Curated by Ignacio Carbajosa and Guadalupe Arbona

 

The problem of evil and the innocent suffering has always questioned the human being. In the last three centuries, however, this problem has become a question of the goodness and the very existence of God. How can a good God ever allow this? From the earthquake of Lisbon in 1755, to the most recent terrorist attacks, not to mention the concentration camps of the twentieth century, the great accidents in the skies, natural disasters or children’s suffering in wars.

The biblical book of Job proposes the problem of suffering in a very effective and current way, as it can be seen from the fact that it is one of the most frequent works of contemporary literature. The Show proposes the cry of Job in dialogue with the cry of our peers until you get to that quarrel that the man of Us (and modern man) presents to God.

The divine answer was not an explanation, but a good presence. When God appears at the end of the book, he gives no answer to Job’s questions. He puts it before the spectacle of creation that refers to a creative presence that he had obviated. “I only knew you by hearsay, but now my eyes have seen you,” concludes Job. Now he has a You to address his questions about pain. With Jesus, the concrete face of the Father’s mercy, a good Presence has entered into history that allows us to face our sufferings in the face of the sufferings of the Son of God. Outside of this particular story, the reason for man, before the enigma of pain, is abandoned to a frightful loneliness.