meaningful life and having a relationship with the triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.