http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=1436
God, Haiti, and Suffering
January 12, just before 5 p.m. A massive earthquake, magnitude 7.0,
struck Haiti near the country’s capital. United Nations officials
estimated 50,000 fatalities, but according to Haitian government
figures, the death toll is at 200,000, with 80,000 buried in mass
graves. Those left homeless now number in the millions (Carroll, 2010;
“Haiti Earthquake...,” 2010; Kates, 2010; Haven and Melia, 2010). Scenes
of human suffering—injured children, weeping mothers, the bodies amid
the rubble—cannot help but evoke heartfelt sorrow and sympathy.
Christians automatically mobilize during such times to provide comfort
and assistance to the afflicted (James 2; Proverbs 19:17; 21:13; 28:27).
Indeed, those nations (like America and Great Britain) and
organizations (like the Red Cross), who historically share the Christian
worldview, typically surpass non-Christian countries in benevolent
outpouring (
Indian Ocean-Earthquake..., 2010; “Tsunami Aid...,” 2005; “Humanitarian Response...,” 2010).
As shocking and heart-rending as this event may seem, many other
natural disasters have occurred in human history that compare with the
Haiti earthquake in its devastation. In America alone, several
earthquakes have exceeded the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake. On
December 16, 1811, two earthquakes with approximate magnitudes of 8.0
struck southeast Missouri, followed by two additional earthquakes in the
same area over the next two months, measuring 7.8 and 7.4 respectively.
New Madrid, Missouri was destroyed, and the course of the Mississippi
River was permanently changed, with land on one side of the river
shifting to the opposite side of the riverbed (Fleury, 2008a). On April
18, 1906 an earthquake, with a magnitude estimated between 7.7 to 8.3 on
the Richter scale, struck San Francisco, killing some 3,000 people and
leaving another 250,000 homeless (Fleury, 2007b). On March 27, 1964,
Alaska was struck by an earthquake measuring 9.2—the third largest
recorded in the world—devastating Anchorage (Fleury, 2007a). On October
17, 1989 an earthquake with a surface magnitude of 7.1 struck 10 miles
northeast of Santa Cruz, California, some 60 miles southeast of San
Francisco and Oakland. Sixty-seven died, with 3,757 more injured and
12,000 made homeless (Fleury, 2008b).
Throughout China’s history, extensive flooding has occurred countless
times as a result of the mighty 3,000-mile-long Hwang Ho River. Several
of the most terrible floods, with their ensuing famines, have been
responsible for the deaths of more than a million people at a time. The
southern levee of the river failed in Hunan Province in 1887, affecting a
50,000 square mile area (“Hwang Ho,” 2004). More than 2 million people
died from drowning, starvation, or the epidemics that followed (“Huang
He...,” 2004). In contrast, though considered the costliest natural
disaster in U.S. history, the death toll for
hurricane Katrina in 2005 was about 1,600, with 1.7 million people
displaced across the country (Janega, 2009; “Hurricanes,” n.d.).
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the
earthquake that created the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 is estimated to
have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs,
resulting in more than 150,000 people dead or missing, and millions more
homeless in 11 countries (“The Deadliest...?” 2005; “Earthquake and
Tsunami...,” 2008).
In reality, such events have occurred repetitiously throughout the
history of the world, and continue to do so—constantly: hurricanes,
cyclones, earthquakes, tornados, floods, tsunamis, droughts, and volcano
eruptions. In fact, natural disasters kill
one million people
around the world each decade, and leave millions more homeless,
according to the United Nation’s International Decade for Natural
Disaster Reduction (“Disasters...,” 1997).
This circumstance inevitably elicits the pressing question: “WHY?”
“Why would God allow such loss of life, inflicted on countless numbers
of seemingly innocent people?” The number one argument marshaled by
atheists to advocate their disbelief in God is the presence of
widespread, seemingly purposeless suffering. They insist that if an
infinite Being existed, He would exercise His perfect compassion and His
omnipotence to prevent human suffering (e.g., Lowder, 2004; cf.
Jackson, 2001). Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins sarcastically
declares:
We know what caused the catastrophe in Haiti. It was the bumping and
grinding of the Caribbean Plate rubbing up against the North American
Plate: a force of nature, sin-free and indifferent to sin,
unpremeditated, unmotivated, supremely unconcerned with human affairs or
human misery. The religious mind, however, hubristically appropriates
the blind happenings of physics for petty moralistic purposes (2010).
