The Book of Job

I just read an intriguing analysis of the story of Job by Jennifer Michael Hecht, in her book Doubt: a History, where she makes the point that Christian and rabbinic readings of typically tend to skip, or at least downplay, the central section of the story -- where Job vociferously expresses doubts about the whole idea of a just god.

The tale, as it is well known, is that of a prosperous and pious man who is hit by a series of inexplicable catastrophes, until he eventually doubts the very concept of divine justice. God in person then appears, "explains" things to Job, and eventually restores him to his previous life, allowing him to die happy and at a ripe old age.

The problem is, as Hecht points out, that the catastrophes (which include the senseless death of all of Job's offspring) hit Job because god was making a bet with the devil about how far they could push Job's faith. Hardly the sort of thing we would expect from a good and just god. Indeed, Hecht rightly uses the word "sociopath."

Even more interesting is what happens when god finally appears to rebut Job's arguments. The fact of the matter is that god simply changes the topic! He avoids answering the tough questions Job raises about fairness, justice, and so on. Instead, god tries to impress Job with a list of the things he did, like creating absurd creatures such as the ostrich, or unleashing mighty natural enemies on humankind, like crocodiles.

The point Hecht makes is not only that this is a bait-and-switch sort of "answer," but that modern science has taken away much of the impact of this kind of argument. We know that ostriches and crocodiles are the result of a natural process of evolution, no more impressive -- from a theological standpoint -- than the law of gravity.

Worse yet, on Hecht's reading, the story of Job is an implicit admission that not even god can explicitly give an answer to the moral quandaries posed by the belief in an all-powerful and good god on the one hand, and the observation of injustice and random disasters on the other (especially if one considers that the Jews didn't believe in an afterlife, that convenient imaginary construct that modern Christians use all the time to trump such embarrassing arguments).

To quote Hecht: "God comes off sounding like a metaphor for the universe: violent and chaotic yet bountiful and marvelous. The Job story is a story of doubt. God's list [of his exploits in designing the world] brings Job back into the fold, but the fight has transformed that fold." And modern science provides even more reasonable ground for doubt to the modern Jobs.