The Killing of Reverend Fred Winters

The killing of the Reverend Fred Winters is another evidence of the excess of evil that prevails in our world today. Winters was a Southern Baptist minister and the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Maryville, Illinois. He was killed on Sunday, March 8, 2009.

Winters was killed by Terry J. Sedlacek, a 27-year-old man from Troy, Illinois who, according to a news report, suffered bouts of erratic behavior caused by Lyme disease. While Winters was preaching at the early Sunday morning service, shortly after 8 a.m., Sedlacek entered the sanctuary, exchanged a few words with Reverend Winters, then fired a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol four times. Winters, 45, and the father of two daughters, died of a single shot to the heart.

Winters came to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church in 1987. At that time the church had an average attendance of 32 people during Sunday worship. Today the church has about 1,200 members with three worship services on Sundays.

This tragic death was unnecessary and reflects the contempt and disrespect that some people have for human life. Many people in our society today do not understand that God values human life and that God has established laws that protect human life.

God values human life because every individual was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Since every person bears God’s image, the killing of one person is an affront to God.

The sixth commandment is a prohibition against the willful and deliberate taking of a human life: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). This commandment concerns the taking of our own and our neighbor’s life. Killing is never right, but the sixth commandment does not forbid killing in war, in self-defense, not even when the state puts a criminal to death. What the commandment forbids is taking life out of malice, hatred, revenge, anger, or any reason that results from human interaction.

As tragic as the death of Reverend Winters was, this is not the first time nor it will be the last time that such an event will take place. Killing inside a church or a temple has happened before and it will happen again.

When Solomon tried to kill Joab, the commander of the Israelite army, Joab, fearing for his life, “fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar” (1 Kings 2:28). The tent of the Lord was a place of refuge and safety. But Solomon, when he was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and had taken refuge beside the altar, ordered Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, to go inside the Lord’s tent and kill Joab (1 Kings 2:29-34).

Zechariah, son of Jehoiada and the prophet of the Lord, was also killed in the temple. When Zechariah stood before the people and told them about their rebellion against the Lord, the people, by order of king Joash, stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple (2 Chronicles 24:20-22).

Even the king of Assyria was killed in the temple while he was worshiping his god. According to 2 Kings 19:36-37, after King Sennacherib of Assyria left Judah and returned to his palace in Nineveh, “as he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat.”

How can we explain the death of Reverend Winters? Seeking to understand what had taken place, Nate Adams, Executive Director of the Illinois Baptist State Association, said:

“Our great God is not surprised by this, or anything. That He allows evil and free will to have their way in tragedies like this is a mystery in many ways. But we know we can trust Him no matter what, and draw close to Him in any circumstances.”

Adams’s statement can be one reason why someone may choose not believe in God, but the presence of evil in the world is a good reason to believe in God, since the existence of evil also presupposes the existence of good, for God is good (Psalm 73:1).

It is evil that unhinges human beings into committing the kind of atrocity that took the life of the Reverend Winters. When that kind of evil happens, nothing can be controlled and nothing can be understood, thus our search for answers when at times answers cannot be found.

Evil is the result of human sin but only people who believe in God can truly understand the awful nature of sin and that the consequence of sin is the suffering of the innocent. This is the reason there are laws, both human and divine. Law is the process by which God and human authorities try to ratify the crooked effects of the madness of evil.

When human laws and divine laws fail to establish a society in which people live under the law, the result is the triumph of evil and the imposition of the will of outlaws.

It is in the arena of good and evil where we find God. However, people who do nor fear God may not fully understand that evil is a consequence of their rejection of God. Paul said that people who not acknowledge God do things that should not be done. They are filled with evil. They murder, they are heartless, ruthless, and inventors of all kinds of evil (Romans 1:28-31).

God and God’s people are in no way strangers to the horrors of evil. Jesus suffered by the hands of evil men (Hebrews 13:12). Jesus also said that his disciples would be persecuted (John 15:20). In the list of faithful people in Hebrews 11, we find many who suffered for their faith. These were the people who “were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented” (Hebrews 11:35-37).

