23rd October, 2010

THE QUESTION:

PAUL VOGT, of London, asks: How did the Fall crack the tectonic plates which caused the Haiti earthquake?

     Romans 8: 20 and following explains that disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis are ultimately caused by the Fall when it says that "the creation was subjected to frustration". Creation is described as being "in bondage to decay". Paul says that "the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time". In other words, not only did the Fall introduce moral decay and spiritual and physical death, but it also caused a break in the physical fabric of the universe. This break led to all manner of imperfections, such as cracks in the earth's plates, meteors, asteroids, death stars(!), which lead to the natural disasters with which we are so familiar.

     Paul argues right through Romans that since the Fall, sin has utterly corrupted mankind and the wrath of a holy and offended God is against us. This we can understand and defend. For example, our natural moral sensitivities scream out at the horrors caused by man on man. Such reactions that we have help us to appreciate Paul's arguments, and indeed, we use such reactions in our attempts to persuade others of the reality and danger of sin and their need of the Saviour.

     What is difficult to comprehend is that the Fall has caused the physical corruption of creation such that even the earth's plates were bent out of shape by man's rejection of God.

     For a start, it causes a huge problem for young earth creationists. When exactly did the plates break apart? It would appear that the cracks needed millions of years to form. These cracks had to happen after the Fall to make sense of the argument. Where I can just about cope with the concept that God created what appears to be an old earth, this offers no explanation for the post-Fall cracks in the earth.

     But it also causes a problem for the majority of Christians, who, like me, muddle along in a Creation/Evolution fug. We come up with comments such as:
• "God used evolution to create the world", or:
• "God might have created the world in six days or a billion years, but either way He is the creator" or:
• "Such an amazing universe has to have had a designer behind it - the chances of it just happening are too great".
      Such comments have the merit of diluting the argument against the Gospel on the basis of evolution, but they lack any credibility in the face of natural disasters. I dread the question, "so if God created the world, how come the earth's face is cracked?‚ While I can immediately turn to Romans 8 and explain that the Fall completely destroyed the creator-created, sustainer-sustained relationship with God, there seems to be no credible answer to the question "How?"‚ for all the obsessively science-hungry questioners that we are faced with.

THE ANSWERS:

Dr MICK POPE, a meteorologist who is completing a degree in theology and a leader in Ethos Environment, a think tank for ETHOS: EA Centre for Christianity and Society for Australian Evangelical Alliance, answers:

The Fall describes humanity’s declaration of moral autonomy from God. The curse of life outside of God’s ideal includes a struggle with nature and each other, death and alienation with God (Genesis 3-11). The groaning of creation described in Romans 8 should not be identified with natural processes like earthquakes but describes a world when humanity as “the image of God” has abdicated its place as rulers of creation under divine tutelage. The world waits for our full revealing as God’s children through Jesus Christ, the true image of God.
      Plate tectonics, volcanism and earthquakes are all evidence that planet Earth is dynamic and alive. The same processes that occasionally can generate these catastrophic events help maintain the Earth’s magnetic field that keeps the solar wind from blasting our atmosphere away (as has happened to Mars). Similar ambivalence can be demonstrated with any number of naturally occurring processes. Thunderstorms may cause forest fires and electrocute people, but they also fix nitrogen, provide much needed rain and can drive the planet’s global weather patterns.
      So-called ‘natural disasters’ were sometimes signs of God’s judgement in the Old Testament, but these were always accompanied by a prophetic pronouncement before the event, nothing like the post facto judgmentalism that followed the Haiti earthquake. In response to such events our call is always to bind up, heal and love.

Sight columnist NILS VON KALM answers:

Why must we assume that it was the Fall that cracked the tectonic plates? Genesis says that God created the world ‘good’ but not ‘perfect’. Why not perfect? Well, what if God wants us to participate with Him in the ongoing creation? God told Adam to name the animals and to subdue the earth. The fact the earth needed subduing suggests God gave us the privilege of participating with him in the creation. Additionally, many scientists argue convincingly that life on earth would probably not have originated without plate tectonics.

     Romans 8 does not necessarily explain that the creation’s groaning is a result of the Fall. Rather, Paul alludes to the anticipation of the new creation. Jesus’ resurrection is the forerunner to the new creation to come. Therefore everything we do now matters. Our acts of care, for both people and the rest of creation, will have their place in the new creation at the end of all things.

     Regarding Haiti, the death toll is testament that it is often the poor who are forced to live in vulnerable places. The Christchurch earthquake was just as powerful but no one died, probably in part because they had better infrastructure.

     Ultimately there is mystery. C.S. Lewis once said that when we face God we will say “oh, now I understand”.

Now it's your turn to join in - what do you think? Have Your Say on the issue below...

MORE OF LIFE'S TOUGH QUESTIONS click here...