My family was standing outside with several of our neighbors, watching the wind push the trees into a violent dance. We were just chatting about the weather, of course, and one of my neighbors said some interesting things. This particular neighbor is a fairly new Christian. (I know what kind of church he goes to, but mentioning that will give you cause to think I'm "judging a denomination"). He knows about what my wife and I do, and that we're Christians. He began talking to another guy who was there:
“Yeah, I’ve really felt God’s presence these last two days. I know that He’s with us. I’m not scared of this storm.” The other guy nodded his head a little bit. “You know, I think God sends these things—hurricanes, earthquakes, whatever—just to bring us closer to him.” The other guy begins to fidget and look down with furrowed brow. Now I’m really interested what this other guy is going to do. My neighbor continues, “I know that God is right here with us. All we have to do is put our faith in God and Jesus Christ and there’s nothing to be afraid of.” At this, the guy looks uneasy. He doesn’t say much. I said, “Hmm.” A little later, I heard the guy say something like, “it’s so humid out here.” I wondered if that was his cue to leave the scene. Now, I applaud my neighbor’s boldness to openly and readily talk about Jesus. I’ve known Christians all my life who’ve been Christians for many years, and STILL act as if Jesus is just way too embarrassing to mention in public. I’ve been guilty of that cowardice too.
At another time, the well-known and often-watched, John Hagee is quoted concerning hurricane Katrina as saying: “All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans (www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/28/hagee/).
There’s an electronic sign out by a business by the street not far from where I live. It says, “[hurricane] I.K.E. = Instant Killer Evil.”
It certainly begs the question: are these natural phenomena God’s ways of strengthening our faith (e.g., my neighbor), God’s judgment on sin (e.g., John Hagee), caused by evil (e.g., this business), or something else?
The ancient Jews had no explicit theology concerning weather. They were certainly “land lubbers,” and the water was no friend of theirs. The most experience on the water the average Jew had was with lakes, fishing. This practice of staying out of water wasn’t too bizarre for the ancient Greeks and Romans either, even though they were much more experienced and brave in the water. No one ever went straight across the Mediterranean; boats always stayed near the coast. Paul, himself, mentions being shipwrecked several times and set adrift at sea at least once (e.g., 2 Cor. 11:25; cf. Acts 27).
To the ancient Jew, in general, the “sea” represented “chaos.” The chaos may be used by evil; maybe not. This chaos was scary; it was deleterious; it was ominous. Storms could come from nowhere (as the disciples knew too well). When Jesus “calmed the sea,” (Mk 4:39//) it was a supernatural act not just because people usually don’t calm the sea by talking to the wind as if it were a cantankerous child. It was a theological statement: Jesus has the power to make calm what is chaotic. And to the ancient Jew, this is an “act of God.” The creation story in Genesis tells of the order God intended; the “fall” of Adam and Eve began the downward spiral of “unraveling” or “chaos” that has affected the cosmos. It was believed that God alone could bring the cosmos–the entire universe--back to the order which was originally there. This is exactly why in Revelation 4:6, there is a “sea of glass” in front of the throne of God. God, alone, has the power to bring order from the chaos. It is a re-creation. It demonstrates God’s authority to calm the cosmos; to reunite her back to what He wants.
Storms are chaotic. Hurricanes are certainly chaotic. Yet, hurricanes are part of the Laws of Nature; they serve a purpose. Hurricanes are “nature’s way” of reestablishing “order” in the global climate. It redistributes the incredible heat energy that is stored in the water back to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, for many people, this “redistribution” causes a massive cyclone that slowly moves its “redistribution” toward the coastal areas of continents. So, if you understand God to be the Inventor of the Laws of Nature, then there is no reason to posit that every storm is directly “God’s will.” It might be so, but there’s no way to tell. Rather, it was God who established this world—and these Laws of Nature—in the first place to help the planet survive. So, you can blame God if you want, but you have to start really early in the process. There’s no way to demonstrate that individual storms are “God’s judgement” at all. If they are God’s judgment, then they were planned by God when He made the Earth in the very beginning . . .and His timing would be impeccable.
Do we have reason to believe that great storms are God’s judgment? I see no reason to believe so. I know of no place in the Bible where God sends a storm, or hurricane, as judgment on anyone, nor even hints that this is how God’s will should be understood forever. So, sorry Hagee and all you Hagee-types, the burden of proof is on you.
If this is true, then the same is true for God sending hurricanes and earthquakes "to strengthen our faith in Him." I just don’t know how this could be true. Is this how God strengthens His people? There is no biblical precedent for this view either. Can our faith be demonstrated in such times? Of course. Does this mean that God sent the storm to do that? Of course not.
The closest biblical imagery for a hurricane is the Jewish belief that storms and sea weather in general is chaos. Yet, this is a far cry from “being caused by evil.” Are you really trying to tell me that the Devil caused Katrina? Or Ike? Come on. Where is this theology in the Bible?
Do these storms cause material devastation? Yes. Do they cause death? Yes. Do they cause suffering? Yes. But none of these things are “evil” or necessarily caused by evil. Our response to the event can be driven by evil (e.g., looting—which, by the way, is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard of. When asked why looters were doing it after Katrina, most of them replied, “because we’re hungry.” I’m really uncertain how new Nikes and TVs can be edible . . .). Death, material devastation, and suffering are not “evil.” They are sad; they cause emotional responses that are unfortunate, marose, and often-heartbreaking. What else would we expect from 150 mile-per-hour winds when we live 20 miles from the coast? If I lived directly on top of a fault line, would I blame God or the devil when an earthquake hit where it was MY DECISION to live?
“But David, you’re not taking seriously the devastation these things cause. People lose lives.” They do, and it is tragic. I am in NO WAY vitiating the suffering and tradgedy caused by hurricanes and earthquakes. I’m not talking about tragedy; I’m talking about the very common sentiment that TRAGEDY = EVIL or TRAGEDY=GOD’S JUDGMENT. This is simply not true. Humans can suffer tragedy that is caused by neither evil nor God.
We just experienced our seven-year anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11. It was caused not by hurricanes or earthquakes. It was caused by men who made evil decisions, probably driven by the Evil One himself, in order to cause evil. That was evil. That evil caused tragedy; it caused suffering; it caused incredible heartache (and still does for people all over the world).
I see no reason—biblically or theologically—to blame God or evil for hurricanes. They just happen. They are, as weather phenomena, completely neutral; they are merely the by-product of the Laws of Nature. And if you believe in a good God, then the Laws must also be “good” in some degree. And they are, since they keep our global climate in check. Yet, the EFFECTS of the hurricane often cause suffering and misery. This much is true. With all the tragedy and suffering Paul endured while on the Mediterranean sea, he never once said, "You devil! How evil of you!" or "God, thank you for strengthening my faith."
So, let’s all stop saying that storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanoes are God or evil’s fault. Let’s focus our attention on meeting the needs of those affected by such storms, and not filling people’s heads, like my neighbor was doing, with bad theology.
There is real evil in the world. And as Christians, let's get out there and fight it head-on with love, mercy, service, and charity. We might not be able to "calm the raging storm," but we can help calm the effects of the storm.
Comments (1)
In the primeval history, God sends the Flood as a direct result of human sin. But then God promises never to destroy the earth again in such a way. I had one student suggest in my Scriptures class this week that perhaps God does send hurricanes as a result of sin, since God did so with the Flood. So we had to go chase that rabbit in class.