2023-24
Assignment Five
December 12- December 18
"So Be Good For Goodness' Sake. . ."
George de La Tour
Job et sa Femme, (Job and His Wife) c.1640-1645
Why do the right thing if you only are punished for doing so?
This is one of the central questions that the Book of Job poses. Job is clearly an upstanding man: “that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil.” How much easier for the reader to wish that Job were not morally good, for isn’t it human nature to believe that good ought be rewarded while evil is punished? How, then, to make sense of the wisdom text?
In a series of well-organized paragraphs, explain first why you believe that good generally ought to be rewarded while evil should be punished (or if you don’t believe so, explain why you don’t). Then discuss why humans ought to act ethically, even if they might be punished for doing so. End by speculating on why God seems to punish a good man (Job).
Do not use any outside sources for this entry, but rather try to formulate your own understanding of the issues.