Where Was God?
Posted by Isaac Butterworth | Filed under Disaster, Theodicy
A recent post on Christianity Today’s Her-meneutics site features the Rev. Fleming Rutledge, offering a theological response to the January 12 disaster in Haiti. Mrs. Rutledge’s article is entitled “Where Was God in the Earthquake?” She dismisses immediately such often-heard comments like “God has some purpose in this” or “Something good will come out of this.” These statements, she admits, are true enough but are problematic from both a theological and a pastoral perspective. “Glib, monochromatic responses to catastrophe,” she writes, “should have no place in our faith.”
Rutledge proposes that people of faith hold in tension two contradictory attitudes, two clashing points of view. The first grants that, even in the midst of destruction, there is the possibility of theophany. This point of view affirms that “the wild, untamed aspect of nature” does, indeed, bear witness to the glory of God. Rutledge cites Psalm 29, which says, “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders….” The psalmist goes on to describe flashes of lightning that strike and break mighty cedars, as well as forceful winds that cause “the oaks to whirl” and raging fires that “strip the forests bare.” The psalmist declares that, even in the face of such destruction, the power of God is to be revered, that “in [God’s] temple all say, ‘Glory!’” We are awestruck even by nature’s disruptive displays.
The second point of view, which must be held in balance with the first, acknowledges that nature is not benign. Nature is “red in tooth and claw,” as Tennyson puts it in canto LVI of his extended elegy, In Memoriam. It is not only the human race that is fallen; nature, too, is subject to the power of evil. Rutledge says:
Flannery O’Connor wrote that her work was about the action of grace in territory held largely by the Devil; we should not fail to realize that ‘nature’ is part of that occupied territory. Nature is often hostile, as Annie Dillard has so powerfully shown us…. Only by action of the Creator will the peaceable kingdom arrive, where the lion lies down with the lamb.”
David B. Hart, an Eastern Orthodox theologian, whom Rutledge mentions in her article, calls for people of faith to show restraint in claiming to know too much. In an article written for the Wall Street Journal after the tragic tsunami of 2004, Hart says:
When confronted by the sheer savage immensity of worldly suffering — when we see the entire littoral rim of the Indian Ocean strewn with tens of thousands of corpses, a third of them children’s — no Christian is licensed to utter odious banalities about God’s inscrutable counsels or blasphemous suggestions that all this mysteriously serves God’s good ends. We are permitted only to hate death and waste and the imbecile forces of chance that shatter living souls, to believe that creation is in agony in its bonds, to see this world as divided between two kingdoms — knowing all the while that it is only charity that can sustain us against ‘fate,’ and that must do so until the end of days.”
Why doesn’t God prevent unspeakable natural disaster, like that which has befallen the people of Haiti in recent days? Rutledge urges us to avoid easy answers. She invites us to “live in the contradiction” between two poles: (1) God is powerful, yes, and, also, (2) nature is part of the fallen creation. Rather than make easy and pious pronouncements, claiming that “there is a reason for everything,” we do well to opt for the more pastoral and truthful response to natural disaster and humbly admit, “We do not know.”
Notes:
[1] Fleming Rutledge has received a grant from the Louisville Institute to complete a book-length treatment of the meaning of the Crucifixion for today’s world.
[2] David B. Hart’s reflections in his 2004 article in the Wall Street Journal were extended to book-length form and published under the title The Doors of the Sea: Where Was God in the Tsunami?
Photo credit: The Violent Volcano by Trey Ratcliff
January 22, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Really didn’t answer the guestion of “Where was God”.
HE was holding the hand of the child who survived days while waiting to be rescued. HE was with the man whose legs were crushed and lay dying ….He was the one who gave peace to that man. GOD was and is with the families that have lost loved ones but, who will go on to rebuild Haiti and give glory to God by their deeds and actions. HE is everywhere if you have eyes to see.
I had a good bible study today ….one of our Ladies who lost a husband on Monday was at the study today…..honoring her husband and Heavenly Father with obedience. Her faith lifted us all. Hope your day was blessed!
Until the Whole World Hears,
Jenny
January 23, 2010 at 12:04 am
This article makes me think about how I perceive God. I enjoy the last paragraph that suggests to realize who God is and what Nature is and that there doesn’t have to be a reason for everything. But also to realize that reason or not, we may never know.
January 23, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Yes, while it is in our nature to want to be in control and understand why bad things happen, we must, in the final analysis, say that we DO NOT know the reason and only God knows the answers. Mostly, I am content in that concept – leaving it to God’s wisdom. Though seeing the overwhelming devastation and suffering first hand I think would make one cry out for understanding. Just seeing the media accounts of Haiti makes me weep.
January 26, 2010 at 10:02 am
Thank you for a wonderfully sensitive article on the recent tragedy. Theodicy is a new word for me, but I know exactly what it means — how do we explain the influence of God Almighty on one hand….and the obvious presence of evil on the other.
This article is a gift to me in my understanding (or I guess comforts me in my not understanding.)
Just discovered your blog, Ike. A plus plus plus.
January 26, 2010 at 11:59 am
Cliff, thanks for the feedback. The blog is an experiment for me. I am working on developing a rhythm, trying to find out what it is I want to say, and learning about what people want to read. I appreciate your interest.