Ask the Pastor: The Book of Job; Evolution and Faith
by the Rev. Walter Snyder
Religion Columnist

Q: Who wrote the book of Job and when?

A: There is no consensus. Authorship has been suggested for Job, Elihu (the fourth "friend," in
chapters 32--37), Moses, Solomon, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Ezra, or an anonymous author some 200 years
before Christ. One Jewish tradition says that Moses wrote the book. Solomon is suggested because of
his interest in poetic literature.

Similarly, the date, either of the events or the authorship is unknown. However, if Job came
from an oral tradition, the Holy Spirit did marvelous work in preserving the details. It is from these
details that a date from around the time of the Hebrew Patriarchs makes sense. Job as author
(whether he actually wrote or dictated the events) makes sense because it reads like an eyewitness
account from a vitally interested person.

An early date (2100--1900 BC) is indicated because of the length of Job's life, the reckoning
of his wealth in livestock, and the fact that the Sabeans and Chaldeans were called nomads (1:15,
17) although they later settled to farm and in cities. Also, Job's daughters could inherit and this was
not possible under Mosaic law, the name "Shaddai" was used for God as in Abraham's time, and
several personal and place names match that period. One source I have mentions a good possibility
that Job lived around or just after the time of Jacob. However, when all is examined, we still have a
mystery that we'll probably not solve without a spectacular archeological find.

Q: I have many things I would ask. I've been baptized and took communion in the
Lutheran church, but my parents never really went or stressed going to church when I was
younger so I fell out of the church. I find myself questioning if there is a god and thinking that
maybe Jesus was a man that just tried to get people to treat others as well as they themselves
would want to be treated. I guess my first question is, how do you explain evolution (dinosaurs
and remains of early man)?  I sometimes think that we are all just clinging to hope that we
might have something after death and that we will  not eventually fade from the memories of 
others and be forgotten.

A: I don't explain evolution---at least not that commonly taught according to the disciples of
Darwin. I deny it. I accept that God created the world as we are told in the book of Genesis and that
the Creation was marred and twisted because of sin entering into it through our first parents.

Fossils and the like are merely things we observe. We may attempt to impose current thought
on them, but their story can be interpreted variously according to the preconceived notions of those
examining them. An evolutionist looks at the fossils and sees gradual change and "improvement" of
life on earth. A believer looks and sees things that God created and which later died off---many of
them in the great Flood at the time of Noah and sees that unhealthy change and decay are the norm
in the natural world.

As for hoping for something after death, I certainly do. This is not because of the evidence of
rocks and dead creatures, but through the evidence of the Resurrection of Christ and a Holy Spirit-
created faith in his Word. The rocks can tell us many things, but we don't always hear what they have
to say. Even more so, the Rock who is Christ tells us what we truly need to know---that through his
suffering and death our sins are forgiven---but likewise we don't always hear him.

I won't prove Christ by arguing evolution vs. Creation. Christ takes the burden of proof on
himself through his Word and in his Church. If you want to argue with him, I sincerely recommend
that you first carefully review his case by Bible reading and listening to the preaching you once
occasionally heard. Brush up on his claims about himself and his claim, through Baptism, on you. Just
because you were cheated of him in your youth doesn't mean you must cheat yourself now.

To Ask the Pastor, please write Ask the Pastor, PO Box 12, Emma, MO, 65327 or send
email to askthepastor@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of
the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."