@article{ART003267447},
author={Kang Chol Gu},
title={Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective},
journal={Journal of Counseling and Gospel },
issn={1739-0745},
year={2025},
volume={33},
number={3},
pages={5-26}
TY - JOUR
AU - Kang Chol Gu
TI - Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective
JO - Journal of Counseling and Gospel
PY - 2025
VL - 33
IS - 3
PB - Korean Evangelical Counseling Society
SP - 5
EP - 26
SN - 1739-0745
AB - This study aims to analyze the nature of the anxiety experienced by Job, a biblical figure, and to explore how he overcame it, in order to offer theological and counseling insights relevant to a modern society ruled by anxiety. The research employs a literary-theological analysis of Job 1–42 with anxiety as the central motif, integrating structural exegesis and counseling theory—particularly the concept of reframing.
The findings reveal that Job exhibited internalized anxiety even before his calamities, shown in his perfectionistic religiosity and preventive sacrifices for his children. The subsequent debates with his friends expose the instability of the traditional deed–consequence (retribution) principle and the theological insecurity it produced, yet these debates failed to resolve Job’s anxiety. True resolution occurred through Job’s personal encounter with God (Job 38–42), where he reinterpreted divine order and regained trust and peace.
This study concludes that anxiety, in Job’s case, stems from a distorted perception of God and the human desire for control. Overcoming such anxiety requires an experiential, relational encounter with God, which offers an integrated theological and counseling framework for addressing anxiety in contemporary contexts.
KW - anxiety;Job;cause and effect relationships;righteousness; suffering
DO -
UR -
ER -
Kang Chol Gu. (2025). Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective. Journal of Counseling and Gospel , 33(3), 5-26.
Kang Chol Gu. 2025, "Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective", Journal of Counseling and Gospel , vol.33, no.3 pp.5-26.
Kang Chol Gu "Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective" Journal of Counseling and Gospel 33.3 pp.5-26 (2025) : 5.
Kang Chol Gu. Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective. 2025; 33(3), 5-26.
Kang Chol Gu. "Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective" Journal of Counseling and Gospel 33, no.3 (2025) : 5-26.
Kang Chol Gu. Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective. Journal of Counseling and Gospel , 33(3), 5-26.
Kang Chol Gu. Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective. Journal of Counseling and Gospel . 2025; 33(3) 5-26.
Kang Chol Gu. Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective. 2025; 33(3), 5-26.
Kang Chol Gu. "Job's Anxiety and Its Overcoming: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective" Journal of Counseling and Gospel 33, no.3 (2025) : 5-26.
