Posted on 09/14/2017 11:26:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
Why Does God Permit Natural Disasters?
Because it is almost Impossible to get a Permit from the Government.
Permit? Permit means you let somebody else do it.
If God is the maker of all things, He does not permit disaster, He *causes* disasters.
the thing that bothers me is when people start to blame other people for specific disasters. Always seems pretentious when someone says ‘this flood’ or ‘that storm’ was because of this group or people or that sin... Folks who want to play at prophecy had better realize the standard in 100 percent accuracy or it is not of God.
Romans 8:22: We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Therefore, not only were humans affected by the fall,but nature itself. We’re seeing the results of the fall and if these natural disasters occur stronger and closer together, we need to look up, for our redemption draws near.
A better question is why hasn’t God wiped us off the face of the earth.
Matthew 5:45
KJ21
that ye may be the children of your Father who is in Heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust...............
Thank you very much.
You have to take the bad to be able to apprehend and appreciate the good.
Which god?
Say God decided, “OK, I will make Hurracanes a little less severe”. people would then ask. “can’t he make cancers a little bit less severe?”, and pretty soon people would be complaining about Paper cuts. For a duality to work it has to be Black/White, not shades of gray or Pastels.
“Therefore, not only were humans affected by the fall,but nature itself.”
I was explaining that to my kids. Our preacher was talking about the “bad stuff” that happens. Four reasons iirc: fallen creation, our sins (we do stupid/bad stuff that hurts us), other’s sin (they hurt us), and God’s judgement. He is of the opinion that the “God’s Judgement” aspect is not the first one we should jump on. And not to say we can’t grow from the bad things that happen due to the other three causes. But he was of the opinion that when it is God’s judgement on you - you’ll know it, and that it will be clear as to why.
Because this life is not the only “thing” there is. If “this life” stops, it is not necessarily punishment, could be a door to reward. He does not promise untroubled passage, but that through it all He will hold your hand.
Of course he is in control. It’s absurd to think that he isn’t
God knows nothing of the Universe because the Universe is nothing. It is an illusion. Projected by the collective Ego.
Every so often I get a question like this, about 'natural evil' (as opposed to 'moral evil', in which there are intelligent agents/perpetrators involved)...
I have a couple questions for you. I have not found them covered in your material, but I haven't read through everything you have, so it's possible I missed it. Anyway, I was wondering how you would explain the problem of natural evil. I have heard the argument that evil is a result of sin. A tragedy such as a murder happens because someone commits a sin. A child is killed by a drunk driver. There is sin here as well. But what of the tornado that destroys homes and kills several people? Or an earthquake? Or any other tragedy that is a result of natural disaster and has nothing to do with what people have or have not done. I cannot explain to a non Christian why God would allow such things to happen. Any thoughts?
and, one focusing more on pain...
Have to complement you on a very reasonable Christian WWW page.
However (there's always one :-) I have a question concerning your thought on the problem of natural evils :
Even after concluding that such pain hurts God more, the basic question _why_ does He allow it remains unchanged and unanswered. In fact, I'd have thought such a problem would be _more_ unsatisfactory : not only does present a God who causes unnecessary suffering, it shows that God ends up causing himself unnecessary pain too.
Your dialogue seemed mainly confined to mental pain, and the benefits of empathy. For an example of a seemingly unnecessary natural evil, read the section on Hot Viruses at
http://freethought.tamu.edu/debates/craig-washington/washington2.html
Such things are even harder to console with a God that only allows as much pain into the world as is necessary.
Let me know what you think.
These are good, good questions, and no doubt questions that most of us have wrestled with, agonized over, pondered deeply, and even experienced ourselves. Before I get into 'dissecting' the questions in the various pieces embedded in them, let me make some preliminary remarks.
First, I must remind you that we are taking a SPECIFICALLY THEORETICAL approach here. Any answers/guidelines we develop here are NOT going to be any help to those experiencing grief associated with these types of situations. Grief is to be experienced and to be expressed--not necessarily answered. The problem of pain and suffering CAN be approached in a semi-detached, philosophical, analytical manner, but it MUST BE UNDERSTOOD from the outset of this discussion that I am in NO WAY 'insensitive' to these issues. (Some of you out there will be familiar with the experiences of me/my family with unexpected child death, long-term terminal illnesses, personal trauma. I can say with some depth that I am no stranger to this arena.)
Second, we must focus on clarity of terms. 'Natural evil' is, strictly speaking, a misnomer. What is actually under discussion is the problem of 'agent-less pain' or 'agent-less untimely death' or the such like.
This distinction is important. "Evil" implies some kind of moral agent--local or remote. But in the two cases we will examine here--children being killed in a natural disaster earthquake, or the excessive pain felt in certain types of terminal illnesses (such as the 'hot virus' referred to)--there is no 'agent' to do the 'evil-ing' as it were. The issue is NOT 'evil' per se, but something else. We will need to isolate those 'something elses' for analysis.
It should also be noted that in the bible there WERE natural disasters that occurred that were NOT 'agent-less.' In situations involving the nation of Israel, God sometimes used natural disasters such as disease and earthquakes to accomplish judgments or victories (e.g. Ex 8-13; Num 11; Num 14; I Sam 6; Num 16; 2 Kings 19; Acts 12). These, however, fall into the category of special miracles (due to their agent-character) and do NOT fall into the general scope of our investigation.
We generally do NOT have that kind of information about today's events being of this type--we cannot therefore assume that any specific event (e.g. earthquake, volcano, plague) is a judgment from God. It would somehow fall into some 'global' will of God--in some indirect/permissive kinda sense--but this would not have enough 'predictive power' to dismiss the event easily.
The earth is in constant motion and change just as we (his reflection) are, no?
Because this is the punishment land, we got kicked out of the Garden. This non-Garden place has bad weather, parasites and allergens.
BE SURE TO READ THROUGH THAT SITE i LISTED- IT GIVES AN EXCELLENT EXPLANATION to the question- bookmark that site as well- it’s well worth doing so- the man is a deep deep thinker
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