Evil is a reality in the world and the death of Reverend Winters is evidence of the reality of evil. People try to understand the presence of evil in the world, but the reality is that alone, human beings cannot understand the problem of evil. It is only when people and God fight together against evil, that goodness can happen. If a person walks alone, then evil becomes incomprehensible, understanding fails, and fear and horror triumph. Alone, a person cannot hold the key that unlocks the mystery of evil.

The explanation of this paradox, how can evil exist in the presence of a holy God, is only explained when one walks with God. People will escape from the depths of despair and the horrors of evil if they walk in harmony with God.

Under his light everything becomes clear. As Jesus said: “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will” (John 13:7).


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Evil, Fred Winters, Murder, Ten Commandments, Theodicy

The Death of Lazarus and the Problem of Evil

The B&H Publishing Group of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention has published the Apologetics Study Bible. This Bible contains more than 100 articles and other features designed to help believers defend the Christian faith. One of the articles in the Apologetics Study Bible deals with God and evil. The article was written by Gregory E. Ganssle who is on the faculty of the Rivendell Institute for Christian Thought and Learning in New Haven, Ct., a special project of the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry at Yale University.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Today, the most important form of the argument against the existence of God from evil is called the "evidential argument from evil." The one who presses this argument admits that the existence of God and the reality of evil are not logically incompatible. The argument is that the amount and the kinds of evil we find in the world is strong evidence against the existence of God.

Even though it is possible that God has a reason to allow the evils we find in the world, it does not seem likely that there are good reasons for some of the evils we see. We cannot prove that there is no good reason, but if we have lots of cases in which it seems as though there is none, we will conclude that there probably is no good reason to allow these evils. If it is true that probably there is no good reason to allow these cases of evil, then it is probable that God does not exist. This argument is called the "evidential argument" because we cannot prove that there is no good reason to allow the particular evils we are thinking about. These evils do, then, look like good evidence that God does not exist.

In order to begin to answer this argument, we must think about the claim that it is probable that no good reason exists to allow the evil in question. Why should we believe this is true? The one who puts this argument forward will appeal to cases of evil in which it is difficult to find a reason that might fit. Does this mean we ought to conclude that it is probable that there is no reason? No.

The reasoning here goes as follows: It seems like there is no reason to allow this evil; therefore, probably there is no reason to allow it. Sometimes this kind of reasoning is strong and other times it is weak. Let me illustrate. The argument is of the form: It seems like there is no x, therefore, probably there is no x. The Bible has numerous cases where one could mount this argument. Let's take the case of Lazarus's death in John 11. Lazarus was likely in the prime of his life. He's a good man and a close friend of Jesus. Lazarus becomes ill and dies. The citizens of his village, Bethany, could see such an evil and after three days of mourning come to the conclusion that there is no reason for this. Therefore, God doesn't exist. Then Jesus comes to Bethany. Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, chastise Jesus for not getting there sooner. As we read John's account, we see that unbeknownst to Mary and Martha, Jesus had reasons for delaying. Moreover, there were reasons Lazarus was permitted to die in the prime of his life. When Jesus arrived at Lazarus's tomb, He prayed and then called Lazarus to come out of the tomb four days after his death. The reason for Lazarus's sickness, death, Jesus' delay and Lazarus's resuscitation was that God's glory might be seen.

Some of the citizens might have thought they had a strong case against the existence of God the three days after Lazarus died. But subsequent events place the evil of Lazarus's death in a much different context. In light of this context, Lazarus's death is seen to be part of a much greater good than anyone in Bethany could imagine.

After I read the article in its entirety, I came to the conclusion that Ganssle’s argument taken from Lazarus’ death is very helpful to believers but it will not convince atheists and other non-believers. Let me share a personal experience.

Many years ago when I was in seminary, a young seminary student was killed in the prime of his life. He was in his mid-twenties and fresh out of college. He came to seminary because he was called by God into the ministry. A few weeks after arriving on the seminary, he became pastor of a small rural church. One day, while helping repair one of the church’s buildings, he was killed in a tragic accident. How can one explain the death of a young man who came to seminary in answer to God’s call? In this case, since there was no resurrection (not yet, anyway), no one saw the glory of God and no one found the greater good in this death. The purpose of his death remains a mystery. People still continued to believe in God even when they were unable to explain the reasons for his death.

