1.  Reread Job 1, 2 and 31.  Was Job innocent or did he in some way deserve his fate?

2.  If it is true that we are all sinners (because we are mortal) then none of us is completely innocent.  Yet why do some suffer and others not?  Are some more guilty than others?

3.  Job 4:8-9; 11:6; 22:5-11; 31.  What is the difference between Job's belief about divine retribution and what his friends believe?  If they both believe this is the way the world ought to work, then why do they argue so much?  Is the argument over whether or not the doctrine of divine retribution is working, whether or not God is just, or whether or not Job is innocent?

4.  What might we give up if we abandon the idea of divine retribution in this world?  Why does Job have a hard time letting go of his belief in divine retribution?

5.  If you truly believe that God has sent your suffering as a punishment for something you have done, how does that affect your image of God?

6.  Should the wicked be punished?  Why?  Why is it that religious people are so concerned with what happens to "bad" people?  What do we gain by seeing them punished?  Is there something un-Christian about our desire to see the wicked punished?  How do you reconcile this with the command to love our enemies?

7.  Job 38-39.  Why do you think God waited so long to speak to Job?  Have you ever received a "word" from God?  Is it possible that sufferers are not able or ready to hear God even though he is always with them?

8.  Job 40-41.  What has Job been saying to God that would disturb Him?  Is God saying that we should not lament?  Do you detect any sarcasm in God's words (40:6-14 and 41:1-22).  How would you react to this?

9.  Does God ever answer Job's questions?  Job 38-41  What is God trying to say to Job with this recitation of all the things God has created w/o the help of mere humans?

10.  Is it a retreat or cop-out to back away from hard questions and declare that everything that we don not understand is a mystery and that we should leave it as such?  Why or why not?

11.  Which Job should be a model for a sufferer - the patient Job of the first two chapters, the agitated asker of questions in most the book or the apparently humbled and submissive Job of these responses to God?  Do all sufferers go through these stages?

Finally,  what are 3-5 conclusions that you have drawn after reading and reflecting on Job?