Subject: Re: Dinosaurs and Job
Date: 19 Nov 1999 00:45:48 GMT
From: Chris Ho-Stuart
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian

Robert Wild wrote:
> My apologies Chris – I posted from a lack of understanding – (nice to
> hear from you :)), However, I contend that the point remains valid –
> High and low languages have existed, and the high (formal) language is
> often poetic.

Yes; and indeed your point that historical events are frequently
expressed in formalized and poetic language is true also.

I confess I find this odd in relation to Job, however. Job is not
a narrative of events; so it is pretty meaningless to speak of it
being historical or not. The first and last chapters do have
some narrative content; but the scene of the discussion between
God and Satan is surely easily recognizable as figurative and not a
kind of court room transcript of actual negotiations between two
divine entities. It is significant in this regard that Satan has
no mention in the conclusion; which basically indicates that God
does what he will and it is pointless to try and second guess his
reasons.

Thus comparisons with Homer’s poetic account of the wars of Troy
miss the point. Homer was describing events. Job is a set of
conversations about suffering and judgement and justification
and fairness, and so on. The appropriate comparison for Job is
not Homer, but perhaps Plato?

Cheers — Chris Ho-Stuart