J. Richard Middleton, Abraham's Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2021), pp. xv + 256. $26.99

Abstract

pessimism as a virtue that helps us overcome our self-defensive desire to avert our eyes from the grim realities around us and encourages us to attend to the fragility of our lives and do the hard work required to sustain hope. Pessimists, thus understood, are not resigned to evil, but resist it, via an unflinching honesty about the brokenness of creation that helps us seek the good less foolishly.