Abstract
The biblical book of Job contains more extensive discussion of the cosmos and God’s role in it than any other book in the Bible with the possible exception of Psalms. The main issue of the book is God’s justice towards the sorely tried protagonist, Job. The major distinction between the book of Job and the thinking of the general ancient Near Eastern culture is the role of God’s justice and wisdom in the operations of the cosmos. This paper will focus on the key passages about the cosmos in Job in order to define the specific message of the book concerning the relations of God and men to the world, and determine how the book of Job views a control of the world in the overall context of the book. First, we will consider the context and structure of the book. Then the passages about the cosmos and creation themselves will be summarized in an attempt to determine what they are communicating, especially in regard to God’s control of the world. Finally, we will draw conclusions about the overall role that biblical creation imagery plays in the drama of Job.
Funding source: Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja
Award Identifier / Grant number: APVV-18-0103
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Research funding: This research was funded by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under contract no. APVV-18-0103: Paradigmatic Changes in the Understanding of Universe and Man from Philosophical, Theological, and Physical Perspectives.
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Conflict of interest statement: The author declares no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Declaration: I, Jozef Jančovič, declare that I am author of this paper and approve the submitted version. My work is original and is not under consideration by any other journal. I have permission to reproduce any previously published materia.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Cosmos and Humanity: Historical and Contemporary Paradigms of Understanding
- Research Articles
- Does God Micromanage the World? Learning about the Cosmos from the Book of Job
- Anthropomorphic Motifs in Ancient Greek Ideas on the Origin of the Cosmos
- The Meaning of Human Life in the Context of the Evolution of the Universe: V. I. Vernadsky and P. Teilhard De Chardin
- Pragmatist Empiricism (Towards a Conception of Human Being)
- A New Perspective on Humanity in the Cosmic Future: A Critical Reflection on Some Transhumanist Visions
- Conception of Human Being in Analytical Idealism: How Human and Cosmos are Interlinked Through Consciousness
- Challenges of Transhumanism for Virtue Ethics
- Whitehead’s Organic Conception of Humanity. Beyond Mechanistic Philosophy in an Age of Transhumanism
- Philosophical Objections to Media Contexts of Terraforming
- Book Review
- Plašienková, Z: Paradigmatické zmeny v chápaní kozmologickej a antropologickej problematiky: minulosť a súčasnosť
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Cosmos and Humanity: Historical and Contemporary Paradigms of Understanding
- Research Articles
- Does God Micromanage the World? Learning about the Cosmos from the Book of Job
- Anthropomorphic Motifs in Ancient Greek Ideas on the Origin of the Cosmos
- The Meaning of Human Life in the Context of the Evolution of the Universe: V. I. Vernadsky and P. Teilhard De Chardin
- Pragmatist Empiricism (Towards a Conception of Human Being)
- A New Perspective on Humanity in the Cosmic Future: A Critical Reflection on Some Transhumanist Visions
- Conception of Human Being in Analytical Idealism: How Human and Cosmos are Interlinked Through Consciousness
- Challenges of Transhumanism for Virtue Ethics
- Whitehead’s Organic Conception of Humanity. Beyond Mechanistic Philosophy in an Age of Transhumanism
- Philosophical Objections to Media Contexts of Terraforming
- Book Review
- Plašienková, Z: Paradigmatické zmeny v chápaní kozmologickej a antropologickej problematiky: minulosť a súčasnosť