When people simply respond to pain with cold, calculated statements of theology, they deserve the title that Job gave his friends—“miserable comforters” (16:2). And God’s evaluation of their theological expertise was even less flattering: “I am angry with you … because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has” (42:7). And I think that God wants us to feel what Job felt when he asked his friends, “Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?” (16:3).
