THE THEOLOGY OF NATURAL HAZARDS

Many Christians feel that natural hazards are tools of the devil. But I disagree. After all the Apostle's Creed of the Presbyterian Church, starts with "I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth..." which would seem to include things like earthquakes, hurricanes, volcano eruptions and the like. Stanza 3 of the Presbyterian Hymn “All Things Bright & Beautiful” mentions the "winter wind," after "The Lord God made them all." They say that it is an ill wind that blows no good. Perhaps, but the good of the winter wind eludes me. Off hand I can't think of anything good that comes out of winter wind, except if you are in a warm home when the winter wind blows outside to give you a cozy feeling. There are hymns that mention earthquakes (and not as some instrument of the devil).* And of course, the Bible uses earthquakes to even do good such as Acts 16:25-34 where an earthquake opens the prison doors where Paul and Silas were held.


Such devastating things as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, lightening, floods, and the like do have interesting effects as many people are likely to stop being mean to each other and respond to the damage done by these natural hazards (loss of life and injuries in addition to massive loss of things) with sympathy and positive actions. For awhile a large group of people around the globe respond positively to natural hazards in contrast to a smaller group of looter's, traffickers, etc. It even happens in "man's inhumanity to man" such as 9/11 (but alas not as much for refugees in a time of war). At times I think that God gave us these natural hazards to distract us from our meanness to each other and intended for us to use our brains to figure out ways to overcome these obstacles. Unfortunately, the distraction isn't as much as might be hoped.


I have noticed those who are exposed to a variety of natural hazards have a certain vitality. The poster child of what I am talking about is Japan which experiences earthquakes, volcanism, typhoons, tsunamis, and landslides, among others. They pretty much have it all. This island country about the size of California has few natural resources, many of which are pretty well used up. There is no reason for Japan to be a prosperous country except that they will it so. They are indeed an impatient people which led them into WW-II. But they now realize they can achieve their goals by peaceful means. It is just amazing that Japan has the second largest economy in the world. And speaking of California, it too has many different kinds of natural hazards and is probably the most vital of American states.


Yes, every dark cloud has a silver lining or at least nearly so.

Sometimes natural hazards do have some positive outcomes even today. For example after the great Indonesia earthquake in 2004 and in addition to the massive outpouring of sympathy and aid from around the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake):
The hardest hit area, Aceh, is considered to be a religiously conservative Islamic society and has had no tourism nor any Western presence in recent years due to armed conflict between the Indonesian military and Acehnese separatists. Some believe that the tsunami was divine punishment for lay Muslims shirking their daily prayers and/or following a materialistic lifestyle. Others have said that Allah was angry that there were Muslims killing other Muslims in an ongoing conflict.[95] Women in Aceh required a special approach from foreign aid agencies, and continue to have unique needs.

The widespread devastation caused by the tsunami led the main rebel group GAM to declare a cease-fire on December 28, 2004, followed by the Indonesian government, and the two groups resumed long-stalled peace talks, which resulted in a peace agreement signed August 15, 2005. The agreement explicitly cites the tsunami as a justification.[96]

* The modern Presbyterian hymn "God of the Sparrow" in verse 2 starts out: "God of the earthquake God of the storm ..." (The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Sons: Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1990).