Archbishop of Canterbury admits: This makes me doubt the existence of God

Telegraph ^ | 01/02/05 | Chris Hastings,

[Pikamax]

Archbishop of Canterbury admits: This makes me doubt the existence of God By Chris Hastings, Patrick Hennessy and Sean Rayment (Filed: 02/01/2005)

The Asian tsunami disaster should make all Christians question the existence of God, Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, writes in The Telegraph today.

In a deeply personal and candid article, he says "it would be wrong" if faith were not "upset" by the catastrophe which has already claimed more than 150,000 lives.

Dr Rowan Williams: Prayer provides no 'magical solutions' Prayer, he admits, provides no "magical solutions" and most of the stock Christian answers to human suffering do not "go very far in helping us, one week on, with the intolerable grief and devastation in front of us".

Dr Williams, who, as head of the Church of England, represents 70 million Anglicans around the world, writes: "Every single random, accidental death is something that should upset a faith bound up in comfort and ready answers. Faced with the paralysing magnitude of a disaster like this, we naturally feel more deeply outraged - and also more deeply helpless."

He adds: "The question, 'How can you believe in a God who permits suffering on this scale?' is therefore very much around at the moment, and it would be surprising if it weren't - indeed it would be wrong if it weren't."

Dr Williams concludes that, faced with such a terrible challenge to their faith, Christians must focus on "passionate engagement with the lives that are left".

His comments came as Tony Blair finally broke his silence on the tragedy, branding it a "global catastrophe" that would take the world "years" to deal with. The Prime Minister, who has faced criticism for not cutting short a family holiday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh, also insisted that the United Nations should lead the international aid effort. He praised the "extraordinary generosity" of the British people, whose donations topped £60 million last night. The Government has thus far pledged £50 million.

Interviewed by Channel 4 News, Mr Blair said: "At first it seemed a terrible disaster. But I think as the days have gone on people have recognised it as a global catastrophe.

"It is not simply the absolute horror of what has happened and how many people's lives have been touched in different ways, it is also the fact that the consequences are not just short-term and immediate but long-term and will require a great deal of work by the international community for months, if not years, to come.

"We've got millions of people displaced, we've got the potential of disease coming from this and we've got whole areas of that region that will have to be rebuilt."

He shrugged off claims that he should have come home to take charge of Britain's aid effort, adding that he had been in touch "practically hourly" with Downing Street.

Mr Blair said that one of his key tasks during Britain's year-long presidency of the G8 group of leading industrial nations, which started yesterday, was to liaise with other leaders. His faith in the UN seemed undimmed despite the international rows in the months prior to the war in Iraq and he dismissed as a "misunderstanding" claims that President George W. Bush had tried to snub the organisation by setting up a four-country task force with Australia, India and Japan.

"When I spoke to President Bush a short time ago he made it very clear that he wanted the UN to be in the lead and that he sees the work that the US is doing as very much supportive of that," he said.

Mr Blair's intervention was made as it was disclosed that Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, would lead Britain's international anti-poverty drive by going on a three-nation trip to east and southern Africa later this month.

Meanwhile, a 10-man British military reconnaissance team arrived in Sri Lanka to assess how British Armed Forces could best assist the stricken country which, with Thailand, Indonesia and southern India, has borne the brunt of the disaster.

The team will report back to the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood, Middlesex, in the next 72 hours. The main focus of Britain's effort is likely to be directed towards Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Two Royal Navy ships, the frigate Chatham, currently on patrol in the Gulf, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Diligence, already in the Indian Ocean, are heading for Sri Lanka. A C-17 Globe Master transport aircraft, which can carry 100,000lbs of cargo, has also been allocated to supply aid.

The Pope in his New Year message yesterday led prayers for victims at St Peter's Basilica in Rome, and a prayer vigil for victims, survivors and families was being held at Central Hall, Westminster, last night.

On Wednesday, a nationwide three-minute silence will be observed across Britain.

[Tax-chick]

Hard to find a really reliable cook these days ...

[rwfromkansas]

gay man, not guy man

[bahblahbah]

This guy is a radical liberal and his like is not only dangerous to Christianity but to western civilization itself.

