"The Book of Job in Wonderland" by Ryan M. Armstrong. A (Nontechnical) Review

 

I love the biblical book Job. One year I spent all twelve months reading and rereading it. I have even preached a 5-part (gasp!) sermon series through the book. So I was intrigued when I saw the newly published, 248-page hardback "The Book of Job in Wonderland: Making (Non)Sense of Job's Mediators." Ryan M. Armstrong, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Oklahoma State University (OSU), and initiator of a Hebrew Language program at OSU, explores the motif "of mediation in the book of Job" and argues "that it all comes down to honesty." I was hooked!

Armstrong uses Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as his playful companion on how Job works or unfolds. The introduction quickly shows the ways Alice's Adventures can aid a reader in grasping the flux and flow of Job without getting one distracted. Armstrong exhibits ways both books' "skepticism of pat answers provides a lesson about being honest." The author's use of Alice's Adventures was an artful move on his part. It made deciphering the complications in Job easier and more fathomable. And as a side benefit I learned a ton about Alice, Lewis Carroll, and Wonderland.

The author works less on a "verse-by-verse" exposition (Job makes that nearly impossible) and more with a "theme-by-theme" or "perspective-by-perspective" explanation. Though a reader will obtain a load of verse-by-verse help, and inter-canonical awareness (such as the importance of Leviticus 19:15-17 to Job), yet the real craft is to detangle the complicating threads to see the bigger picture. And Armstrong does this beautifully.

Job is a humbling book, and seems to me, to be meant to humble our self-inflated senses of wisdom, especially in the face of suffering. Armstrong masterfully shows this to be the case. For example, when the perplexing youngster, Elihu, arrives on the scene, the author correctly observes that by this point in Job it is clear that human "wisdom has reached its limit." In fact, "Elihu's limited wisdom continues the theme that humans are at the mercy of God's monopoly on wisdom." Both Wonderland and Uz are "full of overconfident sages." Job and Alice's Adventures are books "of extremes," and Armstrong lends readers a hand to grasp this and walk away alive, but changed.

Of all the subjects I enjoyed in the book, one deserves a little notice. Armstrong addresses Elihu and The Gryphon in Alice's Adventures. He applies source-critical literary theory to The Gryphon to show how easy it would be to think that section was added by a later writer, and clearly exposes how off the mark a critical reader would be. He does this to at least push back a bit on critical readers of Job and the whole Elihu section. This highlights that what might appear to be a lack of narrative integration "cannot be used as evidence to a character's late development." What at first appears as a side trail in the book, soon becomes a valuable defense of Job's literary integrity. I was elated!

Truly, Job is "a book of extremes." It is a book drawing readers and listeners to focus less on the "why" of suffering, and more on the "how" we will respond. The conclusion we all will hopefully come to is that suffering is not always retribution for sin. That was the problematic assessment of Job's "Three Amigos." Or as I once put it, their assumption was that Job's great suffering proved Job was a great sinner. Instead, I believe Armstrong is correct, Job wants us to be honest to God, who is honest with us; comprehend that wisdom is solely at the mercy of God; and suffering - sometimes - can be revelatory from God. 

"The Book of Job in Wonderland" quickly captured my heart and attention. If you're a Bible teacher or preacher, you should snatch up a copy posthaste! Not only so you can preach/teach through it, but so that you yourself can grow and gain, and maybe not slip into the overconfident inanity of Job's "friends." Though it's a fairly technical book (lots of Hebrew, etc.) yet it's straightforward enough for any thoughtful reader to grasp and prosper from. It might actually be deeply useful if you're walking through the thick of it and need a better perspective before you get lost down that rabbit hole. I highly recommend the book.

My thanks to Oxford University Press for sending me an e-copy of the book at my request. I read that copy, and used it for this review. My evaluation is freely made and freely given.