Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

In the prologue to the Book of Job, we are told that the eponymous protagonist of the story is a blameless and upright man (in Hebrew, tam ve-yashar ), that he fears God and turns away from wrongdoing. When Job’s tribulations begin, he accepts them unshaken in his faith and unwilling to speak ill of God. “If we accept good from God, shall we not accept evil?” (Job 2:10). As his losses mount, however, it is, ultimately, all too much even for him. When Job is finally overcome by his suffering, when he has been robbed of everything that was dear to him, when all seems lost, he raises his voice to complain to God about the way he, a righteous individual, has been treated. While Job recognizes God’s wisdom and power, he nonetheless questions God’s justice. God, he insists, “rains blows on me without cause … He destroys blameless and wicked alike” (Job 9:17–22).