Updated 3/14/12
It’s been just over a year since one of the largest earthquakes on record violently shook the Northeastern region of Japan.
To make matters worse, this quake sent a tsunami plowing through the coastal towns and villages along Japan’s coastal region, leaving thousands dead and many more still unaccounted for.
I’ve caught a few news outlets who have run follow-up stories and replayed some of the horrifying video footage of this brutal natural disaster as it unfolded.
It’s painful to watch — even a year later. Especially as the story went on to show how devastated this region still is…
It’s reminiscent of hurricanes Katrina and Rita… and the mark they left on the gulf coast region back in 2005. Or more recently, the wave of tornadoes that leveled portions of Alabama and Missouri.
And there seem to be stories similar to these — though maybe not to quite to the same magnitude — regularly in our world news.
In the U.S. we’ve grown accustomed to the more localized (and often smaller-scale) natural disasters… tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and flooding… all devastating in their own right… Especially for those who take the brunt of it.
But there’s typically minimal life lost… and plenty of kind-hearted people nearby who were not impacted by the natural disaster who can then step in and help out.
And before long… life is back to “normal.”
But when the natural disaster goes BIG, and the devastation reaches far and wide, we tend struggle a bit more.
And so do students.
Why did this happen?
Did God do this?
Why did God allow it to happen?
Why didn’t God stop it?
Doesn’t God care about the people of Japan (and they could easily replace Japan with a number of other regions that have been recently struck by natural disasters)?
When the stories and images of such wide-spread destruction reach our students, they struggle to make full sense of it.
They reason: if God is all-good, and God creates all things, and is all-powerful, then couldn’t God have stopped this? Is God the one to blame for all of this pain and devastation?
And they come to us in search of answers. Something. Anything.
How are we to respond?
How do we help students process the tension they have between the pain and devastation they see in our world and the all-good, all-powerful God they have heard us talk about?
Is it OK to tell students: I don’t know.
I don’t have a good answer for you.
Surprisingly, I think they might actually be OK with that answer… as a start.
One of the positive things we have going for us is that a major tenet of postmodernism is an openness to mystery, and the unexplainable.
And this includes God.
While we might feel compelled to offer up an answer for any (and every) question a struggling student might have, we need to be willing to let them know when we are unsure or simply do not know, and in turn, help them to recognize that the God of the universe is much more than we can understand or even imagine.
And while that might leave them with more questions than answers… it seems like an honest place to start a new stage of journey and relationship together.
What do you think?
- How do you help students understand God’s role in natural disasters?
- How do you talk with students about an all-loving, all-powerful God and all of the pain and destruction in the world?
- How comfortable do you feel with giving the answer: I don’t know.
Please take a moment to share you thoughts in the comment section below.
3 thoughts on “On Talking Natural Disasters & Theodicy With Students”
Thank you for posting this, Guy. In the wake of such a terrible disaster, the full toll of which is still unfolding, many students will come to ponder the existence and will of a good God in the face of human suffering for the first time. Often, this pondering will lead to a reconsideration of God’s will and action in painful experiences in the student’s own past, and can lead to despair and loss of faith, if the student’s knowledge of God cannot be reconciled in a healthy way to the current suffering of the Japanese people.
As you note, “I don’t know” is very likely the most authentic place to begin when students pose questions about how a benevolent God could allow such suffering. Disasters like this one remind us of our humanity, mortality and lack of control of the forces of the world. Responding to students’ fears with the vulnerability of a fellow human (i.e. not trying to speak for God) can be a great initial comfort that will establish a common link between us and the students.
In my opinion the next step is to emphasize the presence of God with all those who suffer, as well as with those who assist in the rescue efforts. Rescuing is godly work. Rebuilding is godly work. Surviving through the difficult months to come is godly work. Praying for all those affected is also godly work. May God be with us all.
Derek! Great wisdom in your opinion for a “next step” in this conversation/relationship. Thanks for sharing!!
Such massive destruction and tragedy demand more of the usual cry of “Where is God”. Often by religious apologists. But when such an event wipes off the face of the earth, without mercy or regard, both religious and nonreligious, atheists, agnostic, pious and impious, the good, bad and the ugly, when Faith and Fate look all too similar, one must ask what is the value of God as offered by religious tradition? And could our understanding and conception of God be so completely in error as to allow for such things to be possible? Probably so! http://www.energon.org.uk
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