How far would you go to win a bet? Would you allow an arch-nemesis to torment someone who loves you unconditionally and who you are supposed to love in return?

Let us consider Job, God's servant, a righteous man who eschews evil.

To Job, the most righteous man on the planet, God allows Satan to destroy.

He allows the death of his children, all but one of his servants.

All of his cattle and flocks are either stolen or burned, and he's left with basically nothing,

all to prove that he won't curse God's name. And then when that doesn't work, God allows Satan

to have another crack at it, inflicts him with hideous disease, has the townsfolk turn their back on him

and mock him, including his wife. Even his friends show up to accuse him of sins that he's innocent.

And then finally, God comes down, and he doesn't tell Job about the bet. He doesn't tell Job that

it was a test, doesn't enlighten him that he allowed Satan to do all these horrible things.

He simply lists all of his mighty deeds and tells Job that if he is not as mighty, then he has no place questioning why he has been tormented, and Job, cowed, knows his place.

So apparently God hurts us because he can, and we are too small to understand. But in this

case, we do understand. He tormented Job, allowed this torment to win a bet, to show off his power,

to prove that people will love him, even if they are in torment. And if you believe that these are not

the actions of a callous,

narcissistic, abusive thug, then do call us, because the show's about to start.

Welcome everybody to Talk Heathen. Today is January 21st, 2024. I'm your host, Dr. Ben, and with me today is our very own Jamie the Blind Limey. How are you today, Jamie?

I'm well. I'm wondering that if someone can prove that God is real, I might stop doing the thing. You know the one.

Well, I did want to ask you, because I know we just saw your brilliant interpretation of the

book of Job. But this was your first time reading the book of Job, right? So I want to hear

kind of your more like raw reaction

thoughts to this. So I actually misinterpreted it initially. I thought that the story, or at least I

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