The capitol city, Port-au-Prince was nearly leveled and over , people died. Atheists claim that if a god did exist, he would not allow these kinds of natural disasters to happen. Their answer to the question, "Where was God? The idea that God is a worthy recipient of our gratitude for the blessings of life but should not be held accountable for the disasters is a transparently disingenuous innovation of the theologians.
Biblical Reflections on the Earthquake in Haiti
This argument is actually a logical one, since God is recognized as Creator of the universe. The problem with Dennett is that he is pretty much clueless about science, as most philosophers are. If Dennett knew anything about geology, he would have known that plate tectonics the process that produces earthquakes and volcanoes is absolutely required for advanced life to exist on our planet.
Earthquakes are caused by the movement of continental plates that float on a molten mantel. Without the mantel, the earth's Van-Allen radiation shield and the earth's magnetosphere would not exist and advanced life could not exist on the land due to deadly solar radiation. In addition, tectonic activity is required to prevent all land from being washed into the oceans through the water cycle, which is required for all life.
All these concepts are developed more thoroughly on our natural evil page. Pat Robertson came up with an explanation for the earthquake in Haiti that involved God's judgment on a people who made a pact with the devil. Although the Bible indicates that God has used natural processes in His judgment, it is clear that He judges only the guilty.
For example, in the universal flood, God killed all the evil people, but spared all the righteous people Noah and his family. Then Abraham asked the same question if there were 45 righteous people. Every time he dropped the number and got the same answer. The fact is that God would not have destroyed those cities if there were any righteous people in them.
The few righteous who were in those cities He warned ahead of time to get out. So, one must ask if God destroyed only those Haitians who originally made that Pact with the devil before My guess is that all those people are already dead. Did God only kill the unrighteous in the Haitian earthquake of ?
Somehow, I doubt that this is what happened. However, the Bible says that God applies the laws of physics equally on the righteous and unrighteous peoples of the earth:. So, it would seem that neither the atheists or some of the theists are correct about reasons for the Haiti earthquake. Earthquakes are absolutely essential to the existence of advanced life on earth.
All the good things we enjoy would be impossible without the design of the earth as it now exists. Theists who insist they know the motives of God and state that this earthquake was God's judgment on the people are out of touch with how the Bible says God judges people.
And such action by the Church raises its own set of piercing questions. Who do we think we are? Who do we really think God is?
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Jesus is the ONLY solution. The central Biblical truth of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only solution to the problem of evil. God, in the great mystery of the incarnation, took on human flesh, and lived as a man amongst his very own creation in a fallen world.
Jesus endured being tempted by all sorts of evils during his life, including intense opposition and hatred from the Pharisees, his temptation in the wilderness, and rejection by many of his own people, including his own family. Jesus suffered the physical horrors of flogging and crucifixion.
Whenever we meet a person who is afflicted with guilt due to their sin, it is often very painful to see how they torture themselves psychologically. Now, let us imagine that experience being magnified several trillion-fold in the psychological experience of Jesus. Jesus bore the pain of abandonment by his disciples, and most significantly, complete and absolute abandonment by God the Father Matthew There was no one with him as he took on the guilt of trillions of human sins. He was utterly and completely alone. Jesus received the full fury of the wrath of a just and holy God against sin.
Pondering coming face to face with the wrath of an infinite and holy God for just a few moments is positively bone-chilling. Jesus suffered this unimaginable horror for hours on end. Jesus' identification with human suffering can be examined from many angles, but I would like to expand upon two points here. First, Jesus not only suffered as humans do in varying ways, but he suffered more horribly than any human has ever suffered in the history of all mankind.
I am not referring to being flogged and crucified, though only a small minority of people in the history of the world have ever suffered worse than that. Jesus' greatest suffering was in enduring the sum of all the guilt, all the abandonment, and all of God's furious wrath upon his own person, as a perfect substitute for humanity. Lewis pointed out an important point about suffering in the world.
