One of the most amazing things about the Book of Job is the extent to which it allows such divergent opinions on the meaning of human suffering to emerge, both the pious reflections of Job's "comforters"--Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar--and the outraged accusations of the sufferer himself.  Since the structure of the Book of Job already falls into the form of a debate, the best way to explicate its meanings, it appears, is to engage in our own debate on the following proposition:
 

Resolved:  The Book of Job shows that God is unjust in inflicting suffering on human beings, in the person of Job.

You should feel free to develop your own arguments, but the text itself already provides you with several, in the disputes between Job and his comforters.  We will discuss what the end of the book does with the problem of suffering after the debate on Thursday.  Each group has been assigned a speech, but you may include other evidence from the text as you see fit.  At the end of class today, I'll ask the "Pro" and "Con" sides to come together as a whole, to establish an order of speaking, a rational division of speakers, a strong introductory speaker and strong concluding speaker.

A word about debate:  If you find yourself troubled by being on a side you don't agree with, I can offer some consolation:

• the debate is not so much on the topic of our own ideas of the justice of God, as on the Book of Job's ideas (although these may be related;
• our own beliefs in the justice or injustice of God will most likely be developed and strengthened by being tested in an open debate and subjected to close inquiry.