Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogue

This article demonstrates how the Book of Job might inspire us to do theology in a different way. For nearly two millennia, Christian theology has mainly been presented in monologues, either from the pulpit or in the classroom. The Book of Job offers an alternate way to develop theology – through d...

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Main Author: V. Kessler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2024-12-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/8582
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author V. Kessler
author_facet V. Kessler
author_sort V. Kessler
collection DOAJ
description This article demonstrates how the Book of Job might inspire us to do theology in a different way. For nearly two millennia, Christian theology has mainly been presented in monologues, either from the pulpit or in the classroom. The Book of Job offers an alternate way to develop theology – through dialogue. It is argued that the speeches of the three (or four) friends should be valued and viewed as an important part of the Book of Job. The faith-based facilitation (FBF) process, a praxis cycle developed by the Salvation Army, is used as a filter on the Book of Job. The FBF process stresses communal decision-making and the importance of Kairos experiences. It is argued that the Book of Job contains at least two Kairos experiences, the divine speech from the storm and the soft voice in Eliphaz’ first speech, which was unfortunately overheard. The article ends with four conclusions for doing theology nowadays.
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spelling doaj-art-b6feed49211f49a09b8f9274eaac02492025-02-11T09:27:26ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892024-12-0144210.38140/at.v44i2.8582Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogueV. Kessler0GBFE, Germany This article demonstrates how the Book of Job might inspire us to do theology in a different way. For nearly two millennia, Christian theology has mainly been presented in monologues, either from the pulpit or in the classroom. The Book of Job offers an alternate way to develop theology – through dialogue. It is argued that the speeches of the three (or four) friends should be valued and viewed as an important part of the Book of Job. The faith-based facilitation (FBF) process, a praxis cycle developed by the Salvation Army, is used as a filter on the Book of Job. The FBF process stresses communal decision-making and the importance of Kairos experiences. It is argued that the Book of Job contains at least two Kairos experiences, the divine speech from the storm and the soft voice in Eliphaz’ first speech, which was unfortunately overheard. The article ends with four conclusions for doing theology nowadays. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/8582Doing theologyBook of JobFBF processKairos experiences
spellingShingle V. Kessler
Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogue
Acta Theologica
Doing theology
Book of Job
FBF process
Kairos experiences
title Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogue
title_full Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogue
title_fullStr Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogue
title_full_unstemmed Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogue
title_short Let's do theology - as in the book of Job: Developing theology in dialogue
title_sort let s do theology as in the book of job developing theology in dialogue
topic Doing theology
Book of Job
FBF process
Kairos experiences
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/8582
work_keys_str_mv AT vkessler letsdotheologyasinthebookofjobdevelopingtheologyindialogue