That is, people do not suffer 'collectively' in their being. A horror like the Holocaust, for example, is not literally experienced in anyone's being as a collective event, rather each individual suffers within that context. Now, an individual indeed suffers immensely, and suffers from the misery that is around him, but that affliction is only experienced in the being of one person at a time.
There is solidarity in this experience as well, but, solidarity does not equate to a person suffering in any real collective sense. And that experience of suffering indeed has finite limits within the character and nature of any particular human being. When we see another person suffer, we can experience empathy which is genuinely painful , but we do not literally experience the same level of anguish as that other individual. So, the objection that God cannot exist because of 'all the suffering in the world' is misleading.
Collective suffering is not a real experience. The suffering only occurs in each person, one at a time, and is therefore experienced only finitely and in a limited sense. Not only did he suffer from flogging and crucifixion, but he suffered on behalf of literally billions of human beings, experiencing the collective guilt and the fury of God's wrath that would have been visited upon every single person whom Jesus was dying for.
Jesus suffered the collective agony of humanity that no human being can even begin to comprehend.
Jesus is the quintessential sufferer, par excellence. God has 'put his money where his mouth is'. Lastly, it should be reiterated that God is above reproach and was under no obligation to 'come down and suffer'. Human beings would still be guilty in their sins and would be rightly condemned by God, and their appeals to their sufferings or any other appeal for that matter would not relieve them of their guilt. And, His unique suffering was more horrific, more dreadful, and more severe than anything any human has ever suffered or could ever come close to suffering.
George Eldon Ladd rightly explains how evil can only be removed by the triune God: Evil is not merely absence of the good, nor is it a stage in man's upward development; it is a terrible enemy of human well-being and will never be outgrown or abandoned until God has mightily intervened to purge evil from the earth. Although the ultimate origin of evil escapes us, the ultimate answer lies in the sovereignty and justice of the triune God of the Bible.
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We can rest in that truth. Justification by faith in Jesus Christ rescues humans from the ravaging effects of evil, such as the Haitian earthquake. Upon entrance into the glorious state, Christians are fully released from this age of evil, and are guaranteed participation in the eschatological eradication of all unrighteousness in the new heavens and the new earth. Henri Blocher eloquently expresses how God has defeated evil: Evil is conquered as evil because God turns it back upon itself.
He makes the supreme crime, the murder of the only righteous person, the very operation that abolishes sin. The manoeuvre is utterly unprecedented. No more complete victory could be imagined. God responds in the indirect way that is perfectly suited to the ambiguity of evil. He traps the deceiver in his own wiles God's answer is evil turned back upon itself, conquered by the ultimate degree of love in the fulfillment of justice. It will be a glorious Day, indeed. Come Lord Jesus, and come quickly Where Was God on September 11th?
It is an excellent theological and apologetic piece that you can print off and give to non-Christians who are sincerely seeking answers. Further in depth articles: To Whom Shall We Go? The Glorious Groan of the Gospel by Dr. For a detailed exposition of Romans 8: Cosmic and Universal Death from Adam's Fall: An Exegesis of Romans 8: For a detailed exposition of how all humanity participated in Adam's rebellion against God's direct and clear divine command with respect to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, see: Harper Collins, , 3.
Scott Oliphint Phillipsburg, NJ: For an excellent exegetical exposition of the doctrine of common grace, see: The Banner of Truth of Trust, , Murray cites the following Scriptures to support the doctrine of common grace: Zondervan, , Eerdmans Publishing, , Kregel Publications, , In , he graduated with a B. With a 13 year business background, he also earned an M. He is currently enrolled in the M.
Our ministry relies on the generosity of people like you, who make it possible for us to develop and publish great articles. If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting ABR with a small donation or by becoming a member. Mine is not a comment but rather a question.
