I Know that My Redeemer Live..

Today, in the Second Cycle of arguments, Job reflects on one aspect of his suffering that’s been of great interest to 20th C writers, philosophers, social scientists and artists and we ought to recognize this feature of life and suffering as being more painful and perplexing than we sometimes understand. The feature I have in mind is ALIENATION.

It’s the sense that I’m out of touch or disconnected or separated from others, from myself, from my purpose, from nature and from God. An alienated person feels like he/she doesn’t belong, is out of place and strange for reasons he can’t diagnose or change.

I’d like to explore this condition from Job Ch 19 and see, in the passage, in perhaps the most beloved and famous words in the book, the remedy to this trauma. Let’s look at:
1) The Pain of Alienation
2) The Hope of Redemption
3) The Space Between Alienation and Redemption