God
Natural Disasters
and Suffering
Why Natural Disasters?
• Why are there hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis,
tornadoes, floods, etc. all around the world? Why so
much suffering?
• This is one fundamental argument raised by the
atheist: If God is good and loving why does he create
or allow evil and suffering in the world?
• We must be ready to give an answer (apologetic) for
the hope within us (1 Pet. 3:15)
Richard Dawkins and the Haiti
Earthquake
“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, sinfree 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” (“Hear the Rumble of Christian
Hypocrisy,” The Times Online, January 29, 2010; quoted in
Reason and Revelation, March, 2010)
Why Natural Disasters?
• What about suffering that is the result of physical,
natural forces? Free will can explain the presence of
moral evil (suffering) in the world, but how do we
explain the suffering that comes from natural
disasters?
• All physical, natural evils (suffering) are ultimately
the consequence of sin (a free-will decision of Adam
and Eve): sin distorted the physical, natural world
Why Natural Disasters?
• First, there is the regularity of natural law without
which there would be chaos (Gen. 1:1; 8:22)
• Second, there is the freedom of man’s will (Gen. 2-3)
• Third, there is the principle of pain leading to good
(Job 23:10; Jn. 9:3)
• Fourth, there is the principle of the interdependence
of life (Ex. 20:5)
Physical Suffering and Mankind
• Some physical suffering comes to us directly or
indirectly from our own free choices
• Some physical suffering comes to us directly or
indirectly from the free choices of others
• Some physical suffering comes to us as by-product of
other good activities
Natural Disasters and Our Earth
• In the beginning, all creation was good (Gen. 1:31;
Jas. 1:17)
• The earth was cursed after sin (Gen. 3:17;
Rom. 8:19-20); sin was punished with a flood which
in turn altered the earth (Gen. 6-7; 2 Pet. 3:6)
• Natural disasters may have started after the flood
due to climate / temperature / surface changes in
the earth (Gen. 7:11; Psa. 104:6-10)
Natural Disasters and Our Earth
• God created an earth to be inhabited
• First, God created an earth governed by natural laws
(gravity, inertia, etc.); the same natural laws govern
geological / meteorological conditions
• Second, natural disasters can be a by-product of
something that itself is good (rain [flood, drown], or
hot/cold [tornadoes], fire [burning], earth,
[volcanoes]); natural phenomenon may have byproducts that are good (lightening, volcanoes)
Natural Disasters and Our Earth
• Third, natural laws are both inviolate and nonselective: all must obey them or suffer the
consequences (Lk. 13:5)
• Fourth, natural laws are not arbitrarily suspended by
God because it would lead to (1) the disruption of
the regularity of natural law and (2) the removal of
the responsibility of human free-will choice
Natural Disasters and Our Earth
• Natural disasters, including earthquakes and
volcanoes, can have a positive effect on the earth
• Some people ignore the warnings of nature and are
harmed by natural disasters
• Some “acts of God” like floods and forest fires are
really “acts of man”
Natural Disasters and Our Earth
• God controls nature’s elements (Deut. 11:17;
Job 9:5-6; 37:11-14; 38:34-38; Psa. 42:7; 89:8-9;
107:25-26; 148:8; Isa. 50:2; Zech. 10:1; Mt. 5:45;
Ac. 14:17)
• God upholds nature’s elements (Col. 1:17;
Heb. 1:3)
• God cares about his natural world (Lk. 12:6-7)
Natural Disasters and Punishment
• Many, like Pat Robertson, get in trouble when they
go on recorded saying that a particular disaster is a
particular punishment from God for a particular sin
• It is true that natural disasters have been used in
Bible times as punishment for sin (Mt. 24:7;
Rev. 6,8-9,16)
• Miraculous “natural” disasters were used by God as
punishment (Gen. 19; Ex. 7-11; Num. 16; 1 K. 17;
Jonah 1)
Natural Disasters and Punishment
• Many natural disasters today may be the direct
activity of God in punishing a people (Job 37:13;
Jas. 5:17; Amos 4:7-8), or they may be the work of
Satan (Job 1:13-19)
• Since we do not have inspired prophets to interpret
today’s natural disasters as the work of God or Satan,
then we must be careful in assigning these disasters
to them as forms of punishment; we can say maybe,
but nothing more
Natural Disasters and Humanity
• We are given an opportunity to help others
(Prov. 19:17; 21:13; 28:27)
• We are given an opportunity to turn to God and
become a better person (Job 23:10)
• We are reminded of the frailty and brevity of life, and
that this world is not our home; there will be no
suffering due to natural disasters in heaven
(Heb. 11:13-16; Jas. 4:14; Rev. 21:3-4)
God, Natural Disasters and Suffering
• Those who suggest that God did not create the best
possible world need to tell us how they would
improve upon the world we have. Let them tell us!
• We need to remember that man’s knowledge is
limited (Isa. 55:8-9; Prov. 14:12; Rom. 11:33-36)
• We need to remember that man’s conception of
what is “good” is often mistaken
• God gives us the best possible world to live in