I Know My Redeemer Lives: A Case of Christological Commitments in Christian Preaching of the Book of Job

Abstract

This article explores Christian interpretation and preaching of Job 19:25–27 as a case in which christological commitments of the Christian faith come into tension with the pre-Christian meanings of the text. Borrowing a term from David Stark, this article explores the hermeneutical crisis of the “historical-christological” binary and proposes the importance of critical self-awareness for sound hermeneutical method. One of the central claims of this article is that the Christian interpreter cannot fully suspend their beliefs or commitments when encountering the texts of the Old Testament; complete objectivity is not possible. Rather, the interpreter must assess their own interpretive horizon—the traditions and contexts that shape one’s perspective—even as they explore the historical moorings of the text. Concluding this article, an analysis of Gardner Taylor’s sermon on Job 19 offers an occasion for homiletical considerations that uphold both Christian commitments and the historical meanings of the text.