The Book of Job

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The Book of Job
USE THE TEXT Tutorial 3. Choose one of the
topics below. Explore it as deeply as you can,
and be sure to use textual references and proper
citations. Draft due Dec 17. Revisions over
break. Finished paper due January 7th 2015.
    How do the  teachings of Krishna in the
Bhagavad Gita  clarify and exemplify the features
of Hinduism which Huston Smith discusses?
  Ponder the Hindu conception of self and of
soul?  What is the relationship of man to god? 
What does union with god mean in Huston Smiths
book and in the Gita?    What do you understand
by the path of renunciation? What is being
renounced? To what end? (Separately, a side bar 
Who are modern day renouncers?  What are they
renouncing?  Can you make any connections or
patterns between these various movements?
    Compare and contrast the ideas of Hinduism to
those of the Stoics, (Seneca and Epictetus).
  Action and inaction. What are the gains to be
made from acting and or by not acting? Are
contemplation and reflection more closely related
to action or inaction? What insights do the
writings of Aristotle, the Hindus provide? What
additions can you make? Consider relevant
examples from real life situations.  

• Suffering into Truth
• Oh that my words were written!
• Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
• Oh that with an iron pen and lead
• They were graven in the rock for ever!
• Job 1923

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Background

• Sumerian version, 3000-2000 B.C.E.
• Two proposed sources J (Yahwist) and P
  (Priestly).
• Comparable to Greek tragedy in poetry, age
  (likely 600-350 BCE), and structure (agon,
  hamartia, peripateia, catharsis).
• Aligned with themes of Genesis character of God,
  meaning of suffering, proper character of the
  righteous, nature of wisdom.
• Remember the audience is the same for whom
  stories were written about protecting the widow,
  orphan and alien.

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Jobs story

• Rich farmer (Job 11-5). How did he get that
  rich? What does the story tell us?
• Conversation between Satan (aka Adversary) and
  God (16-12).
• What does Job lose? Why does he not initially
  lose his wife?
• Jobs response Naked I came from my mothers
  womb, and naked I shall return the LORD gave,
  and the LORD has taken away blessed be the name
  of the LORD. Does Job express this out of
  knowledge or belief?
• Jobs wifes response Do you still hold fast to
  your integrity? Curse God, and die. Why is Jobs
  wife included in the story?

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The Consolation of Jobs friends

• Their logic man is sinful, you are a man, your
  knowledge is incomplete Gods is just, God does
  not punish without reason, God is punishing Job
  because he has sinned.
• Accuse Job of faults impatience, ignorance,
  arrogance (confidence in his own wisdom), emotion
• Why does their logic fail?

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Quotes to consider

• On human nature. Eliphaz For affliction does
  not come from the dust,/nor does trouble sprout
  from the ground/but man is born to trouble/as
  the sparks fly upward. 56-7
• On the rationality of suffering. Bildad If
  you are pure and upright,/surely then he will
  rouse himself for you/and reward you with a
  rightful habitation. 86
• On the limitations of wisdom. Job But I have
  understanding as well as you/I am not inferior
  to you./Who does not know such things as these?
  123
• On the source of human fallibility. Eliphaz
  What is man, that he can be clean?/Or he that is
  born of a woman,/that he can be righteous? 1514
• On the source of human fallibility. Job And
  even if it be true that I have erred,/my error
  remains with myself./If indeed you magnify
  yourselves against me,/and make my humiliation an
  argument against me,/know then that God has put
  me in the wrong,/and closed his net about me.
  194-6

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Additional questions

• What does the conversation between Satan and God
  reveal about their relationship?
• Why does God allow Satan to test/punish/torture
  Job? Which is the most accurate word in the
  preceding question?
• Job Teach me, and I will be silent/make me
  understand how I have erredWhy dost thou not
  pardon my transgression/and take away my
  iniquity? 624, 721
• Job Why is light given to a man whose way is
  hid,/whom God has hedged in? 323
• Is the Hebrew God responsible for everything in
  the world and therefore evil?
• Does suffering have a rational purpose and
  explanation? If not, can God be regarded as JUST?
• What is the significance of humans in the
  universe? According to Job? His friends? You?
• Why in Gods universe do the good sometimes
  suffer and the evil prosper?
• Is Divine Justice the same as human Justice?
• What is the nature of Faith? Its purpose?

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Dramatic irony (the audience knows more than the
characters about the circumstances and events of
the plot) is prevalent in this story. Where and
how does it appear? What would the story be
without it? Job is often considered an
refutation of gnosticism. Gnosis is
knowledge and gnostikos is good at knowing,
both in Greek. Do you agree that the author is
attempting to subjugate knowledge in favor of
faith or a balance between faith and knowledge?
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Final Thoughts on Job
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Contrast the two major value systems

• Hebraic
• Family-centered
• Monotheistic
• Faith-based
• Life experiences
• Motivated by piety (guilt)

• Hellenic
• Individualistic
• Polytheistic
• Rational
• Ideal/reputation
• Motivated by ego (shame)

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Humans are not the Center of it All

• The Book of Job is anti-anthropocentric.
• God describes a list of natural forces and
  creations more powerful than humans.
• Gods emphasizes Jobs (and all humanitys)
  inferiority in the face of such natural power
  (Behemoth, Leviathan, rivers, etc., saying that
  Jobs wisdom does not give those natural forces
  their power, implying Gods wisdom does.

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Job is a Woman?

• C.S. Lewis says that God is and must be masculine
  as the prime mover, the actor, and the creator,
  thus all humanity-- including Job and all of
  us--is feminized.
• Examine the story in light of this claim.

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Suffering, Evil and the Existence of God

• What is Lewis argument about suffering? Justice?
  Evil?
• Is this dualistic philosophyhumans only know to
  complain about the bad, because they know what is
  goodenough to justify the existence of God?
• Francis Bacon wrote, Prosperity is the blessing
  of the Old Testament Adversity is the blessing
  of the New which carrieth the clearer
  revelation of Gods favor. Certainly virtue
  is like precious odours, most fragreant when they
  hearts are incensed or crushed for Prosperity
  doth best discover vice, but Adversity doth best
  discover virtue (qtd. in Hone 167).