THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE: GOD AS ENEMY— AN IMAGE OF GOD IN THE BOOK OF JOB AND OTHER BOOKS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE by Alphonetta Beth Terry Wines Bachelor of Arts, 1971 University of Houston Houston, TX Master of Divinity, 2002 Brite Divinity School Fort Worth, TX Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Brite Divinity School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical Interpretation Fort Worth, TX May 2011 THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE: GOD AS ENEMY— AN IMAGE OF GOD IN THE BOOK OF JOB AND OTHER BOOKS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE APPROVED BY DISSERTATION COMMITTEE _______________________________________DR. LEO PERDUE Dissertation Director ______________________________________DR. TONI CRAVEN Reader ____________________________________ ____DR. KERI DAY Reader _______________________________DR. JEFFREY WILLIAMS Associate Dean for Academic Affairs ________________________________DR. NANCY J. RAMSAY Dean Copyright @2011 by Alphonetta Beth Terry Wines All rights reserved ABSTRACT AND METHODOLOGY Images of God, positive and negative, create an ongoing tension in the biblical text. This tension is due to the paradoxical character of God as seen in Exod 34:6-7. The cognitive dissonance created by the juxtaposition of positive and negative images of the divine is unsettling for many people. Consequently, these negative images are often overlooked. This project addresses one of the neglected images, the image of God as enemy. It seems peculiar that, despite the regularity of Israel’s complaints against the divine and its familiarity with enemy language, the word enemy is not used more frequently in reference to God. This project considers the idea that while enemy language was part of Israel’s cultural milieu, the word enemy was seldom used to describe God because the image of God as enemy borders on picturing God as demonic—a precipice that neither Job nor the writers of the Hebrew Bible wanted to cross. Insights in this dissertation are drawn from several approaches to biblical interpretation. This exploration begins with an analysis of theological issues that focus on theodicy informed by a womanist perspective regarding the image of God as enemy in the book of Job and other books of the Hebrew Bible. Literary criticism provides the lens for examining sample texts that express this image of the divine, implicitly and explicitly. The analysis includes consideration of defiance and humor as coping mechanisms that Job utilized in his response to the theodic crisis created by his understanding that God was the source of the reversals in his life. Preface Almost always, writing projects begin years before words actually appear on paper. The desire to write on the book of Job has been with me for more than thirty years. I am glad that the seed planted years ago has begun to come to fruition. How was I to know that the path to writing on Job would include years of graduate and doctoral study? My interest in the biblical text began years ago with a conversation with my ex-husband’s grandmother. One of our long conversations resulted in her encouraging me to read the story of Saul and the Medium of Endor. This was the spark that lit what has become my lifetime interest in the biblical text. At the time, I was, totally shocked by what I read. I’m not sure what I expected, but I certainly did not anticipate war stories, disrespect of women, or endorsement of slavery and oppression. These issues were especially troubling since despite its initial depiction of all humanity made in the image of God, the biblical text divided humanity into Jews and Gentiles, sanctioned war, slavery, oppression, and portrayed numerous negative images of women. I was taken aback by the cognitive dissonance between egalitarian ethics and much of what takes place in the biblical text. Although I did not know it at the time, I had stumbled on the kinds of issues that liberation theology, ethics, feminism, womanism, postcolonialism, and postmodernism, among others, seek to address. As one who stands against violence of any kind (individual or communal), believes in honoring the humanity of every person, and understands that no one has the right to enslave or oppress another, I was, to say the least, totally horrified. How could a beloved sacred text say such negative things about humanity and about God? These texts were dreadfully different from the ones I had heard in church school and worship during my childhood and teenage years. It was not so much the presence of such passages that disturbed me. I was appalled that the biblical text iv did not consistently speak boldly against such practices. I felt cheated. Why had I not heard about these texts in church? Why had I not heard about this part of the biblical story? I wanted no part of a religion drawn from such texts. I even considered giving up Christianity. How odd you might think, for one who is now completing a Ph.D. in Biblical Interpretation, who is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, who prior to ordination taught an adult Sunday school class, and who served one church or another as a church musician for many years, starting when I was twelve years old—how odd, indeed. In the early eighties, I was a musician at a local church. 1 Recently hired, the task of playing at the weekly Sunday evening service fell to me. How was I to know that the sermons I would hear there on the book of Job would enlarge my faith and literally change my life? All my life I had heard about the patience of Job. I was intrigued to hear that there was another side of the story. I was intrigued by the impatience of Job. His questions captivated me. His honesty fascinated me. Sermons I heard and books I read, contrary to what I had been taught, affirmed what I knew all along—raising questions about issues of faith is not a statement of unfaith. The realization that it is permissible to ask hard questions and to see a text from a different perspective was the drink of living water that I needed. Having recently returned to the church after a ten year hiatus, I was eager to try to make sense of what I read. The book of Job saved me. The book of Job saved my faith. Of the three hundred twenty- nine questions in the book of Job, God asks eighty-eight, the satan asks two, Job’s wife asks one, Job asks one hundred thirty-nine, Eliphaz asks thirty-nine, Bildad asks seventeen, Zophar asks 1. Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church is an African American church in Fort Worth, TX. The pastor, Rev. A. E. Chew, preached the sermon series that sparked my interest in the book of Job. v twelve, and Elihu asks thirty-one.2 Job’s questions gave me permission to ask my questions. Job's story taught me that while many questions remain unanswered and unresolved, it is still important to ask them. Job, along with liberation theologians, ethicists, feminists, womanists, postcolonial, and postmodern scholars taught me to consider questions about exploitation, economic justice, social justice, political justice, multiple religions, gender justice, slavery, racism, interlocking forms of oppression, and ethics as I think through theological issues and interpret the biblical text. I am convinced more than ever that even when ongoing, unanswered, and unresolved questions remain, raising them provides an opportunity to reflect, consider, engage, and embrace new ideas. Thirty years plus years have passed since I heard the first sermon series on Job that so intrigued me. These sermons on Job still dance through my mind, even after thirty years or more. I have seen Job in a musical performed on stage at Jubilee Theatre 3 and as a church musical. 4 I have listened to the music of the Jubilee Theatre’s presentation of Job on my cassette player. I have read the book more times than I can count. I have encountered Job through years of formal and informal study and through numerous art forms and media. Memories of lectures, classroom discussions and presentations, along with conversations about Job with professors, pastors, church members, and classmates have left an indelible impression on me. William Blake’s artwork based on the book of Job, as well as that of other artists, often provides provocative visual impressions. I have ‘heard’ Job’s story again and again as I listened to sermons, church 2. Jimmie L. Hancock , All the Questions in the Bible, CD-ROM, version 3.0f. (Logos Bible Software, 2000-2007). 3. Jubilee Theatre is an African American theatre in Fort Worth, TX. 4. Forest Hill Community Bible Church is an African American church in Forest Hill, TX. The musical was composed by the church choir director, Carl Kennerly. vi choirs, played piano in worship, and encountered Job through a multitude of art forms. Anyone who says I am a “Jobaholic” would not be far from the truth. Moreover, there are times when, like Jeremiah I want to weep for the existence of evil and suffering in the world. Miroslav Volf writes, “I have not been able to bring myself to try to defend God against the charge of impotence or lack of care with regard to horrendous evils.” 5 I can not defend God, yet I chose faith. Even in the midst of the issues, problems, and challenges of life, I am grateful for an opportunity to be a believer. I have not given up on God because I am convinced that God has not given up on me. Like Jeremiah in Jer 12:1, I ask, even though I know that God will win and my questions will remain: “You will be in the right, O LORD , when I lay charges against you; but let me put my case to you.