Would You Impugn My Justice?

Joel S. Kaminsky, Professor of Religion and Morningstar Family Professor in Jewish Studies at Smith College, delivers the 2015 Albert and Vera List Fund for Jewish Studies Lecture. Much recent scholarship has portrayed the book of Job as sweeping away an earlier, supposedly mechanistic theology of divine reward and punishment. Joel S. Kaminsky argues that the widespread biblical notion that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked is more complex than often recognized. Recovering its nuances not only helps one better understand the theological outlook of books like Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and Psalms, but also helps one better grasp the debates within the book of Job