Theology of Retribution

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The theology espoused by Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar is known as the theology of retribution. In brief, this theology begins with a cause: God is pure and holy and will judge all. Then this theology links that cause with an effect: those who sin are punished.

This is simple cause and effect thinking with the tolerance for a brief span of time. This is a bit more advanced than the thinking of a four year old. Perhaps, instead, we are dealing with the theology of a ten year old. Your friend cheats on one test and gets away with it. Later your friend gets a poor grade on a test where he or she actually had the right answer. But, since God and teachers have long memories, we attribute the poor grade on the second test to some judgment about their efforts on the first test.

In business, we struggle and one product sells well even though we know it is substandard. Then we work to make the next product even better but when it does not sell as well as expected we attribute that failure to the sins of our previous product. We seldom stop to consider the environment, the competition, the changes in our customer preferences. We short circuit all that systems thinking and fall back on simple linear cause and effect with the addition of a brief time delay.
The diagram to the left shows this theology as a simple diagram. Basically this false theology assumes that God rewards the good and punishes the bad.

In Job 42:7 God tells Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar that they have spoken falsely. The theology of retribution is overturned. And yet, it does not die.

Hartley finds this theology again in Luke 13:1 to 5 (John E. Hartley, The Book of Job; William B. Eerdman’s Publishing; 1988; ISBN 0-8028-2528-1).

The title of this diagram is Theology of Retribution and Rewards. There are two bidirectional arrows at right angles that form a grid. The word Judgment appears at the top of the grid. The word Conflict appears in the middle of the right end of the grid. The word Condemnation appears at the bottom of the grid. The word Love appears in the middle of the left end of the grid. The center part of the grid is missing and the word Separation fills that space. There is an arrow pointing upward and to the left labeled Saints. The word Rewards is at the end of the arrow. There is an arrow pointing downward and to the right labeled Sinners. The word Suffering is at the end of the arrow.

I also find it in John 9:1-41. It is important to understand that there are aspects of this theology that are consistent with the teachings of Jesus. In Matthew 25:32 Jesus prophecies about the final judgment and tells us that he will separate humanity like a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats. The theme of separation is consistent. The theme of judgment is consistent. The “cause” described by Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar is accurate. So there is something amiss in the linkage they make between this cause and the resulting effect. I believe we can find the error in their logic by studying the story of a blind man in John 9.

The heart of the theology of retribution is summarized in John 9:31 when the man who had been blind says: “God does not listen to sinners. God listens to the ones who worship him and obey his commands.”

The next section of this article is based on the technique I first introduced in my article called “Dancing with Pilate”. It is posted on my website at http://www.robertPerrine.biz. Please review that article if the process I use below is unclear. In brief, I examine each verse or fragment of a verse and search for concepts of dissonance and love. Dissonance scores a plus one while distracters score a minus one. Antagonism, the value I originally used on the horizontal grid scores a plus one. Love, for an odd reason described elsewhere, scores a minus one. The table, shown below, illustrates this scoring in John 9.

BookChVsActorVertHorzDissonanceLove
John9*Start00Assumed start place
John91Narrator10Explanation 
John92Disciples2-1InquiryRespect
John93Jesus3-2RevealNo sin
John94Jesus4-2Explanation 
John95Jesus5-3ExplanationGift
John96Narrator6-4ExplanationGift
John97AJesus7-5ExplanationGift
John97BNarrator8-6ExplanationGift
John9*Narrator8-6A miracle occurs
John98Neighbors9-6Ask 
John99ANeighbors9-7 Conflict
John99BBlind man10-7Explanation 
John910Neighbors9-6RefuteRefute
John911Blind man10-7ExplanationGift
John912ANeighbors9-6RefuteRefute
John912BBlind man10-6Explanation 
John913Narrator11-6Explanation 
John914Narrator11-5 Conflict
John915APharisees12-5Inquiry 
John915BBlind man13-5Explanation 
John916APharisees12-4RefuteRefute
John916BPharisees11-3RefuteRefute
John916CNarrator11-2 Conflict
John917APharisees10-1RefuteRefute
John917BBlind man11-2ExplanationRespect
John918Narrator10-1DenyCaptive
John919Pharisees90RefuteRefute
John920Parents100Answer 
John921AParents90Deny 
John921BParents10-1ConfusedConfused
John922Narrator110ExplanationConflict
John9*Parents110Parents are transformed
John923Narrator121ExplanationConflict
John924Pharisees112RefuteRefute
John925Blind man121ExplanationGift
John926Pharisees112RefuteRefute
John927ABlind man103RefuteRefute
John927BBlind man113Inquire 
John928Pharisees104RefuteRefute
John929Pharisees95RefuteRefute
John9*Pharisees95Pharisees are in chaos
John930Blind man104ExplanationGift
John931ABlind man113ExplanationGift
John931BBlind man122WorshipWorship
John932Blind man131AweAwe
John933Blind man140AweAwe
John9*Blind man140Blind man is converted with God
John934APharisees131RefuteRefute
John934BPharisees122RefuteRefute
John935Jesus131HeardSought
John936Blind man140InquiryRespect
John937Jesus150Explanation 
John9*Blind man150Blind man is converted with Jesus
John938Blind man16-1WorshipWorship
John939Jesus17-2ExplanationGift
John940Pharisees16-1RefuteRefute
John941Jesus17-1Explanation 
John9*Us17-1We should learn from this

