Redefining Job and the Conundrum of Suffering

As a species, we are storytellers. Our best stories, those that endure for generations, are stories of trials and suffering and of surmounting the challenges set before us. The biblical Job is such a story, one that has become encrusted with centuries of interpretations. Redefining Job and the Conundrum of Suffering sets out to retell the story, to make “once upon a time” have meaning for us today.
The best way to break old patterns is to start from scratch. Redefining Job dissects the story, the history of interpretations, and the history of how humanity has dealt with suffering. As the story is rebuilt with different insights gained from research in biblical studies, humanities, and science, the message can be viewed in a fresh light. The author of Job lived at a time when knowledge was expanding and our perception of our place in the universe was changing. From this perspective, Job becomes a hero. No longer patiently waiting for some ambiguous answer, he is demanding something more of his Maker. “Before I heard, but now I see” becomes an affirmation that he grasped a new path to discovering why we suffer and how we should respond.

Victoria Adams is an accountant and an author exploring the humanities and natural sciences with a special love for things faith-related and the practical applications of "love thy neighbor." She is the author of Who I Am Yesterday, A Path to Coping With a Loved One's Dementia (2017).

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David von Schlichten is associate professor of Religious Studies at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA, where he is also the coordinator of the Gender and Women's Studies Program. He is the author of Words Fitly Spoken: Biblical Guidance for More Powerful Preaching (2008).