Alright, so now that we’ve tackled an overview of Theodicy and some biblical considerations, I would like to turn our attention to the ancient world and a fundamental question underlying the Book of Job alongside a few contemporary ancient sages. I think this will help us reframe our view of Job and theodicy in light of biblical theology.
An ancient debate: Chaos vs order
In the ancient world, theology and science were not separate. The general consensus among the non-Israelite nations was that the natural world was inherently chaotic. Even the modern materialist generally holds to this theory of chaos, not so different in a sense.
The ANE people generally believed the world was eternally existent and that the gods simply emerged from it. These emergent gods attempted to create natural order but were limited and at times temperamental. Similarly, human kings were tasked with creating societal order but were limited and temperamental as well. Justice was inherently related to order and thus was the primary purpose of a god or king. So, humans sought to serve the god and king in order to help sustain them in their effort to maintain order and to receive their blessing. Yet, neither was guaranteed or inherent. It was simply a part of their duty and obligation.
John Oswalt commenting on idolatry in Isaiah says,
“Because paganism refuses to admit of a God who stands outside the cosmos, it must posit that the beginning of all things was matter in chaos. Out of this chaos, the gods emerged. The ordering of the chaos was something of an afterthought on the part of the gods to protect themselves from the ever-present danger of its re-emergence.” (Isaiah, 2:218).
Similarly, John Walton says of the ancient worldview,
“The temple was the control center for order in the cosmos, and that order had to be maintained. The deity needed to be cared for so that his or her energies could be focused on the important work of holding the forces of chaos at bay. The rituals, therefore, served not simply as gifts to the deity or mechanical liturgical words and actions. The rituals provided a means by which humans could play a role in maintaining order in the cosmos” (ANETOT, p. 90).
As modern Christians, we can easily overlook this perspective and completely miss its significance in the ancient biblical context, which served as the backdrop to both Job and Genesis.
“Babylonian Theodicy”
Now to further illuminate the problem of theodicy in Job and the ancient world, I’d like to highlight one particular account and contrast it to Job.
There was an ancient equivalent to the book of Job called the “Babylonian Theodicy” (BT) written around 1000-500BC (see Pritchard, ANE Texts Relating to the OT [1969] or Victor Matthews and Don Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels [2016]).
In light of these texts, it seems that the Book of Job was developed amidst a wide tradition of discussions and debates among sages and perhaps schools. We see similar ideas, questions, and even phrases, reflecting aspects of Job (as well as Ecclesiastes).
(BT) “I have searched the world for order. Everything is upside down. The divine assembly chooses not to restore order.”
(BT) “The crown prince is clothed in [rags], yet the son of the destitute and naked is clad in [fine garments]”
Job 33:6 “[Elihu] I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched from clay.”
(BT) “When Ea, the glorious, pinched them from clay.”
In the ancient writer’s perspective, there was a transactional relationship with gods. Service to gods deserved blessings. Yet as he contends, this is futile because it does not seem to work.
(BT) “He who looks to his god has a protective spirit; The humble man who fears his goddess accumulates wealth”
(BT) “Those who do not seek the god go the way of prosperity, While those who pray to the goddess become destitute and impoverished. In my youth I tried to find the will of my god … My god decreed poverty instead of wealth (for me). …What has it profited me that I have bowed down to my god ”
Counsels of Wisdom (Babylon, 1500BC) “Reverence begets blessing, offering prolongs vigor, and a supplication absolves sins. Blessing will not fall short of the one who reveres the gods, [the days of] the one who reveres Anunnaki-gods will be long”
Even the book of Job seems to question this principle in 1:9, “Does Job fear God for no reason?” meaning, he serves because he holds to the ANE principle of retributive reward and the blessings he has received.
Yet, similar to the final view of Job, the Babylonian Theodicy gives a possible answer that the ways of the gods are simply beyond humans.
(BT) “The plan of the gods is remote .. The clever plans of the god [are … ] like the center of heaven”
(BT) “The mind of the god, like the center of the heavens, is remote; Knowledge of it is very difficult; people cannot know it.”
A Sufferer & a Soul (Egyptian, 1800BC) “You are human, not divine. Your task is to live life to its fullest.”
However, we also hear another possible explanation. The gods have instigated twisted speech and wrongly promoted the rich and maligned the poor, giving him curses and trouble unfairly.
(BT) “[the gods] gave twisted speech to the human race. With lies, and not truth, they endowed them forever. Solemnly they speak favorably of a rich man, … But they treat a poor man like a thief.”
