What do we make of God's sovereignty in the midst of tsunami, terror attacks and Katrina?
There are two basic responses...
Tony Campolo (whom I'm reading anew) represented many when he said:
""Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad answers. One such answer is that somehow all suffering is a part of God's great plan. In the midst of agonies, someone is likely to quote from the Bible, telling us that if we would just be patient, we eventually would see "all things work together for the good, for those who love God, and are called according to His purposes." (Romans 8:28)...
Perhaps we would do well to listen to the likes of Rabbi Harold Kushner, who contends that God is not really as powerful as we have claimed. Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures does it say that God is omnipotent. Kushner points out that omnipotence is a Greek philosophical concept, but it is not in his Bible."
Rabbi Kushner suggested that God would have loved to help, but He couldn't.
A similar response would be to set Self-imposed limits to God's ability to foresee these tragic events ('open theism'), instead of self-limiting his power.
This is a tempting option in the face of evil because it seems to portray limitless goodness in God.
But there is a better way.
Remember Todd Beamer, one of the guys who died on Flight 913 during Sept 11?
In the midst of pain, his wife Lisa Beamer gave a VERY different, almost breath-taking response in finding strength and hope IN the good sovereignty of God:
"God knew the terrible choices the terrorists would make and that Todd Beamer would die as a result. He knew my children would be left without a father and me without a husband . . . Yet in his sovereignty and in his perspective on the big picture, he knew it was better to allow the events to unfold as they did rather than redirect Todd’s plans to avoid death. . . . I can’t see all the reasons he might have allowed this when I know he could have stopped it . . . I don’t like how his plan looks from my perspective right now., but knowing that he loves me and can see the world from start to finish helps me say, ‘It’s OK.'
John Piper lays out the theology behind Lisa's confidence in The Supremacy of God In an Age of Terror ...
"When the flood is breaking
And your fear is waking,
Comfort not your soul,
Thinking the Almighty
Yielded up the right He
Once had to control.
Every river and the seas
Do His sovereign bidding purely.
This is comfort surely.
When your fortunes fail you,
Deep diseases ail you
And your death is near,
Know that Christ your Maker
He alone is Taker
Of your life and fear,
Fall before His power and pray:
Jesus, I now trust you merely,
You have bought me dearly."
Check out also:
Was Katrina Intelligent Design?
There are two basic responses...
Tony Campolo (whom I'm reading anew) represented many when he said:
""Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad answers. One such answer is that somehow all suffering is a part of God's great plan. In the midst of agonies, someone is likely to quote from the Bible, telling us that if we would just be patient, we eventually would see "all things work together for the good, for those who love God, and are called according to His purposes." (Romans 8:28)...
Perhaps we would do well to listen to the likes of Rabbi Harold Kushner, who contends that God is not really as powerful as we have claimed. Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures does it say that God is omnipotent. Kushner points out that omnipotence is a Greek philosophical concept, but it is not in his Bible."
Rabbi Kushner suggested that God would have loved to help, but He couldn't.
A similar response would be to set Self-imposed limits to God's ability to foresee these tragic events ('open theism'), instead of self-limiting his power.
This is a tempting option in the face of evil because it seems to portray limitless goodness in God.
But there is a better way.
Remember Todd Beamer, one of the guys who died on Flight 913 during Sept 11?
In the midst of pain, his wife Lisa Beamer gave a VERY different, almost breath-taking response in finding strength and hope IN the good sovereignty of God:
"God knew the terrible choices the terrorists would make and that Todd Beamer would die as a result. He knew my children would be left without a father and me without a husband . . . Yet in his sovereignty and in his perspective on the big picture, he knew it was better to allow the events to unfold as they did rather than redirect Todd’s plans to avoid death. . . . I can’t see all the reasons he might have allowed this when I know he could have stopped it . . . I don’t like how his plan looks from my perspective right now., but knowing that he loves me and can see the world from start to finish helps me say, ‘It’s OK.'
John Piper lays out the theology behind Lisa's confidence in The Supremacy of God In an Age of Terror ...
"When the flood is breaking
And your fear is waking,
Comfort not your soul,
Thinking the Almighty
Yielded up the right He
Once had to control.
Every river and the seas
Do His sovereign bidding purely.
This is comfort surely.
When your fortunes fail you,
Deep diseases ail you
And your death is near,
Know that Christ your Maker
He alone is Taker
Of your life and fear,
Fall before His power and pray:
Jesus, I now trust you merely,
You have bought me dearly."
Check out also:
Was Katrina Intelligent Design?
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