The USS Congress, Cumberland, Minnesota, and the Monitor all battle it out overseas with the CSS Merrimack and Beaufort. Each ship only has only one goal in mind, to send the other ship and all of their crew down to their watery graves. In this seemingly endless battle the question on everyone’s mind is: does suffering come from God, as a form of punishment or testing, or does it arise from and within man, when man tires to be like God? Afloat in Virginia, upon the USS Congress everything is still and quiet. The crew is talking about their surroundings, talking about the sweet breeze and looking at the stars above.
Everyone has experienced pain, but we all deal with it differently. Some people try to avoid experiencing pain, for they are scared; while others accept their punishment and agony. Moral people tolerate their pain and trauma by making their traumatic experience meaningful and important. They learn from their punishment and try to provide insight. In the stories of Antigone and Boycott, Letter From Birmingham Jail, righteous people fought for their beliefs without violence and dealt with their suffering without hesitation.
Throughout humanity, the idea of suffering played a major role in human lives, in some cases by ending it. Nevertheless, according to popular religious traditions, the first humans, Adam and Eve, were placed on Earth to suffer for their sins in a life of misery. All humans are a part of this “original sin,” thus there is no such thing as innocent humans suffering in the world. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Popular religious themes are centered on the idea of continual suffering in life, like the Israelites who continued to suffer through the Holocaust.
And if God is God, why is He letting us suffer?” (1) The lifelong quest for answers to these questions shaped his theology
I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice” (45). Before his struggle, he was emotionally and spiritually connected to God and spent so much of his time studying the Jewish faith. In contrast, after he experienced living in a concentration camp he questioned God’s motives and no longer believed in absolute justice. He doesn’t believe in the same God he once did; before, he believed in a benevolent and kind father of humankind, he now can only believe in an apathetic and cold observer of the Jew’s
Instead of encouraging him and speaking the truths of the Lord, they blame and discourage him, assuming that everything that is happening to him is due to his own fault. This verse’s significance also rises from the fact that it reveals that Job only needs and only relies on the Lord. Even though his own friends turn against him and falsely accuse him, Job’s faith is not shaken and he continues to seek the Lord. This fact shows Job to be faithful, perseverant, and dedicated to his Father. Job knows that the wicked, perhaps including his friends, are “reserved for the day of calamity…and…will be led forth at
His people suffer a great deal because of their disobedience. However, God revives them from any hardship they encounter,
This quote reminds us that we are not the center of the universe, a fact that many of us like to deny. The book of Job also teaches us about empathy and sympathy. Through his friends’ response to Job’s suffering, we learn that it is better to respond with empathy. We also learn that all people suffer, and God does not cause suffering. Therefore, whenever we are suffering, we should not blame God.
Job was a rich man who lived in Uz with a loving wife and many children, not to mention his large flocks. Even with all of this, Job remains faithful to God and tries to avoid the evil of Satan. Then, Satan confronts God in Heaven. As God brags to Satan about Job’s faithfulness, Satan thinks that Job has been blessed too much by God. According to Satan, if Job were to be challenged against his faith, he would curse out God.
In general, humanity forgets the message from the book of Job and at moments curses God blaming him for all humanity 's disgraces. It is important to remember how God gave Satan approval to disturb Job by leaving him in his hands. Therefore, this provides evidence that God test 's humanity, but his hand is not involved in the process, as it is represented in (Job 1:12) “The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
After Satan explained his whereabouts to God, God started bragging on his servant, Job. Satan immediately challenged God by saying Job only served him because he has been good to him. Ultimately, Satan wanted to prove that Job would curse God if he lost everything that he had. The bible tells the readers that God gave Satan permission to mess up Job’s life to test Job’s faith. One day, while Job was minding his
God’s seemingly capricious nature demonstrates the usage of power by an omnipotent figure, in terms of beneficence, retributive justice, and exploitation. At first, God is a benevolent guardian. However, when his more human emotions, such as doubt, take over, he becomes an arbitrary marker of justice. Throughout, God’s omnipotence is made clear in regards to Job’s negligible control over his own fate. God’s ending justice system makes it seem that if one’s property and children are literally replaced, everything is fine.
Another example would be when Demeter’s daughter was taken from her and has to spend 6 months of her life in the underworld. Similarly to the gods the Christian God also suffers. God suffers when
Everyone suffers. This simple fact of life has plagued humans for centuries, perplexing the wisest thinkers down to the most common among us. It demands an explanation, and history has granted us many - often in the form of religion. Buddhism revolves around the concept of suffering, attempting to explain its origin and how to break free of it. It teaches that no matter how righteous a person acts, they will always suffer until they fully achieve enlightenment.
During the low points of my life, where I am faced with trials and dilemmas, I tend to ask, “If God truly loves me, then why am I experiencing these challenges and problems?” On the other hand, while attempting to follow God’s teachings and doing good deeds, I find myself asking, “If God calls us to be his followers, why is it harder to think and do good than to think and do evil?” Finally, at times when I feel guilt or remorse for something wrong that I did, I ask, “Who are sent by God in hell? If so, why would God, a loving God, send anyone to
