Assisted dying, the current phrase for active euthanasia, has until recently been a debate between the progressive idea of personal autonomy and the Christian idea of public morality. But, today there is less talk about the sanctity of life and the moral injury of suicide and more of a focus on notions of “safeguarding” and “informed consent.” In other words, Christian ethics rooted in the infinite value of human life is rarely a part of the debate. Let’s explore this issue in light of 21st century morality.

Job responds to Eliphaz and Bildad as they champion their retribution theology.

Over 30 years ago, Daniel Patrick Moynihan published his famous essay, “Defining Deviancy Down.” Bret Stephens summarizes his thesis: “Every society, the senator-scholar from New York argued, could afford to penalize only a certain amount of behavior it deemed ‘deviant.’ As the stock of such behavior increased—whether in the form of out-of-wedlock births, or mentally ill people living outdoors, or violence in urban streets—society would most easily adapt not by cracking down, but instead by normalizing what used to be considered unacceptable, immoral or outrageous.”

Eliphaz proposes the theology of retribution and Job responds.

In the 1930s, the United States pursued a policy of protectionism and isolationism. “No coincidence, World War II soon followed.” Germany’s and Japan’s neighbors were too weak to deter and defeat those fascist dictatorships on their own. They desperately needed American help, and they did not receive it until it was nearly too late. Max Boot argues that “After 1945 in the United States, the greatest generation sought to rectify that mistake by constructing a new world order based on free-trade pacts and security alliances. That approach was staggeringly successful: Democracy and prosperity spread around the world. […]”

Satan challenges God about his championing Job as a worthy worshipper and Job laments his suffering condition.

Over the last several decades, Americans, it has been argued, are more tribal in their behavior and social groupings than ever. We live in silos of our own choice, watch cable news channels or listen to podcasts that simply reinforce our tribal identities. We are not open to new ideas and are threatened by those who are not in our silos. In this cultural development, the individual is not as important. Our group identity defines us and we are not open to those outside our groupings. How did this develop within American civilization? What are its origins?

The nature of Satan and his rebellion are detailed, plus his challenge to God about Job.

Theoretical cosmologist, Paul M. Sutter recently wrote, “I’m a cosmologist, the kind of scientist who studies the origin, history and evolution of the universe. I have spent my career researching one special part of the universe called cosmic voids: the vast expanses of nothing that stretch between the galaxies. Most of our universe is void—somewhere around 80 percent of the volume of the cosmos is made of nothing at all. By strict accounting of cosmic abundances, our planet and the life we find here amount to essentially zero.

Job is one of the wisdom books of the Bible, completing Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Job is introduced as a man who walked with God, upright and devoted to Him.