The book of Job is a profoundly provocative and rewarding book. It refuses to provide us with ready-made answers about why any of us, individually, suffers. It acknowledges how inexplicably cruel life can be. At the same time, it points to a way of enduring adversity. As Samuel Terrien observes, the Book of Job offers “not a speculative answer … but a way of consecrated living.” (“Introduction and Exegesis to Job,” Interpreter’s Bible, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1954, 3:902.)

In a world that seems not wholly intelligible, there is reassurance in knowing where to find solutions to problems of faith. We should welcome a book of scripture that throws us back—just as Job was thrown back—upon the necessity of seeking understanding through personal revelation from a living, and loving, God.