"At issue in the book of Job is the existential question, "Why does innocent suffering exist?" James Crenshaw has devoted his life to studying the vexing problem of theodicy--divine justice--that troubles most religious people in the Judeo-Christian tradition, . Few individuals will come from reading the book unmoved. If they look for answers, they will be disappointed. Moreover, they will find the depcition of God troubling. If God were merely to meet our expectations, the creator would hardly be anything more than our own projections into the heavens. Perhaps the ancient poet serves readers best by forcing them to face brutal reality, to wit that the world is not fair and the justice is a human project."--Back cover.