Job 22:1-16: a reflection

Convinced that Job's suffering must mean Job is guilty of great sin, Eliphaz proceeds to invent specific accusations to fit his theory, charging Job with sins for which there is no evidence. Isn't your wickedness great? he demands; and then he lists specific charges: that Job took pledges from the poor, stripped the naked, withheld bread from the hungry, sent widows away empty. But these were fabrications, invented to fit Eliphaz's conviction that Job's suffering proved him a great sinner; Job had done no such things. Rather than let the facts guide his conclusion, Eliphaz forced accusations to fit the conclusion he had already reached. This is a warning against manufacturing accusations to fit our theories about someone. Eliphaz invented charges to fit his theory of Job's guilt. Do not manufacture accusations to fit your conclusions. Forcing facts to fit our assumptions about someone is unjust. Beware inventing charges to support a conclusion already reached.

Notice the injustice of Eliphaz's method. He had concluded that Job's suffering must be punishment for great sin; his theory required Job to be guilty. And so, rather than let the evidence guide him, or admit he did not know why Job suffered, he manufactured specific accusations to fit his theory, charging Job with oppressing the poor and the widow, though Job had done no such things. He worked backward from his conclusion, inventing the charges his theory needed. This is a real injustice, and a real danger for us. When we have decided someone must be guilty, or must be a certain way, we can begin to force the facts to fit, reading their actions in the worst light, inventing or assuming faults that fit our conclusion, rather than judging fairly by the evidence. This does great injustice to others, condemning them for what they have not done, simply because it fits our assumptions. We do well to guard against this, to judge fairly by the evidence rather than manufacturing accusations to fit conclusions we have already reached about someone. Do not force the facts to fit your assumptions about someone. Manufacturing accusations to fit our theories does great injustice. Judge fairly by the evidence, not by conclusions already reached. Beware condemning others for what fits our theory, not what they have done.

That is worth taking to heart, for manufacturing accusations to fit our theories about someone does great injustice, and we do well to judge fairly rather than force the facts to fit our conclusions, as Eliphaz invented charges against Job to fit his assumption of Job's guilt. We can decide someone must be guilty or must be a certain way, and then force the facts to fit, inventing or assuming faults that suit our conclusion; but Eliphaz charged Job with sins he had not committed, working backward from his theory. This is unjust. Do not manufacture accusations to fit your conclusions about someone; judge fairly by the evidence. Judge others fairly by the evidence rather than manufacturing accusations to fit conclusions you have already reached, as Eliphaz, convinced that Job's suffering must mean Job was a great sinner, invented specific charges to fit his theory, accusing Job of oppressing the poor and the widow though Job had done no such things; for when we have decided that someone must be guilty or must be a certain way, we can begin to force the facts to fit, reading their actions in the worst light and inventing or assuming faults that suit our conclusion rather than judging fairly by the evidence, which does great injustice to others, condemning them for what they have not done simply because it fits our assumptions, so that we do well to guard against this and to judge fairly by the evidence rather than working backward from conclusions we have already reached about someone.