Big Ideas · 27 · The Sage
Why doubt belongs in the Bible
Job and Ecclesiastes contest the idea that good deeds secure good fortune. Perhaps reward works collectively, not individually: unjust societies fall, but innocent individuals still suffer.
Questioning makes a tradition resilient.
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If you can argue with God and scripture, you can challenge political powers. The Bible doesn't demand uniform belief; it builds questioning into the system. Pushback makes a system more flexible, and that intuition explains why the Song of Songs and Esther are in the Bible too.
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 433–434
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