For rabid atheistic evolutionists like Dawkins, to suggest that God
uses natural phenomena for earthly purposes is hypocritical, “evil
nonsense.” To them, the material realm has no ultimate purpose or
meaning—other than what humans subjectively assign to it. Even for many
people who do not embrace formal atheism, the fact that God apparently
seems willing to allow misery and suffering to run rampant in the world,
elicits a gamut of reactions—from perplexity and puzzlement to anger
and resentment.
THE BIBLE HAS THE ANSWERS
If the Bible is the inspired Word of God (and it is—see Butt, 2007),
then it is the only document on the planet that was superintended by God
when it was produced. The Bible, therefore, is the only reliable guide
for ascertaining the meaning of life and human existence. Only the Bible
can make sense of the circumstances that attend life on Earth. And,
indeed, it provides the perfect explanations for the occurrence of
earthquakes and other natural phenomena. Its handling of the subject is
logical, sufficient, and definitive.
“Vale of Soul-Making”
In order to make sense of various aspects of the created order, like
earthquakes, one must ask the logically prior question: What is the
purpose
of the created order? If the atheists and evolutionists are correct,
the physical realm, with its human inhabitants, has no purpose, but
rather, is a monumental “cosmic accident” (Gould, 1989, p. 44). As
Cornell University professor and atheist, Dr. Will Provine, maintained:
Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear—and these are basically Darwin’s views. There are no gods, no purposes, and no goal-directed forces of any kind.
There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I
am going to be dead. That’s the end of me. There is no ultimate
foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life, and no free will for humans, either (Provine and Johnson, 1994, 16[1], emp. added).
If, on the other hand, the God of the Bible exists, He is the Creator
responsible for the material Universe. Why did He create the Universe,
specifically the Earth, and then create humans to inhabit the Earth?
The Bible teaches that God created the world to be the most suitable
environment in which humans are enabled to make their own decisions
concerning their ultimate destiny (Genesis 1:27; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
We humans have been provided with the ideal environment in which we may
freely accept or reject God’s will for our lives—what Keats called,
“The vale of Soul-making” (1899, p. 369). More specifically, the one
essential purpose which God had for creating the world was
the creation of a being (who would have descendents like himself) who
would be capable of entering into fellowship with him, who would be
capable of becoming a son of God, who (thus) would have to be capable of
deciding freely to believe him, to love him with all of his heart, to
submit to him in obedience, and whom God could love and eventually
glorify (Warren, 1972, p. 44).
Such an environment would necessarily have to possess certain
characteristics conducive to the accomplishment of this central purpose.
Those characteristics would include an environment that would supply
man’s basic
physical needs (since humans have physical
bodies), allow him to be a free moral agent, to be challenged, and to
learn the things he most needs to learn (Warren, p. 47). But why would
God allow human beings to be subjected to unpleasant, tragic events—like
earthquakes, floods, tornados, and hurricanes? A prominent biblical
answer to that question is: natural disasters and nature’s destructive
forces are the result of specific conditions that are necessary to God’s
providing humanity with this ideal environment.
God is not blameworthy for having created such a world, since He had a
morally justifiable reason for having done so. Human existence on Earth
was not intended to be permanent. Rather, the Creator intended life on
Earth to serve as a
temporary interval of time for the
development of one’s spirit. Life on Earth is a probationary period in
which people are given the opportunity to attend to their spiritual
condition as it relates to God’s will for living.
Natural disasters provide people with conclusive evidence that life on Earth is brief and uncertain
(see Warren, 1972; Thompson, 1997). In the face of physical calamities,
we humans would do well to contemplate our own fragility and finitude,
and be driven to look beyond ourselves to a higher Power Who can inform
us as to our
raison d’etre—our reason for existing.
