Comments on: Job as the “Poster Boy” for Retribution Theology http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2011/02/13/job-as-the-poster-boy-for-retribution-theology/ My musings on Biblical Studies, Biblical Hebrew, Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Popular Culture, Religion, Software, and pretty much anything else that interests me! Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:50:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: rochelle http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2011/02/13/job-as-the-poster-boy-for-retribution-theology/comment-page-1/#comment-291121 rochelle Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:52:55 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/?p=2021#comment-291121 Tim, God does answer Job. “Where were you when I created the earth?” Quite a reprimand for questioning God’s motives, no? Hence, as Tyler notes, “Ultimately only God knows why suffering occurs …”

Job is not the only morality/wisdom fable in the MT. Jonah is, too. What I find very amusing about Jonah is just how old is the story of the “big fish that got away” … of, course, in this case, it’s the man who got away from the big fish. (And it is a “big fish,” [dag gadol], not a whale. Sigh, yet another relevant connotation lost in translation.)

]]> By: Tim Bulkeley http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2011/02/13/job-as-the-poster-boy-for-retribution-theology/comment-page-1/#comment-290867 Tim Bulkeley Tue, 15 Feb 2011 08:01:54 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/?p=2021#comment-290867 Oh, I agree with you :) I just think it is an issue we too easily gloss over, which makes our claims about retribution sound hollow to many Bible readers. Your answer (and mine) however, makes me even more sorry for Job at the end of the book than the start! Since God never answers Job…

]]> By: Tyler F. Williams http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2011/02/13/job-as-the-poster-boy-for-retribution-theology/comment-page-1/#comment-290835 Tyler F. Williams Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:45:51 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/?p=2021#comment-290835 Fair question, Tim. The end of the book is unsatisfying for most modern readers. I would still contend that the book deconstructs typical views of retribution theology since Job’s suffering has nothing to do with anything he did wrong. It was not because of sin, contrary to what Job’s so-called friends argued. So while the book ultimately affirms that those who are righteous will eventually be blessed by God, it repudiates the notion of flipping the equation on its head and saying that those who suffer have sinned. Ultimately only God knows why suffering occurs (at least that is one interpretation of the theophanies at the end of the book). What do you think?

]]> By: Tim Bulkeley http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2011/02/13/job-as-the-poster-boy-for-retribution-theology/comment-page-1/#comment-290834 Tim Bulkeley Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:12:24 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/?p=2021#comment-290834 If as you say the book of Job dismantles the “notion of retribution theology” why does Job end up getting back twice what he lost?

]]> By: A.W. Bowman http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2011/02/13/job-as-the-poster-boy-for-retribution-theology/comment-page-1/#comment-290776 A.W. Bowman Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:16:39 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/?p=2021#comment-290776 Oops – my comment should have read, “… supported by …” BTW, I like the poster as well.

Additional comment:

As pointed out in the original post, what we see as being popular within the Christian communities is simple ‘humanism’, i.e. God exists for the benefit of mankind, rather than the other way around.

]]> By: A.W. Bowman http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/2011/02/13/job-as-the-poster-boy-for-retribution-theology/comment-page-1/#comment-290775 A.W. Bowman Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:10:53 +0000 http://biblical-studies.ca/blog/?p=2021#comment-290775 A most excellent observation, which is support by numerous examples in the New Covenant illustrations as well, such as John 9:1-3.

]]>