PUSHING BACK BAD THEOLOGY
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The arguments found in the book of Job are a strong critique of many of the glib arguments that are still popular in much of Christianity today.
Interestingly, the book of Job stands as a counterbalance to the sometimes simplistic assumptions that we read in the book of Deuteronomy, for example.
There, the formula seems straightforward—if we are faithful to God, we will be blessed; if we turn away from God, curses will follow. There is truth in this formula. But it is also difficult to align with the experiences of many of God’s people throughout history.
It is difficult to fit them with the experience of Job, who we have already been told was “blameless and upright; [who] feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:2).
Deuteronomy’s explanation was the explanation of Job’s troubles repeatedly argued by his friends as they sat with him amid the ruins of his life. Zophar, the Naamathite, urged Job to repent, confess his sin, and seek God more earnestly—and then his suffering would end. With enough prayer, Zophar argued, Job would be able to overcome his fear and forget his troubles. Such arguments miss so much of the experience and nuance of faithful living in a fallen world, as well as ignoring the cosmic realities that readers of the book of Job are aware of in the argument between God and Satan. But these arguments are also of little use or comfort to those, like Job, who experience loss and suffering, with the risk of adding a sense of guilt to what they are already enduring. As Job put it, “How can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!” (Job 21:35).
