Sun. Aug. 29, 2010 (Karl Brown)

Karl Brown concluded our summer series on the Book of Job. So much of this extensive poem is predicated on the theory that God punishes the wicked and blesses the righteous. However, God's response in the poem (chapter 38) gives another point of view, that the actions of God are far more complex than the simplistic black and white images of our theology. The poem then raises rhetorical questions which are almost sarcastic, showing how very little humans know about the most common things in nature, about animal life or life itself, let alone God the creator and sustainer. Karl then suggested five ways we might view the Book of Job: (1) it is poetry intended to be heard (PGIMF found it almost better hear Job read than be analyzed); (2) it is poetry focusing on one important part of life, suffering; (3) it is a courtroom in which God is put on trial for allowing evil to flourish; (4) it offers proof of God's existence, somewhat along the lines of the theory of Intelligent Design; (5) it is an odyssey which seeks to justify the existence of evil, though God's arguments do not address the whole question of evil other than to say that this question is beyond human comprehension. In a sense, Job is a hero in that he kept his faith, even through severe suffering. Job may have raged against God but he never rejected God. [JEK] Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, August 29th, 2010 using your browser's preferred media player.