Image: Job Talks to God
Drawing on her experience as lecturer and head of the Mission department at West Africa Theological Seminary in Lagos, Nigeria, Chinyere Priest contributes to our Lent justice series with further reflections on how our explanation systems can be just or unjust, empathetic or lacking empathy. Read Chinyere’s previous ESN reflections on pursuing justice as a Christian academic here.
If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,  then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. Job 11:14-15, NIV
In many societies when misfortune occurs many do not just stand and fold their hands in despair; rather they endeavor to overcome the crisis by searching for the right explanation system to explain the situation. Some use moral causal ontology in which misfortune is interpreted as one’s own sin, or interpersonal causal ontology in which a malevolent person must be responsible, or scientific causal ontology in which the problem is caused by either biology or psychology, or spiritual causal ontology in which demonic powers are causing the misfortune. The choice of explanation is a personal and community choice.
Reflection
Job’s colleagues explained his misfortune or calamity using moral causal ontology: they said that he was suffering due to his sin. This led several to put blame on Job, which compounded his suffering through his friends’ inability to lament with him and provide succor for him. The loss of Job’s flock, wealth, children, and health were used as evidence that he had sinned. Job’s friends argued that God does not send calamity upon the righteous, therefore Job had sinned because he was suffering calamity. According to their explanation system, calamity does not befall a righteous person in vain. Hiebert, Shaw, and Tienou proposed a system of systems theory as a holistic way to explain misfortune. The theory articulates that a problem can have many causes but people might focus only on one of the causes. Sometimes we explain people’s problems only from moral or personal ontology, thereby treating them unjustly. Job’s problem was not a result of any wrongdoing. In Africa some childless women face untold insults, rejection and devastating comments because their childlessness is explained as a consequence of their promiscuity in their teenage years. In the West some spiritual problems are explained as psychological or mental and the victim is exposed to unhelpful psychological or mental treatments that prove abortive; if the spiritual problem is not also addressed the individual languishes in the situation. In Africa some biological problems are explained as witchcraft and the suspected witches tortured or killed. We need to interpret people’s problems holistically and not just focus on only one of the causes.
Can we start explaining people’s misfortune, suffering, sickness, death, or problems holistically? What explanation systems do you adopt in explaining the misfortune of another? Are you harming others with your limited causal ontology? Are you taking advantage of your personal or community explanation systems to harm others? Are we accusing others for our misfortune? Why don’t we consider other possible causes that might be responsible for the situation? The end of Job’s account revealed that he was misjudged and unjustly treated. God rebuked his accusers and blessed him. God will punish every false accusation and harm caused to the innocent.
Prayer
Oh Lord God, often our perception of life, misfortunes or even successes is colored by our worldviews and explanation systems. We admit today that we have hurt and harmed others via our limited explanation systems. Would you kindly forgive us and help us start interpreting happenings in our lives and others’ holistically? Amen!
Further Reading
Hiebert, Paul G., R. Daniel Shaw., and Tite Tienou 2000. Understanding Folk Religion: A Christian Response to Popular Beliefs and Practices. Baker Books.
Image: Job Talks to God, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55467 [retrieved March 18, 2015]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noordwijk_Sint-Jeroenskerk_beeld.jpg.
Intro updated March 19, 2015 at 12:45 and 2:15 pm
About the author:
Chinyere holds double master’s degrees in Missions and Biblical Studies from West Africa Theological Seminary (An Affiliate of the University of Nigeria Nsukka) Lagos, Nigeria. She is presently a PhD student at the department of Missions of the Africa International University, Nairobi, Kenya. Her field of research is in the Conversion of Christians to Islam within sub-Sahara Africa. Apart from serving as a missionary in Sudan, she was once the head of department and for many years lecturer in the Mission Department of the West Africa Theological Seminary (WATS) Lagos, Nigeria. She is equally involved in children’s ministry, concerned about the persecuted church, and concerned for the accused.