Dear Philo,

Thank You for your explanation.

It matches what I found on the following website:

http://www.ccel.org.contrib/exec_outlines/job.htm
The Book of Job - A Study Guide

"There are people who will serve God even in
adversity, for God is worthy of our praise
apart from the Blessings He provides.
That doesn't mean we won't have questions for which
answers can't be found in this life.
But with The Book of Job we can learn how the
righteous should suffer and to accept the fact that
we can never fully understand God's working in our
lives and in the world..."

"We need the faith as expressed by the prophet
Habakkuk:

Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labour of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off
from the fold, And there be no herd in the
stalls;
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy
in the God of my salvation.
The Lord is my strength' He will make my
feet like deer's feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills."

Philo wrote that Roman Christianity upholds that there is a "god of the Earth, known as the Devil".

Philo, please show us the original texts where it's written that the Roman Christians actually considered the devil to be a "god" as you state.

Dear Master,

I hope that Philo won't mind my jumping in here.
He'll answer your question much better than I ever
could (I'm a bit out of my depth - although I do
find all this fascinating), anyway - I came across
this website:

http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch19.htm
"Jews and Christians in Rome's Golden Age -
Essenes, Dead Sea Scrolls and the Herods."

Paul described the devil as "the God of this world."
(Ephesians 6:11-12)

Jesus described the devil - "The ruler of the world."
(John 14:30).

Dear Foxy,

You wrote: “I guess from that we can surmise that humanity can question
God's will but we'll never truly understand God's
ultimate design. Just as Job accepts God's judgement
of him - even though he can't understand it.”

No, no, no. I’m sorry for my obviously feeble attempts to verbalise what I find in the Book of Job. Your response to Philo couldn’t be further from the Job I have read. Have a crack at reading the book in a single sitting.

You look for understanding in the suffering of good people but as Job 28:22 states of wisdom

“Destruction and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'
(what a poetic chapter by the way).

Can I try from another direction? The Boxing Day tsunami was a terrible tragedy with such senseless loss of life. But was it evil? Most people accept it as an unfortunate outcome of natural movement of tectonic plates. The only way we might regard it as evil is if we believe in an all powerful God who could have intervened if he wanted but didn’t.

The God of the Book of Job doesn’t want a bar of that. Job hits him with a shopping list of what he wants out of a God. What is expected and accepted behaviour.

For what is man's lot from God above,
his heritage from the Almighty on high?
Is it not ruin for the wicked,
disaster for those who do wrong?

Read chapter 24 where Job proceeds to make the case that God has failed to deliver justice as promised. I would ignore verses 18-20 as they are so discordant with the rest of Job’s accusations that I feel they can only be later additions.

Try thinking of God’s response as a powerful statement of ‘This is who I am regardless of who you would have me be. I am a creator and I revel in what I have created and regardless of what you think you are not the best of it.’

Cont…

Cont...

Job essentially puts the obligation back on God. ‘I have behaved in a certain manner and this is my due, I deserve to be treated better than I have been because of my righteousness.’ Once again God is having none of it. He rewards not that righteousness but instead Job’s uppity response to his predicament.

In your job description for God you want a grand design. A Jobian God may well answer, “What if there isn’t one? What is it to you anyway, why do I have to include you in any discussion? Just look around you and if you are impressed with my creation and want to do a bit of adulation well fine but don’t expect a response from me. If you humans develop your own moral code I might even feel some pride that a creation of mine is capable of such a feat, but don’t expect me to buy into it, after all I am God.”

As I have stated before Job is about the limits of God. Generation after generation place their own demands on God or visions of what they would have him be as do you, but I have a growing fondness for that Jobian God, raw, uncomplex, and appreciative of strength and beauty in the natural world. The type you could sit on a Kakadu cliff with watching a couple of male crocs fighting, or a mob of wild brumbies charge down a steep descent.

And if he were asked what he thought he might do about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict his reply would be, “I’m just going to leave the buggers to sort it out themselves, now shut up and enjoy”.

Csteele wrote, "his reply would be 'I'm just going to leave the buggers to sort it out themselves, now shut up and enjoy'"

Master replies: This is the very essence of the sort of god that many worshipers believe in. They believe we have free will and that their god won't intervene in the expression of that free will. This makes it easier to them to demonise the unrepentant sinner, rather than the god. It also makes it easier for them to reject, and cast out, the so called "sinner" or the person who doesn't accept the "doctrine" - - - eg the Jehova Witnesses and the Amish.