Punishment for Sin
But does God ever harness natural phenomena—the forces of nature—as
tools of chastisement to punish people for their sins? The Bible answers
strongly in the affirmative (see
Miller,
2005). Indeed, God did so many times in Bible history. He scourged
Egypt with plagues of frogs, lice, flies, animal disease, boils, hail,
and locusts (Exodus 8-10). He used seismic activity against Korah and
his followers (Numbers 16:31-33; cf. Psalm 106:17). He punished the
grumbling Israelites with venomous snakes (Numbers 21:6). He punished
Ahab and idolatrous Israel with drought for three and a half years (1
Kings 17:1; Luke 4:25; James 5:17). He sent a hurricane-like wind upon
the sea, causing Jonah and his shipmates to fear the destruction of the
ship (Jonah 1:4ff.). Nahum announced God’s fury against the Assyrian
Empire with the words: “The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt,
and the earth heaves at His presence, yes, the world and all who dwell
in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the
fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks
are thrown down by Him” (1:5-6). Job acknowledged: “He removes the
mountains, and they do not know when He overturns them in His anger; He
shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble” (9:5-6; cf.
Isaiah 2:19-21). The psalmist invites: “Come, behold the works of the LORD,
Who has made desolations in the earth” (46:8). On the occasion of the
giving of the Decalogue, “[t]he earth shook.... Sinai itself was moved
at the presence of God, the God of Israel” (Psalm 68:8; cf. Exodus
19:18). Indeed, “[i]n His hand are the deep places of the earth; the
heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and
His hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:4-5).
The prophet Joel interpreted a devastating locust plague as indicative
of divine disfavor, punishment for sin, and motivation to repent: “It
shall come as destruction from the Almighty.” (1:15). He repeatedly
referred to the “day of the LORD” (1:15;
2:1,11,31; 3:14) as a point in time when God intervenes in the affairs
of men in human history, harnessing the forces of nature, or even
foreign armies, to take vengeance on those who need chastisement to
bring them to their spiritual senses. In the context of Joel, the nation
deserved the “day of the LORD” because of the
rampant immorality and wickedness. The natural disaster she suffered was
designed to elicit repentance, alter her behavior, and redirect her to
spiritual reality.
The great prophet Amos also described the “day of the LORD”
(5:18,20) in terms of physical catastrophe, including famine, drought,
blight, and locusts (4:6-11; cf. 7:1). He added this chilling warning:
“Prepare to meet your God!” (4:12). He declared that the God that formed
and controls the constellations in the Universe, and can bring flood
upon the land is the same God that “rains ruin upon the strong, so that
fury comes upon the fortress”(5:9): “The LORD is
His name” (vs. 8). The book of Revelation uses figurative, apocalyptic
language to allude to this same feature of God’s activity in history—the
use of natural phenomena as tools of chastisement (6:5-17; 8:7-12; cf.
Summers, 1951, pp. 143-145,155ff.).
A word of caution: The Bible does not claim
to provide humans with complete explanations regarding the forces
operating within the physical Universe. But it does offer
some
clarification regarding natural calamities, shedding light on some of
the reasons for phenomena like famines, earthquakes, and floods. It does
not claim to offer
every reason, and it certainly does not claim to explain
every occurrence
of a natural calamity. While one occurrence may be the direct result of
God’s punitive punishment on people due to their wickedness, another
such catastrophe may have no such
specific intention.
Rather, it could be the result of the entrance of sin into the world, or
it may simply be the result of the coincidental, God-ordained physical
forces necessary to the operation of the Universe (e.g., Matthew 6:45).
In any case, we are speaking specifically about
natural phenomena—features
of the created order that operate according to set laws throughout
history. Such phenomena are to be distinguished from
supernatural
occurrences where God has stepped in and suspended the laws of nature
that He, Himself, set into motion (e.g., Genesis 19:24; Exodus 7:20;
Leviticus 10:2; 1 Kings 18:38). The only way to know when a
natural
disaster is due specifically to divine retribution is if an inspired
prophet sent by God so interprets the event. No such prophets exist
today (
Miller, 2003a;
Miller, 2003b). Nevertheless,
we cannot assume that since the age of miracles has passed that God no longer intervenes in history via natural occurrences.
God still rules in the kingdoms of men (Daniel 4:17), and it is still
true that “[t]he effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much” (James 5:16; cf. 1 Kings 18:41-45; McGarvey 1894, pp. 320 ff.). He
still controls the forces of nature, “for He makes His sun rise on the
evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”
(Matthew 5:45). Indeed, even now, it is Jesus Who is “upholding all
things by the word of His power,” and “in Him all things consist”
(Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17). “[E]ven the winds and the sea obey Him”
(Matthew 8:27). “O LORD God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O LORD?....
