Righteous Suffering: Faculty Seminar for July 2012

The inaugural presentation of Rev. Gnanaraj (Department of Old Testament) on the suffering of the righteous signaled the beginning of the faculty seminars at NLC for the academic year 2012-13. It was held at the Conference Hall on 25^th July 2012, 3.15 p.m. – 5 p.m. This insightful paper sparked off intense time of discussion and responses from the audience, which included NLC faculty and students from B.Th 3, M.Div 2 and M.Div 3.

The stage was set with the opening introduction by Rev. Muthu Kumar, Dean of Academics. Rev. Gnanaraj began his presentation with a note on the presence of suffering, often undeserved on the part of those suffer. He pointed the reality of neighboring Sri Lanka where the minority Tamils recently went through extreme suffering, etc. Then, he went on to present his paper titled: “The Legend of Harichandra and Job: An Indian Reflection on the Suffering of the Righteous.” The focus of the presentation was how ancient Indians tackled the issue of undeserved suffering in comparison to the suffering of Biblical Job.

 

Rev. Wilson Cherian responded to the presentation and critiqued the paper on various points. This was later clarified by the presenter. Then, our faculty – Rev. Muthu Kumar, Rev. Biren Kumar Nayak – also added few more thoughtful questions to the discussion. Dr. Ashish Chrispal pointed out the glaring difference in the Indian Legend where one attribute of God (“Truth”) becomes God; and related the culmination of righteous suffering in Jesus Christ, the suffering son of God. Students also actively participated in the discussion and enjoyed interaction. This seminar concluded with few closing remarks from Dr. John Thannickal and a prayer by Dr. Chrispal.

This paper was earlier distributed among the faculty and students; and was submitted to the respondent too. Faculty seminars at NLC are conducted regularly every month with the intension to encourage learning and critical thinking. Also, the presentations of the past year was compiled and published as a part of “New Life Review,” an inter-disciplinary theological journal from New Life College.