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Arts & Communication

PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
When the morning stars sang

together: Considering theodicy and music
during suffering

Susan Quindag*

School of Education, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, United States of America

Abstract

A sobering reality is that suffering is part of our human experience. The innumerable
forms of suffering include physical pain, mental or emotional anguish, social injustice,
economic setbacks, and profound loss. There is also suffering that is self-imposed,
instructional, or sacrificial. Remarkably, music is indispensable during suffering and
varies from individual to individual, even among those who believe in a higher power
or God. This perspective paper explores how we choose the music to engage with
while suffering in the context of theodicy: the study of why suffering occurs under
the purview of a loving, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God. The paper
begins with describing the narrative in the Book of Job from the Tanakh and Bible as
*Corresponding author: the foundation of theodicy. It then expounds on the definition of theodicy, reviews
Susan Quindag the literature on the relationship between theodicy and music, and presents four
(srquindag@liberty.edu) classifications for viewing God in relation to theodicy and music: no God-view, internal
Citation: Quindag S. When the God-view, external/authoritarian God-view, and transcending/transformational
morning stars sang together: God-view. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research on theodicy and
Considering theodicy and
music during suffering. Arts & music, including comparing compositional devices to represent suffering from non-
Communication. 2025;3(1):3830. Western and Western music, exploring the relationship between truth and suffering,
doi: 10.36922/ac.3830 and challenging the four classifications of God-views discussed in this paper.
Received: June 4, 2024
1st revised: July 17, 2024 Keywords: Music; Theodicy; Suffering; God-view; Job
2nd revised: July 24, 2024
Accepted: August 15, 2024
Published online: October 14, The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor,
2024
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article To proclaim the freedom for the captives,
distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons And release from darkness for the prisoners. 1
AttributionNoncommercial License,
permitting all non-commercial use, 1. Introduction
distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work The opening excerpt is an English translation of the words sung by a group of grieving
is properly cited. Israelis near the Gaza Strip, lamenting the loss of their loved ones and praying for the safe
Publisher’s Note: AccScience return of hostages taken during the attack on October 7, 2023. These words are adapted
Publishing remains neutral with from a passage in Isaiah 61, which appears in the Hebrew Tanakh and the Old Testament
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional of the Bible. This example highlights the convergence of music, suffering, therapy, and
affiliations. theodicy – the study of why God allows suffering. While much has been written about

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/ac.3830