Is the God of Job Worthy of Worship?
Is there any way to consider the God portrayed in Job as a morally upright being who deserves complete devotion? Read the account yourself. I have summarized the "folktale" of Job (found in Job 1-2, 42) in my previous post. This is a tale that portrays God, Job, and the reason for human suffering very differently from the (different) composition of Job 3-42, a set of dialogues between Job and his friends and eventually God that I will discuss in my next posts. For now I'm interested in the reasons God crushes the righteous Job with suffering in the tale. The overarching view of suffering from the story is clear: sometimes suffering comes to the innocent in order to see whether their pious devotion to God is genuine and disinterested. Are people faithful only when things are going well, or are they faithful no matter what the circumstances? Obviously for this author, no matter how bad things get, God still deserves worship and praise. But serious questions can be raised about this perspective, questions raised [...]