The Old Testament in Christian Life, Illustrated with the Book of JobWe hear frequently objections to the use of the Old Testament - both for spiritual reading and withinthe liturgy.1. “The image of God is imperfect: God is portrayed as a ‘Rex tremendae majestatis’, a God offearsome majesty” (Dies Irae, from the former liturgy for the dead).2. “What is demanded of humanity is external righteousness, no inner love.”3. The so-called “principle of causality”: humans are rewarded or punished here on earth.4. The problem of evil in the world remains unresolved, even though an entire book (Job) dealsprecisely with this issue.In this conference, I would like to explore whether the theological and spiritual level of the Book ofJob is truly as “underdeveloped” as it may initially appear.One reason for this negative attitude towards the Book of Job is undoubtedly the way it was previouslyquoted and studied. Passages were often cited arbitrarily to illustrate a theological truth. That method,as we shall see, is unjustified, since the book contains a gradual development in which the authordeliberately ascends from imperfect modes of theologising to more valuable approaches to the book’scentral theme.Moreover, past exegetical studies have led us astray. They misunderstood the book’s theme. Exegesisin the 20th century was largely conducted using the historical-critical method. Scholars were primarilyinterested in questions such as: who is/are the author(s)? They aimed to reconstruct the book’sdevelopment up to its final redaction. This methodology is called diachronic (through time).Regarding the Book of Job, it was claimed that it underwent several redactions. As evidence, scholarspointed to the narrative framework -the prologue (chapters 1–2) and the epilogue (42:7–17) - beingwritten in prose, while the central section, the dialogue (3:1–42:6), is in poetic form.Another piece of evidence was that Job is portrayed in the narrative as submissive to God, referred toas Yahweh, wher...