Logos Bible Study

The Book of Job

 
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Dr. Bill Creasy

 

(Listen to Dr. Creasy’s welcome message above!)

 

Welcome to Logos Bible Study’s “mini”-course on the Book of Job!  I’m Dr. Bill Creasy, and I’ll be leading you on our four-week journey together.

When we read the linear narrative of the Bible, Genesis straight through to the book of Esther—creation, the fall, the plan of redemption (with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and the other characters of scripture)—we learn a clear, unambiguous lesson:  “If we do what God says, all will go well; if we don’t, it won’t.”  It’s as simple as that. 

And then we turn the page to Job. 

Job is the most righteous man who ever lived, yet he suffers terribly.  Why?

Anyone who has suffered the death of a child, the death of a husband or wife in a terrible, senseless traffic accident, or the painful decline of a parent slipping inexorably into dementia, must cry out to heaven and ask:  “Why?”

The book of Job explores this profoundly troubling reality, this dark and dreadful corner of the human condition.  Although Job is deeply troubling, it is also a theological masterpiece.

 And the book of Job is a stunning literary tour de force:

  • Victor Hugo said, “Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work only, I should save Job”; 

  • Tennyson referred to the Book of Job as the “greatest poem, whether of ancient or modern literature”; 

  • Virginia Woolf said, “I read the book of Job last night.  I don’t think God comes out well in it”; 

  • G. K. Chesterton believed that Job posed a question so difficult that even God could not answer it; and 

  • Carl Jung thought that God suffered such a deep defeat with Job that he had to come to earth in human form and sacrifice himself.

Over the next four weeks we’ll come to terms with the book of Job.  Each week you’ll watch one video lesson at your convenience; each Saturday morning from 10:00 AM – Noon (Pacific Time), we’ll meet as a class on Zoom for a 2-hour discussion; and each Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00 AM – Noon, I’ll have open “Office Hours” on Zoom for you to drop in and ask questions . . . or just to stop by and say “hello.”

I look forward to exploring with you one of the great books of the Bible; to spending time with you throughout the month of June; and to getting to know you.

 So, welcome to Logos Bible Study, and thank you for being here with me!