In this interdisciplinary event, two faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts present their scholarship on a common topic: the biblical story of Job. The evening starts with a lecture given by Dr. Douglas Finn, Visiting Assistant Professor of Catholic Studies. Read more about Dr. Finn and the Willette endowed philosophy faculty position. Following the lecture, a recital will be given by Dr. Joel Bacon, Stewart and Sheron Golden Chair of Organ and Liturgical Studies.

Job in Music

The biblical story of Job is the subject of Czech composer and holocaust survivor, Petr Eben’s eight-movement organ cycle from 1989. Eben (1929-2007) is considered one of the greatest composers for organ of the late 20^th century, and Job contains some of his most emotional, spiritual, and thought-provoking music.

While Eben often drew inspiration from Hebrew scripture, the Book of Job was especially important to him. In his notes on the music, he wrote that it was extremely topical for “providing a key to withstanding a trial of faith,” and for its portrayal of a God who “stands beside those who suffer.”

Born to a Jewish father, but raised Catholic, Eben was interred in the concentration camp at Buchenwald during World War II. Under a Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he suffered for his refusal to join the Communist party and for openly attending church. Deeply religious, he was denied the freedom to publicly discuss religious ideas, which he often couched in compositions and organ improvisations.

Petr Eben’s Job is at once both a vivid portrayal of a timeless story and a remarkable spiritual testimony.

Job in Christian Interpretation

The Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible addresses the issue of innocent suffering. More specifically, in both form and content, it explores how one might speak about an experience of injustice that defies language.

Job was a favorite biblical hero of the late antique bishop John Chrysostom (347-407 CE), who was renowned in the early church for his preaching. Chrysostom frequently used Job as a moral example for his Christian congregation, and an important theme of his preaching was the indescribability of Job’s plight.

Dr. Finn will investigate the significance Job’s story had as a narrative graciously given by God to human beings in Chrysostom’s theology and pastoral program. The lecture will include some of the way Chrysostom sought to use rhetoric to enable his audience to share in Job’s suffering, and to lead them, in and through Job’s travails, to a vision of heaven’s even more indescribable glory.