Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I am constantly baffled by the starting point of some threads. We read the opening verses from Chapter 38 — the first place that God speaks to Job — and he talks about what he did in forming the earth. He is challenging the four men sitting and speaking (including Job).
There is nothing in this about "building a man." Maybe it is somewhere else. But right here, it says no such thing. To make a point about "building a man," you need to find a passage that speaks about building a man.
When I read this particular passage, its seems clear to me that God is challenging the empty suppositions of Job and his companions about what God is thinking/doing concerning either inflicting Job or allowing it to happen. He makes it clear that whatever he is doing or allowing is entirely his prerogative. He made it all in all of its glory. His reasons are beyond their petty complaints or imaginations.
But where is "building a man" defined as the question God is asking? At least through the verses you quote . . . and on through the next chapter and into chapter 40. You just put it out there as if it is obviously so. And then move on as if it is settled.
It is not. It is the question that you asked. If you want to move on as if it is simply true, then why start a thread?
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"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the Earth" is about building the Earth. No one can dispute that. So then, what does that question have to do with the preceding 37 chapters and why isn't it a non sequitor? Because it is very clear from the context that Job feels it is relevant and he has no way to answer.
Now the previous 37 chapters did not seem to be a geological treatise on the creation, but rather a complaint and various justifications for how God was treating a man, Job.
I feel that this directly relates to what has gone before because God is saying that He is the one that built the Earth, and therefore He knows how to build a man. Since Man is made of Earth this is a reasonable analogy. This interpretation is also much more in line with the Bible which is concerned with God getting the One New Man.
The question that I am asking is "Does Job reveal how God builds a man?" I am making a very clear claim that it does. This is a basic argumentative style essay, you state the question, you make a claim. The thread was started because it is clear from previous discussion that many disagree and feel that Job (the OT) reveals something very different.