I would like to know why in catastrophies like that of Haiti, God who is able to protect the people from harm would just let the devestation happen? Does it mean that people who are victims or those who perish in such situations are sinners? I don't believe that all Haitians are sinners and habitants of places where earthquakes of such magnitudes do not happen are righteous. Please help me by answering my questions. Amen Henry - well said.
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I will certainly be praying for the people of Haiti and helping in any other ways that I can. Dear Isaac, Thanks for your good questions. As I stated in my article, I cannot answer the specific question as to WHY this particular earthquake occurred.
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Only the sovereign, Almighty God knows. In Him, there is no mystery. Generally speaking, the world is broken due to man's sin against God. The whole world is a prisoner of sin. Consequently, there is only one place to turn: Put your trust in Him by belief and repentance, and you will be assured of ultimate deliverance from this sin cursed world. As to the state of particular individuals in Haiti, Jesus gives us the answer in Luke I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Only God knows for sure.
We should be reminded that 'calamity' could visit anyone, at anytime. A calamity need not be an earthquake. It could be a slip and fall on ice, choking on a piece of meat, or even death at an old age. In the light of eternity, death is death, and death is God's judgment for sin. No one escapes death, and upon death, we all face the judgment of God. Only Jesus provides our means of ultimate escape. Lastly, let us always remember that the whole human race is worthy of death and judgment. The restraining mercy of God's common grace to all mankind prevents the whole world from being obliterated and all men relegated to judgment.
God continues to strive with man. Survival from the earthquake should be viewed as a merciful reprieve for all. I hope this helps! Dear David, Pat Robertson has a terrible habit of interpreting events like this in specific detail, essentially telling us he knows God's specific purposes.
I have outlined the danger of this in my article. I have not heard the full context of his statements, so i reserve specific judgment. Conversely, I do not trust media characterizations of his comments, as they invariably quote people out of context and distort the full context of what Christians say.
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He has also committed his whole life to proclaiming the Gospel message and helping the poor. We should be critical of his comments if they require critique. It just shows how careful all Christians need to be with our words.
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The tongue is dangerous James 3: He makes the mistake of pointing out the obviously observable, such as the corrupt nature of the Haitian government, or its historical difficulties, and drawing a line from what we know to be true to that which we cannot know, i. As far as your other comments go, individual Christians must act as the Holy Spirit directs them on this matter.
God continues to work in all other parts of the world as well. The Holy Spirit knows what the world needs, when, how much, and where. IF we listen to his voice, we will send our resources and efforts to the right place at the right time. Martin Luther's words are helpful to all of us: North Korea is a fine example of this, as are the homeless in your own country or the poor, who suffer for a variety of reasons.
Christians are to help all, not just those who are in the spotlight for the moment. Keep up the good work. In this world, each of us undergoes sufferrings, pains etc. But God is always readily available for us if we call Him for help! He will make miracles that we cannot think of. I do not have specific comments with what happen to Haiti since they are also sinners like me who need God to be saved from sin. This kind of calamity can struck any place or people at anytime that is why all we need to be is ready for whatever problems or calamity which may attack our lives.
God also provides us everything that we can use in order to prevent or solve our problems in life. My favorite verse is Proverbs 3: Henry, I have been researching ideas on Haiti, the suffering and how to frame in the most primary context of our relationship with God So glad I did. Your words are important in buiding God's kingdom. I will keep reading. Surely the reasons that earthquakes happen is because the earth was divided in Peleg's time and the continental plates are moving about on the earth, and as they forge their way massive pressure builds up and eventually breaks through and you have a disaster.
In a universal sense the plates broke up into continents because of the Tower of Babel incident, where the people had refused to populate the single continent and were all of one tongue. God confused their tongues and caused them to seperate into the various regions, at a later time the Bible says that the earth itself was divided, hence moving plates and the risk of tsunamis and earthquakes.
And the cause of all this, disobedience or sin, with the resulting chaos that such disasters bring to peoples worldwide.