Analysis Of The Book Of Job

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The God speeches at the end of the book of Job are the epitome of an anticlimax. The entirety of the Book of Job is full of absolute suffering, with God being absent throughout. One would expect the end of the book to present God as a resolution to the turmoil. Although God presents himself at the end of the book, he fails to answer any of Job’s questions.
Job was likely overwhelmed by God’s speeches, and submitted before God’s creations, but there is little evidence in the book that he is content with God’s response. As suggested by Rudolf Otto in The Idea of the Holy, the religious experience transcends human reasoning. As soon as Job “saw” God, his questions were invalidated. To Otto, God’s speeches in the whirlwind are not only a “real theodicy,” but are also able to convict Job to “still every inward doubt that assailed his soul.” Renouncing logical reasoning, Otto claims that God’s speeches deliver a non-rational “theodicy of their own,” with Job being totally pleased. …show more content…

For many, it is more obvious to acknowledge a God who is limited in power, as opposed to a God that allows innocent and wicked suffering. In stark distinction, God in the Book of Job is the opposite. He is not limited in power, he is omnipotent, but not virtuous or righteous. The God in the Book of Job is followed not out of love, but out of fear. How can a God like this be adored? The only conclusion to validate the way God treats Job is that Job is not innocent and his suffering is deserved. Chapter 1 of the book illustrates that God afflicted Job with suffering, even though he acknowledged Job was upright. Job supposes God is omnipotent and is capable of preventing his suffering, but decides not to, therefore he concludes that God is not

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