Job and Ecclesiastes


Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes

God is not knowable

The order of the cosmos is not knowable

Everything is fleeting

What are you going to do about it?

Similarities with Buddhism


The Book of Job: Satan

The figure of satan, originally a heavenly district attorney (enemy of God later)

Is there such a thing as disinterested piety?

Should the righteous be rewarded?


Job’s friends

Insist on the wisdom of the book of Proverbs

The righteous do prosper, Job must have sinned

Arguments from fittingness

God cannot be questioned

Accept tradition, the ancients knew better

Lying for God


Job

There can be no true justice under absolute tyranny

The governed have the right to know the rules

One should still be righteous for its own sake, even though no discernible reward


God

So what if God is not just?

It’s not all about the humans. You’re not the center of the universe.

Shut up, Job.


Unanswered questions

Many possible interpretations of the end

How do we talk about God

Where does Job fit in the rest of the Bible?