Lecture 12A (Job and Ecclesiastes) Flashcards
Themes in Job and Ecclesiastes
Counter Culture
Retribution theology vs. reality (Rights can suffer/Wicked can prosper)
Like Jonah (Counter-Tradition)
Job
Righteous man
Heavenly Council
Satan is there and he challenges Job’s fear of God
Says he would not have God without prosperity
Job’s Fence
Job is righteous and God keeps evil from touching him
Job’s wife believes what?
Job is wicked and says, “Curse God, and die.”
What does Job do?
He refuses to give in and claims to still be righteous.
Job did not sin
Retribution Ideology says…
Job must have sinned
Retribution Reality says…
Job is righteous, God can break the rules
What do Job’s friends say?
They persist in thinking Job has sinned.
“Does God pervert justice?”
They think they are wise
Try to get Job to repent
Job is bitter. What does he do?
He complains to God and wishes he could “lay (his) case before Him.”
Job wants to know why God is breaking the rules
God Answers
Creator, tamer of the sea, all-powerful
God is good and just becausehe is the source of goodness.
What happens to Job after God speaks to him?
Job is humbled and accepts God’s actions.
Job’s friends get rebuked for just following Israelite religion.
Ecclesiastes
Study of wisdom that concludes retribution theology can’t explain suffering and death
Modern day retribution theology
People still believe that sin will result in negative consequences
