The Theology of when Bad Things Happen to Good People

Rabbi Kuschner bases his bestselling book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People on the book of Job. He turned to the book of Job after his 13-year-old son died of progeria, the disease that causes rapid aging and early death.

If you are familiar with the book of Job, you know that Satan tells God that he will make Job curse the name of the Lord. God says that is not possible because Job is just and good. Satan proceeds to destroy Jobs business, his family, and his health, until Job is left an unclothed beggar covered in sores. He never curses the name of the Lord. Finally, Satan relents, and God saves Job and restores his wealth and health and family.

Rabbi Kushner says that the drama of the book of Job is that it is based on 3 propositions:
1/ Job is good and blameless.
2/ God is compassionate and loving.
3/ God is all powerful.

Rabbi Kushner says that only two of these can be true simultaneously:
Job can be good and blameless and not deserve what happens to him, and God can be all powerful, and choose to let it happen, but then God would not be compassionate and caring.

Or... God can be compassionate and caring and all powerful, and therefore capable of preventing those terrible things from happening to Job, and inclined to do so. If this were so it would indicate that Job was not good and blameless, or God would not have allowed those things to happen to him!

Or... Job can be good and blameless, and God can be compassionate and caring, but not all powerful. If this were the case, it would mean that God, while very powerful, is not capable of stopping some things. And so, in Job's case, it would mean that God could not prevent Satan from doing the things he did, but He could have faith in Job and stay with Job to see him through.
Rabbi Kushner says that, given these three choices, he prefers the last one. He prefers to believe that God is good and compassionate, but that there are events that God cannot control. Among them are natural disasters, the laws of nature, and the kind of towering evil that produces Auschwitz, and the WTC incident, and the Columbine shootings, and abuse of all kinds. Rabbi Kushner says that given the choice of a God who is caring and compassionate OR a God who is all-powerful, he prefers the caring and compassionate God. He prefers a God who cannot necessarily protect us from everything, but instead, is there to comfort us when terrible things happen.

Another point that Rabbi Kushner makes in this book is that, when tragedy does strike, people always ask "Why?" While that is a good question, there is not always an answer, and if there is, it is not usually helpful. He urges that we ask instead, "What will I do now?" Or my version, "What is the next right step?"

Then he quotes a play that was based on the book of Job- "J.B." In the end after all the terrible things have happened, Job wonders why, and what will happen next. His wife says,
"...the fires...are dead.
The stars have gone out in the sky.
Blow on the coal of your heart, and we will see, by and by."
Rabbi Kushner explains that these lines mean, when all of the lights of heaven and earth that you thought you could trust die, blow on the coals of your heart. Take the anger, and the sorrow, and the sense of loss that burn in your heart. Kindle them to life, and turn the resulting light outward, so you can see. Let that light guide you to the next right step. In Rabbi Kushner's case, the next right step was to write this book.

I highly recommend When Bad Things Happen to Good People.