The Book of Job and the Paradox of Suffering

Job is my favorite book in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament. It asks important questions which we deal with on a daily basis. When I look at the news and see suffering and turmoil, I turn to Job for answers or at least clarity. – WCW

BY RABBI ADAM GREENWALD

Rabbi Harold Kushner, in his classic When Bad Things Happen to Good People, wrote that there really is only one religious question, and that is: “If God is good, then why is life so hard?” The basic religious paradox of why a loving God would construct a world so full of suffering is referred to as the problem of theodicy. No book in the Bible takes up theodicy’s challenge with greater power than the moving and enigmatic story of Job. Job is a wholly good man who loses everything – his health, his wealth, and even his family. In the face of all of that tragedy, he remains steadfast. Job’s saintly acceptance verges on extraordinary. 

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