I often see people pointing to Job as a sort of canonical theodicy, but the one that it provides is ultimately an unsatisfying non-theodicy. It's extremely problematic for my understanding of the way the text presents God: on one hand, he's the righteous champion of justice, fairness, and loving-kindness--and on the other, he's an amoral antagonist whose punishment is indiscriminate. How do you deal with these incongruities?
That was a good read, thanks. I think it would be interesting to know what the original story was like. I do agree that it seems like their were additions and subtractions made to the story. It seems to be common, and in textual criticism you still find scholars arguing over certain parts of both the old and new testament. I think I tend to agree with Voltaire on this one.