Job and Suffering
Humans have a lengthy history in dealing with the idea of suffering. Can anyone forget the relates the trials of Job, a devout man of God, at the hands of Satan, and his theological discussions with various characters on the nature of suffering and the relationship between God and Mankind? The poem attempts to address a basic problem for humanity -- the problem of good vs. evil -- how one should reconcile the existence of evil/suffering in a world of goodness created by God (Janzen, 1985). Indeed, this type of question has been tackled by numerous cultures, showing that it is central to the way humans interpret the divine. Certainly, other cultures have numerous parallels to Job, and other cultures ascribe the generic affinities of the Job tale by showing a character of virtue that evokes certain aspects of the questioning all humans view as central --...
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