As a believer, I can affirm that sin has affected God’s creation and human depravity causes most evil and suffering in the world. I can also accept the fact that no human being can understand the reasons for every evil, calamity, and suffering in the world. Believers can accept the reality of God and the existence of evil. The presence of evil in the world is no reason to deny the existence of God. As Jesus said: “You do not understand what I am doing now, but later you will understand” (John 13:7).

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Death, evil, Lazarus

Is God Good?

A few days ago, I was talking to a good friend who is facing a very tough time in life. This friend is facing pain and sorrow, doubts and uncertainty. My friend is one of those individuals who has experienced profound distress because of events that cannot be controlled.

During the conversation, my friend told me: “I am beginning to doubt the existence of God. If God exists, then he is not good.” Only a person who has gone through the valley of deep darkness and experienced extreme suffering could speak these words.

Is God good? The Bible affirms the goodness of God: “No one is good-- except God alone” (Luke 18:19). “God is truly good to Israel, to those whose heart is pure” (Psalm 73:1). The Bible also declares that all that God has made is good: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

The words of my friend reminded me of an article written by Martin Buber, “The Heart Determines: Psalm 73.” In his article, Buber deals with the perplexing condition faced by the Psalmist and how God deals with the issue of injustice. The question asked by the Psalmist was “Why are these bad things happening to Israel?” The Psalmist’s question led him to the conclusion that God was not good to his people.

Only a person who does not know God intimately can even think that God is not good. Those who know God intimately also know that God is good. In the depth of his heart, the Psalmist knew that God was good to those pure in heart, but in his desperate condition, the Psalmist believed he was not experiencing God’s goodness and concluded that God was not good.

A careful reading of Psalm 73 reveals that the heart determines whether God is good. As Buber wrote: “The state of the heart determines whether a man lives in the truth, in which God’s goodness is experienced, or in the semblance of truth, where the fact that it ‘goes ill’ with him is confused with the illusion that God is not good to him” (p. 110).

The word “heart” appears six times in Psalm 73 (vv. 1, 7, 13, 21, 26 [2x]). Since the heart determines whether God is good, as Buber wrote, the word “heart” becomes the key to understanding the experience of the Psalmist and the answer he offers at the end of his ordeal.

Many issues can bring an individual to the brink of despair. In the case of the Psalmist, it was the prosperity of the wicked. Buber wrote: “Seeing the prosperity of ‘the wicked’ daily and hearing their braggart speech has brought him very near to the abyss of despairing unbelief, of the inability to believe any more in a living God active in life” (p. 111).

The Psalmist expressed his personal struggle as follows:

No doubt about it! God is good—
good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
looking up to the people
At the top,
envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
not a care in the whole wide world.
Pretentious with arrogance,
they wear the latest fashions in violence,
Pampered and overfed,
decked out in silk bows of silliness.
They jeer, using words to kill;
they bully their way with words.
They're full of hot air,
loudmouths disturbing the peace.
People actually listen to them—can you believe it?
Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.
What's going on here? Is God out to lunch?
Nobody's tending the store.
The wicked get by with everything;
they have it made, piling up riches
I've been stupid to play by the rules;
what has it gotten me?
A long run of bad luck, that's what—
a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.
If I'd have given in and talked like this,
I would have betrayed your dear children.
Still, when I tried to figure it out,
all I got was a splitting headache...
Until I entered the sanctuary of God.

“Until I entered the sanctuary of God.” The Psalmist learned what many other believers have discovered in their personal struggles: that prayer and worship change the way people look at the problems of life.

The Psalmist’s discovery that God was good came at the end of his struggle. He had gone through a difficult time and he almost fell victim to the doubts that weakened his faith. But he held to his faith and integrity, notwithstanding all the circumstances in his life that served to test his faith in the goodness of God.

In his distressful situation, my friend can only see evil and wrongdoing. My friend experiences pain and suffering and this situation has caused my friend to lose confidence in God as a good God, a God who is wise and just. It is in times like these that people begin to doubt that God is really active and present in one’s life.

