Drew,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, but I am still not convinced. I accept that the ways of God are a mystery but isn’t it partly that we are too ignorant and too stupid to understand his ways? I suppose what I’m saying is that he doesn’t want to be mysterious and we would know more about the mystery if we opened our eyes? Should we know where God was in that Amish atrocity a little while back in Pennsylvania, or in the 9/11 massacre? I’ve heard it said that the devil is still a powerful force in the world and influences people to do evil things? Do you think this is right? Wasn’t he just a “bogey man” invention to frighten people into doing as they were told, usually by the church?

You pose the question “Is it OK to question when struck with suffering? ” Do you think God minds when we question what he’s doing? Is it alright to be angry at God for letting some really bad thing happen. I’ve heard of famous and devout Christians being angry at God, but I can’t remember any names off-hand. Will he forgive people who are angry at him?

Jack

Jack,

I cede your point that the ways of God are a mystery partly because we are too ignorant. The question then is, Ignorant of what? The answer to that is: the Bible. Paul gives some very appropriate words for this discussion to a young pastor named Timothy. He says, “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work ” (2 Timothy 3:14-17). In other words, to the extend that we are ignorant of the Scriptures we will be ignorant of God for in the Scriptures God has chosen to reveal himself, pulling back the curtain to allow humans to catch a glimpse at what he is up to. Furthermore, while it’s necessary to point to the Scriptures and affirm their sufficiency for informing humans about what we need to know, it’s also necessary to affirm that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9).

A Latin axiom sums this up nicely, “finitum non capax infiniti”, or the finite are not capable of the infinite. That is, because God is infinite we finite humans are unable to totally grasp him. If we were able to totally grasp who God is, then he wouldn’t be any bigger/better than us and therefore not God. It’s not that he doesn’t want to be mysterious, but rather that we’re only capable of so much. Fortunately, God has condescended to provide us sacred writings which provide us with the knowledge of how to be saved. Had he not come down to us in Jesus and the Scriptures, rest assured we would not have been able to reach up and demand anything of him. “Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth” (Psalm 135:6).

Let me also add that it’s is really easy for us to assume that we have comprehensive knowledge of a situation and quickly judge a situation as completely senseless. For example, image that you were walking through a big building and came to a private room where men dressed in all white were holding down a man and sawing off his arm. Your reaction might be to turn around and run as quickly as possible to call the police so that they can come and stop these madmen from injuring this poor man. You assume you have full knowledge of what’s happening and quickly judge that this man is being tortured. Would it inform your decision if you knew that the men dressed in white were surgeons and that the man losing his arm was in danger of losing his life from gangrene that could spread from his arm to the rest of the body? You would still cringe at the sight of pain, but you would understand what must be done.

This is a simplified example which we can easily and readily understand with just a little bit more knowledge. There are those acts, however, that cry out for justice and it seems almost impossible to see any good that could be accomplished through them, or why God would allow such events to take place. You mentioned two examples: the Amish schoolhouse shootings and September 11th. What possibly could God see in permitting the Amish schoolhouse shootings? I think there is no better place to look for such an answer than in Scripture and how Jesus responded when confronted with a similar conundrum. Luke 13:1-5:

“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

I want to cite for you at length John Piper’s commentary on this passage of Scripture in relation to another tragic event in the family of the Amish schoolhouse shootings and the tower of Siloam, the bridge collapse in Minneapolis on August 1 of this year. Note:

“Jesus implies [in the above passage] that those who brought him this news thought he would say that those who died, deserved to die, and that those who didn’t die did not deserve to die. That is not what he said. He said, everyone deserves to die. And if you and I don’t repent, we too will perish. This is a stunning response. It only makes sense from a view of reality that is radically oriented on God.

All of us have sinned against God, not just against man. This is an outrage ten thousand times worse than the collapse of the 35W bridge. That any human is breathing at this minute on this planet is sheer mercy from God. God makes the sun rise and the rain fall on those who do not treasure him above all else. He causes the heart to beat and the lungs to work for millions of people who deserve his wrath. This is a view of reality that desperately needs to be taught in our churches, so that we are prepared for the calamities of the world.

The meaning of the collapse of this bridge is that John Piper is a sinner and should repent or forfeit his life forever. That means I should turn from the silly preoccupations of my life and focus my mind’s attention and my heart’s affection on God and embrace Jesus Christ as my only hope for the forgiveness of my sins and for the hope of eternal life. That is God’s message in the collapse of this bridge. That is his most merciful message: there is still time to turn from sin and unbelief and destruction for those of us who live. If we could see the eternal calamity from which he is offering escape we would hear this as the most precious message in the world.”

I have to admit that I have often thought that Jesus was merely side-stepping the question people really wanted to know amidst (seemingly) senseless tragedy. What people really want to know is why does such and such happen, but Jesus spins the event around and poses a penetrating proposition to each of us that unless we repent, we will likewise perish. The tragedy becomes a teaching moment and a moment in which to point people toward both their sinfulness and exhort them to throw themselves upon the mercy of God in whom alone rests salvation. Jesus turns the question around not to avoid answering it, but to shake the listener awake (the megaphone we talked about in the previous email) and address the more pressing issue: the eternal destiny of those who are still alive and the necessity to repent or perish. Jesus was capable of explaining to his listeners the mystery behind the events that took place, but he didn’t; rather he ultimately pointed people to God. Therefore, seeing that I am considerably less capable than Jesus, I will do the same.

Finally, you ask if I think God minds if we question what he’s doing. I think he minds if we question in an attitude of pride that questions because we think we know better than God. This is foolishness. The one knowing little questioning in pride and mockery the One knowing all! However, if the one knowing little, questions in an attitude of submission and humility, I believe it pleases God to see faith seeking understanding. It should bring one closer to God through prayer and studying the Bible. Also, considering Piper’s comments above, what right does the one knowing little have to question the One knowing all? I would be very careful about being angry with God for anger toward him could be a sign of rejecting him altogether, which is the only unforgivable sin.