What Job's Friends Could Have Done

In a world that is becoming more aware of the impact of traumatic experiences on the lives of individuals, the church is faced with the challenge of examining how to do life well, together, in a way that helps rather than hinders those who are living in the aftermath of trauma. Beginning with the question of what Job's friends could have done differently to help Job in the midst of his suffering, the present work draws on Kevin Vanhoozer's theodramatic model and the Object Relations Theory of British pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott to provide biblically rooted guidance for developing a trauma-sensitive church. In bringing these perspectives together exploration takes place into what it means to be made in the image of God in the theodrama and what the church's role is in enabling the christological form of this image to take shape in each individual, particularly in the aftermath of individual trauma. The work of Winnicott provides fresh insight into how this development might be facilitated by the church within the theodrama of salvation.