This fine book is available now at our bookstore....

Putting God on Trial: The Biblical Book of Job

by Robert Sutherland

225 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-2224; ISBN 1-4120-1847-1; US$21.00, C$22.95, EUR17.50, £12.00

Highly praised by scholars. "Very impressive, authoritative," (David Clines); "Extremely well written grabbing the interest of many educated folk." (Normal Habel); "A perspective and analysis meriting serious consideration." (Gerald Janzen).

Read more!

about the book      review      about the author      table of contents and excerpts      catalogue info

About the Book Many scholars find the legal metaphor of an Oath of Innocence inappropriate, though for different reasons. Some liberal scholars opt for an aesthetic, not a moral, resolution of the question of evil in the world. They find a sublime beauty in God's review of the animal and physical worlds, Behemoth and Leviathan. But that is all they find. They find no suggestions of moral purpose in God's creation and control of evil. Indeed, they feel none could be forthcoming. God is beyond good and evil so no moral resolution is possible. Since no moral resolution is possible, a legal mataphor such as a lawsuit dramatizing the moral question is inappropriate. They interpret Job to understand that position. And they interpret him to retract the lawsuit in its entirety. This author feels such liberal scholars miss a moral resolution for five reasons. (a) First, they fail to give adequate weight to Satan's first speech in heaven setting out the moral solution. (b) Second, they misinterpret Job's struggle with God to be a request for a restoration of his former position, rather than a request to know the reason behind evil in the world. (c) Third, they fail to appreciate the moral restrictions under which God has to operate. God cannot reveal any moral answers directly without defeating his very purpose in the creation and control of evil. As a result, they miss the suggestions of moral purpose in God's two speeches and the inferences God would have Job draw. (d) Fourth, they fail to fully appreciate the legal dynamics of the enforcement mechanism of Job's Oath of Innocence. In particular, they fail to appreciate the distinction between causal responsibility and moral blameworthiness. Thus, they do not understand God's comments concerning vindication and condemnation in his first speech to Job. And they do not understand Job's hesitation to proceed beyond his own vindication to a condemnation of God in Job's first speech to God. Ultimately, they fail to see Job's adjournment and continuation of his Oath of Innocence implied by the allusion to the story of Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah in Job's final speech. (e) Finally, they fail to give full expression to God's ultimate judgement on Job. Job and only Job spoke rightly about God. In the face of such a judgement, there is no room to deny the ultimate propriety of the moral and legal question as a way of framing man's encounter with God. Some conservative scholars opt for a moral resolution of the question of evil in the world, but their resolution is equally unsatisfying. They interpret Job's so-called excessive words and his Oath of Innocence to be sins of presumption. Thus they would have Job retract his lawsuit in its entirety and repent morally for either his so-called excessive words, his raising of the lawsuit or both. This author feels such conservative scholars miss a satisfactory moral resolution for three reasons. (a) First, they fail to understand the depth of Satan's challenge to God. It is not merely that Job will curse God. It is that God is wrong in his judgement on Job's goodness. God missed sin in Job's life. Such scholars think their moral resolution is possible, because although Job sins, Job does not actually curse God. Their resolution actually makes Satan right in his challenge of God so that God should step down from his throne and destroy mankind. (b) Second, they fail to give proper weight to Job's blamelessness and integrity. The raising of the Oath of Innocence is an expression of that blamelessness and integrity. It is what God expects of Job, though he cannot tell him that directly. (c) Finally, they fail to give full expression of God's ultimate judgement on Job. Job and only Job spoke rightly about God. In the face of such a judgement, there is no room to attribute sin or wrongdoing to Job for either his so-called excessive words or for his Oath of Innocence. My personal interpretation charts a new middle course between these two-fold horrors: a liberal Scylla which places God beyond good and evil and a conservative Charybdis which attributes sin to Job, either for his so-called excessive words, his Oath of Innocence or both. God has a moral reason for sending evil . Man has a need and a right to know that reason. But God need not provide that reason here and now. An adjournment of God's trial to the day of the Final Judgement and its continuation then is strongly implied. It is implied through the allusion to Abraham, through the allusion to a Redeemer who stands up in court at the Final Judgement to plead Job's cause and through the allusion to the apocalyptic destruction of Leviathan at the Messianic banquet and the explanation of all things that follows. The legal metaphor is highly appropriate. A satisfactory moral solution is only possible because of the distinction between casual responsibility and moral blameworthiness embedded in Job's Oath of Innocence. That distinction is central to the criminal law defense of justification or necessity. God may be causally responsible for the evil in the world, but not morally blameworthy for it. He has a necessary and sufficient reason for the evil and will ultimately give it. Job grants him that time without denying his need to know and without withdrawing his right to know. This resolution preserves the moral integrity of both God and man.

