Carrying on the discussion of the theme of suffering from the previous chapter, this chapter juxtaposes academic, psychological perspectives on the book of Job in North American and European contexts with vernacular, HIV-positive perspectives on Job in sub-Saharan African contexts. These particular perspectives speak in various ways to the complex reality of human suffering: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. The choice to place these perspectives in contrapuntal dialogue with one another is therefore based on their common interests in illness, pathology, suffering, and healing. The goal here is to explore certain aspects of the book of Job through these particular lenses in the interests of mutual encounter, analysis, criticism, and ethical engagement, as well as interpretation. This contrapuntal exploration will enable the process of encounter between voices to become an interpretive voice in its own right. The vocalization of the boundary-crossing process will be emphasized in the conclusion of this chapter.

I do not pretend that this process is objective; the selection of particular themes and particular voices clearly reflects my own subjectivity. Nevertheless, serious efforts have been made to include a wide variety of voices in the conversation, and the themes and issues under consideration in this chapter are those which emerge from the juxtaposition of these voices, as demonstrated by the common questions and emphases and the variety of solutions and interpretations articulated out of these particular frames of entry.