Harold Kushner's View on Evil
Harold Kushner’s General Propositions Reflection Essay
Harold Kushner illustrates ways of coping with unfortunate events that occur at inconvenient times to individuals who do not deserve them. In order to convey his message effectively he used The Book of Job as an example to his audience. He then made a point to discuss three propositions that go along with the reading. However, only two may be accepted whilst the third be denied. The propositions consisted of: 1) God is all-powerful 2) God is just and loving and 3) Job is good and innocent, and in order to comprehend the story, one must choose two of the propositions to accept and deny the third, according to Kushner. Upon the sufferings and misfortunate events that Job experienced, his friends made the effort to comfort him in his time of need by encouraging Job to remain loyal to his faith and God; because, essentially, God rewards the good and punishes the bad. Although these words have been spoken by Job before, they set Job a back as he realizes how superficial his friends sound. He begins to question the meaning behind their words; were they implying that he is wicked? He proceeds to backtrack and question his actions to find out why all of this is happening to him. The friends suggest that individuals cannot get a report from God as to why he is punishing them, that they simply must trust that God knows what he is doing and why he is doing it. The conversation gets heated until God steps in out of a whirlwind of a horrific windstorm with an indirect answer. His reply surrounds the question, what do you know about running a world? Job then decides to say no more. Through the dialogue one can infer that Job’s friends opted to reject the proposition that Job is innocent and agree that God is all-powerful and just. They want to believe in what they have been taught and what they have always followed. In order for them to believe that God is in control and just they are willing to accept that Job has
Harold Kushner illustrates ways of coping with unfortunate events that occur at inconvenient times to individuals who do not deserve them. In order to convey his message effectively he used The Book of Job as an example to his audience. He then made a point to discuss three propositions that go along with the reading. However, only two may be accepted whilst the third be denied. The propositions consisted of: 1) God is all-powerful 2) God is just and loving and 3) Job is good and innocent, and in order to comprehend the story, one must choose two of the propositions to accept and deny the third, according to Kushner. Upon the sufferings and misfortunate events that Job experienced, his friends made the effort to comfort him in his time of need by encouraging Job to remain loyal to his faith and God; because, essentially, God rewards the good and punishes the bad. Although these words have been spoken by Job before, they set Job a back as he realizes how superficial his friends sound. He begins to question the meaning behind their words; were they implying that he is wicked? He proceeds to backtrack and question his actions to find out why all of this is happening to him. The friends suggest that individuals cannot get a report from God as to why he is punishing them, that they simply must trust that God knows what he is doing and why he is doing it. The conversation gets heated until God steps in out of a whirlwind of a horrific windstorm with an indirect answer. His reply surrounds the question, what do you know about running a world? Job then decides to say no more. Through the dialogue one can infer that Job’s friends opted to reject the proposition that Job is innocent and agree that God is all-powerful and just. They want to believe in what they have been taught and what they have always followed. In order for them to believe that God is in control and just they are willing to accept that Job has