Review Review of Biblical Literature, October 30, 2004, by Alice M Sinnott, Auckland University Auckland, New Zealand In this first volume of a promised trilogy [Putting God on Trial-The Biblical Book of Job], Sutherland proposes that the primary task for the reader of the book of Job is to interpret the existing text and integrate seemingly disparate elements rather than abandon the literary challenge and blame the difficulty on a clumsy redaction of preexisting texts. He is more concerned about what has been said than with how it came to be said and reads the received text as a unity, seeing it as a classic text in its present form. Sutherland bases his thesis on the notion that a lawsuit metaphor is central to the book and claims that Job offers a nontraditional answer to the question of why there is evil in the world. This answer is posited on four pivotal claims about God: God created a world of unremitting and undeserved suffering in order to make the highest form of love possible; God cannot reveal this explanation for evil; God expects human beings to challenge the creation of such a world; God will reveal the answer on the day of the final judgment. Asserting that Job is 'one of the greatest books ever written', Sutherland reads it as a provocative theodicy, an attempt to justify the ways of God to human beings. It is, he claims, the story of the most righteous human being on earth putting God on trial for crimes against humanity and refusing to acquit God. Yet its startling resolution preserves the moral integrity of God and of Job and suggests an even fuller resolution beyond its pages. He concludes that traditional attempts to justify the ways of God have proven inadequate because of their inability to deal with the dilemma of gratuitous evil and the problem of God's nonintervention. Sutherland outlines what he sees as a lawsuit drama, a philosophical answer in poetry and prose put into words through the vehicle of a legal drama. He proposes that the moral issues of theodicy are easily translated into a legal framework of duties and rights. Thus, Job portrays a series of overlapping and interlocking trials: God puts Job on trial, Satan puts God on trial, God puts Job on trial a second time, Job's friends put Job on trial, and Job puts the friends on trial. Finally, everything builds to the climactic moment when Job puts God on trial and refuses to acquit God. In a series of five speeches, all of which Sutherland claims are delivered on the Day of Atonement, Job demands to know why there is evil in the world. Though an oath of innocence, Job embarks on formal legal proceedings against God in order to provoke an answer. To his friends the oath of innocence is blasphemy, but in the eyes of God this oath is the pinnacle of righteousness. Finally, to the surprise of all, God appears to Job but does not give him any direct answers. God places before Job and all humanity a single question: Will they condemn God so that they themselves may be justified? Job chooses not to condemn God but does not retract his lawsuit. Sutherland claims that Job is the perfect embodiment of the selfless love and moral integrity for which the world was created. He argues forcefully and coherently against those he calls liberal and conservative scholars who find the legal metaphor of an oath of innocence inappropriate. He opts for a new middle course in which he seeks to present a single comprehensive and coherent interpretation that preserves the moral integrity of both God and Job. Sutherland alleges that interpretations calling Job's integrity into question, or those questioning the propriety of Job's question, must be ruled out as illegitimate. Within his own parameters of interpretation, he elects to address four issues: Satan's speech; Job's oath of innocence; God's two speeches to Job; Job's two responses to God. A proper handling of these, he maintains, will unlock the treasures Job. Chapter 2, 'A New Look at Genesis' is an argument from a canonical perspective that the author of Job reworks Genesis with Job as a new Adam. In a series of dramatic scenes, Sutherland outlines the drama that moves from earth to heaven, back to earth, and back to heaven, where God confesses to causal responsibility for the evil Satan inflicted on Job and then back to earth for Job's response. Chapter 3 introduces what Sutherland proposes is the second act of the drama, which addresses 'The Truth about God that No One Wanted to Hear', that is, that God is the author of evil in the world. Here we enter a wasteland to hear Job's three friends and a discussion of the three cycles of speeches. Central to this chapter is the presentation of Job's oath of innocence involving the statement, proof, and enforcement of his claim. Elihu, who is perceived as speaking for God, receives brief mention toward the end of the chapter. Chapter 4 presents the third act in the Joban drama, which involves 'Putting God on Trial'. Arguing from a canonical perspective, Sutherland claims that this section of Job is a reworking of the Revelation story when the oath of innocence trumpets a final judgment on God just before God appears in the whirlwind. Proposing the Babylonian myth of creation as the mythological background for this scene, the whirlwind as the powerful mythological