Job's Defense and Divine Providence

Who can oppose him when he sits in judgment? Regarding this, I will be diligent to look upon his face; I will seek to understand, and I will stand in awe of him. He claims, 'I have not sinned,' but what does he mean by this? For God is permitted to punish not only based on the authority of actual sins, but I say he also suffers this even without sinning. He did not realize that darkness would descend upon him, and a shadow would shroud his very presence. He says he is in the hand of God's destruction, yet he spoke well when he said that the darkness before him was not a common gloom, but a darkness born of his own despondency.

Why then does God not take notice of these people? They exist upon the earth, yet they remain unaware; they have despised everyone and mocked everyone. None of them commit injustice, nor does God wrong them in any way, yet He does not yet visit them with inspection. He will eventually act, examining everything they have done and refusing to overlook their deeds. They devoured orphans with greed, and having known their works—whether by observing their actions or by having them tested and tortured—He delivered them into darkness.

My soul will not meditate upon injustice. This means I will stand my ground; no one can turn me, no one can approach me, and no one can lead me away from what is set before me. Do not deem me righteous until I die, for I will never abandon my innocence. I will not accuse myself, nor will I change my stance even if you say a thousand things; I will not retreat from my testimony, even if you seem to cease your accusations against me. Even if I were to agree with what you say, once you have realized why these things happened, I would declare you righteous. Yet I will not relinquish my innocence, for I hold different thoughts about you and speak different words. Or, if necessity forces him, does he not have any boldness before God? He says such a thing because the unjust man lacks the boldness to speak or to say the things I am saying now; he is silenced and muzzled, whereas I do not suffer this, but I speak and argue. The wicked are not like this.

He says that there is a place of silver, and so on, meaning that the one who has established the order of chance in material things has even more so established the order of human affairs. Just as iron comes from the earth and bronze is quarried like stone, He has set an order within the darkness, and He examines every end. He considers and cares for all things; nothing passes by Him simply or in vain. Or rather, he suggests that while other things are manifest, the economy of God is unsearchable and unknown. He spoke well when he said, 'He set an order in darkness,' showing that God knows how to withdraw and to stand above all. Who can dispel that darkness? From where does such order arise in such a matter? He describes God's power and wisdom to persuade us not to demand an account from Him.

It is as when his lamp shone above my head, and I walked through the darkness by its light. He sought former prosperity so that God's providence might be clearly demonstrated, as evidenced by his saying, 'When God guarded me.' When God inspected my house, the Companion says, 'When God surrounded my tent.' You see that he desires this inspection and the providence of God. Being young and righteous, he says he made virtue out of useful material, using all things well. When he went out early in the city, his seat was set for him in the streets. Like a ruler and teacher of virtue, he did not occupy himself with sleep or drunkenness, but sat in the streets early in the morning out of love, becoming a law and a pattern for those in the city. A blessing of the perishing comes upon me—Severus, from the letter to Julian. The Lord says in the Gospels regarding those who die to the world...