Yet, if he petitions the gods, perhaps they will show him mercy, whether he was at fault or the gods were at fault.
(BT) “May the gods who have abandoned me show mercy, May Shamash the good shepherd once again shepherd the people as a god should.”
So, let’s reflect a little more on the (BT), the biblical view, and Job’s distinction.
First of all, the title “Babylonian Theodicy” is a bit misleading. It’s really a question about the usefulness of being religiously adherent to the gods if they do not provide blessings in a consistent or reliable way. What benefit is there expending your life for the gods only to be cursed and troubled?
Sadly, the (BT) ends without resolution, similar to all the other ANE versions.
An Alternative View
This brings us to an alternative view of course. This Alternative view according to the Bible is that the God of scripture and Israel is outside of nature. He is the first cause of order, implying that order is inherent to the natural world and subservient to God.
Gen 1: we see a polemic against the ANE view, “in the beginning, God created … the earth was void/formless (chaotic).” God establishes order as the primary cause not secondary.
In Ps 74:13-17, Yhwh is supreme and established order for natural world.
In Job 40:8, God says, “Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?” Yhwh was supremely powerful and wise, developing the natural world with order and law. So, Job was in no place to question him.
Job’s Dilemma
As we mentioned, the general belief in the ancient world was that Retributive philosophy and theology were inherent. It held that in light of divine law and order, evil begets evil, and good begets good. Simple math.
So, if one accepts the ANE view of the world, chaos and suffering are actually inherent and expected because chaos is natural, only managed by limited and temperamental gods.
But if one accepts the Yhwh view of the world, as the friends of Job seem to be arguing, then there’s a problem. Either …
The innocent do receive evil, which implies that Yhwh is limited just like the ANE gods and thus there is no absolute order/law. This is a low view of Yhwh.
The good do not receive evil, thus Job must be guilty. Yhwh is supreme and there is absolute order. This is why the friends are so adamant that Job must be in the wrong, lest they imply that Yhwh is a lesser deity.
But Job knows he is reaping a crop he did not sow, which leads him to want a hearing before God. So, he gets his wish. God shows up and confirms that he is the supreme ordering principle of nature. Yet, Job does not have the vantage of the reader. Instead, he must trust that God is supreme and he must trust that all is within God’s divine purposes.
The Reality of Job
As a response to Job, his friends, and the underlying ancient debate, the message of Job seems to imply that …
God is not bound to the natural order (or a retributive principle) in an absolute way
God is beyond nature and perfectly free
Yet, God’s freedom and his justice are not at odds
God’s wisdom is supreme over human perception
Man cannot twist God’s arm or force him to comply or coerce him in any way
The retributive principle is normative but not absolute
In other words, there is order but exceptions happen and are privy to the mind and ways of God who is not in any sense limited. As Isaiah said, “God’s ways are higher than your ways” (55:8-9). It is not our place to question God. It is our place to fear God, trusting that he is all good and all-powerful.
In this uncomfortable space, we often see that suffering is left without explanation in scripture. But we do find a few times when scripture gives us a glimmer of reasoning, though still perplexing.
At times, God simply allows things to happen according to the destructive forces of a fallen and sinful world - Luke 13:1-5 (Tower of Siloam)
At times, it is for discipline and instruction - Ps 119:67, 71 (resulted in obedience)
At times, it is for judgment - Jer 48:16, 42 (judgment of Moab)
At times, God allows suffering in order to show his power or his mercy - John 9:3 (man born blind)
At times, God allows suffering for a greater good or to bless a group - Gen 50:20 (God used evil intent to bless Egypt and others from famine)
Deut 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (instruction).”
Job vs the Babylonian Theodicy
So, let’s now briefly consider a few key distinctions between Job and the Babylonian Theodicy.
Job gives us an amazing theophany and revelation of God. While we may take this for granted, it speaks to the presence and involvement of Yhwh, a key distinction throughout the Bible compared to other ancient texts.
In the (BT), there is a complete lack of any divine engagement or revelation or care. The man is on his own and left to his own bewilderment.
In Job, the suffering is not because God was busy or annoyed. Yhwh knowingly allowed Job to be afflicted, primarily as a test and testimony, as he often does throughout the Scriptures for most characters. More than this, we see that Yhwh actually does show mercy to Job and his friends.
So, Yhwh’s revelation serves as a profound corrective to the ancient debate over the natural order and the place of the gods.
