Čustveni odzivi na uničenje in obrat vere v Žalostinkah, Habakuku in Jobu
Emotional responses to destruction and reversal of faith in Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Job

slovenian

2025

volume 85, issue 3

Habakkuk   Lamentations   transformation of faith   trial

Univerza v Ljubljani, Teološka fakulteta
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

The article analyzes the linguistic, semantic and stylistic means of expres-sing the contradictions between material and spiritual reality, as depicted by monologues, dialogues and poetic parables in the Lamentations, the prophet Habakkuk and the Book of Job in experiencing the destruction of the land, legal and social order and personal well-being at all levels of vision and interpreta-tion of creation and life in its contrasts. It focuses on the interaction between emotion and rational perception of the spiritual response to the challenges of material loss. The unstoppable search for answers to the question of what are the reasons for the destruction of external human power and authority shows that the limited human reason does not find a satisfactory answer at the level of the material world and the sharpness of the mind, but it sharpens the inner sense for the perception of spiritual intimacy all the more. At the level of the spirit, the believer can find a way from the darkest domains of the world in its phenomena to the light of inner vision of the spiritual experience of encoun-tering a personal God, who moves the boundaries between matter and spirit, between time and eternity. The Book of Lamentations, looking at the ruins of Jerusalem, feels the power of faith and hope against hope for salvation throu-gh the possibility of accepting suffering without the presumptuous demand for rational explanations for the existing state. The prophet Habakkuk, in his vision of a world ruled by the wicked and oppressors, shared God’s assurance that He would balance the contradictions in His creation in the final judgment. The wicked, despite their apparent power, have no future, but “the righteous will live by their faith” (2:4). A comparison of the similarities and differences in the circumstances of the trial and in the arguments in the responses shows that the message of these books in their theological foundations and purposes can only be fully understood within the framework of broader intertextual horizons.

17.02.2026