(Editor’s Note: This is the final of three special opinion pieces by ABP Senior Columnist Jim Denison on Pat Robertson’s comments about the Haitian earthquake disaster. The first was published Jan. 14, and the second on Jan. 15. Denison’s regular FaithLines column will continue to be published every other Monday, with the next column scheduled for publication Jan. 25.)
By Jim Denison
“Think of our new village here as the home of Jesus Christ, not the scene of a disaster. Life is not a disaster. Life is joy! You don’t have food? Nourish yourself with the Lord. You don’t have water? Drink in the Spirit.”
This was the Sunday message of the Rev. Joseph Lejeune in Port-au-Prince, shouted over a loudspeaker to the grieving Haitians gathered around him. The New York Times recently described the vibrant evangelical community on the island, rallying their people in prayer and worship. Caught in one of the worst natural disasters in human history, they are seeking ways to glorify God and spread his grace.
Why did God allow this tragedy? As we noted in previous columns, the Haitian revolutionaries’ alleged 1791 pact with the devil stands on historical foundations that are ambiguous at best. But what about the larger theological question: Does God use natural disasters to judge and punish sin? Whatever we believe about the 1791 revolution, should we see the January 12 earthquake as a manifestation of divine wrath?
I don’t think so, for three reasons.
First, divine judgment in Scripture is preceded by clear warnings. There is no question that God sometimes uses disasters to punish sin and accomplish his will. The Flood, the Exodus, and the plagues described in the book of Revelation come immediately to mind. But each followed warnings to those who would face such judgment.
Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” (II Pet. 2:5) for the century it took him to build the ark, calling the people to repentance before it was too late. According to Jewish tradition, he told the people that he was making an ark to save himself from the coming flood, but the people “heeded not his words, they mocked at him, and used vile language; and Noah suffered violent persecution at their hands.”
Moses likewise forewarned Pharaoh about the coming plagues (Ex. 7-11); Revelation warns the world of the wrath to come at the end of history. I know of no one who claims that God sent specific prophetic warnings to the nation of Haiti preceding the January 12 earthquake.
Second, God judges sin when it happens, not two centuries later: “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezek. 18:4). There have been seven major earthquakes in Haiti preceding the January 12 disaster: in 1860, 1770, 1761, 1751, 1684, 1673 and 1618. Note that six of them came before the alleged 1791 pact with the devil. By contrast, God “saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become” (Gen. 6:5) and brought the Flood against them. The Exodus plagues punished Pharaoh, not his descendants generations after his persecution of the Jews.
Last, theologians typically grant miraculous status only to events that defy natural explanation. The earthquake in Haiti was magnitude 7; there are 12 to 15 earthquakes of such power each year around the globe. The Haiti earthquake was caused by movement between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. By contrast, there is no natural explanation for the global Flood or the parting of the Red Sea as described in Scripture.
The crushing poverty that has plagued Haiti for centuries has clear natural and historical causes. When Columbus established the first European colony in the New World, Old World diseases killed many of the Arawak Indians on the island. Others were enslaved or murdered, to be replaced by African slaves. By 1789, 32,000 whites ruled 500,000 slaves. A succession of despots, dictators, military coups and foreign interventions have plagued the nation ever since.
We can speculate about God’s role in allowing the earthquake in Haiti, but we cannot speculate about our role in responding. Paul instructs us to “mourn with those who mourn” (Rom. 12:15). Scripture promises, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done” (Prov. 19:17). John asks, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (I John 3:17).
There is a rabbinic story about a man who complains to God about the disasters and disease plaguing the world and asks, “Why don’t you do something about all the problems we’re facing?” God responds, “I was just about to ask you the same question.”