>> God acts in everything that happens in the world. {How to think
>> of God's "concurrence" with evil actions of people has always been
>> recognized as one of the most difficult questions of theology & I skip
>> that now!]
Rodney replied:
>I wouldn't want to tackle it either, but this is really the major point
>isn't it? If God "acts" in everything, including tornadoes, drunk drivers
>and such, then our theology can't ignore this. How can we say he
>does without a working understanding of how he does so, and yet still
>remains holy? Isn't it possible that these things just happen, and that
>God has no real involvement in them? Perhaps I've misunderstood you.
I don't have time for a long reply, but I will comment that scripture seems
quite clear in showing that God is in providential control of _all_ natural
and historical events. Plague as well as plenty, rain as well as drought,
storm, flood, and earthquake are all God's acts. God also feeds the birds
of prey and the lions (see Job). All history is in His hands - the rise
and fall of kings and kingdoms (both good and bad), war and peace. God
even is recognized to be the God of chance processes - why else the casting
of lots? (See also the account of the death of Ahab by a randomly shot
arrow.) My point here is that scripture forces us to deal with the
question of god's involvement, indeed His providential control over, events
and processes that we see as evil. We do not have the option of
attributing them to something or some person acting outside of god's
control.
Keith
Keith B. Miller
Department of Geology
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506
kbmill@ksu.ksu.edu
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/