Speaker: Rev. Daniel K. Listijabudi, Ph.D.
Editor: Vince Ellysabeth
Why do the righteous continue to suffer? If God is truly just and all-powerful, why do evil and injustice persist? These questions have been part of humanity’s struggle with faith throughout history. Suffering, particularly that experienced by those who have done no wrong, often shakes our conviction regarding God’s justice, love and providence. In such situations, theological explanations that have long been considered adequate may lose their power to provide answers. The Book of Job presents this struggle in depth. Through the experience of a righteous man who nevertheless endures great suffering, this book invites readers to re-examine the relationship between righteousness, suffering and God’s sovereignty, whilst exploring the possibility of maintaining faith when answers to the question of suffering remain elusive.
Theodicy and the Question of God’s Justice
In theological and philosophical discourse on religion, the struggle concerning God’s justice amidst suffering is known as theodicy. This term, coined by the philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, derives from the Greek words theos (God) and dikē (justice). The problem of theodicy arises particularly when suffering befalls those who do not deserve it (undeserved suffering). The philosopher Boethius formulated this problem through the question, Si Deus justus, unde malum?, which means, “If God is just, why is there evil?” This question highlights the tension between God’s justice and omnipotence and the reality of human suffering.
Immanuel Kant understood theodicy as an attempt to defend the Creator’s supreme wisdom against various accusations arising from the reality of a world that appears to contradict the purpose of creation. This issue subsequently developed beyond the question of God’s justice. A discourse on anthropodicy also emerged, which questions human justice and responsibility in the occurrence of evil. This distinction is important because suffering can stem from natural events, such as earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as from human actions, such as war, genocide, oppression and ecological destruction.
In the history of Christian thought, there is an optimistic view that God permits evil without being its instigator, limits its power, or allows good to emerge from bad events. However, as discussed by the theologian Jürgen Moltmann, this optimism faces serious challenges in the face of various human tragedies. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the Holocaust at Auschwitz, and the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have shaken the understanding of a world entirely within a harmonious divine order.
For Moltmann, theology is not enough merely to speak of God after a tragedy has passed, but must also grapple with His presence within the suffering itself. This line of thought can be found in his reflection on Elie Wiesel’s account of a child who was hanged in a concentration camp. When the question of God’s existence arises, the answer given actually points to that suffering child. Thus, the problem of theodicy is no longer merely a matter of justifying God’s justice, but also a search for the divine presence amidst suffering that is difficult to comprehend.
The Book of Job: Righteousness Does Not Guarantee Freedom from Suffering
In the Old Testament tradition, the problem of theodicy can be found in Psalm 13, Psalm 73, and Isaiah 45:7. However, the Book of Job holds a significant position as it addresses this issue through a complex narrative and theological debate. This book belongs to the genre of wisdom literature, yet it offers a critique of the understanding of wisdom that directly links piety with prosperity.
According to John Collins, the Book of Job was likely composed between the sixth and fifth centuries BC. Literarily, the book consists of a prose prologue (chapters 1–2), a series of poetic dialogues, and an epilogue that is again in prose (chapter 42). The differences in character between these sections have given rise to debate regarding the history of the text’s formation. One perspective is put forward by René Girard in his book *em* *Job: Victim of His Society* , which was translated into Indonesian by Rev. Daniel K. Listijabudi, Ph.D. Girard argues that the prologue, the dialogue sections, and the epilogue originated from distinct literary traditions before eventually being brought together. Nevertheless, regardless of the issues surrounding its formation, the Book of Job in its final form must still be read as a single literary unit, including the various theological tensions that arise between its parts.
Job is described as a righteous and prosperous man, hailing from the land of Uz, which was likely situated near Edom. He is not a figure explicitly identified as an Israelite. In the prologue, the figure of ha-satan appears, namely the accuser who has access to the divine court. In the context of this text, ha-satan does not yet fully appear as a demonic figure as he came to be portrayed in later traditions. He questions the sincerity of Job’s piety: does Job truly fear God selflessly, or is it because his life has so far been filled with blessings?
After being granted permission to test Job, a series of misfortunes befell him. He lost his possessions, his children and his health. However, there is an important narrative element: Job was completely unaware of the conversation in the divine council that lay behind his suffering. The reader, on the other hand, possesses information unknown to the protagonist. This asymmetry of knowledge highlights the limitations of human understanding of one’s own suffering.
The tension becomes even more apparent when Job, who in the prologue accepts his suffering with fortitude, goes on to curse the day of his birth in chapter 3. This shift need not be interpreted as a loss of faith, but can be read as an illustration of the complexity of the human response to suffering. Piety does not preclude the possibility of despair, anger and questions directed at God.
