Job - by Manlio Simonetti & Marco Conti & Thomas C Oden

About the Book

The book of Job presents its readers with a profound drama concerning innocent suffering. Surprisingly, the earliest church fathers showed little interest in the book until Origen in the early third century and more intense interest at the end of the fourth. This ACCS volume offers a great feast of wisdom from the ancient resources of the church with fresh relevance for today.

Book Synopsis

The book of Job presents its readers with a profound drama concerning innocent suffering. Such honest, forthright wrestling with the problem of evil and the silence of God has intrigued a wide gamut of readers both religious and nonreligious.

Surprisingly, the earliest church fathers showed little interest in the book of Job. Not until Origen in the early third century is there much evidence of any systematic treatment of the book, and most of Origen's treatment is known to us only from the catenae. More intense interest came at the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth.

The excerpts in this Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume focus on systematic treatment. Among Greek texts are those from Origen, Didymus the Blind, Julian the Arian, John Chrysostom, Hesychius of Jerusalem, and Olympiodorus. Among Latin sources we find Julian of Eclanum, Philip the Priest, and Gregory the Great. Among Syriac sources we find Ephrem the Syrian and Isho'dad of Merv, some of whose work is made available here for the first time in English.

In store for readers of this volume is a great feast of wisdom from the ancient resources of the church with fresh relevance for today.

Review Quotes

"A 'must' for all theological libraries."--International Review of Biblical Studies, Vol. 55, 2008-2009

"Composed in the style of the great medieval catenae, this new anthology of patristic commentary on Holy Scripture, conveniently arranged by chapter and verse, will be a valuable resource for prayer, study and proclamation. By calling attention to the rich Christian heritage preceding the separations between East and West and between Protestant and Catholic, this series will perform a major service to the cause of ecumenism."--Avery Dulles, S. J., Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society, Fordham University

"The initial cry of the Reformation was ad fontes--back to the sources! The Ancient Christian Commentary Series is a marvelous tool for the recovery of biblical wisdom in today's church. Not just another scholarly project, the ACCS is a major source for the renewal of preaching, theology and Christian devotion."--Timothy George, dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

"This volume continues the valuable exploration of patristic interpretation."--Mark Bilby, Religious Studies Review, September 2009

"A wealth of information for the classic Bible scholar."--Ravonne A. Green, American Reference Books Annual, 2006, Volume 37

"Contemporary Christians would do well to draw the hermeneutical circle broadly enough to include not only cross-cultural voices from around the world but also the voices to be found in the Ancient Christian Commentary series. This is an excellent sermon-preparation resource for pastors."--Christian Century, May 2, 2006

"There is no shortage of new books on the market and it may be a surprise to some to see IVP producing the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series. But, bearing in mind C. S. Lewis's admonition, 'It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between, ' this series will fill a great need that many of us may not even be aware of--the need to read those who have gone before us."--D. Stuart Briscoe

About the Author

Marco Conti (PhD, University of Leeds) is professor of medieval and humanistic Latin literature at the Ateneo Salesiano and lecturer in classical mythology and religions of the Roman Empire at the Richmond University in Rome.

Manlio Simonetti (1926-2017) was a widely acknowledged expert in patristic biblical interpretation who taught at the University of Rome and at the Augustinian Patristic Institute in Rome. He is the author of several books and Bible commentaries, including Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church: An Historical Introduction to Patristic Exegesis.

Thomas C. Oden (1931-2016) was a pioneering theologian and served as the architect and general editor for the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. He was also the general editor of the Ancient Christian Doctrine series and the Ancient Christian Devotional series, as well as a consulting editor for the Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity. A prolific writer and seasoned teacher, Oden also served as the director of the Center for Early African Christianity at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and was active in the Confessing Movement in America, particularly within the United Methodist Church.