Three philosophies of life by Peter Kreeft

Author:Peter Kreeft [Peter Kreeft]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Religion
ISBN: 9780898702620
Published: 2009-12-08T23:00:00+00:00

2. The Problem of Faith versus Experience

So far, we have only scratched the surface. The problem of evil is only the most obvious problem in Job, the one all the books talk about. But deeper than this there are other levels, like underground caves or even cities, whole realms of mystery and meaning less amenable to clear analysis and simple solution. A second level of problem is the conflict not between faith and reason, as in the problem of evil, but between faith and experience, Job’s faith and his experience. Here we have not a philosophical puzzle but a child’s tears. Throughout Scripture and throughout Job’s life, God approaches with a “sales pitch”: “Trust me.” God’s emeth, or fidelity, is here not a datum in a logical puzzle but a lifeline, and the rope seems to have broken. Throughout the Bible the promise is always that fidelity to God will be rewarded by God’s fidelity to you and to his promises of reward. The righteous prosper; the wicked perish. So Job buys into this advertisement, this faith. He stakes his whole life on righteousness, obedience, fidelity, piety—and what is his reward? Loss of his possessions, his children, his wife’s loyalty, his friends’ respect, his health, and even, it seems, his identity and his God (as we shall see in two subsequent, even deeper levels). Worst of all is God’s abandonment, Job’s “my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” experience. “I cried out, and the Lord heard me and answered me from his holy mountain”—this is the constant theme of the Psalms. But Job’s experience seems to falsify it. God may be there, but he is not there for Job.

Here is what Job’s experience seems to teach him about God. God seems like the father in the following cruel joke. A father said to his little son, “Son, I want to teach you one of life’s most important lessons: how to trust your father. Get up on that five-foot-high wall and jump into my arms. I’ll catch you.” “But Daddy, I’m afraid. Don’t make me climb up there.” “I know you’re afraid, son. But I want you to do this for me.” “All right, Daddy. Here I come. . . . Wheel You caught me!” “Of course I caught you. I promised, didn’t I?” “Can we go home now?” “No, I want you to jump from that ten-foot-high wall now.” “Ooh, Daddy, I’m scaredousnes “Trust me.” “OK. Here I come. . . . Whee! You caught me again!” “Of course I did.” “Can we go home now?” “After just one more time. This time, jump from that twenty-foot-high wall.” “Ooh, Daddy, I’m so scared.” “Trust me.” “OK. Here I come. . . ” And the father stepped back at the last minute and let the boy slam against the sidewalk. From a pool of blood and tears came the question, “Daddy, Daddy, why did you do that?” The answer: “To teach you life’s most important lesson, Son: Never trust anybody, not even your father.

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