The Purpose of Suffering and the Ignorance of Men

He does not dare, but instead accuses himself and his own day; for he curses not the creation, but his own day. For he says, I have authority over my own day; I do not curse the creation, but I curse my own day. Accursed is the day in which I was born, and may that night be darkness. Jeremiah also says these things: Woe is me, O mother, for what kind of man have you given birth to, one who is judged and prosecuted? Accursed is the day in which I was born.

The saints sing these things out so that, through these things, you may learn that they did not pass through life living in luxury, but having endured myriad evils, they passed through the struggles. Thus Jeremiah also wept, saying: Woe is me, O mother, for what kind of man have you given birth to? He suffered as a man, yet he endured as a lover of God.

Moses likewise—the great and divine lawgiver of God, who received the holy tablets, the first guide of those things profitable to life—says that he is weighed down by God by the multitude of misfortunes: Lord, you said that you have found favor with me, and I know you are found by all; and if I have found favor in your sight, take my soul from me, for I am not able to bear the weight of this people. A little, and they will stone me. Did I not cause them pain? Did I not give birth to them? For you say to me: Carry them as a nurse carries a child; but I am not able to bear the weight of the people's faults. However, even while stripping himself and mourning as a man, he did not blaspheme as an atheist, but he was showing the sufferings of nature, which convicted him.

In the same way, each of the prophets strips himself, and Habakkuk says: Why have you shown me labors and pains, to look upon the miseries of men? For the prophetic choir saw the injustice and could not bear it, but Habakkuk cried out, saying: Why have you shown me labors and pains? Judgment has become before me, and the judge takes, and because of this the judgment goes out perverted. The ruler asks, and the judge takes, and the law is made void. Thus all the righteous suffered, and they cried out toward the difficulty of the world. But if you had not taken these things, you would not have arrived at the harmony of your own will; do not say, I am better than Jeremiah who cried out...

Lest the words of healing become wounds to you. These things are written so that you may learn how much struggle they endured, and how much danger their lives passed through. Do you wish to learn what kind of person you ought to be? Learn from what follows grace. Prophets suffered, and apostles also suffered; but some who suffered were struck, while those suffering boasted. Paul came into the midst, suffering yet not weeping; being struck yet not being stripped away; being tormented yet boasting. And what does he say? Not only this, but we also boast in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works endurance, endurance testing, testing hope, and hope does not put us to shame.

Again, the apostles, having been struck, went away rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they were counted worthy to be dishonored for the name of Christ. Therefore, do not take what was before grace as a following of grace. For these things were said to us so that you might learn hope from pains. So also Job curses the day and suffers in soul, yet he does not torment his soul with impiety, but endures the wounds, and he does not wound his soul with blasphemy.

Now, since it is necessary to conclude, we will briefly summarize the matter for you. In the struggle concerning Job, besides God, everyone was ignorant of the purpose of the struggle. Job did not know for what reason he was struggling; he did not know that contests were set before him for training. The friends were ignorant of God's purpose, and the devil was ignorant of what was to come. For if he knew he would be defeated, he would not have attempted it. Job did not know what would result from the struggle.

While God gave out of forgiveness, Job knew—not by foreknowledge, but by learning from God. But the devil did not know to what end the contests would meet. For if he knew, he would not have attempted it, lest he draw the shame more heavily upon himself; but what he suffered among the witnesses, he also suffered in Job. A witness fell so as to extinguish the Church, not knowing that after the witnesses the Church will bloom. Therefore, everyone was ignorant, except God. The friends, being ignorant of God's purpose and ignorant of Job's testing, chose rather to condemn Job as one deserving of suffering, as if in a comparison of ignorance, or—