Recently David Taylor and I went to an online seminar on the book of Job (the seminar series is called Dusty pages – helping preachers engage with the parts of the Bible that are hard) From that seminar, we are going to do a “Going deeper” session on the book of Job very soon.

Suffering and the question of why God allows it, is a perplexing one that everyone wrestles with. The questions we have come from the armchair or the wheelchair – a place of inquisitiveness or in the midst of it. And the answers are hard to find – that’s why the Book of Job itself is not short 42 chapters. Glib soundbites won’t do when we are trying to understand.

To help us prepare the Going Deeper session, here are the books that I am ploughing through from that seminar that you may find helpful to wrestle with “theodicy” – how can God allow…? I’m finding them helpful, hope you do too.

	God on Mute Pete Greig A stunning book on the difficulty of unanswered prayer. Had me crying a lot!
	When God doesn’t make sense James Dobson Just started this classic from Care for the family’s James Dobson
	You will not have my hate Antoine Leiris This one is a secular book by the widower of a victim of the Bataclan terrorist outrage.
	Job: the wisdom of the cross Christopher Ash A commentary on the book of Job, who sees it only makes sense in the light of Jesus.