The Book of Job: A Theological Scandal

Virtually all readers of the Bible love the Book of Job and somehow derive from it a significant theological message. Zeitlin, in contrast, repudiates the message for the following reasons: The Jobian God is an amoral, cosmic deity, beyond good and evil, totally unconcerned with the human condition and principles of ethics, morality and justice. In those terms, the Jobian deity is a glaring anomaly in the context of the Hebrew Bible (The Old Testament), and its ethical, monotheistic framework. The Jobian deity is not only arbitrary and capricious but also becomes complicit in the perpetration of evil. In short, Zeitlin proposes that the Book of Job is a theological scandal.