The prophecy of Micah begins with a literary motif that is at once normative and exclusive to the Bible’s genre. In the realm of philosophical religions, it is common to justify suffering via theodicy, the foolish attempt to reconcile rational concepts of God with the existence of evil. When disaster strikes we have come to…
Tag: suffering
Jonah the Post-Modern Nihilist
The final section of Jonah opens with the prophet’s anger and displeasure at the reversal of God’s wrath. (4:1) In a reprisal of his teenager persona, Jonah justifies his selfish behavior from chapter 1, wagging his finger at Dad, “didn’t I tell you?” (4:2) Jonah’s childish rant teems with hypocrisy. Even as he is rescued from Sheol (2:2) he angrily…