Posted by Kathryn M. Schifferdecker on 8/4/2014 12:53 PM
Kathyrn Schifferdecker, Luther Seminary associate professor of Old Testament, talks about the conversation that God has with Job in Job 38.
"These speeches can easily be read as God beating Job down," said Schifferdecker. She also talks about how the divine speeches can also be seen as a way to view the creation, and humanity's place within that world.
"God shows all this to Job ... to expand his vision, to see the beautiful and wild and ordered world that God has created," said Schifferdecker. …
Posted by Enter the Bible on 3/11/2014 1:22 PM
The late Dan Simundson, professor emeritus of Old Testament at Luther Seminary, talks about the role that Job's friends play in accompanying (or exacerbating) his suffering.
"Their intentions were good," said Dr. Simundson. "Their remorse and their compassion were genuine ... But as for many well-intentioned comforters, when they began to speak they were not always helpful. The words that they said were even sometimes rather hurtful. People can say harmful things even though they mean to be good …
Posted by Kathryn M. Schifferdecker on 3/1/2014 2:39 PM
Podcast discussion with Eric Barreto, Cameron Howard, and Kathryn Schifferdecker. Article written by Kathryn Schifferdecker.
Why do people suffer? It’s a question as old as the Bible (or older) and as current as today’s newspaper. Someone we love dies. A child is abused or neglected. A tornado wipes out a whole town. And we ask, "Why? Why do people suffer?"
The atheist has no real problem here. Why do people suffer? Because that’s the way life is. Chance, circumstance, luck, whatever …
Posted by Kathryn M. Schifferdecker on 10/10/2013 1:18 PM
Kathryn Schifferdecker explores the lessons we can learn from Job 42, the epilogue of the book of Job. In particular, what do we make of Job's second set of daughters -- the ones given to him by God after his test is complete?