The Hiddenness of God: Community as a Means of Grace In Job

Abstract As extreme loss and suffering descend on Job, he remains oblivious to being tested by a heavenly adversary who doubts that Job fears God “for nothing” (1:9). Job passes the tests, God admits to being incited against Job for nothing (2:3), but Job continues to suffer. All the while, he fiercely protests the hiddenness of God that compounds his suffering. Who or what might have mediated God’s presence to Job? It is untimely to formally consider the “means of grace” emphasised by John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement. Job’s friends and community held the most potential to mediate the presence of a hidden God to Job but largely fail. This paper explores the book of Job’s subtle theology of community as a means of grace, mediating the presence of God. After examining the anachronistic Wesleyan formulation of the means of grace, evidence of community as a potential means of grace in the book of Job is examined. This includes Job’s prior example of exemplary faith embedded in community, Job’s unfulfilled expectations of his friends, God’s congratulatory estimation of Job and chastising evaluation of his friends, and the negligible transformation of Job’s community into a means of grace in the epilogue. Finally, the contemporary implications of community as an abiding means of grace will be briefly examined.