[Pikamax]

what is interesting is the reaction from the people in the disaster areas.

" Even art became part of the folklore of resilience.

In the historic port town of Galle, Sri Lanka, several Buddha statues of cement and plaster were found unscathed amid collapsed brick walls in the center of the devastated city.

To many residents, it was a divine sign.

"The people are not living according to religious virtues," said Sumana, a Buddhist monk in an orange robe who sheltered himself from the sun under a black umbrella. "

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=376713

[Tax-chick]

I thought "guy man" was clever!

[DJ MacWoW]

God had nothing to do with it. The "fall" of man upset natures perfect harmony. As man was meant to live forever so the earth was meant to be a paradise. Willful acts in the Garden upset everything.

[frgoff]

---
They're not making Archbishops of Canterburies like they use to.
---

Considering how and why the Anglican church started, it's little wonder the Anglican church struggles with matters of faith.

[winker]

What in the world will he do when he sees Bloody, Gory, Armageddon if he quakes over 150,000. If his faith is that shallow how did he survive this long? Oh! yeah deny, deny, deny and stick his head in the sand! Where are our Daniel's; relieve us from these panty waists!

[bray]

This Archbiship has no knowledge of the Lord. He has no right to question God.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[silverleaf]

And this is the leadership the Church of England looks to in times of crisis? Did they go out looking for an agnostic when they were filling this position?

Theological synopsis: Shit happens...therefore calling into question the existence of "God".

[AnAmericanMother]

I'll say.

Warham looks like he has more religion in his little finger than poor Rowan in his entire body.

Remember that in those days the Plague in England killed a far higher percentage of the population than even this disaster. We don't realize how fortunate we have been in modern times to avoid this sort of Great Mortality, which was pretty commonplace in medieval and Renaissance times, right on up into the 18th century.

But you didn't hear England's clerics prancing around publicly doubting the existence of God even when whole villages were wiped out. Certainly they were heard wondering aloud if God had abandoned them in their sins . . . . but they never doubted His existence.

The guy is a cringing embarassment, and he just gets worse and worse.

[Mike Darancette]

Close the chuch door when you leave Dr Williams.

[Mr Rogers]

He believes he has the right to judge God. There will come a time, when time is no more, that he'll learn otherwise.

While he lives, perhaps he should blame God for cancer, heart disease & drunk drivers. I fail to understand why 100,000 dying of drowning is a global tragedy, while 1,000,000 dying of a disease is not.

Of course, I didn't understand why we paid the 911 widows a bundle while ignoring those who die daily by more mundane things. Why was a death in the WTC more devastating than a death in a car crash?

[vrwcagent0498]

I'm thinking what have we done to God? All the sin in the world and yet somehow, He's not supposed to punish us?

[visualops]

The "fall" of man upset natures perfect harmony

Exactly!
So many either haven't learned or have forgotton that fact.

[Lunkhead_01]

Who cares what the leader of the Church of What's Happenin' Now thinks?

[AnAmericanMother]

Considering how and why the Anglican church started, it's little wonder the Anglican church struggles with matters of faith.

Now, that's a trifle unfair. The precipitating cause was certainly the repulsive Henry VIII's lust for Anne Boleyn (or Bullen as her family was called before they got so jumped up), but many just and devout men were caught up in the protests against the corruption of certain administrators in Rome. The Council of Trent was coming along, but at the geologic time standards of the Catholic Church, many just couldn't wait.

I sympathize - with two young children, we couldn't wait around while faithful Episcopalians tried to get their act together. I'm not sure even now that they will be able to, at least not in our (former) diocese.

[SuziQ]

The Asian tsunami disaster should make all Christians question the existence of God, Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, writes in The Telegraph today.

Hasn't this man been dancing on the edge of belief for quite a while? Goes a long way toward explaining why many Brits have lost their faith. They haven't seen any in their religious 'leaders' for a long time.

[26lemoncharlie]

He does not believe in God! He's part of the Socialist Movement to remove God from the mind of man. He's more than likely a Homosexual pedophile!!

[wildwood]

i doubt the existence of the archbishop of canterbury....well, his faith anyway.