When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Kushner, Harold
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Notes:
Part of the Jewish Encounter series
From one of our most trusted spiritual advisers, a thoughtful, illuminating guide to that most fascinating of biblical texts, the book of Job, and what it can teach us about living in a troubled world.
The story of Job is one of unjust things happening to a good man. Yet after losing everything, Job—though confused, angry, and questioning God—refuses to reject his faith, although he challenges some central aspects of it. Rabbi Harold S. Kushner examines the questions raised by Job’s experience, questions that have challenged wisdom seekers and worshippers for centuries. What kind of God permits such bad things to happen to good people? Why does God test loyal followers? Can a truly good God be all-powerful?
Rooted in the text, the critical tradition that surrounds it, and the author’s own profoundly moral thinking, Kushner’s study gives us the book of Job as a touchstone for our time. Taking lessons from historical and personal tragedy, Kushner teaches us about what can and cannot be controlled, about the power of faith when all seems dark, and about our ability to find God.
Rigorous and insightful yet deeply affecting, The Book of Job is balm for a distressed age—and Rabbi Kushner’s most important book since When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly
When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this book features Rabbi Kushner’s perspective on how people can better deal with evil that enters their lives.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Kirkus
A popular theodicy–cogent, honest, but shaky on its scriptural foundations–for grieving Jews (and other believers in God). One is tempted to smile at the naivetÉ of Rabbi Kushner’s title, but the book is written in blood: in 1977, after a decade of futile pain and grim anticipation, the Kushners lost their 14-year-old son Aaron to a rare degenerative disease called progeria (rapid aging). So Kushner doesn’t offer–nor does he accept–any cheap consolation. But to find him credible, you will have to be devout or, in William James’ term, tender-minded enough to agonize over the suffering of the “”righteous.”” Kushner makes short work of the traditional explanations of why God permits evil (suffering ennobles, everything works out for the good, eternity rights the wrongs of time, etc.), which he accuses of demeaning the sufferer’s here-and-now experience and of turning God into a cruel tyrant. Instead, Kushner opts, sensibly perhaps but heretically, for a limited God, a God constrained by the “”laws of nature and by the evolution of human nature and human moral freedom.”” Kushner’s God is not responsible for sickness, accidents, and catastrophes. He would like to eliminate suffering, but He can’t. This would be fine, if Kushner were taking his arguments from Alfred North Whitehead and not from the Bible. He’s forced to misread texts, such as Job 40:9-14, which he perversely views as a confession of divine inadequacy (it’s not easy being God), or Genesis 1:26, where Kushner has God speaking to the animals and creating man partly in their image. Of course, if the reader ignores the heterodoxy and dubious exegesis, then Kushner makes perfect philosophical sense. A modest effort–occasionally clumsy, but clear and uncompromising–to heal the breach between faith and the bitter facts of life.
Amazon
In a time when so many people are striving for an explanation of why their lives turn out a certain way, or why things (good or bad) happen to them, the expressions “it’s all part of God’s plan,” “everything happens for the best,” or “it just wasn’t meant to be,” and so on, have became a little tiresome. In “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” Rabbi Harold S. Kushner offers a refreshing point of view that differs from those who think everything occurs on earth because God wants it that way, and at the same time provides a surprising comfort in the fact that events actually can, and do, take place for no reason at all.
I read the original version of this book in the early 80’s (several times since), and what struck me was that Rabbi Kushner was able to reconcile a common Judeo-Christian view of God and causality with a perspective of life that holds a place for randomness and happenstance. Yes! Things happen in life that God has nothing to do with, and there is a way to find peace in accepting this. For those who enjoy contemplating and discussing the purpose of life, faith, and good & bad, you MUST read this book . . . then set aside some more time for thought and conversation.
If you’ve ever experienced the untimely loss of a loved one, or been through any traumatizing life experience, get this book. It is personal, thought-provoking, well-written, and very easy to understand. I am certain you will find comfort.
If you’re just simply interested in learing about God and the meaning of things in your life from a wonderful man and a great writer, get this book. Without intending to write a best-seller (read his Preface), Rabbi Kushner was able to put into words what I had been trying to figure out (despite loads of “help” from others) concerning God, how we should relate to Him, and what to do about all the things that happen to us during our lives.
This book is important; I give it my highest recommendation.
Barnes & Noble
When my Mom died from cancer, after a long fight, a close friend recommended this and gave me a copy. Our church, main stream Protestant, givs it to our members as a gift after a death, although it is written by a Rabbi and has an Old Testament outlook. Nothing has helped more people deal with loss, in my experience, than this book.