When Storms Come: A Christian Look at Job: 1 (McMaster Ministry Studies)

Tom Dow asserts that Job does not go through his trials to somehow improve him. He is being tried by Satan who seeks to break Jobs and Gods trust in one another. When that trust survives the worst that Satan and insensitive friends can do both Job and God are vindicated. When Storms Come shows how the book of Job can be related to New Testament teaching and how it can be a great help to people experiencing suffering and stress. It also serves as a resource for people ministering to those going through the storms of life. Jobs commentators famously mimic his comforters-explaining why Job needed to suffer. Or worse they implicate God himself. Dow repudiates both approaches. If Job makes very human responses while coping with his calamities he never succumbs to false guilt or to blasphemy. The strength of this book beyond its thoughtful analysis and numerous pastoral insights is that Dows own reading of Job when tried and tested by a profound personal tragedy was reaffirmed. --Timothy Erdel Associate Professor of Religion & Philosophy Bethel College Mishawaka Indiana I read a copy of [Toms] first draft of this book in 1995 during the early stages of his wifes nine-year journey with cancer. The book was good then; it is better now because his personal life experience and his solid biblical research have found common ground. The result is a powerful testimony and balanced encouragement concerning the purposes of God in the suffering of His children. The study questions at the end of each chapter add to the books value and usefulness. His authentic personal story at the end adds to the positive impact of the book. --Marvin Brubacher President Heritage College and Seminary Cambridge Ontario Thomas E. Dow was a Pastor for fifteen years. He has served as a professor Academic Dean and President at Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener Ontario Canada.