PUTTING GOD ON TRIAL: The Biblical Book of Job

A literary, legal and philosophical study- Robert Sutherland.

PREFACE

 Every interpreter approaches a text with certain intellectual horizons. These horizons are the products of talent and training, life experience in general. They expand or narrow one’s vision, as the case may be. They enable some to see farther than others.

     No modern interpreter can approach the text entirely free of the limits of modern horizons. Modern culture is deeply urban, egalitarian, individualistic and scientific. Ancient Jewish culture is deeply rural, patriarchal, collectivistic and pre-scientific. Yet such limitations can be overcome. The psychological process by which any interpreter arrives at his interpretation is forever under the control of the logical process by which he justifies that interpretation. In the final analysis, what really distorts meaning is not perspective, but the deliberate ignorance and distortion of data. Intelligent and intelligible interpretations are possible, even if a full and final interpretation that satisfies all is not achieved.

     To appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of an interpreter, the reader should know something of the background of the interpreter before him. It is with that thought in mind that I share something of my own background with my readers.

     I hold a four year Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto in history. My self-directed, multi-disciplinary program was focused on the History of Ideas from ancient times into the modern world. I first encountered The Book of Job in a world literature course in my first year of undergraduate work and it has captivated me ever since. It has deepened and broadened with every reading. It addresses the perennial concerns that have shaped the human condition as no other.

     I hold a three year Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and currently practice almost exclusively as a criminal defense lawyer. With seventeen years at the bar, I have had some notable successes. In the case of R. v. L.(S.R.) [1992] O.J. No.2305 (Ontario Court of Appeal), I was instrumental in bringing about a substantial rewriting of the Canadian law on aggravated assault. In the case of R. v. Claus [1999] 139 CCC (3d) 47 (Ontario Superior Court) aff’d [2000] 149 CCC (3d) 336 (Ontario Court of Appeal), I was instrumental in bringing about a substantial rewriting of the Canadian law on solicitor-client privilege. Most recently, I was fortunate enough to defend a modern day Job, a man by the name of Jerome Kerrigan. He was wrongfully accused of a horrific crime, the death of his two grandchildren, and the case received months of national and international publicity. The case was tried in the court of public opinion and Mr. Kerrigan was ultimately vindicated in a court of law. This legal background has given me a deep appreciation of the lawsuit structure of The Book of Job.

     I am a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Great Ideas, (www.thegreatideas.org ), an American think-tank based in Chicago. I owe an incalculable debt of gratitude to its founder Mortimer J. Adler and its president Max Weismann for their writings and their advice. I would not be the person I am without them. In and through their mentorship, I have become rationally persuaded of the truth of natural law ethics and Thomistic metaphysics. Both have profoundly influenced my understanding of the scriptures. This moral background has given me a deep appreciation of the moral dynamics in The Book of Job.

     I would describe myself as an evangelical Christian, though not a fundamentalist. I believe the traditional doctrines of Trinity, Incarnation, substitutionary atonement, bodily resurrection, heaven and hell. I am denominationally Anglican, as much by temperament as by default. I value the high value it places on human reason. When I searched for a spiritual home, the Reverends Joan Mitchell and Ed Swayze successively welcomed me into their home, St. Stephen’s Anglican, Thunder Bay. They regularly encouraged my writings and preaching and I owe them a profound thanks. Years ago, two professors, Dr. Richard Berg of Lakehead University and Dr. Don Thompson of Laurentian University, read my early preaching on The Book of Job and strongly suggested I publish. I have ignored their sage advice for too many years. I now offer this book, in part, as a memorial to their good friendships.

     I have elected to use the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible throughout this work. It is the only translation that is universally accepted by all three branches of the Christian faith: Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant.

     I have elected to use Benjamin Foster’s translation of the Babylonian Enuma Elish found in Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature. The translation is crisp and clear. The notes are excellent. It is a good place to begin a fuller exploration of Babylonian mythology and I thank him and CDL Press for their permission in using quotations from that translation.

     I have elected to use Nicolas Wyatt’s translation of the Canaanite Baal Cycle found in Religious Texts from Ugarit: The Words of Ilimiku and his Colleagues. The translation is excellent. The notes are superb. It is a good place to begin a fuller exploration of Canaanite mythology and I thank him and The Continuum International Publishing Group (the successor to Sheffield Academic Press) for their permission in using quotations from that translation.

     I would like to thank my wife Cindy, my good friend Max Weismann, Provincial Court Justice Paul Glowacki, Superior Court Justice Larry Kozak, Father Chris Rupert S.J., Dr. David Clines (author of Job 1-20, Word Biblical), Dr. Norman Habel (author of Job, Old Testament Library) and especially Dr. Gerald Janzen (author of Job, Interpretation) for their ongoing encouragement in this work and for their invaluable proof reading of the final draft. I absolve them of any failings this book might have and I take complete responsibility for the final form of this book. It is my hope and prayer that this commentary might be as satisfying for readers as The Book of Job has been for me.

     This work Putting God on Trial: The Biblical Book of Job is the first in a trilogy. The second work is anticipated to be Putting Jesus on Trial: The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The final work is anticipated to be Putting Mankind on Trial: The Biblical Books of Genesis through Revelation. Ideally, they will follow this work at one year intervals.