Jesus encounters a blind man and then heals the blind man. A miracle occurs. The environment set by the tone in this story is high in dissonance and love. Jesus, the disciples and the blind man are aligned. Notice, the gift is given before the blind man even recognizes what is happening. If, as the Pharisees later presumed, blindness was an indication of sin, then this man has been cured of his symptom before he even asked for forgiveness for his sins.

The story next wanders about with a high level of dissonance. Due to conflict with the neighbors and Pharisees the loving aspects of this ambiance are reduced to neutral. Even so, high dissonance with a neutral emotional environment is the ideal condition for transformation. And the blind man’s parents enter into this situation and are transformed. Sadly, they are transformed so that they disavow their own son to the Pharisees in order to save themselves.

The relevance here is that the Kingdom of God was tangible. Jesus, the disciples, and to an extent the blind man were in alignment. A miracle occurred. And now we have been pulled out of this momentary recreation of the Garden of Eden by human actions. The Pharisees, in their desire to obey God’s law refuse to believe the miracle and refuse to attribute this event to God. The Pharisees make themselves the judges of what is right and wrong.

Here is the first key lesson from this study. When we set ourselves as the judge of what is right and wrong we move away from the Kingdom.

There is a simple two dimensional grid. The label below the grid reads John 9 1 to 7B A Miracle. There is a zigzag line from the origin point 0, 0 to the upper right ending at 8, -6. Above the upper end of the arrow is a small picture of the earth.
 
There is a simple two dimensional grid. The label below the grid reads John 9 7B to 22 Transformation of Parents. There is a zigzag line from 8, -6 to 11, 0. Directly above the center of the grid is a picture of a butterfly. In the upper left corner of the grid is a picture of the earth.

What happens next is that the Pharisees enter into chaos. The high level of dissonance that was created by Jesus, coupled with the high level of conflict that they have generated results in chaos.

It is the blind man who then brings us back into a transforming environment. He appears to have failed to persuade the Pharisees. But his speech is there to give them witness, to help clarify his own thinking and also to give witness to us about what has happened. And thus, in John 9:33 the blind man renews his faith in God and is transformed into a deeper understanding of how God acts in our lives.

Again, the Pharisees try to pull him out of his transformation but he returns to transformation and recognizes that it is Jesus who has changed his life.

This figure has three diagrams embedded in it. The first diagram is a grid with an jagged arrow from 11, 0 to 9, 5. The label on this grid is John 9 22 to 29 Pharisees in chaos. There is a picture of a tornado in the upper right corner of the diagram. The second diagram is a grid with a straight arrow from 9, -5 to 14, 0. The label on this grid is John 9 29 to 33 Blind man Transformed. There is a picture of a butterfly above the middle of this grid. The third diagram is a grid with an arrow that begins at 14, 0 goes down to 12, 2, comes back to 14, 0 and then goes up to 15, 0. The label on this grid is John 9 33 to 37 Blind man Transformed again. There is a picture of a butterfly above the middle of this grid.

The condemnation of Job from Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar is no different than the condemnation of the blind man by the Pharisees. Jesus, in John, tells us that the blindness was to be used to help us learn. The author of Job tells us that it was Satan who instigated the evil and then allows Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar to blame Job so that it can be made clear that we do not have all the information. We do not know enough to judge. And when we judge anyway then we push God off his throne and try to seat ourselves instead.

By implication, the corollary to the Theology of Retribution is also overturned. That theology is today commonly known as the theology of the Kings Kid’s. Basically, this theology assumes that God rewards those who are faithful and implies a linear cause and effect relationship. Thus, if you have been rewarded, it is falsely assumed that you were aligned with God. In reality, this is simply Eve’s theology resurrected and repackaged. The only alignment we can achieve without a transformation is an alignment with our own desires.

Now it is time to allow Job to testify on his own behalf.

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