ASSIGNMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example The â€Å"Book of Job† and the â€Å"Wisdom of Ben-Sira,† are two of the accounts of the Bible which greatly emphasized these two concepts. In this paper, Job’s challenge against ancient wisdom, proceeded by Ben-Sira’s justification about the goodness of God will be taken into account. What Victor Hugo has to say is a reminder of the literary magnificence of the Book of Job. Stating that if all forms of literature would vanish from the Earth, he would save the Book of Job, is a proof that the book is not only an ordinary piece of religious instruction, rather, a source of wisdom with eloquence in pronouncing the teachings of God. Basically, the purpose of the book is to answer the age old question about the nature of man’s suffering and why the righteous should suffer (Copeland 4). Although someone might argue the image of God presented in the Old Testament is an angry, punishing God, He is still the same loving, ever righteous and just God as in the New Testament. However, the great misfortunes of the wicked and the rigid test of faith in the persons found in the Old Testament might be the root of this misconception. Ancient wisdom contends that God is omnipotent and punishes whoever commits a violation of the Commandment. Job, on the other hand, is a man of good deed and yet, he suffered greatly. As a father and a faithful, he believes that God is all-powerful and acknowledges it through sacrifices and teaching his children about the greatness of God. Clearly, he was favored by God in giving him wisdom and wealth, but due to the afflictions made by Satan (with God’s permission), he has changeable convictions about the existence of humans and their relationship toward God. As stated, â€Å"Job questions the moral underpinnings of human existence, for he no longer receives proper dividends from above† (ABD, III, 862). Job complains about his innocent suffering. However, adjacent to his complaints are his own assumptions why such