At the same time, it is has always seemed a great contradiction for me that those who most militate for radical notions of freedom of the will for humanity, and freedom of the cosmos to follow an indeterminate path are those who are most likely to turn on God for not preventing disasters, human-made or natural. No one can deny that trying to reconcile staggering, heart-rending loss due to natural disaster with notions of a loving God who protects this world with omnipotent providence is a terrible task. How can we comprehend such an event being countenanced in a world with a loving and providential God?
Imagine if we were to put God “in the dock” (to borrow a phrase from C. S. Lewis), and confronted God with our “evidence.” What would God say? Surely I am not capable (or authorized!) to make such defense, but, from what we know of God’s ways, what would such a defense look like?
First, when the cross-examination began, I imagine God would cut to the chase and ask “Where are all of you when things go right? You accuse me of being uncaring and not providing food for the starving, but you do not bother to offer even one second of thanks as — daily — billions of people are fed and given another day of life through my general providence for the world, not to mention the millions upon millions who are fed, clothed, educated, cared for and given chances at a better life through the actions of my people in Christ’s church. And, what about the fact that I have poured bounty upon so many, and commanded them to share with the less fortunate, and am ignored by them? Then, you accuse me of being asleep or impotent when a disaster occurs, yet the fact that billions live their lives everyday, day after day, year after year in relative peace and safety seems never to cause you to say ‘Gee, ol’ God must know what it’s all about—look at how most everything keeps going.’”
“Alright,” God continues. “Let’s suppose that I have made a mistake, and that I should run the world differently. Let’s look at some of my options, and then I’ll ask you which option I should follow:
OPTION A—THE CHESSBOARD: “You know, I could simply order all of you around every millisecond of every day. You would not bat your eye or speak a syllable unless I made you. You would exist, but you would be aware of yourself only dimly, as one is half-aware of what goes on around one as one awakens from deep sleep. No one would do evil. But then, no one would do good either. No one would ‘do’ anything. I would do everything and use all of you “twilight creatures” as my tools. Then, I would not use my omniscience, and omnipotence to order the cosmos, by dependable laws that are capable of being discovered, but would, moment by moment, command everything from the quark to tectonic plates to do whatever I want according to the whim of the moment. That sound good? No? How about —
OPTION B—LIFE IN PARADISE: “Or, I could create a world where you could be forever happy. I would tailor-make a perfect mate for you, so you would not search in vain for someone compatible, and then perhaps fail. You would not be faced with hard decisions — all ambiguities would be done away with and you would have only obvious “choices.” I would provide you with everything you need — food when hungry, amusement when idle, sleep when tired, and, for companionship, you and I would walk and talk in the cool of the evening. You’d have everything you need — no striving would be necessary. How about that? Well, I tried that already in a place called Eden, and you didn’t like it. You gave it up to be ‘wise.’ How do you like wisdom so far?
OPTION C—PINBALL WORLD: “This is the world many of you think you want. Everything would be pretty much as it is right now, except my ‘job’ would be to not let things get ‘out of hand’ (which I actually do now: when was the last time the sun didn’t rise, or that a hammer “fell” up when you dropped it?). Like in one of your pinball games, no one would be able to go off and do something out of bounds — divine “bumpers,” “walls” and “flippers” would bounce potential naughties back into the game where they would be given yet another chance to ‘play nice.’ Imagine — a world without moral consequence of any kind. Even more, imagine a world free of the necessity of making difficult moral/personal decisions. Men and women would fornicate freely, knowing that I will prevent sperm from meeting egg unless they so desired. The greedy would frantically fleece the hapless, knowing that I will refill the sheep’s pockets. The evil would find themselves thwarted from carrying out their nefarious designs — although they would be no less evil in their hearts, and never find a reason to turn from their evil. And those who hunger and thirst for righteousness would find themselves idle — and unfulfilled, wondering if righteousness were really all that worthwhile in the first place.
“So,” God asks, “anything you see tickle your fancy?”
I imagine the courtroom would be quiet at that point.
Please understand, I am not trying to minimize the horror of one of the worst natural disasters in modern history. But I do think that it is necessary to carefully analyze our reactions to it, so that we do not fly into a pointless and ill-advised rage against God for things that are, basically, part of an extremely long-term plan, of which we are privileged to know only the most miniscule part. Neither should we find ourselves faint of heart and faith in the face of evil, whether natural or the result of human action. We must understand and affirm, as the Reformed Tradition always has, that God’s providence and steadfast loving-kindness is greater than any power, and is capable of transforming situations fraught with peril and hopelessness into occasions that are full of grace. Friends, this is the good news:
For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 (RSV)
ROBERT JOHNSON is a Ph.D. candidate in theology at Union-PSCE in Richmond, Va.
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