Links for today’s readings:
Jan 15 Read: Job 15 Listen: (3:23) Read: John 15 Listen: (3:20)
Scripture Focus: Job 15.2-16
2 “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
or fill their belly with the hot east wind?
3 Would they argue with useless words,
with speeches that have no value?
4 But you even undermine piety
and hinder devotion to God.
5 Your sin prompts your mouth;
you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
your own lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on God’s council?
Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What insights do you have that we do not have?
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
men even older than your father.
11 Are God’s consolations not enough for you,
words spoken gently to you?
12 Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you vent your rage against God
and pour out such words from your mouth?
14 “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,
who drink up evil like water!
Reflection: Ad Hominem Indicates Self-Supremacist Thinking
By John Tillman
Eliphaz dives right into attacking Job’s character and motivations. The friends often do this. No wise person would say that. (v. 2) You want to encourage godlessness! You are hindering faith! (v. 4) You say that because you are a sinner. (v. 5) You’re giving in to emotions! (v. 12) You hate God! (v. 13)
“You only say that because…” This fallacious argument implies that the cause of your claims is a flaw in your nature or character. Your experience, the facts, and your logic are ignored. Your argument is dismissed because of your situation or identity.
When condemning this argumentation in his book, Miracles, C.S. Lewis gives the example of “He believes in Pacifism because he’s a coward” as a particularly foolish thing to say. In our context, examples might include: “You only say that because you are a Republican/Democrat.” or “…because you are a Catholic/Baptist/Calvinist/etc.” or “…because you are brainwashed/deranged.”
Identity-based argumentation is a form of the ad hominem logical fallacy, which means attacking the speaker instead of the speaker’s argument. It is also a type of “Identity supremacy.” “Our answer is superior because we are superior. If you were a better type of person, one of our group, you’d think like we do.”
Eliphaz and the other friends were condemned by God for not telling the truth about him, as Job did. (Job 42.7-8) There was something true in what Job was saying, even though he said it in a way Eliphaz didn’t like. Eliphaz missed the truth because he was blinded by pride and self-superiority.
All forms of supremacy are fatal to Christianity. Whatever variety of pride puffs us up, (1 Corinthians 8.1-2) we must pierce and deflate. Whatever flavor of favoritism we employ, (Acts 10.34; Romans 2.11; James 2.1, 8-9) we must wash out of our mouths. Christians fail to be people of truth when using identity-based, ad hominem thinking.
We are not contending for the truth or the faith when we condemn arguments based on the arguer’s identity. While it is true that individuals may develop reputations for untruthfulness (which should give us pause when considering their claims) we must defend the truth with facts, not feelings, favoritism, or foregone conclusions.
Instead of pride in our identity or disdain for others’, let us cultivate humility. For God did not call us because we were strong, wise, or righteous, but because we were weak, foolish, and despised. We boast only in Jesus, our wisdom, righteousness, and salvation. (1 Corinthians 1.20-31)
Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught the people, saying: “What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, ‘My boy, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not go,’ but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, ‘Certainly, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “In truth I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you, showing the way of uprightness, but you did not believe him, and yet the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you refused to think better of it and believe in him.” — Matthew 21:28–32
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Constant Streams
However dry our streams are, even when friends dry up, remember that God makes streams in the desert.
Read more: Tribe Over Truth
It is not a question of evidence, but of morality. It is a battle between allegiance to other humans and the justice God demands.