symbol for the divine control of evil, Sutherland claims that the author of Job is rewriting the Babylonian myth and Genesis on two points. God creates evil. Evil is in the world before the fall of humanity. Chapter 5, 'A Philosophical Analysis', argues that Job is a myth in which the characters of God, Satan, and Job dramatize aspects of the final cause of evil in the world. Job, Sutherland suggests, exemplifies the potential for moral integrity that all human beings possess. He advances this analysis by proposing, developing, and examining ten 'truth claims' that describe the human condition particularly as represented in Job. Sutherland concludes his book with a reflection on Job as an attempt by the author to address the problem of evil and its role in the world. Moving into theological mode, he advocates being as patient as Job by enduring suffering that is not understood; being as honest as Job by refusing pat answers; being as devout as Job by exercising faith in the midst of pain. He concludes this advice with the assurance that God will answer all questions in eternity. This assurance appears to be at odds with the text of Job, which never speaks of an afterlife for human beings. This volume contains two very helpful appendices: 'Appendix A: The Babylonian Myth of Creation', and 'Appendix B: The Canaanite Myth of Re-creation'. The selected bibliography reveals what is evident throughout the book: that Sutherland is familiar and conversant with research on Job. The endnotes are detailed and unobtrusive. An index would have been very helpful in this volume. Many scholars have examined issues of law and trial in Job, but few bring to it the perspective provided by Sutherland with his legal training and expertise. Regardless of whether one is in agreement with his argument as a whole or in part, his perspectives and analyses must be taken into consideration in any study of the book of Job. Sutherland's work is unusual, self-assured, and a noteworthy treatment of a biblical text that continues to puzzle and intrigue. His work on Near Eastern sources is significant, and his attention to studies on Job by biblical scholars and others is admirable. This book is a thorough and rigorous presentation of the legal arguments of Job, to which the author has added a breadth of information set in the contexts of Canaanite and Egyptian legal frameworks, with Job's oath of innocence as the pivot. Sutherland explains clearly the philosophical basis for his argument and articulates his case carefully. His commentary and conclusions make eminent sense if one accepts his starting points. The proofreader failed to notice several printing or typographical errors, such as, page 99, 'in'. for 'its'; 'whether' for 'where'; page 105, 'shutter' for 'shudder'; page 106, 'pseudi-epigraphical' for 'pseudepigrapha'. The consistent use of 'he' throughout for God and the use of 'man' throughout this text may be perceived as offensive and exclusive by many readers in a time when inclusive language is generally expected. A number of headings are separated from the text to which they relate, as in page 31, .Trial By Ordeal.; page 40, .A Whirlwind Of Righteous Indignation.; pp 44, .Job's Road to an Oath of Innocence.; page 88, .God's Second Speech.; page 90, .The Mythological Worlds. Although some of his assertions and conclusions may need to be tempered, Sutherland's main thesis is arresting and challenging. In this clearly written, thought-provoking text, Sutherland successfully defends his proposal that the court metaphor is central to the book of Job. His portrayal of God as the source of evil will shock some readers, but his persuasive concentration on and development of his theory of the oath of innocence is impressive. Through sustained legal reasoning, Sutherland effectively proves that at the end Job does not sin, confess sin, or repent of sin, and in the same way he persuades the reader that God never really answers the charge of unwarranted suffering. By following this line of reasoning, he demonstrates that Job is innocent and implies that God is the cause of Job's suffering. Reading Putting God on Trial may demand reconsideration of beliefs and understandings of God and the text of Job.

---

About the Author I hold a three year Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgood 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. As 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 preachings 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.

---

Table of Contents and Excerpts

---

Catalogue Information

---

About Trafford Publishing:
Our books are manufactured one-at-a-time to fill individual orders -- part of an innovative process we invented, called "on-demand publishing." Authors and organizations from 120 countries are using Trafford for their publishing needs.
If you (or your company) wish to list a title for sale to the public, contact the nearest office or select "publishing offices" from our bookstore pages for details.

Canada • USA • UK • Republic of Ireland Contact Us URL http://www.trafford.com © 1995-2005 Trafford Publishing, a division of Trafford Holdings Ltd. Trafford's Privacy Policy: Client information will never be provided to anyone outside of Trafford and its subsidiaries except where required by law.