Faith when the world makes no sense – the book of Job
Five readings from Job crop up in the Revised Common Lectionary’s continuous set of Sunday readings; 1 one of these also occurs in the shared set of related readings. Most people will therefore only hear the one reading, part of God’s speech towards the end of the book. Either way it is not a lot of exposure to a long and provocative book, which wrestles with the perennial question of why there is evil in the world. The Patient Job, by Gerard Seghers (17th century) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons As it stands, after various editors have finished with it, the book consists of three long poetic sections, topped and tailed by a prose narrative. The prose sections both set up the story behind the scenes in the heavenly court, and tie the story up in a neat package at the end. Most readers end up feeling the opening and closing sections offer an explanation of Job’s sufferings which is far tidier and more simplistic than the poetry sections they sandwich. It’s all a test, and...