Review of Human Consciousness of God in the Book of Job: A Theological and Psychological Commentary by Jeffrey Boss. RBL (2011). (original) (raw)

Jeffrey Boss, a retired Senior Lecturer in Physiology, has put nearly thirty years of personal research into the psychological interpretation of the book of Job, and this book is the result. In this " theological and psychological commentary, " Boss traces the narrative of the final form of the book of Job, which, he argues, describes the development of Job's perception of God. Boss is aware of the arguments for the book's textual development but claims that, as it now stands, it " follows a discernable single narrative line " (xi). Boss characterizes Job's psychological progression in this narrative line as a " return to elsewhere " (198), in which he passes through three stages, beginning in the secure world of the prologue, then climbing out of the darkness of his soul after this world is reduced to wreckage, and, finally, returning to the wholeness with which he began, now enlarged by his struggle. Along the way, Job encounters several faces of God, and Boss divides his commentary accordingly, which results in six parts, in which God is the Nurturer (1:1–5), Destroyer (1:6–2:13), Self-Concealing (3:1–26), Desired One (4:1–37:24), Holy One (38:1–42:6), and Destination (42:7–17). Two further parts follow, the first reflecting further on the epilogue and the second giving a series of conclusions. A bibliography and indices of references, authors, and subjects fill out the book. Because the narrative Boss