The Message: Job: Led by Suffering to the Heart of God [Hardcover]

Eugene H. Peterson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

Written in the frank, everyday language we use today, Job allows readers to ask the difficult questions that arise when life doesn't turn out exactly the way it has been planned. Like Job, readers will realize that it isn't easy answers or complex formula

Editorial Reviews

Review

Life can be terribly precarious. Just when everything seems to be going well, we find ourselves sick in the hospital, mourning the loss of a loved one, dismissed from a job, stunned by a broken relationship, or depressed and bewildered by circumstances beyond our comprehension. Invariably, people show up to tell us exactly where we went wrong and what we must do to get better. Job was no exception. in the midst of his pain, his friends arrived with their advice. Although some of what they said was true, the answers they gave were impersonal, lacking in intimacy -- and fell far short of the wisdom Job desperately needed. Job rejected their easy answers and longed instead for an answer straight from God. Eugene Peterson brings the same passionate, honest, insightful language to one of the most familiar (and troubling) books of the Bible. Much more than just a story of pain and suffering, the book of Job probes the depths of human struggle -- a struggle that involves wrestling with the very nature of God. Written in the frank, everyday language we use today, Peterson's rendition of "Job" invites us to ask the difficult questions that arise when life seems to be spinning out of control. And with Job, we realize that simple solutions or complex formulas to the mysteries of life aren't really what we want. What we really want and need is the relief and comfort that comes from God himself, speaking to us out of the whirlwind. -- Midwest Book Review

About the Author

EUGENE H. PETERSON is a writer and poet. He has authored more than twenty books and is a contributing editor to Leadership Journal. He is Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Eugene was also the founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he ministered for twenty-nine years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 103 pages
• Publisher: Navpress Publishing Group (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891099271
• ISBN-13: 978-0891099277
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,474,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is there a God, and why does he allow suffering?, June 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Message: Job: Led by Suffering to the Heart of God (Hardcover)

I am buying more copies as gifts for others! This book is a great resource for explaining how God and human suffering can coexist --- something everyone wonders about. God uses suffering to draw us to him, to focus on him when life doesn't make sense. That's when he gets our attention, as the book of Job illustrates. The translation is extremely good at expressing the original Hebrew in today's colloquialisms. Here's an example that stuck with me (which I am writing from memory as I have already given my copy to a friend!): Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! (Job 14-NIV) Peterson translates it something like: How can I pull myself up by my bootstraps when I don't even have any boots? I think you get the gist...Peterson brings the text alive! I highly recommend this book

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easier to understand a difficult book, June 28, 2010

By 

Janlynn (Sussex, WI United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Message: Job: Led by Suffering to the Heart of God (Hardcover)

I have always had trouble reading through the Book of Job in the Bible. Not only was it long, but also boring as I could never quite understand the message it was trying to convey. The Message version of the Bible book of Job makes the storyline much easier to understand.