[agrarianlady]

You misunderstand my objection completely. I am saying that G-d's overweening Providence governs all things whatsoever, the good and the bad. I reject the notion that either "stuff just happens" or that an evil "gxd" called "the Devil" does the bad stuff. Absolutely everything that happens down to the last detail is governed by G-d's Providence--both General (Kelalit) and specific (Peratit).

You are correct. I did misunderstand. I am sorry.

I don't think anything on this earth throughout human history has happened without God's foreknowledge or sovereignty, and His purposes are above what we can possibly understand entirely.

If I misrepresented Christianity, for that too I apologize. I am afraid that there are those in Christianity who do believe that God is capricious. But it's not the historic practice of the church and certainly Christ and his apostles would agree with you.

[agrarianlady]

And to follow up, I don’t think we can have any clue as to ‘cause and effect’ when bad ‘stuff happens’ on this scale. I can’t get past Nineveh. I don’t want to be like Jonah and presume to think God should respond to sin like clockwork. I completely reject the idea that any human could presume to *know* that God would send an earthquake to punish sin. Saying it or implying it is blasphemous.