People deal with problems in different ways. Believers find answers to their problems as they live in fellowship with God. It is in worship that believers recognize the constant presence of a loving and caring God. But life is not easy; life is tough. At times it is difficult to understand the mysteries of God’s purposes or discern the meanings of his work in human events.

I cannot explain the reasons my friend is experiencing such a difficult time. In the midst of all this perplexity I can only affirm that God is good. My friend should remember that the God who delivered and helped in the past is the same God who wants to help and save in the present.

God is good. This was the reality the Psalmist experienced as he discovered the power of faith in God. It was that faith that helped him transcend his problems so completely that he learned to survive his doubts and overcome all problems in his life.

God is good. In times of doubt and despair the struggling soul must remain confident that God is a caring and compassionate God. Anyone who draws near to God with a pure heart discovers, as the Psalmist did, that God is good.

Reference:

Martin Buber, “The Heart Determines: Psalm 73,” Theodicy in the Old Testament, ed. James L. Crenshaw (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983) 109-118.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Evil, Martin Buber, Psalm 73, Suffering

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina has inflicted the kind of human suffering that is hard to express with words. Katrina produced so much suffering and misery that people feel lost and disconnected. In the midst of the tragedy in New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama, people have asked many times: where was God in all of these events? Why did God allow these things to happen?

A few days ago, I heard a commentator on National Public Radio giving his views on events that followed Katrina. He was in a restaurant when he saw a couple holding hands to give thanks for their meal. In their prayer, the couple gave thanks to God for the food they were about to eat and for the many blessings God had bestowed upon them. Then, the couple prayed for the people suffering in New Orleans. They asked that God would provide them with food, help, and comfort.

The commentator asked himself: “What kind of God is this who blesses this couple but did not bless the people of New Orleans? What kind of God would give food to a middle class couple but would deprive thousands of poor people of food? I don’t want or need this kind of God.”

These were harsh words. How can we understand what happened in New Orleans and yet believe that God is good? For us to understand the tragedy of New Orleans, first, we must understand the nature of the God of the Bible.

The Bible says: “The Lord your God, is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13). This description of God shows him to be a God who has a deep concern for needy people, just as parents are compassionate toward their children.

The goodness of God toward human beings is affirmed throughout the Bible: “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:9). The Bible also teaches that God loves us with a special love, since we are the work of his hands. The mercy of God, as displayed in his work of salvation, is manifested to those who are in distress and to those who are afflicted and in need of help.

Another fact that we must grasp, if we desire to understand the tragedy caused by hurricanes, is the reality of sin. In our days people don’t like to talk about sin; they don’t even want to discuss the possibility that sin is present in the world. But sin exists and every human being is a sinner. Because we are sinners, we also have to acknowledge that we live in a world that has been corrupted by sin.

When God created the world, he saw all that he had made and “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). But sin affected the original creation of God, and earth came to be under a curse. The prophet Isaiah wrote: “Earth is polluted by its very own people, who have broken its laws, disrupted its order, violated the sacred and eternal covenant. Therefore a curse, like a cancer, ravages the earth. Its people pay the price of their sacrilege. They dwindle away, dying out one by one” (Isaiah 24:4-6).

The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina seems to be inconsistent with the fact that God is loving, good, and merciful. God did not create a world in a degraded condition. The reality of sin has caused the corruption of nature and all of us who live in this world groan as a result of the sinfulness of human beings.

Sin has polluted earth and has subjected the whole creation to corruption and degradation. Today evil and misery prevail and we, together with the whole creation, are witnesses of what sin can do to God’s good creation.

The whole creation is in a state of degradation. The apostle Paul speaks of the redemption of creation: “Creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:21-22).

This is why the Bible says that at the second coming of Christ there will be a new heaven and a new earth. On that day of redemption, creation will be delivered from the degradation that affects every living thing in this world. Thus, when Jesus comes, creation will be restored to that ideal condition that existed when God created all things. Creation mourns because our sins have defiled God’s good creation, but God’s grace will bring healing to his creation.

