Man Everlasting

Biblical Job certainly had the right to ask questions. Destined to undergo immense ordeals, he experienced various forms of torment and anguish that could have only been invented by the most sophisticated mind. First of all, he was deprived of his property, without which a man loses his point of rest in the real world and therefore his dignity. Job was then denied his family and, with this, his spiritual and moral support. The deterioration of Job’s health was the final stage in the astute plot to dishonor the man.

Job found himself sitting in squalor, dressed in dirty rags and picking at the sores on his flesh. He did his best but couldn’t understand the reason for his punishment. For which sinful acts was he undergoing this unbearable suffering, he who followed the commandments and obeyed orders from above?

Now, even his closest friends blamed him, assured deep inside that Job’s troubles must be a justifiable punishment from above. They were not inclined to reflection and blindly followed their fathers’ faith, being deaf to doubt.

However, the Biblical hero knew in his soul that his suffering was no fault of his own. He was a just man, never having broken any moral code in his honorable life. He was always hospitable and respected the property of others. The cause of Job’s plight lay hidden beyond human comprehension.

Without blaming, cursing or rejecting god, Job sought the answer from the only one who could give it. He needed to know whether divine justice could descend upon him now, when his last hopes were gone. Firmly, he asked god for one thing only — to disclose His secret plans for humankind.

Job’s suffering was not in vain. Thought is borne not only of surprise, as the Greeks taught. Desperation is very often what provokes our imagination, giving rise to higher faculties. Thinking itself is reborn and becomes capable of deriving truth from sources unknown to other people. It is, therefore, not inconceivable that suffering sharpens our intuition, helping us break away from the perceptible world and into the divine, where a completely new truth can reveal itself. Such truth is dear to us because it is gained through trials, losses and hardships. Indeed, without having tasted grief and despair, how can we perceive the real essence of life? Truth does not generally reveal itself gradually; we grasp it in a moment. It breaks out suddenly and, later, becomes our guiding light.

Job was poignantly searching for the truth. In his attempt to learn his own destiny, he was led to question the destiny of all humanity. Instead of finding the key to the problem that tormented him, he was led to another question about the mystery of human destiny. This question outlines the key problem of all religions. From where does knowledge of God, moral issues, rituals and other religious questions derive? ‘If a man dies, will he live again?’ asked Job. He longed for an answer from God. If it is impossible to penetrate the sense of what awaits us ‘on the other side’, then all our efforts are futile.

Job’s greatest merit was that he was the first to pose the question of human destiny after death. His cry remains unanswered. God did not unveil the truth in his appearance to Job. Just as He prohibited Moses from stepping onto the land promised to his people, God did not allow Job to learn the secret of what awaits human beings after death.

However, the Lord allowed Moses to behold the Promised Land, by granting him a vision of it. He revealed some things to Job too. God did not speak of human immortality, eternal rewards or punishments or resurrection. He simply hinted at indistinct clues, imparting future hope for learning the heart of this mystery sooner or later.

We proceed to look at research conducted on the most important theological question of death and afterlife. Whether we believe in God or in a rational Universe — whether we respect divine laws or those of nature — is irrelevant. Whether we speak the language of the Bible or the Koran, use the Latin or Greek alphabet or Chinese or Arabic characters, we all share a common goal — the desire to know what awaits us after death. We yearn to discover how we can overcome the enemy of death, which prevails regardless of wealth, class or moral constitution.

Is there any form of immortality that does not contradict reason? Is resurrection, as expressed in the revelations of the prophets, an abstract notion or an opportunity predetermined by nature?