Those of us who live in Southern California have now been isolated in our homes for seven weeks. Though there have been numerous Facebook memes that have chided us for our “wimpiness”—pictures of prisoners of war, emaciated with a bowl of rice on their collapsing laps coupled with modern photos of us, plopped in front of our TV’s, munching popcorn or savoring wine, or both—for those who have been used to going and doing as we pleased, seven weeks is... Read more

Well over one-half of the Book of Job is given over to the 3-cycle dialogue between Job and his three “friends.” With friends like those, no one needs enemies. The first two of those dialogues follow the same pattern: Job speaks, Eliphaz speaks, Job, Bildad, Job, Zophar, Job (chapters 3-14; 15-21). However, the third cycle is badly disrupted; exactly why has never been completely understood, but the fact is after Eliphaz’ speech that begins the cycle, and after Job’s reply... Read more

“Call now! Is there anyone to answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn” (Job 5:1)? With this sarcastic jibe at the sufferer Job, Eliphaz, his so-called friend, dares Job to call out to any of the would-be “holy ones” for some sort of answer to his pleas for death or for replies to his demand for an explanation for his troubles, as he shouted his long speech of chapter 3. We know for certain that Eliphaz... Read more

One of the deep ironies of the story of Job is that the ongoing dialogue is driven by characters that wish the others would simply shut up! When the friends first encountered Job on his ashy heap, they sat in silence, observing his agonies, convinced that he was in his terrible state due to his obviously disgusting sins against God. For them, no one ends up like Job unless they have performed unmentionable evils, because God without fail punishes such... Read more

If my reading of Job’s response to his series of tragedies in Job 2:10 in fact represents a chink in the armor of his traditional piety, asking a question rather than stating accepted dogma, then Job’s famous “patience” does not last even two chapters of the total 42! One may only conclude that many readers of the book failed to read very far into the text before creating that frankly absurd cliché. If there is any doubt at all that... Read more

In the first essay of this six-part series on the loss of the book of Job in the church and synagogue I argued that in the exilic battle between the authors of Job and 2-Isaiah, the latter won, while Job was reduced at best to a footnote for the returning exiles, for the later Jewish nation, and for the emerging Christian church. And even with its status as footnote, Job quite literally never played much of a role in the... Read more

I propose to address the Book of Job over the next six essays of this blog. In this first look at Job, I want to assess the state of the use and understanding of the book among people in the church and synagogue. Of course, I cannot know all the ways in which Job has been used and is being used in modern religious experiences, but I can offer a brief history of that use, and can then extrapolate a... Read more

The church’s celebration of Pentecost each year is based on the ancient Jewish practice of the Feast of Weeks, a festival marking 50 days after Passover. This feast was originally a harvest celebration, denoting the end of the grain harvest, and occurred usually in the month Sivan (May/June). This dating matches only generally with the Christian calendar, counting six weeks after Easter. For Christians, the feast is now inextricably tied with the singular event of the gift of the Holy... Read more

It is the day after Easter, April 13, 2020, and I imagine all of you had the strangest celebrations of the Great Feast of Christianity that you ever had. I know I did. In my distant past—1971, I believe—I sang Handel’s bass aria, “The Trumpet Shall Sound,” six times for six successive Easter services in a large Dallas church. The final three of those services that day were replete with huge brass choirs, large vocal ensembles of every age, and... Read more

Even though I am writing this on Good Friday, April 10, the Narrative Lectionary sets the famous 1 Cor.13 text for the sixth Sunday of Easter. Yet, as I thought about this wonderful text, and as I continued to shelter in place along with well over 300,000,000 of my fellow Americans—an astonishing and heartening number indeed—I could hardly imagine a more important bit of Scripture for all of us right now. Paul’s deep reflection on God’s unbreakable love for us... Read more