The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic
Church
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In English we have the expression, ''the patience of Job,'' which we
apply to someone who endures prolonged suffering without complaint.
However, that is not an entirely accurate picture of Job's actual behavior
in the book of Job. Job does not speak continually - his friends, a young
man, and God speak a great deal also - but very roughly speaking, of the
42 chapters in Job, Job
a. complains in 3 chapters, and is
uncomplaining in 39.
b. complains in 20 chapters, and is
uncomplaining in 22.
c. is uncomplaining in 3 chapters, and
complains in 39.
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Job and his friends argue at great length about what his suffering means.
Job has just finished speaking. Zophar makes an argument that is typical
of those made by Job's friends. Now read Job 11. What is the argument?
a. ''You are not really suffering because
suffering is an illusion and is not real. If you meditate you will feel no
pain.''
b. ''You are suffering because God is
punishing you for your sins. Turn your heart back to God and you will get
better.''
c. ''You are suffering but no one will ever
know the reason why. Suffering is a mystery that has no reason.''
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Job, along with laments, prayers, and complaints to God, also responds to
his three friends. In Job 21, first he says (in effect) ''You have been
'consoling' me by talking in general, about 'man.' But really look at me,
and how I am truly suffering!'' Now read all of Job 21. In it Job says
something like this:
a. ''Despite what you say, anybody can see
that an evil man does not necessarily suffer.''
b. ''God punishes the wicked, but I still
can not see why I am being punished so severely.''
c. ''My suffering will end when there are
no more differences between what I want and what I have.''
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Read Job 29-30. In this passage Job says that
a. He has done much good and God will yet
relieve his suffering.
b. He has done much good and yet God does
not relieve his suffering.
c. He is a sinful man but God will yet
relieve his suffering.
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Read Job 38:1-7. God's reply to Job is a thoughtful
a. answer.
b. joke.
c. question.
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Read Job 42:7-9. God says that
a. Job was right and his friends were also
right - Job's suffering was not due to his sins.
b. Job was right and his friends were wrong
- Job's suffering was not due to his sins.
c. Job was wrong and his friends were also
wrong - Job's suffering was due to his sins.
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It would be a deep and very serious mistake for a Catholic to think of
the book of Job as the last word on the problem of evil and the existence
of innocent suffering. The true meaning of the Bible is not an idea or
concept but a person, Jesus. [CCC 426] He is God's ''one single Word, his
one Utterance in which he expresses himself completely.'' [CCC 102]
No one is ever going to find the true answer to the problems of evil and
suffering by studying the book of Job in isolation from the reality of the
sacraments and the truth of the New Covenant.
Nonetheless, the book of Job is the true Word of God and a powerful
depiction of the problem of evil and the existence of innocent suffering.
It has been a source of meditation and study for 2500 years.
However, over the centuries, along with many profound and heart-rending
interpretations, Job has also received all kinds of misinterpretations.
Its contents have even been twisted so much that its 'meaning' becomes the
opposite of what it plainly says. This is usually done not by evil people,
but by very well-meaning ones. >>
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A recent example of this is a book written by a Jewish rabbi whose son
died of a rare and terrible disease, titled When Bad Things Happen to Good
People. For example, Job's God is the all-powerful Creator of all things.
Rabbi Kushner simply denies that the book of Job teaches this, in spite of
the plain evidence to the contrary right in Job.
Rabbi Kushner's God is no almighty Creator but a ''good'' force within
nature, a vague, undefined force so powerless that it is subject to
nature's laws. This certainly solves the problem of how a good God could
allow evil, but it is no God that either Job or the Catholic Church would
recognize.
Please don't misunderstand. This book was a best seller, but it is not
typical of Jewish meditation on Job. It is just an example of the hundreds
of different historical attempts to find the ''real meaning'' of the book
of Job. There are probably hundreds of others yet to come.
We can all profit from studying the book of Job, but we must also
remember that God gives Job no direct answer to his questions. The
Catholic Church professes with all her heart that the ''answer'' to the
questions that Job raises is not an idea or a concept at all, but a
person, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, who is fully present to and in
union with his one and only Bride and Body, the Catholic Church.
In the Catechism, the Holy Father and bishops in communion with him teach
us several very important things about evil and suffering. Read CCC
309-314, and CCC 324. <<
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Note: Do NOT restate the incorrect answers to this question. Only the
correct answer has meaningful content.
The first five books of the Old Testament have always been thought of as
a unit in both Jewish and Catholic tradition. For Jews their name is Torah
(The Law) or the Books of Moses. For Catholics, too, these five books are
the Books of Moses, but these days are more commonly called the Pentateuch
[''Penta-took''] - Greek for ''five books.'' In English, the first letter
of the name of each book in the Pentateuch, in order, make up the nonsense
word:
a. GEDNL
b. GELND
c. GENLD
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Please read Gen 3, and then answer the following question. You need to
understand that the answer is very important, and absolutely true. It is
the answer solemnly professed by the whole Catholic Church with all her
heart [CCC 1008]. Here is the question:
Who is directly and specifically responsible for the entry of death into
the world?
a. God.
b. Man.
c. No one.
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One day, man will be able to go back in a time machine (or use some other
tool or technique), and find the exact moment and place where the Fall
occurred.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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If man can not, at least in principle, find the exact moment and place
where the Fall occurred, then that means that the Fall is not a real
event, but is just a charming story about why there is evil in the
world.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Moving yourself closer to the idea that the Fall is not a real event, but
just a story or metaphor for the existence of evil in the world,
a. may possibly take you farther from
Christ.
b. will definitely take you closer to
Christ.
c. will definitely take you farther from
Christ.
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It is literally true that man was there when the Fall occurred.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered physical and mental torture and an
agonizing death on the Cross in order to save us from an abstract and
metaphorical evil for which no one is actually responsible.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Adam and Eve's Fall literally and permanently damaged the entire nature
of human history, so that it can never be what it was before their
sin.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Adam and Eve's Fall literally and permanently damaged the entire nature
of the universe, so that it can never be what it was before their sin.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Jesus's death and resurrection literally re-created the entire nature of
human history, so that it fully includes all the terrible consequences of
the Fall and of all sin and yet can be even better than what it was
destined to be before the Fall.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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Jesus's death and resurrection literally re-created the entire nature of
the universe, so that it fully includes all the terrible consequences of
the Fall and of all sin and yet can be even better than what it was
destined to be before the Fall.
a. Maybe.
b. No.
c. Yes.
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The Church firmly teaches that Jesus Christ is
a. one person.
b. two persons.
c. partly one person and partly
another.
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copyright (c) 2001 John
Kelleher. All rights reserved.
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