Bombast - Chambers, Oswald
Job 11
I have not knowledge, wisdom, insight, thought. Or understanding, fit to justify thee in thy work, o perfect. Thou hast brought me up to thisand, lo! What thou hast wrought, i cannot call it good. But i can cry o enemy, the maker hath not done: one day thou shalt behold, and from the sight wilt run.
1. Stirring of self-respecting indignation ( job 11:14)
then answered zophar the naamathite and said, should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be justified? ( job 11:12)
Zophar is manifesting the linguistic characteristic of job. He begins by accusing job of using a multitude of words, thus blinding his mind to the point at stake. If you are annoyed with someone, notice how uncomfortably conscious you are that there is an element in him you cannot reach, and rather than allow the recognition of that element you work your- self up into self-respecting indignation. Zophar has come to the conclusion that job is wrong, his creed is wrong, and i alone am justified. This trick of stir- ring up self-respecting indignation is a very common subterfuge when we are embarrassed by a problem involving our self-respect. The temptation comes to yield to the bombastic mood, and we use terms of righteous indignation to condemn the thing we are not guilty of, while all the time we may be guilty of tenfold worse.
2. Schemes of spurious invocation ( job 11:510)
But oh that god would speak, and open his lips against thee; and that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom. . . . Canst thou by searching find out god? Canst thou find out the almighty unto perfection? ( job 11:57)
Another trick of bombastic religion is to appeal to god in order to back up a position which is obviously questionable. Here, zophar calls god in as his ally in his attack on job. We do it in our way of praying; our invocations and iterations often spring from false emotions; they are not spontaneous. Most of us mouth diction before god; we do not pray; we say in prayer what we ought to say, not what is actually natural to us to say. It may sound very interesting and noble, but it is not our own, it is mere sounding brass and clanging cymbals, there is no reality in it. Another form of spurious invocation affects the idea that god is punishing our nation for certain wrongs, instead of feeling the presence of something more profound. When we are facing problems we must see to it that we are reverent and silent, for the most part, with what we do not understand. The invocation of god is an exercise of the finest spiritual mood, and we are rarely in a sufficiently exalted state of mind for it. To invocate on the assumption that we know god, comes near to blasphemy.
3. Self-consciousness of serious instruction ( job 11:1115)
If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear. ( job 11:1415)
Zophar tries to instruct job on an entirely false basis; he declares that job will never get wisdom. For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild asss colt. This is all the length zophar gets in dealing with a man who towers leagues above him! First, he stirs up self-respecting indignation, then he takes a religious turn, then an instructive turn, which puts the wrong self on top at once. The characteristic of this kind of instruction is that it is self-conscious. The most valuable instruction in moral life never comes from people who consciously instruct us, for we are not taught morally as we are intellectually. Confusion always results if we take the method of instruction used in intellectual life and apply it to moral life, and make certain people moral instructors. It is an abortion for any human being to dare to put himself in the position of a moral superior to another man, and this is what zophar did with job. No man is consciously a moral superior to another man; if he is superior intellectually that is largely a matter of upbringing. The real basis of moral instruction lies much deeper down, viz. In god, and god instructs us along the line symbolised by the christian sacrament, which means the real presence of god being conveyed to us through the common elements. God uses children, and books, and flowers in the spiritual instruction of a man, but he seldom uses the self-conscious prig who consciously instructs. The zophar type has recurred all through the christian centuriesthe man who assumes he knows, and frequently the average man is led to say, if experts in spiritual matters do not know these things, who am i that i should? There are no experts in spiritual matters as there are in scientific matters. The spiritual expert is never so consciously because the very nature of spiritual instruction is that it is unconscious of itself; it is the life of a child, manifesting obedience, not ostentation. Our lord describes the spiritual expert in Matthew 18:4whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
4. Self-complacency of sentimental integrity ( job 11:1620)
. . . Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: and thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. ( job 11:1617)
Zophar is the type of a demagogue, the man who rules with his tongue. Any kind of absolute creed ends where zophar endedon the sentimental line, where things reach a pitch of enthusiastic presentation not based on facts. The sentimental line blinds mans thinking by an ecstasy of thought; it enables an orator to awaken human sentiment and sympathy, but in dealing with trouble it proves a false line; it gives impertinent advice to a man who is brokenhearted. Zophar implies that he knows exactly the kind of integrity that will stand before god and before man. Self-respecting indignation nowadays is not on the zophar line, but on the antizophar, i. E. , the anti-religious. Before the war it was not religious but irreligious humbug that was prevalent. Men pretended they were not religious while secretly they were. If you are a religious person of the zophar type and can work up sufficient religious indignation, you will come to the conclusion that you and god must go together, it is quite impossible for you to be mistaken; then you will begin to instruct others on the same line, and will inevitably end by placing things in a totally false light.