Over this break I read a book called, “Suffering” By Dorthee Soelle, on the recommendation of one of my professors. The book details the various ways people respond to suffering-their own and others. She described two extremes that are extremely hurtful-apathy and over glorification. An example of over glorification is telling someone, “God never gives you more than you can handle.” Though hopefully most people mean that as a way to try and comfort others, sometimes they use it as a way to rationalize not helping others. But in one section Soelle talks about the God of Job and she does not take a kind view towards this tale of the deity. (To tell you the truth neither do I. For some reason I find the idea of a God that would allow satan to harass and hurt one of His/Her Children in order to “test” him to be abhorrent.) She also admires Job for standing up against such a God and she expresses disappointment when he ultimately submits to him.
“…He (Job) refuses to allow himself to be made the object of testing. Job is stronger than God. Job does what the fairy tale hero does only after he passes the test. He disposes of the tester in the course of the testing itself.” (pg 112)
“A testing of this kind can come only from an arbitrary tyrant. The senselessness of the testing is clear right from the start…Job won’t have anything to do with the tyrannical type of testing in which the powerful one dictates the conditions to the powerless.” (113)
“Against God the murder, who violates justice, Job appears to another God…This helper, this true friend, goes beyond all the roles for God offered in the book of Job…” (118)
She later goes on to speak about Christ and his suffering and how God sides with those who are suffering.
As she details what exactly Christ’ suffering means-especially to those who experience senseless suffering, a thought struck me that I hope to one day explore more fully. What if one views Jesus’ death not as a payment for humanity’s sin but as the crucifixion of the God of wrath- a god who is angry, and tyrannically, a god who oppresses and is basically a deified taskmaster? What if because Christians view Jesus as divine, what if by suffering, by getting involved in the plight and pains of humanity-Christ is trying to put an end to the view of a distant, angry, wrathful God? Christ’s death signifies God’s solidarity with those who are hurting. Christ felt physical pain and spiritual pain as his friends and God deserts him. How many people who are experiencing pain feel abandoned by God and his/her friends? How many people beg to be allowed to avoid drinking from the cup of suffering? How many cry out, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”
And what if one could argue that Christianity has continued to resurrect the God of wrath? Instead of completing embracing a God of love, they quantify that love saying that all those who do not accept Christ (their version of Christ) is going to hell? There are Biblical passages that suggest that. (Though I do not view the Bible to be the infallible word of God and would argue that such passages, since many appear in John, written between 90-11o C.E. reflects the thoughts from the Christian community rather than of Jesus.)
These are just some thoughts-I hope to do more research and perhaps during my senior year do an honors project or next summer perhaps do a research project with a faculty member on it.
I know my thoughts are unorthodox and some may even consider them heretical, but I just find it fascinating all the different ways one can view God, the Bible, and Jesus’ suffering.
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