You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them”
(Psalm 89:8-9). God declared to Isaiah: “Indeed with My rebuke I dry up
the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because there
is no water, and die of thirst” (Isaiah 50:2). God articulated through
Jeremiah that a nation’s iniquities cause it to forfeit the benevolent
aspects of the natural order (5:22-25).
There is every reason to believe that God still uses natural calamities
as formative influences in the world. While punishment is certainly a
proper purpose to such discipline, the fact is that God simply wants
defiant people to repent. He gets a nation’s attention by such means to
cause the people to reflect upon their life and behavior. He
benevolently subjects them to hardship and calamity in this life to
prepare them for the life to come. The
physical suffering that anyone endures in this life is not worthy to be compared with the
eternal punishment awaiting those who leave this life in a state of rebellion against God (cf. Romans 8:18).
Sadly, few throughout history get the message. Most are like those to
whom God sent His Old Testament prophets. When the prophet Hosea
announced the judgments of God against the people as divine
chastisement, he regretfully had to report: “But they do not return to
the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this”
(Hosea 7:10). When God sent enemies against Israel, Isaiah bemoaned:
“For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, nor do they seek
the LORD of hosts” (9:13). Ezekiel described his
contemporaries as “a rebellious nation.... For they are impudent and
stubborn children” (2:3-4). Jeremiah said, “They are all stubborn
rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; they are all
corrupters” (6:28)—which brings us to America’s own spiritual condition.
If America continues down its present pathway of immorality and defiant
rejection of biblical principles, can America expect to suffer
increasing instances of natural calamities?
THE FOUNDERS AGREED
The Founders of the American Republic agreed with the Bible on this
point. They believed that while personal sin is addressed by God in
eternity at the Judgment,
national sins are punished in
time, in the course of history. The “Father of our country,” George
Washington, articulated this principle in his first inaugural address on
Thursday, April 30, 1789:
[T]here is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists
in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between
virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine
maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of
public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded
that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a
nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven
itself has ordained (emp. added).
Washington believed that God’s treatment of America
depended
on America’s recognition of His moral and spiritual principles in her
political activities. Disregarding Christian principles automatically
means that a nation will forfeit the physical blessings available
through God’s providential dealings.
Considered “The Father of the American Revolution,” Samuel Adams wrote a
letter from Philadelphia to a friend, two months before the
Declaration of Independence,
on April 30, 1776, stating: “Revelation assures us that ‘Righteousness
exalteth a Nation’—Communities are dealt with in this World by the wise
and just Ruler of the Universe.
He rewards or punishes them according to their general Character”
(2006, p. 212, emp. added). After a passionate admonition to his fellow
delegates at the Constitutional Convention to seek the favor and
guidance of God in their deliberations, recognizing His providential
kindness toward them, Benjamin Franklin insisted:
We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that “except the
Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.” I firmly
believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we
shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of
Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local
interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall
become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is
worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of
establishing Governments by Human Wisdom and leave it to chance, war
and conquest (see Farrand, 1911, 1:451-452, emp. added).
The “Father of the Bill of Rights,” George Mason, insisted to his
fellow constitutional delegates: “Every master of slaves is born a petty
tyrant.
They bring the judgment of heaven on a Country. As nations can not be rewarded or punished in the next world
they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes & effects
providence punishes national sins, by national calamities” (see Farrand, 2:370, emp. added). Delegate Luther Martin expressed the same viewpoint:
[I]t ought to be considered that national crimes can only be, and frequently are punished in this world, by national punishments; and that the continuance of the slave-trade, and thus giving it a national sanction and encouragement, ought to be considered as justly exposing us to the displeasure and vengeance of Him, who is equally Lord of all, and who views with equal eye the poor African slave and his American master (see Farrand, 3:211, emp. added).
Also speaking in the context of slavery, Thomas Jefferson warned: “I
tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that
His justice cannot sleep forever....
The almighty has no attribute which can take sides with us in such a contest” (1832, Query 18, pp. 170-171, emp. added).
The Founders went so far as to claim that the Revolutionary War itself
was, to some extent, a punishment from God for the sins of the people.
