Theodicy is the fancy theological/philosophical term for the attempt to justify the ways, acts, justice and goodness of God in the face of suffering, death and evil to an incredulous jury of humans. We Christians have floated some doozies.
Christian and Hebrew theologians, philosophers and kibitzers for thousands of years have struggled to come up with a plausible defense of God's goodness and power, given the daily reality of evil, because, well, God hasn't really produced an alibi for himself.
Once, at the end of the Old Testament wisdom book of Job, God could have explained it all, but He didn't. God makes a personal appearance out of the whirlwind just as the argument between Job and his so-called friends gets really interesting, meaning the finger finally gets pointed directly at God. God appears dramatically and essentially tells Job that it's none of Job's business why he's suffering and that Job wouldn't understand anyway.
The writer's elaborate, but single, point of the story of Job is that human speculation on such matters is folly at best, and idolatry and heretical at worse. But Job's message and warning don't seem to give us pause.
We Christians today, however well-intentioned, often fall off the horse on one side or the other by speculating with pious platitudes about why some terrible event has occurred. And indeed, all theodicies are pure speculation unless God has directly and specifically revealed His will and purpose to a credible prophet who comes to us with "Thus saith the Lord."
Once the speculation has begun, there's no way to judge it, evaluate it, or refute it because speculation by definition is completely subjective and unverifiable. Unchecked, the likelihood of theological mischief and stupidity is great amongst theodicy speculators.
Theodicies are theological and philosophical La Brea Tar Pits. Once we take the plunge, we're stuck forever, and all of our struggling only sinks us deeper and deeper into the pit. First, we're hit with the question: How can we offer a defense of God that's considered depraved when invoked by humans? Second, once we engage in the parlor game of second guessing God, anything goes.
One of my favorite examples of such speculation is provocative, subversive and highly effective at taming our wandering ways. It comes in the form of a poem by highly-acclaimed poet and Vanderbilt Professor of English Mark Jarman.
Jarman playfully pens a poem entitled "Unholy Sonnet 12:"
There was a pious man upright as Job,
In fact, more pious, more upright, who prayed
The way most people thoughtlessly enjoy
Their stream of consciousness. He concentrated
On glorifying God, as some men let
Their minds create and fondle curving shadows.
And as he gained in bumper crops and cattle,
He greeted each success with grave amens.
So he was shocked, returning from the bank,
To see a flood bearing his farm away--
His cows, his kids, his wife, and all his stuff.
Swept off his feet, he cried out, "Why?" and sank.
And God grumped from his rain cloud, "I can't say.
Just something about you pisses me off."
Excerpts from American Wasteland
A Commentary:
D. Marty Lasley
I am not a biblical scholar, but I am enough of a biblical student on the journey with Christ to say that the author of your post is even less a biblical scholar than I am. More like a revisionist with a bias against religion.