ABSTRACT
The suffering of the innocent poses the most significant theological challenge to the monotheistic traditions in general and to Judaism in particular. Judaism proclaims that God rewards the righteous and punishes the sinner. Judaism assures us that God is an agent and guarantor of justice in the world. In the face of these claims, the suffering human body cries out for alleviation and healing from her pain and also for answers as to why she must suffer. The suffering body necessarily entails a suffering mind, a mind that is full of questions. Why me? What is the meaning of my pain? What did I do to deserve this suffering? How can I understand this suffering in relation to the proclamations of goodness, caring, and power that are made for my God? Certainly, the most penetrating and profound thought which we have about suffering in the monotheistic traditions is found in the book of Job. With Job, abstract reflection on God, evil, justice, and human suffering receives a concrete case, an immediate human voice, and probing interpretations. Job emerges as the most subtle and complex of theodicies which accomplishes the ultimate goal of theodicy, to embrace justice and hope out of the situation of despair.
