March 1st, 8th and 22th    
Dr. Robert Shedinger

"How Could We Laugh at Job?"

Traditional interpretations of the book of Job portray it as the pious tale of a righteous sufferer who maintains his patience and faith in the face of enormous difficulty. The message of the book is often said to be that the answer to suffering is there is no answer. But more recent approaches to this book suggest that Job might be better read as a kind of political satire, poking fun at traditional understandings of suffering found throughout the Hebrew Bible. In this series we will consider whether we should be laughing when we read the book of Job.