The Undoing of God’s Order
Now that we have a test case and biblical framework for theodicy, I’d like to take it a few steps further into biblical theology. As we’ve seen, there is no perfect one-size-fits-all answer to the problem of evil. But there are a few ways for us to view chaos, suffering, and theodicy according to Scripture’s grand narrative.
Genesis is the biblical book of beginnings, not only for creationists and evolutionists to debate. We see the foundations of nearly all human realities. Both in the positive and the negative sense. Genesis 1-2 give the ordered foundations while Genesis 3 gives the undoing of God’s order in the world.
Gen 1 gives the roots of natural order
Gen 2 gives the roots of societal order
Gen 3 gives the root of:
Disfellowship between man and God
Disfellowship between man and angelic realm
Disfellowship between man and nature
Disfellowship between man and work
Disfellowship between man and woman
Disfellowship between mother and child
Although the biblical God had created a perfectly ordered world, chaos had been introduced secondarily. So, the question becomes, is God able to affect that chaos or is he subject to some limitation? Is it all just spinning out of control or is he still in control, even though it may not seem so at times?
God’s Plan A
According to Gen 3 and a broader biblical theology, I’d like to propose that Christ and the fall of humanity was not a plan B or reactive attempt to fix things. Rather, I think there is rationality to God’s Plan A from the beginning. Consider this web of reasoning from a biblical perspective.
The mortality and fallibility of man is a good thing.
God: has a will (capable of affective love) | unable to sin | unable to die
Animals: no will | unable to sin | able to die
Angels: has will (capable of affective love) | able to sin | unable to die
Humans: has will (capable of affective love) | able to sin | able to die
This comparative chart indicates that God’s position is best. The animals are safe because they are not morally culpable and simply die. However, the angelic predicament is one that should make us as humans shudder. The angels appear to have the ability to sin but not the ability to die. Therefore, they are trapped in their sin and guilt. Yet, for humans, God graciously allowed us the ability to sin but also the ability to die. Because of this, Christ was able to take on humanity and die for us but without sin.
So then, man is elevated through the incarnation and resurrection of the God-Man. In other words, Jesus makes humanity more than we were in Adam. Thus, it was a necessary stepping stone. God had to make man both fallible and mortal in order for Christ to do the work he did. Paul alludes to this in 1 Cor 15:50-53 (cf. 2 Peter 1:3-4).
Christ is Our Theodicy
So, let’s take it a step further in light of Job and our discussion on Theodicy.
Following the picture we see in the whole of Scripture, I believe we can say:
If God were bound to the retributive principle, that is that evil only came to the evil, then the perfect Son of God could not have suffered and died. In his perfection, he could have only received good. This would have left humanity stuck in our guilt.
Yet, in a great reversal, because the Son was truly righteous, death was not able to justly keep him (Acts 2:24, Heb 2;14). So, in vindication of his holiness and authority, he took up his life and conquered death, a turn of events mysterious even to the evil forces which sought to kill him (1 Cor 2:8).
Thus, God’s mysterious plan was to use the possibility of “unjust suffering” as a tool to ultimately make all things right in Christ, as Paul tells us in Col 1:15-20 and Eph 1:15-23. In doing so, he also vindicates himself as both all-powerful and all-good, dispelling the one who would question God.
So, as we reflect on Job in light of the whole of scripture, we end up seeing that Job was a picture and foreshadowing of Christ. And even the strange ending of Job points to the greater blessing in Christ than in Adam. Job’s end was greater than his beginning. He was given more children and abundantly more blessings. Plus, we see that just as God revealed himself to Job, so he reveals himself to us through Christ.
The Father in his wisdom intentionally allowed Christ’s affliction. As Paul tells us in 1 Cor 1:19-30, the foolishness of God is wiser than men and that Christ himself became to us wisdom from God. In his wisdom and grace, God subjected the world to futility in hope (Rom 8:20). A hope that no eye has seen or mind imagined (1 Cor 2:9).
In conclusion, then, although there is much we do not know and will not know in this life under the sun, we can look to Christ as our theodicy, our living hope and perfect exemplar. Our suffering, though mysterious to us, is known to our good and perfect Father.
The truth is, this life really isn’t about growing in answered quandaries but growing deeper in the knowledge our good and gracious God. As Paul so eloquently reminds us,
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor 4:17).
So, we look to Christ and see God's own defense of his power and character, confident not in shades of human intellect but in the surety of a risen savior.
Related Posts
