God and Suffering: A Series on the Book of Job ... Coming Soon

Job by Jenna Thomas

You probably already heard that the book of Job is about suffering. 
But what is the main lesson that God teaches us through the book of Job?

You may have also heard that Job's three friends--Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar--presented inaccurate conclusions to Job concerning the reason for his extreme suffering.
But what about the argument of Job's fourth friend, Elihu?

You may have heard of the patience/steadfastness/endurance of Job (James 5:11).
But how do you explain his repentance in dust and ashes (Job 42:6)?

You may have read the first two chapters of Job, and then the last five chapters. Maybe you skimmed the bulk of the book in between.
But what does the drawn out debate between Job and his friends communicate to us about the nature of God and suffering? What parts of the debate should we receive as truth?

And what can a worshipper of Jesus today profit from studying the book of Job?

In 2011 I had the privilege of defending an undergraduate thesis about the book of Job at USF. This gave me the precious opportunity to study Job for a few months. By God's grace, I hope to present through a series of blog posts a few things that I learned about God and suffering through my study of the book of Job. I pray that it will be edifying to anyone who reads it.
...
I have much more to learn about the book of Job, about suffering, and ultimately about God. I do pray that God will use these posts to remind you and me (again and again) about His unchanging character so that we will be more trusting sufferers, and more faithful friends to sufferers, all to the praise of the glory of His grace in our lives.

Honors Thesis Complete!

Song in mind --->  Joy

USF Honors College Thesis title (completed April 2011): 
God and Suffering: Engaging Two Methods of Interpretation to Analyze the Theological Perspectives and Purposes of Suffering Expressed in the Book of Job

If you would like to view the thesis, I would personally recommend you to only read Chapter 3 (Grammatical-Historical Critical Analysis of the Book of Job) because it strictly focuses on the book of Job and the themes of suffering and theology.

I will probably post segments of Chapter 3 (eventually) for the edification of whoever decides to read it...

Pictures (thanks, Mom!) of the thesis defense at USF (4/22/11):

the committee

Pastor Mike came :D

thankful for the support and encouragement :)

working on my Job paper...

something I want to expound on that can be drawn from the book of Job:

Insufficient theology + insufficient doctrine on suffering => destructive counsel + destructive reaction to suffering => misrepresentation of the character and glory of God