Natural disasters- Does permission equal causation?

nvrgnbk

For believers:

Does an omniscient God's permission of the loss of human life due to natural disasters imply some sort of negligence?

If God possesses the power to prevent suffering, but chooses not to, what reasonable explanation can be offered?

Undecided

Haven't you read the first few verses of Nahum?

It explains all the differeent natural disasters and then says,"Who can stand against his indignation? and abide in the fierceness of his anger? his furry is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him."

Yep, he's mad at mankind and you better watch out.

Ken P.

nvrgnbk

Thanks, Undecided.

So one Biblical explanation is that God actually claims responsibility for them, as a form of castigation.

Any other explanations for why an all powerful being would permit thousands of unsuspecting humans to be violently extinguished?

UnConfused

nvr - are you sitting in judgment of God?

Fadeout

It is said in the Bible that God makes his sun shine on the righteous and wicked alike.

I'd think the same thing could be said about his tsunamis and asteroids.

nvrgnbk

nvr - are you sitting in judgment of God?

Not at all.

Just asking sincere questions.

Are you sitting in judgment of me, Unconfused?

You've been taking not-so-subtle jabs at me for a few days.

easyreader1970

JW explanations:

1. This is not Jehovah's fault. Everything was hunky dory before Eve listened to the serpent.

2. Sure, he could have just killed off Adam, Eve, and even Satan. But the other "myriads and myriads" of angels would have seen this act. Jehovah would only be proving that he was all powerful, not wrong in creating stupid humans. To prove humans were not a failed experiment, he had to prove over time that they would worship him, in spite of the fact that he himself had cursed them.

3. Jehovah's allowing for thousands of years of human suffering is logical because it allows more and more people to come to know him.

Re: 1

It's funny how sometimes Jehovah doesn't have a clue what is going on. Being all powerful and all knowing, shouldn't he have already known that there was a bad seed in his heavenly realm? Why did he allow them to disturb his creations? And so he allows Satan to disturb his creations, his creations fail the test, and it's suddenly the creations' fault and they and their offspring (who weren't even there at the time) are punished for all eternity.

Re: 2

I have problems with this one. Jehovah has personally ordered the killing of millions of people following this event. Why would two more killings have made a difference?

Re: 3

This logic is bad. For every one person that becomes a Witness, there is some ridiculous number of people that come into existence that will never be witnesses and Jehovah will systematically destroy them all at Armageddon. Why not stop the madness early and save those billions of deaths? Wouldn't that be more loving?

er

BurnTheShips

It seems to me that God is omnipotent in theory, but not in effect.

easyreader1970

The JWs say that Jehovah is like a man listening to the radio. He can choose to turn the radio on to see what's going on in the news or he can choose not to. The Jehovah deity can know the future and everything about the present. He just chooses not to at times.

It's sort of like he has a cheat code.

er

snowbird

I would answer both questions with a resounding No!

God has a timetable for everything and He doesn't have to reveal His schedule to us.

For millenia, distressful situations such as the ones in Chile, China, and Myanmar have caused people to question God.

I recommend Job's attitude to all concerned. From The Message Bible:

Job 42:1 -6 Job answered God : "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything.
Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, 'Who is this muddying the water,
ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?' I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me,
made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, 'Listen, and let me do the talking.
Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.' I admit I once lived by rumors of you;
now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I'm sorry—forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise!
I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor."

Sylvia

Natural disasters- Does permission equal causation?

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