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Why Do the Righteous Suffer? Job, the Prophets, and the Fathers Answer
32:06
What the video says
The study examines why the righteous suffer while the impious prosper, drawing on the questions of Jeremiah, Habakkuk, the Psalms, and especially Job, who laments his innocent suffering yet keeps his faith in God's justice. The holy fathers saw in Job's suffering face a model of the suffering Christ, which is why the Orthodox Church reads the book of Job during Holy Week.
Trials are presented as pedagogical and expiatory: God chastens those he loves, testing the righteous as gold in a crucible so that they may become approved, humble, and pure. Basil the Great, Macarios of Egypt, John Chrysostom, and Eusebius of Caesarea teach that afflictions train the soul, keep the saints from pride, and prepare them for the kingdom, since through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
The only full answer to the problem of theodicy is found under the criterion of eternity and life in the kingdom of God, which presupposes faith and a Christlike life. Pain, accepted with faith, becomes a dialogue of love with Christ, a proof of adoption as God's children, and brings consolations equal in number to the tribulations.
Key moments
- The study opens with Isaiah 33:2 and the question of why the righteous are afflicted, a question that grows when the impious prosper.
- Jeremiah asks why the way of the wicked prospers, Habakkuk asks why God is silent when the wicked swallow the more righteous, and the psalms voice the feeling of being forgotten by God.
- Job loudly questions his torments, asks how many are his iniquities, complains that the wicked live and reach old age, and describes his life as an unending martyrdom while protesting his innocence.
- The holy fathers saw in the pained face of Job the model of the suffering Christ, and the Orthodox Church reads the book of Job during Holy Week.
- Job does not investigate the cause of his calamity but tries to prove his innocence while keeping unshakable faith in God's justice, believing God's love is expressed through afflictions.
- 2 Maccabees 6:12 says trials are allowed not for destruction but for chastening, and St. Anthony the Great compares God's difficult providences to a doctor's bitter medicines.
- Basil the Great teaches that the kingdom is attained through pain, tears, prayers, and patience, and that saying the righteous should not suffer is like saying an athlete should have no opponent.
- The pain of the righteous and the death of little children can be explained only under the criterion of eternity and life in the kingdom of God, and pain is understood by those who live a Christlike life, as a dialogue of love with Christ and a proof of adoption.
The episode, about 32 minutes long, is part of a series on the benefits of pain and takes up the question of why the righteous are afflicted while the impious prosper. It opens with Isaiah 33:2 and traces the question through Scripture: Jeremiah asks why the way of the wicked prospers, Habakkuk asks why God is silent when the wicked swallow the more righteous, and the psalms voice the feeling of being forgotten by God.
Job stands at the center. He loudly questions his torments, asks how many are his iniquities, complains that the wicked live and reach old age, and describes his life as an unending martyrdom while protesting his innocence. Yet he does not investigate the cause of his calamity; he tries to prove his innocence while keeping unshakable faith in God's justice, believing that God's love is expressed through afflictions.
The holy fathers saw in Job's pained face a model of the suffering Christ, which is why the Orthodox Church reads the book of Job during Holy Week. The study presents trials as pedagogical and expiatory: 2 Maccabees 6:12 says trials are allowed not for destruction but for chastening, and St. Anthony the Great compares God's difficult providences to a doctor's bitter medicines.
Basil the Great teaches that the kingdom is attained through pain, tears, prayers, and patience, and that saying the righteous should not suffer is like saying an athlete should have no opponent. Macarios of Egypt, John Chrysostom, and Eusebius of Caesarea likewise teach that afflictions train the soul, keep the saints from pride, and prepare them for the kingdom, since through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
The episode closes by saying the pain of the righteous and the death of little children can be explained only under the criterion of eternity and life in the kingdom of God, where pain accepted with faith becomes a dialogue of love with Christ and a proof of adoption.
Main points
- Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and the Psalms ask why the wicked prosper while the righteous are afflicted; Job questions his torments yet keeps unshakable faith in God's justice.
- The holy fathers saw in Job's suffering face a model of the suffering Christ, and the Church reads the book of Job during Holy Week.
- 2 Maccabees 6:12 says trials are allowed for chastening, not destruction; St. Anthony the Great compares God's providences to a doctor's bitter medicines.
- Basil the Great teaches that the kingdom is attained through pain, tears, prayers, and patience, and that a righteous man without suffering is like an athlete without an opponent.
- The pain of the righteous is explained only under the criterion of eternity and the kingdom of God, where pain accepted with faith becomes a dialogue of love with Christ.