James Kellenbergers Characterization of Job-Like Beliefs in the Face of Evil Essays

James Kellenbergers Characterization of Job-Like Beliefs in the Face of Evil Essays James Kellenbergers Characterization of Job-Like Beliefs in the Face of Evil Essay James Kellenbergers Characterization of Job-Like Beliefs in the Face of Evil Essay November 27, 2009 James Kellenberger’s Characterization of Job-Like Beliefs in the Face of Evil How does James Kellenberger characterize a believer’s â€Å"Job-like† belief in the face of evil? Does such belief make sense as a response to the problem of evil? Why or why not? Before exploring James Kellenberger’s characterizations of the Job-like believer’s beliefs in the face of evil, it is important that we first examine and understand exactly what is meant by â€Å"Job-like† – and to do that, we must consider the story of Job as it is written in the Hebrew Bible. Essentially, Job is a religious man who also happens to be a very prosperous individual. God approaches Satan seeking his opinion of Job, as he appears to quite clearly be a pious man. Satan then answers that Job is only so devout as a result of his prosperity and wealth. As a result, God offers Satan the freedom to essentially pull apart Job’s life – removing/destroying his possessions and family. Job’s wealth is taken away, his possessions are destroyed, and the house of his firstborn is knocked down by a wind, killing every one of his offspring who were gathered for a feast. Much to Satan’s surprise, Job does not falter in his faith to God despite all these sufferings. God then grants Satan permission to directly affect Job’s health in hopes that he will break in his devoutness, so long as he does not take his life. Job is smitten with boils and illness, but his only response is to scratch them away with broken pottery, still remaining strong in his faith. His wife asks him to â€Å"curse God, and die† but Job simply replies with â€Å"You speak as one of the foolish speaks. Moreover, shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 1. 9-10) It is in this that Job reveals his true faith in that the actions of God, be they good or evil, they are regardless a part of God’s creation or domain – and as such, should not be seen as a reason to break faith. Job’s friends accuse him of sinning and not admitting it, as it is the only way to explain his suffering at God’s hands, but Job remains steadfast in his piety. In the end, God curses those who spoke against Job and commends him for his righteous ways. Job is then blessed with riches far surpassing his original wealth and a new family ore beautiful than his last. The story of Job in itself helps us understand what Kellenberger means by â€Å"Job-like† believers. Kellenberger breaks the concept of Job-like belief down into three elements: (1) the recognition of evil in the world; (2) the conviction that God and God’s creation are good; and (3) the sense of beholding God’s goodness in the world. (Kellenberger, 329) Fundamentally, Kellenberger is saying that in order for one to have Job-like beliefs it is firstly most important to recognize and understand that there is evil in the world, be it natural or moral evil. As Job faces his suffering at the hands of God, he acknowledges that evil is being done unto him. However, he does not attempt to challenge God’s allowance of evil as much as he challenges the charge that called for such suffering to be brought upon him. He never loses faith in the goodness of God, even when faced with evil for no reason he can discern. So goes the second element of Job-like belief as stated by Kellenberger. A Job-like believer will always remain devout in their belief that God and His creations are good. If Job was to lose this devoutness, his faith in God would have failed, as his trust in His goodness would have as well. A Job-like believer will simply believe that all is well, and not attempt to discern or distinguish a reason for the existence of evil, but simply accept that it is God’s will. And if they believe that God is good (as the second element of Kellenberger’s description of Job-like belief calls for), then surely it will shine through the evil. Where someone else may see evil as evidence against the existence of God’s goodness, a Job-like believer will not, nor will they seek reason for evil, as it is merely a facet of God’s goodness in the end. In the simplest explanation, Kellenberger characterizes a Job-like believer’s response in the face of evil as exactly that: a simple recognition of evil’s existence and not seeing it in any way, shape, or form as evidence against God’s goodness. As well, however, Kellenberger presents Eleonore Stump’s Mirror of Evil theory as another angle to explore it from. The theory itself fundamentally states that â€Å"one can come to see God’s goodness through experiencing evil† (Kellenberger, 338), not simply believing that the good is always there, but believing that evil is required to fully experience the goodness. This theory, to me, makes the most sense as a response to evil – at least in terms of a pious individual looking to remain comforted by God’s will. The question posed at the outset of this paper, â€Å"Does such belief make sense as a response to the problem of evil? is completely subjective depending on what one is looking to achieve through responding to it at all. For example, an individual whose goal through their spirituality is to please God and remain in his good graces would find solace in the mirror of evil theory, as it provides an out for anyone suffering from God’s apparent evil – because in the end, that evil is required to see the good. The original idea that one simply accepts evil would not work in the favour of this individual, as it would leave them guessing and without any understanding as to why they are suffering in the first place. As someone who isn’t particularly religious, I can only provide a perspective from the outside, and offer my reasoning as if I were a devout person. There are aspects of Kellenberger’s concepts that make sense as a response to evil, and there are some aspects that don’t. If I were a religious man who lived my life with the goal of staying in God’s favour, Kellenberger’s characterizations wouldn’t apply to the question, as there would never be a â€Å"problem† of evil to begin with. As stated before, Job-like belief calls for the acknowledgment of evil as a characteristic of God’s goodness – hence, the moment I address evil as a problem, I am no longer a Job-like believer, because essentially, I have lost faith in the goodness of God. Not restricting the analysis to those looking to maintain a Job-like belief, the ideas that these beliefs entail do make sense as an easy approach and response in the face of evil. They provide the individual with an easy, harmless, and even comforting reaction to suffering – and that, to me, makes the most sense of all. As I said, I’m not personally a devout man, but when faced with evil, someone who follows in the footsteps of Job definitely has a leg up on me in terms of dealing with it and not increasing their suffering. Where an individual with any other belief may struggle and suffer trying to question or prevent evil, a Job-like believer finds solace in knowing that the evil that causes them pain is all simply a facet of something far greater and better for them. Be it natural or moral evil, the Job-like response will always be the most sensible if one wishes to always remain even-headed, comforted, and blessed by God. The only issue being that one must first recognize the evil in the world and then recognize God and everything he does as good. Personally, this is the only flaw as it can be difficult for someone to ever get to that point alone – provided they aren’t spiritual or religious to begin with. But I guess that all comes with the whole devout thing. Kellenberger presents some very interesting ideas as to how one with Job-like beliefs might respond to evil, and maintains an even argument that would allow any interpretation to go one way or another. Personally, I find that his approach is the most sensible for an individual looking to remain comforted in their faith and regardless of suffering, feel as though they are within God’s good graces. This however, is very subjective depending on the type of faith this individual maintains and what they look to achieve or aim for with their spirituality – but in the end, isn’t that always the thorn in the side of any religious concept?