Essay #2: Responses to Suffering in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to review, analyze,
and evaluate the major responses to suffering in the Old Testament/Hebrew
Bible--namely, retributive justice (which also includes suffering as “teaching”),
speculative wisdom, and apocalyptic.
Your essay should have two basic parts:
1. In the first, you should discuss the basic features of each of these
points of view, and illustrate them clearly from the Bible and secondary
readings (Kushner, Yancey, Lewis, Wiesel, etc.). Where is each found
in the Bible? What are some examples of how the theme is developed?
What is the relationship between the likely historical context for each point
of view and the “answer” given (e.g., that the Law and the Prophets were
shaped by the experience of the exile, resulting in retributive justice as
the dominant point of view)?
2. After doing this basic review and analysis, you should work on illustrating
how each might actually “work” in real life, and evaluate their helpfulness.
You have two options for doing this:
Option 1: Work through the various Hebrew Bible views on suffering
in relation to the story Wiesel tells (i.e., his experiences in the Holocaust).
First, focus on an aspect of the suffering described by Wiesel--for example,
on children as victims, or on the relationship between Wiesel and his father,
or on a particular scene or theme--to give a clear sense of the kind of suffering
you’re dealing with. (The point here is to avoid generalizations--”How
awful it must have been!”--rather, use specific examples from the book--e.g.,
the hanging of the young boy). Then discuss how each perspective might
illuminate the experience of the victims of the death camps, and the strengths
and weaknesses of the position. Where appropriate, use the perspectives
of Kushner, Lewis, Yancey, or other readings. Next, spend some
time discussing why Wiesel is not satisfied with any of the traditional biblical
answers (see, e.g., p. 42). What’s wrong with these responses?
Why does he sympathize with Job? What really happens to his faith?
Is it extinguished, altered, or what? Finally, conclude with some reflections
about how an event like the Holocaust impacts your own understanding of God
and God’s relation to human suffering.
Option 2: Work through the various Hebrew Bible views on suffering
in relation to your own story of suffering. The goal of this option
is the same as Option 1, but you have the opportunity to relate the Hebrew
Bible teaching to an aspect of your own experience instead of that of Wiesel.
First, describe the experience and how and why it raises the question of
God’s role in human suffering. Then bring each of the main perspectives
from the Hebrew Bible to bear on the experience, setting forth the strengths
and weaknesses of each (include here reference to Kushner and Beker where
appropriate). Finally, conclude with a statement, grounded in the work
you’ve done so far, about where you are on the question of God and human
suffering right now. How did your experience impact your understanding
of/faith in God? What questions related to your experience remain for
you? How do you envision addressing them?
This is not necessarily an outline for the paper. You may structure
it however you wish--for example, combining parts one and two, integrating
the experience into the general discussion.
The paper should be 5-6 pages in length, double-spaced.