Two Christian leaders of the WW II era wrestled with the reasons for evil. One was Leslie D. Weatherhead, a British preacher who lived in Britain, and the other was Jurgen Moltmann, who as a child witnessed homes and civilian lives destroyed in the allied fire bombings of Germany. Later Moltmann would become a significant Christian theologian.
Weatherhead's response was to write sermons during the war that wrestled with evil that would later be published in a book that still sells quite well: The Will of God. In it he makes clear that all tragedies are caused by the human family. And God's will, in my own brief Weatherhead summary, is to give us what it takes to walk through suffering that will, in the end, have victory with God.
Moltmann's response to human-caused suffering has been to write dozens of works about a suffering God who aches over the human family. And, again in my own words, Moltmann's belief is that somehow through the suffering Jesus, the suffering God, healing comes. And it is our responsibility to see that the message and actions of God's healing grace spread across the earth.
Unfortunately, the suffering Job had not yet experienced the healing grace of God. And, again unfortunately, he blames God for all that is evil. Such is clear in his words:
God gives me up to the ungodly,
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;
his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys, and shows no mercy;
he pours out my gall on the ground.
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;
his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys, and shows no mercy;
he pours out my gall on the ground.
(Job 16:11-13)
Continuing our walk with Job...
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