Mathematical Analysis of the Book of Job

By Robert Perrine

This Bible study examines the message in the Book of Job using a mathematical approach. The goals are to describe a repeatable process for examining written text; and to learn from the Book of Job. The conclusions are confirmation that the process works and a better understanding of the theology in the Book of Job.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Perrine
• Release date: Apr 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452478357

Robert Perrine

Robert is a wayfarer on this journey through life. He was born in Pennsylvania and now resides in California. During his career he has been a civil engineer, computer programmer, professor and a project manager. Throughout this journey Robert has tried to fit all the pieces together into a holistic framework. His goal now is to describe an integrated model of psychology that he found by delving deeply into a study of project management.

Book preview

Mathematical Analysis of the Book of Job

By Robert E. Perrine.

Smashwords Edition.

Copyright 2011 Robert E. Perrine.

Copyright

Copyright held by Robert Perrine and Marlene Weldon, Long Beach, California. You may not copy or distribute this document without advanced written permission from the document authors. Contact Robert E. Perrine at http://www.robertperrine.biz.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank all of my friends for their support and encouragement while I worked on this book. I especially want to thank Marlene. And I want to thank the Biblical studies professor who taught me the concepts of hermeneutics.

Table of Contents

Purpose

Technique

Overview of Job

Actors as Tour Guides

Perspectives on Theology

The Message

Bibliography

Purpose

The purpose for this short book is to describe a technique I developed for examining written text. In this book I will explain the technique and apply it to the Book of Job. The Book of Job is a religious and philosophical text contained in the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible.

This study begins with a survey of the text in Job 3 through 41. This survey illustrates the way I plot the concepts of awareness and emotion onto a two-dimensional grid. Next I dig deeper into the meaning in the Book of Job by identifying the roles assigned to God by each of the people that appear in the Book of Job. I believe that it is possible to see from this study that the author of the Book of Job believes that God is tolerant of our wrongful accusations against Him. I believe that the author of the Book of Job also believes that God is less tolerant of those who try to obligate God to act as they think He should.

I believe there are three reasons people will read this study. I believe some will open this book because they desire to explore an approach that can shed light on theological questions. I believe some will open this book because they deny the relevance of theology and yet agree there is value in the ancient writings. I believe some will read this book because they realize that the only way to truly know what we know is to explore the boundaries.

I believe that the technique I describe in this book can help us penetrate our preconceptions. I previously described this technique in a book called Coping Styles: Dealing with Life on Life’s Terms. I used a similar technique in a book called Growth Rings: How We Get Connected. In Coping Styles I examined small blocks of