Deconstructing Theodicy: Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Puzzle of Suffering
For centuries those who suffer have been pointed toward the Book of Job. What they find there is a God who essentially asks: What do you know? Were you there when I made the world? That isn't much of an explanation of suffering, nor was it meant to be, according to Burrell, professor of philosophy and theology at the University of Notre Dame. Rather, the Book of Job provides a corrective to the idea that if we are good God will bless, and when we sin God will punish. While Job's story doesn't explain suffering, it does demonstrate the importance of the relationship between creature and Creator. Job's unhelpful friends talk about God to Job, while Job courageously speaks directly to God instead. Remarkably, God listens to and answers Job; according to Burrell, the fact that God does so is more important than what God actually says. Burrell's review of classical commentaries on Job, contemporary philosophies of suffering (theodicy), as well as a chapter on an Islamic perspective on the Job figure (Ayyub) in the Qur'an will speak mostly to academic audiences. Clergy and pastoral counselors, however, will find material helpful to those who seek guidance in the midst of pain. (Mar.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.