Job and the "Mystic's Solution" to Theodicy: Philosophical Paideia and Internalized Apocalypticism in the Testament of Job (original) (raw)

A brief exposition on the notions of Human Suffering, Theodicy and Theocracy in the Book of Job

Pharos Journal of Theology, 2022

It is suggested that in the face of malevolence, such as that faced by Job, God’s omnipotence and also His benevolence can be upheld. This article thus explores the notions of human suffering, theodicy and theocracy and how they are understood in the book of Job from an Old Testament perspective. The exegesis of the Book of Job has vexed people for epochs and it grasps the depths of human despair, the anger of moral outrage, and the anguish of a felt desertion by God on the part of the protagonist. From one man’s agony it reaches out to the mystery of God, beyond all words and explanations. The Scriptures including the book of Job has several distinct ways of reconciling human suffering with the justice of God. In the end, it is only God as King and Ruler, Himself who brings justice, victory and joy to the life of the suffering man. And when all is said and done, the mystery remains that God stands as King and Ruler revealed in His hiddenness, an object of terror, adoration and love...

The Testament of Job as an Adaptation of LXX Job

Text-critical and Hermeneutical Studies in the Septuagint, J. Cook and H.-J. Stipp (eds). (Vetus Testamentum Supplement Series 157. Brill: Leiden) pp. 409-422., 2012

The book of Job has generated an impressive volume and range of retellings across a wide variety of media and genres. This is indicative of the diverse reading strategies, the precommitments and interpretative choices that readers bring to this complex text. This chapter is concerned with one particular instance of the reception of the book of Job, the pseudepigraphic Testament of Job , written somewhere in the period 1st century B.C.E. to 1st century C.E. In claiming that Testament of Job is an adaptation of LXX Job, the author argues for a familiarity with the actual text of LXX Job, and not just dependence on a generally circulated memory of the story of Job. The Testament of Job takes up the actual text of LXX Job in places and it respects the order of events in its precursor. Keywords:LXX Job; Testament of Job

From Sorrow to Submission: Overlapping Narrative in Job's Journey from 2:8 to 2:10

This dissertation investigates the tension between the two portrayals of Job in the current form of the biblical book of Job in light of narrative literary theory (ch. 1). It supports the current consensus that the two portraits of Job are best understood as belonging to two separate accounts about Job—one written primarily in prose and serving as a literary frame and the other written primarily in poetry—and confirms that the appropriate division between the two accounts is between 2:10 and 11 and between 42:9 and 10, thereby giving each account a complete literary plot structure (ch. 2). This dissertation then advances current scholarship by examining each account in isolation in order to identify its unique characterization and plot elements and by showing how many texts that appear to conflict with each other are actually consistent within their own accounts (chs. 3, 4). A close reading of texts that appear near the seams between the two accounts highlights the thematic, verbal, and characterization links that connect 2:8 with the beginning of the poetic account and 2:10 with the end of the poetic account. This dissertation then applies the insights and terminology of the Russian Formalist school of literary criticism to the book of Job in order to propose that the most coherent reading of Job emerges when the two accounts are read non-sequentially—that is, when entire poetic account is understood to overlap with 2:8-10 in the prose account (ch. 5). The proposed, overlapping reading of Job succeeds both in accounting for conflicts between the prose account—where Job responds to his calamities with instant and extraordinary piety—and the poetic account—where Job’s eventual pious response comes only after prolonged bitterness, accusations, and discontentment—and in explaining the overarching coherence of the combined accounts, which may now be understood to provide a unified perspective on the Principle of Retribution, on the Satan, on God, and on Job. Together, the two accounts reveal all that transpired to bring about Job’s transformation from bitter sorrow in 2:8 to remarkable submission to God in 2:10.

Wrestling With Job--A Text of Sacred Wisdom, Spiritual Formation, & Pastoral Care

This paper is a serious attempt to engage with the Book of Job, utilizing the specialized studies of literary, language, and historical scholars (Jewish, Christian, and secular) while remaining conscious that Job is not an academic treatise but a book of wisdom intended to be read, not as a philosophical discussion of the problem of evil and suffering, but as a help and guide for those who, faced with all the difficulties, challenges, sorrows, and joys of real daily life, are on a wisdom quest. Consequently, it also takes seriously the sages, saints and scholars in spiritual theology and history across the centuries. By "spiritual" I do not mean anything spooky, paranormal, or fantastically odd, but a life lived and transformed by an inner consciousness of the mysterious, but very real, presence of God.2 Indeed, this essay argues that as essential as facts are to the work of hermeneutics, the interpretation of Job requires not only an analytical mind, but a dioratique (insightful) soul.3 As the British philosopher Keith Ward insists, the most basic, the most elemental, question for us is whether ultimate reality is materialistic-consisting solely of matter and its biochemical processes; or, whether reality has about it those qualities we describe by such words as consciousness, intelligence, mind, or spirt.4 This paper, then, is written from the perspective of one who is unapologetically Christian, and with pastoral intent for pastors, priests, ministers, and for those seeking a word of wisdom from the Book of Job in a desperately troubled and hurting world-a word of wisdom rooted in intellectual honesty in its treatment of the text, and in the spiritual tradition of Judeo-Christian spirituality.

From Turmoil to Transcendence: The Book of Job and the Will to Wisdom

Presentation Handout: This presentation accomplishes two distinct tasks. First, it defines Frankl’s theory as a formal hermeneutic and situations the resulting logotherapy hermeneutic within the broader field of hermeneutics. Second, it tests the hermeneutic through a reading of the Biblical Book of Job. Key issues emerge through three movements in the book. The first movement addresses the existential vacuum and the rejection of reductionism, nihilism, and psychologism. The second movement addresses the dual nature of meaning; an association is revealed between Frankl’s understanding of meaning and the Jobian understanding of wisdom. The third movement involves an exploration of freedom, ultimate meaning, and self-transcendence.

An Initial Approach Towards the Development of a Biblical Theology of Job's Sufferings

Never before in the history of the Western hemisphere has it been so easy to avoid suffering as today. Advances in the medical field as well as multiple ways for distraction are increasingly alienating people from a healthy attitude towards suffering. To some extent, this also applies to Christianity. The Bible, however, testifies to suffering from cover to cover. Next to the sufferings of Christ, the book of Job is a primary example of how God works in his creation through affliction. The purpose of this work is to develop a Reformed biblical theology of Job's sufferings to affirm that Christians should not regard affliction as an alien matter. In the stories of Joseph, Naomi and the Psalms, the sufferings of Job can be recognized as a unifying yet developing theme. That also applies to the New Testament, wherein the method of typology is used to demonstrate this.

The Role of Charity in the Testament of Job

Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls: John Collins at Seventy, 2016

This study argues that in the Testament of Job the charity of Job serves as a corollary to Job’s endurance during his suffering, both of which are remarkable feats made possible by his knowledge and acceptance of the divine order within which there is a distinction between the temporary earthly reality and the eternal heavenly reality. The author of the Testament of Job uses both the endurance and charity of Job as manifestations of Job’s belief in this system, the ultimate result of which is Job’s resurrection and attainment of heavenly splendor.