"HAVE YOU REALLY READ JOB? READ HIM, READ HIM AGAIN AND AGAIN": KIERKEGAARD, VISCHER, AND BARTH ON THE BOOK OF JOB Andrew Zack Lewis A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2011 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3141 This item is protected by original copyright "HAVE YOU REALLY READ JOB? READ HIM, READ HIM AGAIN AND AGAIN": KIERKEGAARD, VISCHER, AND BARTH ON THE BOOK OF JOB. A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Divinity in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Andrew Zack Lewis St. Mary’s College University of St. Andrews St. Andrews, Scotland March 2011 Declarations 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, Andrew Zack Lewis hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2006 and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in September 2006; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2006 and 2010. Date ...... signature of candidate ......... 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph.D. in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date ...... signature of supervisor ......... 3. Permission for electronic publication: (to be signed by both candidate and supervisor) In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: Access to [all or part] of printed copy but embargo of [all or part] of electronic publication of thesis for a period of three years (maximum five) on the following ground: publication would preclude future publication Date ...... signature of candidate ...... signature of supervisor ....... ii Copyright In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews I understand that I am giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work no being affected thereby. I also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration. Date_________ signature of candidate__________________________ iii Abstract This thesis explores the reception history of the book of Job, particularly in Søren Kierkegaard’s Three Upbuilding Discourses and Repetition, Wilhelm Vischer’s “Hiob, ein Zeuge Jesu Christi,” and Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. It examines the hermeneutical presuppositions of these three scholars and how the scholars themselves fit into the history of interpretation, showing that they use a post-critical allegorical interpretation in order to explore the freedom of God and humanity. Chapter one offers a defense of using reception history in biblical studies. By walking through Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories on great time and the chronotope, it argues that great texts continue to live and grow even after their completion and canonization. During this “afterlife,” their meaning expands as more readers participate in their interpretations. Chapter two examines the afterlife of the book of Job in the hands of Christian exegetes, focusing on allegory and freedom in the interpretations by Gregory the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Immanuel Kant. Chapter three looks at the unusual and rich interpretations of Job by Kierkegaard—the autonymous upbuilding discourse on Job’s response to his suffering in the prologue and the novella Repetition as an interpretation of the dialogue between Job and his friends. Chapter four examines the interpretation of the book of Job in Vischer’s mini-commentary. Vischer sees the character of Job as one whose devotion to God goes beyond the laws that God purveys and the doctrine that seeks to explain God. Referring specifically to the works of Kierkegaard and Vischer, Karl Barth’s work on Job—the focus of chapter five—sees the book of Job as illustrative of Jesus Christ’s relationship to God and humanity. All three scholars incorporated allegory while ruminating on the freedom of God in the book of Job. The final chapter evaluates their interpretations while addressing their similarities and differences. iv Acknowledgments Though I spent many long hours on this thesis in solitude, with only those long since deceased as my company, I certainly would not have been able to complete the work without the help of many and varied participants. I could not mention all who helped me in minor ways, sometimes by anonymously finding sources for my project. Of those I want to mention by name, I must start with Mark Elliott who took me on under unusual circumstances but who definitely turned out to be the right person to supervise my work. His vast knowledge of what seems to be all subjects, academic and cultural, was my best resource for such a diverse topic. He was also patient with me and prompt with his feedback. I also would like to thank the rest of the St. Mary’s faculty and staff for their help and advice, specifically Nathan MacDonald, Gavin Hopps, and Stephen Evans during his brief time in St. Andrews. Much of the time I spent on my thesis was done in the Rutherford room of the Roundel. Rutherford is large and I shared it with many people who helped me in several ways, often with much welcomed comic relief. I specifically name Jeremy Gabrielson, Chris Hays, Theng Huat Leow, John Edwards, and Allan Jones. Though I would have been happy merely to have become good friends with all of these men, I was also fortunate to have their projects relate to my own in surprising ways. I also value the conversations I had with others in the Roundel outside my immediate confines. These include but are not limited to: Seth Tarrer, Stephen Presley, Tim Stone, Jason Goroncy, and Daniel Driver. I have also had the privilege to share the unusually large flat at Priorsgate with close friends who also were able to aid me in my research and thoughts on my project. Paul Warhurst helped me to understand the thought Søren Kierkegaard. Amber Warhurst was a great help in questions about the Hebrew Bible as well as in navigating the bureaucracy of the university. I also valued discussions with Meg Ramey on the use and influence of the Bible in the modern era. I would also like to thank Alan Lewis and Shelley Jacobsen for reading over parts of my thesis as I was preparing to finish. They were selfless in their help and gave valuable advice. The one person who fulfilled all of the offices mentioned above—supervisor, encourager, friend, and editor—is my wife Melanie. She sacrificed much to accompany me to Scotland and it is hard to imagine doing this without her. Her patience was monumental. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and love from my parents, Courtland and Rich, and my children, Elaine and Micah. My parents have aided me in countless ways, not the least of which was the generosity with the occasional flight home. Elaine and Micah often made it difficult to concentrate, but instantly refreshed me from a day’s work when I arrived home. Love to you all. v Abbreviations AAR American Academy of Religion AB Anchor Bible ACCS Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture AnBib Analecta biblica AThR Anglican Theological Review AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CD Church Dogmatics Di Dialog EQ Evangelical Quarterly ETR Etudes théologiques et religieuses FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament FoiVie Foi et Vie FOTL Forms of Old Testament Literature HAR Hebrew Annual Review HAT Handbuch zum Alten Testament HTR Harvard Theological Review IJST International Journal of Systematic