For example, on March 7, 1778, the Continental Congress issued a
proclamation to the nation in which they alluded to “the evident tokens
of his Displeasure” in permitting “the continuation of a cruel and
desolating WAR in our land” (
Journals of the...,
10:229). Their stated solution was for all Americans “to acknowledge
his righteous Government, confess and forsake their evil Ways, and
implore his Mercy” (10:229). On March 20, 1779, the Congress issued a
similar proclamation, which commenced: “Whereas,
in just Punishment of our manifold Transgressions, it hath pleased the Supreme Disposer of all Events to visit these United States with a calamitous War” (
Journals of the...,
13:343, emp. added). Again, the solution was for the citizenry to be
“sufficiently awakened to a Sense of their Guilt” and “taught to amend
their Lives and turn from their Sins, that so he might turn from his
Wrath” (13:343). The Congress felt the same way in March of 1780 when
they stated to the nation: “It having pleased the righteous Governor of
the World,
for the punishment of our manifold offences,
to permit the sword of war still to harass our country, it becomes us
to endeavour, by humbling ourselves before him, and turning from every
evil way, to avert his anger and obtain his favour and blessing” (
Journals of the...,
16:252-253, emp. added). A year later, the Congress again called upon
the nation to “confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions,
and by sincere repentance and amendment of life,
appease his righteous displeasure, and through the merits of our blessed Saviour, obtain pardon and forgiveness” (
Journals of the..., 19:285, emp. added).
Both the Bible and the Founders of the American Republic stated
unequivocally that God can and will allow natural calamities to be
inflicted against peoples who commit iniquity and allow rampant
immorality to prevail in society. Is it even remotely possible that
Haiti is experiencing this phenomenon?
SUMMARY
Make no mistake: “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son” (Amos 7:14),
and, as stated earlier, have no inspired link to deity by which to
declare
that Haiti is being punished for sin. No one
should “speak falsely for God” (Job 13:7). Indeed, Pat Robertson
misspoke when he boldly declared his assessment of the situation
(Condon, 2010). Nevertheless, the evidence demonstrates that the country
is particularly plagued by religious and moral factors among its
population that are counterproductive to a healthy relationship with the
God of the Universe. Haiti is notorious for its widespread practice of
the false religion of voodoo (Guynup, 2004). Despite a heavy historical
influence of Catholicism by way of the French colonials, “voodoo may be
considered the country’s national religion. The majority of Haitians
believe in and practice at least some aspects of voodoo” (Haggerty,
1989). What’s more, the country suffers from the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS
outside of the African continent (Craythorne, 2006, p. 102). A 1989
Library of Congress study found that “[h]omosexual activity has
contributed to the spread of AIDS in Haiti. AIDS
transmission was also related to female and male prostitution. At least
50 percent of the female prostitutes in the capital city’s main
prostitution center were believed to be infected with HIV” (Haggerty). In a recent study published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers concluded that the initial introduction of the aids virus into America came via Haiti: “HIV
went directly from Africa to Haiti, then spread to the United States
and much of the rest of the world beginning around 1969” (Avasthi, 2007;
Gilbert, et al., 2007, 104[47]:18566-18570; cf. Owen, 2006). Meanwhile
in Haiti, “[t]he average age for young people to begin sexual relations
is 12, with many young boys and girls starting to have sex as early as
eight years old” (Caistor, 2003).
In an article titled “Haiti’s Avoidable Death Toll,” George Mason
University’s Distinguished Professor of Economics, Walter Williams,
insists that the high death toll and national inability to address
domestic calamity is due to Haiti’s “self-inflicted poverty”—the result
of Marxist inspired “restrictions on economic liberty” (2010). Several
of these restrictions are rooted in moral and spiritual degradation.
Bribery and other forms of corruption are a way of life for Haitians.
Indeed, Haiti has a worldwide reputation for corruption. The Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI) measures the perceived
level of public-sector corruption in 180 countries and territories
around the world. This index is a synthesis survey based on 13 different
expert and business surveys. Haiti has been listed in the top 10 most
corrupt nations for several years, taking the top spot in 2006, the
number four spot in 2007 and 2008, and ranking 168 out of 180 in 2009
just behind Iran and eight other Muslim countries (“Corruption
Perceptions...,” 2009). Williams observes:
Crime and lawlessness are rampant in Haiti. The U.S.
