Class!

There were some present at that very time who told him of 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 thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo’am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down'” (Luke 13:1-9 RSV).

There, the Christian perspective on how the hand of God functions in tragedies as well as why said tragedies occur. That wasn’t too hard.

It’s the old Problem of Evil repackaged as if no one has ever thought of it before. In my experience, when you put the Problem of Good out there, then you really see the “we’re all alone” view look like so much chopped liver.

She does bring up a valid point, though her tone could have been a little more conciliar, rather than declaring unequivocally that believers have no explanation. As apologists, we shouldn’t be afraid to delve into why we attribute benevolence to our loving Creator. I had the same questions when I was a self-proclaimed agnostic. When the tsunami in Southeast Asia killed hundreds and thousands of people, I remember one young man (the lone survivor in a family of twelve) asked why did God spare him? Whenever I stub my toe on something, I usually have the audacity to beckon to God, “How in the heck could you possibly allow this misfortune to happen?” Always been a ‘glass is half empty’ kind of guy. Please pray for me.

Hold on there Matt…she’s asking the same question that went through my head when I heard about the Buffalo crash. If one reasons that it was an act of Providence that spared the lives of those who were rescued from the Hudson River landing–if those people were saved (not in the Christological sense, har, har)because God placed pilot Chesley Sullenberger right there and then–because there are no accidents, then one may wonder the reason why those 50 people on the Buffalo flight were placed then and there by the same hand of Providence, no?!