The problem of evil is familiar to us in one form or another. Really bad things occur--why does a perfect God allow evil in the world? In the Old Testament the problem of evil was memorably presented in the story of Job, written about 2700 years ago. God permits Satan to torture Job--and to kill Job's children, servants and livestock--to test the faith of a blameless man. In other words, God allows innocents to be killed. In the end, Job's God makes a kind of point. He tells Job that God has a mighty arm, that He can do as He likes and that humans can't begin to understand Him.
I'm incompetent in theological matters, but I became interested in Job while reading an article by Joan Acocella in THE NEW YORKER, December 16, 2013.
Who is Job? That's what caught my attention. The Bible says that Job is from Uz, an unknown land no other source has ever mentioned (although Frank Baum came close). Job's lineage is unknown. Job is not a Jewish name. No one in the story has a Jewish name. The author or authors of the story are unknown. So who the hell is this Job? And which God is he worshipping?
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