Posted by Dinah on June 12, 2002, at 10:37:51
In reply to Re: God only gives us as much as we can take...., posted by Adam on June 6, 2002, at 22:15:15
I studied the story of Job in college in my ethics class. And unless you are one of the people who believe in the literal interpretation of the bible, I think it's important to understand the purpose behind the story of Job.
At that time (and still today to some people) misfortunes were seen as a sign that you had done something wrong and that God was punishing you. A wealthy person with no problems was seen as a good man upon whom God had smiled. The story of Job was meant to show that it was wrong to judge a man's worth by his circumstances. That bad things happen to good people. (And good things happen to bad people too.)
As an expression of that belief, Job works admirably. In other theological aspects, Job is almost horrifying. God basically allows the destruction of Job's life to occur as a result of a bet with the devil. At the end he "replaces" Job's children and wives and cattle, as if children can be "replaced". And when Job has the good sense to protest, God reprimands him, even though if the story is taken literally, God could almost be seen as evil (for allowing someone to be harmed because of the bet). I don't believe that view of God, and I don't believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible. Therefore I see Job as a very limited parable or metaphor or something, meant to illustrate that a man with misfortunes is not necessarily evil, and not meant to illustrate other theological principles (and poorly designed to do so).
Just my take on it, no more or less likely to be correct than anyone else's.
poster:Dinah
thread:90
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20020527/msgs/128.html