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Many people have a rough idea about the story of Job, the incredibly wealthy and righteous man whom God allows "the Satan" (who is not the Devil, btw) to deprive of all he has (including killing his ten children) and plague with horrible pain, in order to see if he will stay righteous. Most readers don't realize, however, that the vast majority of the book comes from a different author who has a completely different view of why people suffer. In this episode we talk about what both authors have to say and discuss honestly and forthrightly whether either view of suffering is at all convincing; in addition, we talk about why the views of God in this book can be so disturbing.
Megan asks Bart:
- Did you ever teach the Hebrew Bible?
- We usually stick with the NT and early Christian writings…why is it important to discuss this particular book of the OT?
- What is the book of Job about?
- You suggested the title for the episode: could you answer it for us? Why does no one understand it?
- If people do understand that these are two different sources, how do they try to reconcile the differences?
- Why do you think people take the much longer, poetic section as secondary to the beginning and end verses?
- Do the two sources have the same message?
- How does the poetic source explain suffering?
- What does that end section give us?
- Are there any similar unsettling points in the narrative?
- Thinking about the deaths of the children, do people argue that this is the fault of the Satan figure?
- Where then did the Christian understanding of Satan come from?
- What do you think the take away message is of the book.
- How do most modern Christians understand the book of Job?
