rain and the rhinoceros


David Burrell On Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Problem of Suffering
February 18, 2008, 5:23 pm
Filed under: Biblical Interpretation, Books

I just discovered this new interesting looking book by David Burrell just released entitled Deconstructing Theodicy: Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Puzzle of Suffering.


9781587432224

I pulled this blurb off the Brazos websites:

Maimonides called Job a “strange and wonderful book.” For many readers, “strange” might well suffice. Though Job has been characterized as a theodicy, to the sincere reader the book can fail to satisfy the soul’s longing for answers to the problem of suffering. Perhaps that in fact is the point of Job–there are no satisfactory propositional arguments for why people suffer.
In this compact-yet-rich volume, philosopher of religion David Burrell shows that Job actually deconstructs the theories of theodicy proposed by commentators over the centuries. This is seen in the fact that Job’s three friends themselves offer theodicies, but are rebuked in the end; whereas Job, who seeks only to speak to God, is granted his audience. Rather than providing an exegetical commentary, Burrell engages in theological and philosophical reflection on the major movements of the book. Deconstructing Theodicy also contains an interfaith perspective with the inclusion of a chapter by Islamic scholar A. H. Johns on the reading of the Job figure in the Koran. Burrell then goes on to examine the treatment of Job in four classical commentaries and finally explores Job’s contribution to faith and theology as an affirmation that God hears and heeds our cries of anguish.


6 Comments so far
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That definitely looks like an incredibly interesting read.

Comment by Matt Wiebe February 18, 2008 @ 4:41 pm

What’s theodicy?

Comment by bdl February 19, 2008 @ 5:07 pm

Theodicy is just a word for the problem of evil (i.e. how do talk about an all-loving God in a world of full of evil?)

Comment by roflyer February 19, 2008 @ 5:24 pm

Some have called it idiocy.

Comment by Roger Flyer February 19, 2008 @ 7:43 pm

I agree that there may well be no satisfactory propositional arguments about the problem of suffering, and I agree that Job (and God) affirm this by destroying the theodicies offered by Job’s friends — but Job does offer a different sort of answer to the problem of suffering. It is the unexpressable direct encounter with God which answers the problem of our sufferings — but this is an encounter that can only be experienced, it cannot be related in words. Hence, Job puts his hand over his mouth — not because it was wrong of him to call on God, but because he knows he has entered into an event that is unspeakable.

Comment by dan February 20, 2008 @ 11:28 pm

Hi Dan, thanks for your comment. I like your take on Job. I haven’t read Burrell’s book, but he’s a great thinker, and I bet it will be good.

Comment by roflyer February 21, 2008 @ 11:36 am



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