The And The Righteous Sufferer

The view of fate the book of Job expresses, though similar in that it originates from God, differs in a few important ways. In Job, situations are predetermined to occur, but the personal choices of the people involved determine the outcome of the situation. The story of Job opens with Job's fate of suffering being planned. Satan presents himself in an audience before God. God makes example of Job, and Satan rebuffs, stating that Job's constancy is only because of God's preferential treatment. Satan tells God, "But put forth thy hand now and touch all he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."(40). In response, power is given to Satan to torment Job as a test. Job's life and finally health are viciously mangled and destroyed by Satan. Though Job does not know the reasons behind his great suffering, we are told that "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."(41), and "In all this did not Job sin with his lips."(41). Self-pity creeps into Job's thoughts and words, but there is no disenchanted turn from God. Instead in Job the reader sees a turn to God for relief and

The theme of the Book of Job is the perseverance of the human spirit. Job loses everything but he does not lose his faith in God. “Job refuses to curse God” (Book). Job has not done anything to deserve this, but it is a test from God and Satan to see if Job is actually as

First of all, Job has faced a hard test by God. He faced a lot of difficulties to pass the obstacles and he did not loose his trust in God. He always knew that God will not let him suffer for long especially he is a righteous guy. The most hurtful test was when they killed his children and took his whole money and he still did not listen to his wife and curse God. He got also destroy physically by Satan and he was in a huge pain and he still refused to disloyal to God.

The Book of Job is of wisdom genre. Job was a righteous, rich man. God and Satan have a confrontation regarding Job’s faith in God. God allows Satan to test Job by taking away his family, sheep, camels, and servants. Job was passed the test. Job was tested again. This time it was his health that was taken away. Job speaks to his three friends and curses the day he was born. The four of them have a lengthy conversation as to why Job is being punished. Elihu enters the conversation and becomes somewhat angry with Job’s lack of faith in God. God speaks to Job in question form. Job repents. God speaks the three friends and advises them to sacrifice a burnt offering. Job was them made prosperous and was “given twice as much as he had before” by God.

There is one question that everyone asks but to which no one knows the answer: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The misfortunes of good people raise problems not only for those who suffer, but also for everyone who wants to believe in a just and livable world and in a fair and compassionate God. Rabbi Kushner, author of "Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People", attempts to bring light to this difficult question. In doing so he evaluates past attempts to explain suffering, offers his own approach to the justification of suffering in today's society, and makes suggestions for how one can deal with suffering and continue his or her journey into the future. This essay will examine these

     Job is a man very limited by God. As illustrated, he has only a negligible amount of agency to begin with. By the time God and Satan finish with him, he has virtually no control over his own life. The fragment of agency he does cling to is his ability to choose whether or not to curse God. No one, except himself, could prevent Job from cursing God. Yet, he refuses to curse God, even though He is responsible for his suffering.

The next interesting person of the book is Satan (“accuser” in Jewish). His name perfectly reflects his role in the book. Unlike in the New Testament, Satan is depicted as one of the angels in the heaven. He is perceived as a secretary of God, even though he is actually an advocate of the Devil. Satan is the ultimate reason of Job’s sufferings, as he was the one who challenged people faith in God and suggested Him to test a human

Why do bad things happen to good people? It is an age-old question, and one that few actually know the answer to. It is directed towards God, usually by people who have suffered hardships or lost loved ones. I chose this question because I often have to remind myself of the answer. In Puritan times, as well as in Bible times, people believed that when something bad happened to them, it’s because they sinned. However, Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

There is no simple answer to the question, why do bad things happen to good people? In my opinion, there can be several reasons, for example, I believe evil may see good people as an easy target and takes advantage to hurt them. On the other hand, is the person really a “good person” can it be that they strayed from their religion and were easily blinded by temptation of any kind and followed the rode to self-destruction therefore blaming it on evil. These are questions that can be quite difficult to respond to; however, why do bad things happen to good people, God does not want us to suffer, but in some cases people chose to hurt others and that is when evil takes place. Society choses to do bad things which can and is viewed as an evil deed. God does not create evil, it is the rode that people chose to take that makes them evil, I read in an online article Christianitytoday.com, “The all-knowing, all-powerful, all-good God allows us to suffer, just as he allows us all sorts of things, because we have the

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

The existence of God is very controversial and it is a topic that has heavily been discussed and avoided throughout the years. Proving the existence of a God is a difficult task in itself, but another question as difficult is why God allows bad things to occur. A very common question that many people have questioned themselves or heard others question is why bad things happen to good people and why good things happen to bad people? Then that leads to the question if God truly does exist why does he allow bad things and suffering to occur. The problem lies in recognizing that there is a God and that he will allow bad things like pain and suffering. This problem can be said to have two types of audiences. One

Suffering entered the world through sin. So in a way, God lets good men suffer because man sinned in the beginning of the world. Some suffering has to do with a specific sin; other suffering has to do with sin in general. Some people may want to know why something has happened to them, but they will never get the complete answer on this earth. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” This verse means that on the earth that we see the

The Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible is characterized by the misery of a faithful servant of God, and how it relates to this character's ability to praise God. Job is an unwaveringly loyal and righteous subject of God, blessed with immense wealth and a beautiful family. One day God boasts to Satan of the innate goodness of Job, to which Satan questions “does Job fear God for nothing? … you have blessed the work of his hands … but stretch out your hand, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face” (The Bible, Book of Job, 1:6-12). If Job has faced no trials and tribulations, and only experienced the bounty that

Alas, poor Job is left to ponder why such misfortunes were heaped upon him, for God never really answers this question. Moreover, throughout history, people have been pondering the very same question. Many books and essays have been written on "The Book of Job" in an attempt to try to explain the cause of suffering, but the theories that have been extracted have had primarily western theological overtones.

The big question on probably more people’s minds than we think would have to be something in the sense of why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why does evil even exist in this world? God is all powerful and all-knowing and still allows evil in the world, why? I personally have always felt that bad things happen to good people because God knows that we as human beings are resilient. God feels that we can handle more than we feel that we can. When bad things occur and we prevail and overcome then we as human beings become stronger and even more resilient than we once thought we were or thought we could be. God gives you more than you can handle in hopes that you never lose faith in Him and give to Him to assist you and be there for you in your times of need and suffering. As I write this paper though, it makes me question why I think this way and if this way of thinking is correct. I wonder where this thought process of mine came from. Was this taught to me or just something that I learned through life experiences. I am not one that believes in being closed minded and therefore I attempt to keep an open mind to other individuals points of view and thought processes. Because of this, I feel as if I am capable of understanding other points of views and able to incorporate them in my thought processes as well. This includes understanding individuals who believe that there is no God at all and that this is why