Reading Job: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Reading the Old Testament)

At issue in the Book of Job is a question with which most all of us struggle at some point in life, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” James Crenshaw has devoted his life to studying the disturbing matter of theodicy—divine justice—that troubles many people of faith. Few individuals come from reading Job unmoved. If they seek answers, they likely will be disappointed. And, many find the depiction of God troubling. If God were merely to meet our expectations, the Creator would hardly be anything more than our own projections into the heavens. Perhaps the ancient poet serves readers best by starkly portraying the brutal reality that life and this world are not fair, and that justice is a human project.