From a close reading of both the Book of Job and Deuteronomy I would propose that the former might be intentionally responding to and challenging the prevailing Deuteronomic doctrine of divine retributive justice as it is expressed clearly in the notion of blessings and curses in Deuteronomy (11:26-28; chs. 27-28). It is also claimed that in order not to offend or upset the mainstream theological position too much, the author of Job chooses to adopt another theological position, the principle of divine providence, to balance the radical nature of his/her project. The two theological themes intertwine and they address different circles of audience, the orthodox and the liberal. This may provide an explanation for the existence of the seemingly self-contradictory elements in the Book of Job. / I will place the Book of Job in the post-exilic historical background and relate it to the contemporary intellectual context, that is, the Deuteronomistic historical writings (hereafter DH). While fully acknowledging the scholarly hypothetical nature of the DH, it can nevertheless be observed that the theme of "a just divine retribution" (Noth) works through the writings of the Deuteronomists. It is in this sense that some scholars label the DH as "a theodicy" (Romer), i.e., a defense of divine justice in the face of the national tragedy of exile. Since the Book of Job also seriously questions the validity of divine retributive justice it seems quite reasonable to read it in the light of the Deuteronomistic works and their theological doctrines. / Many biblical scholars have stated, the Book of Job relates to the issue of the validity/applicability of divine justice (Jastrow, Crenshaw, etc.). There are others who disagree and they consider the book offers a strong confirmation of divine providence (e.g. Andersen). This is especially true with YHWH speeches (38:1-40:2; 40:6-41:34) and the so called "happy ending" (42:7-17). Though most scholars would acknowledge the complexity and even contradictions in the book and observe that there is more than one single theme, few would present competing ideas as parallel discourses of comparable significance. To my view, the dimensions of questioning the validity of divine justice and the confirmation of divine providence are juxtaposed in the book. They come into conflicts and contradict one with the other. What the present author intends to do in this thesis is to explore how the two discourses work together in creative tension in the book and why the two seemingly competing theological claims are employed by the author in his/her construction of the text. / This dissertation will employ multiple approaches. Classical theory of poetry, contemporary drama theory, and Intertextual reading strategies will be adopted in different stages of its argument. Basically, the literary-critical method will be relied on in the analysis of the text of Job. / 張纓. / Adviser: Archie C. C. Lee. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0638. / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-288). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Zhang Ying.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_344044 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Contributors | 張纓., Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Religious Studies., Zhang, Ying. |
| Source Sets | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Language | Chinese, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, theses |
| Format | electronic resource, microform, microfiche, 1 online resource (xii, 288 p.) |
| Rights | Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
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