Jaion Job Analysis

poetic, it is true that his expressions cannot be pushed too far. In answering his friends Job emphasises that God indeed is accustomed to reward virtue and to punish wickedness. He even threatens his friends with the judgment of God on account of their unfriendly suspicion. He rightly proves, however violently, that in this world the rule has many exceptions. Almost universally, he says, the wicked triumph and the innocent suffer. Job looks upon the sufferings of the righteous as an almost unjust severity of God, which he inflicts for the slightest mistakes, and which the most virtuous man cannot escape. Job himself says that his words are not to be taken too exactly, they are almost the involuntary expression of his pain. Many of his utterances

In the midst of his sufferings he lauds God's power and wisdom. Satan, who had boasted that he could lead Job into sin against God is discredited. The epilogue testifies expressly to Job's faithfulness. After much discussaion Job succeeds in silencing the three friends, although he is not able to convince them of his innocence. In a series of monologues, interrupted only by a short speech by Baldad, he once more renews his complaints, extols the greatness of God, and closes with a forcible appeal to the Almighty to examine his case and to recognise his innocence. At this juncture Eliu, a youth who was one of the company of listeners, in a long discourse explains the problem of suffering, which Job and his friends had failed to achieve. He says that suffering, whether severe or light, is not always a result of sin, rather it is a means by which God tries and promotes virtue, and is thus a proof of God's love for his

The dominant theme of Job is the difficulty of understanding why an all-powerful God allows good people to suffer. The Book of Job questions the idea that good things happen to good people, and that evil is a punishment for bad behavior. What it stresses is that God's wisdom and providence guide all the happenings in the world. The main subject of investigation is the problem of evil and its relation to the Providence of God. The Book of Job is further intended for edification, for Job is to us an example of patience. It is, finally, a book of consolation for all sufferers. Suffering itself is not the central theme; rather, the focus is on what Job learns from his suffering—the sovereignty of God. We learn from it that misfortune is not a sign of hatred, but often a proof of special Divine love. Countless truths can be mined from the Book of Job, but here are three that Thomas Aquinas has