At the Scent of Water: The Ground of Hope in the Book of JobIn this remarkable rereading of the biblical book of Job often discussed as an attempt to justify the ways of God to man J. Gerald Janzen brings new light to Job s story, showing how God invites Job to give up the traditional logic of reward-punishment for a life-affirming strategy of risk-reward. From this perspective, affirmation of life in the face of all its vulnerabilities is the path to true participation in the mystery of existence. / At the Scent of Water traces Job s journey from prosperity, through calamity and bitter anguish, to an encounter with God s presence in a rainstorm that renews the earth and his own appetite for life. / Janzen includes a candid epilogue on his own struggle with aggressive prostate cancer, which enabled him to connect personally with Job and to find a fresh and illuminating grace. At the Scent of Water will especially resonate with any readers who have experienced grief or suffering. |
Contents
Extremes Too Hard to Comprehend at Once | 1 |
Israels Default Position before God | 15 |
Tracing the Pattern Elsewhere in the Bible | 38 |
Trying to Grasp with Hand and Mind | 47 |
Lust for Life and the Bitterness of Job | 68 |
Jobs Oath | 87 |
Gods Response Jobs Response and Final Resolution | 95 |
Further on Job and Naomi | 111 |
A Personal Epilogue in Three Parts | 117 |
Acknowledgments | 136 |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham accuser Alfred North Whitehead ancestors appetite become biblical bitterness blessings book of Job book of Ruth breast calamities chapter child clan comes comprehend context cosmic default position divine speeches divine-human relation domain e. e. cummings earlier earth east wind Edward Connery ehyeh El Shadday Eliphaz exile Exod Exodus experience fatal system error father feeling Fesed friends Genesis God’s grasp grief hand heart Hebrew human interpretation Israel issues Jacob Jacobsen Janzen Job’s John A. T. Robinson justice logic Lord means mercy mind moral Moses mother Naomi nepeš NRSV Numbers oath Old Testament one’s original default paradigm parental poem Psalm question raF$mîm rain reference religious response Robert Frost Ruth Satan sense Shadday simply Sinai covenant speak steadfast love story suffering theology things Thorkild Jacobsen tion translated Treasures of Darkness tree trust turn understanding verb whirlwind womb words Yahweh YHWH