Department of State website, long before the earthquake, warned, “There
are no ‘safe’ areas in Haiti.... Kidnapping, death threats, murders,
drug-related shootouts, armed robberies, home break-ins and car-jacking
are common in Haiti.” The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade warns its citizens that, “The level of crime in Haiti is very high
and the police have little ability to enforce laws. Local authorities
often have limited or no capacity to provide assistance, even if you are
a victim of a serious crime.” Crime anywhere is a prohibitive tax on
economic development and the poorest people are its primary victims
(2010; cf. “Protest Demonstration...,” 2005; “Violent Demonstration...,”
2009; “Travel Advice...,” 2010).
While it is tenuous for ignorant, limited man to attempt an overall
assessment of a nation’s spiritual condition, sufficient evidence exists
to conclude that the moral and religious conditions of Haiti are
significantly impaired and contrary to God’s Word. Since, in the words
of the Father of our country, “the propitious smiles of Heaven can never
be expected on [such] a nation,” what Haiti needs in addition to
material aid—and far more desperately—is
instruction in the moral and spiritual principles of the New Testament.
CONCLUSION
Though politically incorrect, it is high time for the peoples of the
world, from Muslim nations, Hindu nations, communistic/Marxist/socialist
nations, to animistic, superstitious nations like Haiti, who openly
acknowledge and envy America’s unprecedented wealth and progress (to the
point that many are dying to get here), to likewise understand that
America owes her incredible standing solely to the God of the Bible. He
has blessed America because her founding principles openly acknowledged
the one true God and sought to promote His religion and the moral
principles of that religion (Miller, 2008; Miller, 2009). With
widespread indications of the decline of Christianity mounting in
America, Americans would do well to face reality: the corruption,
immorality, and barbaric conditions that characterize many nations of
the world will inevitably transform our own society into a nightmarish,
immoral, social cesspool.
Do we really think that God will make an exception and exempt America
from its own collection of natural calamities? Historical evidence
exists to indicate that in 1811-1812, the town of New Madrid, Missouri
was notoriously wicked:
Though it was prosperous as a business village and trading post, its inhabitants were noted for their impiety.
All the worst elements of a frontier river town were to be found here
in this place.... History says but little about the town prior to the
earthquake, and that little is not to its credit. It is spoken of as the
favorite resort of boatmen, who spent “their Sabbaths in drinking,
gambling, and fighting.” Priest and preacher were unheard, or if they
were listened to at all, it was with the utmost indifference (Musick,
1897, p. 143, emp. added).
San Francisco at the turn of the century was also widely recognized as a
wicked city. The Barbary Coast was rampant with debauchery and every
imaginable sexual sin from prostitution to homosexuality (cf. Boyd,
2003; Asbury, 1933). [NOTE: Another striking example is the report of history that at the time Pompey was obliterated by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, its citizens were notorious for their rampant immorality (e.g., Connie Gill, 2005; N.S. Gill, 2005).]
Christians understand that no matter how catastrophic, tragic, or
disastrous an event may be in this world, it fits into the overall
framework of soul-making—preparation for one’s departure from life into
eternity. Likewise, the Christian knows that, although the great pain
and suffering caused by natural disasters may be unpleasant, and may
test one’s mettle, nevertheless, such suffering is neither
dysteleological (purposeless) nor intrinsically evil. Nor is it a
reflection on the existence of an omnibenevolent, omnipotent God.
The only intrinsic evil is violation of God’s will, i.e.,
sin (1 John 3:4). What is required of all accountable persons is
obedience to God’s revealed Word—even amid pain, suffering, sickness,
disease, death, and, yes, earthquakes.
REFERENCES
Adams, Samuel (2006),
The Writings of Samuel Adams, Volume III (1773-1777), ed. Harry Alonzo Cushing (Teddington, Middlesex: Echo Library).
Asbury, Herbert (1933),
The Barbary Coast (New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press).
Avasthi, Amitabh (2007), “AIDS Virus Traveled to Haiti, Then U.S., Study Says,”
National Geographic News, October 29, [On-line], URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071029-aids-haiti.html.
Boyd, Nan (2003),
Wide Open Town (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).
Butt, Kyle (2007),
Behold! The Word of God (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press).
Caistor, Nick (2003), “Haiti’s Aids and Voodoo Challenge,”
BBC News, November 20, [On-line], URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3280749.stm.
Carroll, Rory (2010), “Haiti Homeless Reach 2 Million,”
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The New Testament clearly states that water baptism is necessary for salvation (see 
