Unit information: The Book of Job: God, Chaos and Suffering (Trinity & Baptist College) in 2013/14

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Unit name The Book of Job: God, Chaos and Suffering (Trinity & Baptist College)
Unit code THRS20117
Credit points 10
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director Dr. Bimson
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

Completion of THRS11039 Getting into the Old Testament
Co-requisites

None
School/department Department of Religion and Theology
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The book of Job will be introduced as a text which explores the fringes of canonical thought, asking disturbing questions about divine purpose and control, and about the place of human beings in God's world. The book's relationship to other Old Testament Wisdom Literature and to the rest of the Old Testament canon will be examined. A number of responses to the book over the last 2000 years will be critically surveyed, and the book's appeal to modern secular writers explored. Finally the module will look at a variety of ways of reading the book in a Christian/canonical context. In its approach to the broader issues raised by the book, the module will be interdisciplinary, drawing particularly on relevant insights from philosophy, pastoral theology and the science/religion debate.

Intended Learning Outcomes

The unit aims to

  1. introduce students to the book of Job in its literary and theological context;
  2. explore ways of relating the book of Job to contemporary questions about chance, suffering and theodicy.

On completion of the unit students should be

  1. able to read the book of Job against the thought-worlds of the Old Testament and other Ancient Near Eastern literature;
  2. sensitive to the interrelated issues of genre, metaphorical theology and interpretation;
  3. aware of the main translation difficulties underlying the variety of English versions;
  4. aware of ways in which the book of Job can be a pastoral resource for both sufferers and carers/counsellors.

Teaching Information

The module will consist mainly of lectures and some seminars. Several of the lectures will allow open discussion based on the prescribed reading or handouts circulated in advance. The seminars will be devoted to the exegesis of passages of particular importance and/or difficulty, and will depend on student input.

This will be based on group work using a range of recommended commentaries and other resources. Although the book will be studied in English translations, students with a knowledge of Hebrew will be encouraged to use Hebrew-based resources in their exegesis of the text.

The unit will consist of 10 contact hours, equating to 2 contact hours per week for 5 weeks.

Assessment Information

Formative assessment will be through preparation for classes and participation in class discussions and seminars.

Summative assessment will be through an essay or an exegesis of 2,500 words. If an exegesis is chosen, it may make use of work done for the seminars.

Reading and References

  1. Dell, K.J., The Book of Job as Sceptical Literature (Berlin & New York: De Gruyter, 1991)
  2. Eaton, J.H., Job. Old Testament Guides (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1985)
  3. Fyall, R. S. Now My Eyes Have Seen You: Images of creation and evil in the book of Job, (Leicester: Apollos, 2002)
  4. Gutierrez, G., On Job: God-talk and the Suffering of the Innocent (New York: Orbis, 1988)
  5. Hartley, J.E., The Book of Job (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988)
  6. Ticciati, S., Job and the Disruption of Identity (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 2005)

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