God and Job

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how suffering is part of human existence on earth and how Christians are no exception to the rule. It looks at how when believers suffer, they appear to deny God's love and find it difficult to hold on to faith in the face of physical, emotional or spiritual turmoil. In order to understand this phenomenon in the believer's world it looks at how Gustavo Gutierrez examines suffering from the viewpoint of Job in his book "On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent". It examines how Gutierrez describes in detail the stages that Job goes through in his suffering and how Job is the ultimate example of innocent suffering. Despite being completely righteous and faithful, Job suffered because God had confidence in him.

From the Paper:

"When Job receives no help from an apparently silent God, or from his non-suffering friends, he turns to his fellow sufferers, and finds new meaning in his circumstances. The meaning that Job finds is in suffering with others. Although he has previously been kind to the poor and the marginalized, he has not known their circumstances first-hand. His experience however puts him on a new level of understanding with those who suffer alongside him. This realization is born from Job's innocence. When he finds no meaning in temporal retribution, his thoughts turn to the wicked and the reasons for their prosperity. Seeing this as proof that temporal retribution is not applicable to his case, Job finds a better reason for his suffering."

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