Viktor Frankl and the Book of Job: A Search for Meaning

This book accomplishes two distinct tasks. First it develops the psychological theory of Dr. Viktor E. Frankl as a literary hermeneutic. Second it applies the hermeneutic by reading the book of Job. Key issues emerge through three movements. The first movement addresses Frankls concept of the feeling of meaninglessness and his rejection of reductionism and nihilism. The second movement addresses the dual nature of meaning; an association is revealed between Frankls understanding of meaning and the Joban understanding of wisdom. The third movement involves an exploration of Frankls ideas of ultimate meaning and selftranscendence. As a Holocaust survivor Frankl had a personal stake in the effectiveness of his approach. He lived the suffering about which he wrote. Because of this reading the book of Job with a hermeneutic based on Frankls ideas will present readers with opportunities to discover unique meanings and serve to clarify their attitudes toward pain guilt and death. As meaning is discovered through participation with the text we will see that Jobs final response can become a site for transcending suffering.