Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Nov. 29, 1918, edition 1 / Page 8
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I 5 ' 4 fv t. v .' ) ""hf.:'';'"- - George Gaul as Job' in a Kecent Dramatization of the Bible Book. J VV I - V J 'J ll ' i ft vv - i 1 IK A 1 J'Jt Why Should the Innocent Be i As Art Literature Are inding It Asked and Answered in the Great Hebrew Poem. 7 n features of the war era is he extraordinary stirring of re ligious thought, not only in art and in literature, but in the common life of the time. Ineyitabh a bitter question has arisen, skepticism has' found fresh fuel in disaster, and religion has turned again in pager search for the consolations of holy writ. At such a time the Bible is called upon to anstver the cries of distraught humanity, and a book like that of Job, depicting bdtfi sides of the contro versy over suffering, is resought with signifi cant interest. Painters are turning to the Scriptures. Novelists like H. G. Wells are zvriting of new conceptions of God. Stuart Walker recently conceived the idea of dramatizing the stupen dous spiritual drama of Job, and his reverent work has been received with profound evi dences of appreciation The pictures on this page vividly suggest the imaginative significance of the Bible work, the wonderful allegorical range of its lines. The designs by sthe distinguished English artist, Herbert Granville Fell, depict some of the many phases he has touched in the course of a powerful series. In his volume, "The Book of Job," Joseph Jacobs says of. Job's gospel,, "Never was such a gospel needed more than at the present day." Mr. Jacobs says that it is Job's "soul's drama thdt constitutes the Poem of Job. The strenuous optimism of the Hebrew' finds in him its most typical representative. By Dr. Clifton Harby Levy CALX, the Book of Job a roem if you will; it is actually the drama of life played out be-, fore the minds of men to console them for their sufferings. It is an attempt to answer the eternal question, "Why do the righteous suffer?" Satan Showering Ills Upon Job. One of ' the Celebrated Series of Designs for "The Book .r , ,, , tt i t rt ,T;nQ Wen De-nictinsr Everv Phase of the dOD. Dy neruex t vriui" - " r - . " - Remarkable-Bible Narrative. 4 'Job Rebukes His Wife," as Drawn by Herbert Granville Fell. The Evil One is permitted to afflict Job with every possible type of pain, from that of the loss of-his dear ones to the .personal suffering of physical agony, but he is still steadfast' in his faith. We speak of the. patience of Job, yet he was the most impatient of men, for he. cursed even the day o his birth, questioning thet value of life itself, under the stress of suffering. The qom'mon idea . that Job was patient is due to a popular misappre hension, derived' from one of the headings in . an edition of a Latin Bible, where, the reader fqund "Job Patiens," the suffering Job,, and he trans ferred the Latin into the English and spoke of patient Job. ', At a time like this in the world's history, when every one ?is asking ever and over again the soul searching questions, which always begin with the. word "Why," we are asking "Why the innocent, must suffer?" "Why the ambition of kings must plunge millions into mourning?" "Why God does not stop: this awful war and punish those who de serve worse -than death?" Many millions; are going to - their Bibles in search of consolation, and as they turn the pages and read the Book of Job they begin to find some spiritual light, upon the questions whfchjhave surged up from overflowing, hearts. Job stands forth.. as the great sufferer, the world's protagonist; of' martyrdom, and his three friends come with vapid, consolations which only stir him 'to violent .outbreaks against them. They have the old-fashioned idea that if a man suffer it must be tor some sin which he has committed, and in vain does Job refuse td admit his sinful ness "He casts back' the imputation, and reasserts his innocence. He rises far above'their primitive ideas of God andhis dealing with men and. shows them the depth and power of hjs faith which ."Knows that his'Redeemer liveth.' a V- Here is the struggle of the soul of a';good man to reconcile his personal sufferings with the wis dom and goodness of God, and he finds, the only possible solution in his recognition that all' must - be done well and wisely, even though he cannot 'understand, and not for a moment does he lose hold upon his faith in God, or his belief in his "goodness. -' , To Job life is a test, not of God, but of man, and this is the real purport of the book, though there are many other aspects of it. Life is an oppor tunity for man to attain true faith, notwithstand ing all doubts and sufferings, to ascend above the lemporal and the transient to the contemplation of th7 nower of God as evinced in the universe, the glories of which appear "When the morning stars sang together." 1 , The form in which the Book of Job is cast has naturally placed a high test on -the discernment of the reader, in which respect-it does not differ from other great works t as expressions of spirit uality in which the. elements of poetry and philos--oohy ace bjended with elements of drama. Of its literary significance there can be no question. As one commentator has remarked, "Here, all can meet on common ground. Jew, Christian or Free thinker can recognize n Job one of the great world noems Not a' word is wasted, and every word tells When one reflects hxw much ground is cov ered by the 35 verses preceding the opening curse of the poem the description of Job, the prologue in heaven, the three catastrophes, the reopening of the divine dispute, the personal infliction on Job, the temptation by his wife we cannot retrain from admiration set' the writer's skill. Nor is our admiration lessened1 when we come to the poem itself." . itr i ll 1-1 1 Xl m,raat itlflnPTICeS 01 , uansi inou uiuu me owc&u the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orionf Scene from the Dramatization of ' ' The Boo of Job. '! The Figures on tiie Sides; Are the Narrators ' Who; Repeat ' Lines of Text from tne cook. Preliminary to the Action and-Dialogue. "' ; V I ,IM mmn-nfrr , , n i i ---imnnmmmnmrmmimiv . i i i in , i u,,,,, in. n rr mimii nun i mm.vs.).mM' mtr Mnnmvnmwmmmtta , 1 1 1,,.,,,,, ., ,, IMgrMn. n v nrnnio i i rwiiwnnninftrig j "AncJ the Lord blessed : . Job more than the the latter end beginning. v ; Jyti t.-:4;r.,tfi :' n - ? .
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Nov. 29, 1918, edition 1
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