Job: An LDS Reading

Abstract: Mack C. Stirling examines the well-known story of Job, drawing on analysis of literary genres and literary tools, like chiasms, and focusing on the existential questions asked by the ancient author to conclude that Job’s is a story about a spiritual journey, in which two main questions are answered: “(1) Is it worthwhile to worship God for His own sake apart from material gain? (2) Can man, by coming to earth and worshipping God, enter into a process of becoming that allows him to participate in God’s life and being?” What follows is an easy to read exegesis of the Book of Job, culminating with Job at the veil, speaking with God. Stirling then discusses Job’s journey in terms of Adam’s journey and Lehi’s dream in the Book of Mormon. This journey also is what each of us faces, from out premortal home with God, to the tribulations of this telestial world, and back to the eternal bliss of Celestial Kingdom, the presence of God, through Christ.