apply it to our expectations and experiences in life, and in that process to understand the reasons behind suffering. The role of the book of Job is to perform the radical surgery that separates theology from theodicy, contending that in the end God’s justice (and the goodness of his purposes) must be accepted on faith rather than worked out philosophically. An alternative approach to suffering is described in John 9. Jesus’ disciples encounter a man, no worse than any other man, who has nonetheless