Session 7: April 1, 2021

The Session Assignment [link]

The Lead-in:

We've now reached the denouement of the Hebrew Bible. We've seen the confidence with which Proverbs asserts that the prophets were right when they asserted that the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked punished. Given the understanding that following death everyone descends to Sheol for a completely uneventful who-knows-what, this reward and punishment could only happen during the individual's lifetime. Although Exodus described punishment as sometimes delayed and sometimes visited on later generations, Isaiah now insists that punishment will occur for the sinner alone.

We see this week that the Book of Job provides two different answers to the theodicy issue. Can either one be considered emotionally satisfying?

We also begin to dig into a new way of viewing the world which does provide an answer which is at least consistent with the observed world: apocalypticism.