Book of Job is it an Allegory?

[pelathais]

On the subject of the Book of Job being allegorical, forget the character called "Satan" in the drama and consider the one called "God."

Are we comfortable with a deity who throws away the lives of Job's children in order to win a bet? I read about a man in Wisconsin recently who threw away the life of his diabetic daughter on a similar wager - and he's looking at serious prison time.

And don't forget - Job never got an answer from God. The "curtain" was never thrown back revealing heaven's parlor game. Job was left to ponder the deepest of mysteries along with his readers. But Job was able to find a higher meaning and purpose for deity than the idea of God as a Supernatural bickering with another supernatural being.

And thus, Job justified God and God justified Job. Sounds like a good basis for a friendship, allegorical or otherwise.