Challenging the Theology of Retribution
Job’s struggle unfolds through his dialogue with his three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. All three uphold a theological understanding that links suffering to moral wrongdoing. Within the framework of this theology of retribution, the righteous ought to receive blessings, whilst the wicked suffer punishment. Because Job is suffering, they conclude that he must have done something wrong.
According to Collins, the friends’ argument is deductive because it proceeds from a theological principle considered to be universally valid. In contrast, Job responds on the basis of the concrete experience of his suffering. He does not deny God’s greatness, but rejects the conclusion that his suffering is proof of his wrongdoing. In Job 9:20, he even expresses the difficulty of defending himself when God is understood as both the judge and the accuser. Job’s struggle, therefore, is not merely about God’s absence, but also the experience of feeling oppressed by the God in whom he believes to be all-powerful.
Nevertheless, Job’s protest does not entirely negate hope. In Job 19:25, he expresses his conviction that his Redeemer lives. The Hebrew term go’el used in this passage raises complex interpretative issues. In its original context as a Jewish text, this statement cannot be taken at face value as a direct prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. As Collins explains, the emphasis lies on Job’s hope for the coming of a defender, although the identity of that defender remains a matter of debate amongst exegetes.
The figure of Elihu then appears in chapters 32–37. Although some of his arguments bear similarities to the views of the previous friends, Elihu places significant emphasis on the source of wisdom. In Job 32:8–9, he states that understanding comes from the spirit within a person and the breath of the Almighty, not merely from advanced age. This statement challenges the traditional assumption that wisdom is always determined by seniority. Thus, the Book of Job demonstrates that long-held religious views still need to be critically examined when confronted with the realities of life.
God Who Transcends Human Concepts of Justice
The climax of the struggle in the Book of Job occurs when God speaks from within the storm (chapters 38–41). Interestingly, God does not provide a direct explanation for the cause of Job’s suffering. Instead, God poses a series of questions concerning creation, the order of the cosmos, and the lives of various creatures. These questions draw Job away from the centre of his own concerns towards the far broader horizon of creation.
According to Collins, this section confronts Job with the reality that humankind is but a small part of the whole of creation. The limitations of human knowledge mean that we are unable to comprehend the full extent of God’s works and actions. However, the issue is not that God acts unjustly, but rather that God’s justice cannot be fully measured using categories devised by humans.
James Crenshaw brings this issue into sharper focus through a question concerning divine freedom. Must God be subject to human assumptions about how He ought to act? From this perspective, the Book of Job offers a critique of the orthodoxy of wisdom literature, which interprets the relationship between piety and prosperity as a universally applicable formula. The belief that the righteous are inevitably blessed and the wicked inevitably punished proves insufficient to account for the full range of human experience.
God’s rebuke of Job’s friends in the epilogue reinforces this criticism. Those who felt they had defended God’s justice were in fact declared not to have spoken the truth about Him, just as Job had (42:7). This demonstrates that defending God through rigid theological formulations does not always reflect a true understanding of Him. On the contrary, it is Job’s struggle, full of protest, that receives recognition. This book thus reminds us that human beings cannot monopolise God through religious concepts of their own devising.
Faith as the Courage to Enter into Mystery
The Book of Job offers no simple answer as to why the righteous suffer. Even after God reveals Himself, the question regarding the cause of Job’s suffering is not answered directly. What changes is Job’s perspective on himself, the limitations of his knowledge, and the greatness of God which transcends human understanding.
Rev. Prof. Dr(h.c.) Emanuel Gerrit Singgih, Ph.D., describes faith as the courage to walk alongside mystery. Rev. Daniel K. Listijabudi, Ph.D., expands on this idea by emphasising that faith is not merely the courage to walk alongside mystery, but also the courage to enter into the very heart of that mystery itself. Faith does not always lead people away from questions and suffering; rather, it enables them to face these without first having all the answers.
In this understanding, Mysterium Dei, that is, the mystery of God, is intertwined with Providentia Dei, that is, God’s providence and care for life. The two need not be set against one another. God can still be trusted as the sustainer of life, even though human beings are not always able to understand how His work unfolds amidst painful experiences.
Job’s struggle ultimately reveals that the maturity of faith is not determined by the ability to explain all suffering through specific theological formulations. Faith, rather, demands the humility to acknowledge the limitations of human knowledge, whilst also requiring the courage to continue wrestling with God. In such an experience, questions, complaints and even protests do not necessarily signify a lack of faith; rather, they can form part of a genuine relationship with the Divine.
Thus, having faith amidst suffering does not mean negating suffering or forcing an explanation for every tragedy. As demonstrated through the story of Job, faith is the courage to enter into the mystery of life with God, whose love, freedom and works always transcend anything that can be articulated by human beings.
This article is adapted from a Bible Seminar. Watch the full video version on LAI’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/acyf00jc_sk?si=OxC7ur3yq-M41aqd
