Gustavo Gutiérrez is an expert at reading Biblical texts from the viewpoint of the underprivileged. He is a Peruvian theologian, a Dominican priest and a key innovator of Latin American Liberation Theology. He once said,
Gutiérrez shows readers how Job's experiences gradually cause him to doubt the theory of retribution and to evolve in his understanding of God's freedom, love, justice and gratuitousness. Gutiérrez helps us to understand how difficult it is to talk about God when the innocent suffer and how empty theology sounds when it refuses to speak from the harsh realities of life. Gutiérrez incorporates the works of various scholars, priests, playwrights, teachers, theologians and Latin American poets to help readers understand his approach to the topic. Gutiérrez believes that Job's suffering has made him more conscious of other innocent sufferers. Gutiérrez also insists that God's justice can only be understood in the light of God's gratuitousness.
Gutiérrez declares that those who suffer and talk (or complain) about God with honesty may actually be more pleasing to God than those who, like Job's friends, worship and obey God out of self-interested hope of reward or fear of punishment. Gutiérrez insists that abstract talk of God and his love is not profitable unless it speaks from an honest and deep consideration of the most desperate of human conditions and a deep contemplation of the plan, justice and gratuitousness of God.
From the outset, Gutiérrez informs readers that his approach is rooted in his experience with the social injustices he has witnessed in Latin America and that his goal is to find in the Book of Job insights, answers and approaches that will help us to "speak well of God" in the face of the harsh realities of life. I think that Gutiérrez has succeeded in his goal.
I commend Gutiérrez for taking on the challenge of one of the Bible's most difficult texts, especially one that deals with the hardest of human questions: Why do the innocent suffer? Amazingly, Gutiérrez has taken on the challenge and provides readers with a brief, detailed, clear, thorough and concise book. I also commend Gutiérrez on his extensive research and his knowledge of the many points of interpretation which theologians have long debated in regards to the Book of Job. Gutiérrez also shows courage in his opposition to many of these traditional interpretations.
Since reading this book, I have learned that the self-interested religion of Job's friends is not true faith, but is instead a subtle form of idolatry in which God becomes a predictable toy controlled by human behavior. Gutiérrez helped me to see the humanity of the author of the Book of Job and how I believe the Spirit of God worked through them to create a work of art that manages to ask the hard questions about God, faith and the harsh realities of life. Gutiérrez has helped me to see the Book of Job as a work of art that does not settle for quick and easy answers about the universal human experience but instead raises uncomfortable questions that, when asked, may open people's hearts for deeper experiences with the true God.
Gutiérrez has convinced me of the importance of honest prayer and contemplation of God and that to truly understand God's justice one must understand God's gratuitousness. I would recommend this book to anyone who has questioned God's goodness in the face of human suffering. I would also recommend this book to bible study teachers (it would make for great study and discussion), seminary students, pastors, ministers, pastoral counselors, social workers, and those who seek justice for "the least of these."
“You do theology differently when your stomach is full than when it is empty.”In his book, On Job: God-talk and the Suffering of the Innocent, he tries to discover the meaning of the Book of Job and how it can contribute to both how we talk about God and how we approach the reality of human suffering, in particularly, the suffering of the innocent.
Gutiérrez shows readers how Job's experiences gradually cause him to doubt the theory of retribution and to evolve in his understanding of God's freedom, love, justice and gratuitousness. Gutiérrez helps us to understand how difficult it is to talk about God when the innocent suffer and how empty theology sounds when it refuses to speak from the harsh realities of life. Gutiérrez incorporates the works of various scholars, priests, playwrights, teachers, theologians and Latin American poets to help readers understand his approach to the topic. Gutiérrez believes that Job's suffering has made him more conscious of other innocent sufferers. Gutiérrez also insists that God's justice can only be understood in the light of God's gratuitousness.
Gutiérrez declares that those who suffer and talk (or complain) about God with honesty may actually be more pleasing to God than those who, like Job's friends, worship and obey God out of self-interested hope of reward or fear of punishment. Gutiérrez insists that abstract talk of God and his love is not profitable unless it speaks from an honest and deep consideration of the most desperate of human conditions and a deep contemplation of the plan, justice and gratuitousness of God.
From the outset, Gutiérrez informs readers that his approach is rooted in his experience with the social injustices he has witnessed in Latin America and that his goal is to find in the Book of Job insights, answers and approaches that will help us to "speak well of God" in the face of the harsh realities of life. I think that Gutiérrez has succeeded in his goal.
I commend Gutiérrez for taking on the challenge of one of the Bible's most difficult texts, especially one that deals with the hardest of human questions: Why do the innocent suffer? Amazingly, Gutiérrez has taken on the challenge and provides readers with a brief, detailed, clear, thorough and concise book. I also commend Gutiérrez on his extensive research and his knowledge of the many points of interpretation which theologians have long debated in regards to the Book of Job. Gutiérrez also shows courage in his opposition to many of these traditional interpretations.
Since reading this book, I have learned that the self-interested religion of Job's friends is not true faith, but is instead a subtle form of idolatry in which God becomes a predictable toy controlled by human behavior. Gutiérrez helped me to see the humanity of the author of the Book of Job and how I believe the Spirit of God worked through them to create a work of art that manages to ask the hard questions about God, faith and the harsh realities of life. Gutiérrez has helped me to see the Book of Job as a work of art that does not settle for quick and easy answers about the universal human experience but instead raises uncomfortable questions that, when asked, may open people's hearts for deeper experiences with the true God.
Gutiérrez has convinced me of the importance of honest prayer and contemplation of God and that to truly understand God's justice one must understand God's gratuitousness. I would recommend this book to anyone who has questioned God's goodness in the face of human suffering. I would also recommend this book to bible study teachers (it would make for great study and discussion), seminary students, pastors, ministers, pastoral counselors, social workers, and those who seek justice for "the least of these."
I like your breakdown of this book. I am actually now eager to read it to hear more of Gustavo's insights. I also like the thought of questioning God, asking Him deep questions. How God might seem to appreciate that sincerity more than thinking one has God figured out. I come from a third world nation myself and I see a great level of injustice carried out by men. I also see the brainwashing effects of traditionalism, when mixed with religion. All in all, I like your piece. God bless.
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