But, how about Hurricane Katrina? Jesus said that before the coming of the last days there would be signs in the skies. He said: “And there will be strange events in the skies–signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And down here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. The courage of many people will falter because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, because the stability of the very heavens will be broken up” (Luke 21:25-26).

The roaring seas caused by hurricanes create anguish because people know the devastation a hurricane produces. Jesus said that roaring seas and strange tides are signs of the last days. However, if Hurricane Katrina caused all this agony today, what will happen when the seas and winds roar with much greater force before Christ’s second coming?

Jesus spoke of coming distress here on earth. He said people will faint with fear and trembling when disaster strikes. But when disasters happen, it does not mean that God has lost control over His creation. Some people believe that these natural events demonstrate that God is not in control of his creation. But in natural disasters we learn how devastating is the consequence of evil.

When confronted with the problem of evil and the pain and suffering associated with it, our greatest comfort is to discover that in Christ we meet a God who suffers with us, for us, and because of us. God is not indifferent to the hurt of the people: “I weep for the hurt of my people. I am stunned and silent, mute with grief” (Jeremiah 8:21).

The real answer to tragedies such as Katrina is the cross of Calvary because there our pain and suffering meet divine love. There, as we look at the one who was an innocent sufferer, we hear the words that bring healing to our broken hearts: “I care.” Jesus’ loving care is expressed in the poem written by Frank E. Graeff:

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained,
Too deeply for mirth and song;
As the burdens press and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

O yes, He cares; I know He cares,
His heart is touched by my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.


Other Posts on Hurricane Katrina:

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The Looting of New Orleans


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Evil, Flood, Judgment, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disaster, New Orleans, Pain, Suffering

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

The destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina has devastated thousands of lives in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Despair and hopelessness are present in the lives of those people most affected by the storm. The effort at helping the victims to deal with the emotional crisis caused by this tragedy shows the compassion of the American people. Most of us will never be fully aware of the hidden tragedies faced by the thousands of people affected by Hurricane Katrina. One question lingers: where was God in this tragedy?

The Bible says that God is good and that he has determined things that will come to pass. The Bible also teaches that in His sovereignty, God controls all things in the world He created. But if God created all things, then is God the author of evil? In other words, how can evil exist in the good world that a loving and caring God has created? How do we justify the evil, suffering, and pain caused by Hurricane Katrina? These questions are related to the issue of “theodicy.” In dealing with the problems of evil and suffering, theodicy is an attempt at justifying the goodness and righteousness of God in the face of evil in the world

Several answers have been proposed to explain tragedies such as Katrina. Some people believe that after God created the world, God established permanent laws, which we call the laws of nature, and allowed the created order to work by itself according to these laws. Under this view, God is separated from the world and exercises limited powers over the created orders and is bound by the laws He established in the beginning.

Those who accept this view believe that the world functions like a machine that has been set in motion and cannot be stopped. Thus, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina is part of the laws of nature God set in motion in this inflexible system in which the natural laws cannot be changed. Under this view, God gave nature independence and power and placed nature under inflexible laws, and then left the world and allowed nature to function by itself, devoid of divine direction.

Another view has been developed by Gregory A. Boyd, in his book God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1997). Boyd said that natural disasters are caused by the work of an evil agent whose work is to inflict evil and suffering upon the world. According to Boyd, “the earth is virtually engulfed by cosmic forces of destruction, and that evil and suffering are ultimately due to his diabolical siege” (p. 55). Boyd concludes that even though the Book of Genesis emphasizes that creation is good, there is evidence in the structural foundation of the cosmos that demonstrates open hostility against the creator. Because of spiritual rebellion against God, creation has fallen into a state of war against God and it is expressed in the Old Testament by the personification of the hostile waters (p. 85).

This cosmic struggle means that something about the environment of the earth was and still is hostile toward God and toward human beings. John Levenson, in his book Creation and the Persistence of Evil (San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1988), has taken a similar position. He says that although God has mastery over these forces of chaos, “creation itself offers no ground for the optimistic belief that the malign powers will not deprive the human community of its friendly and supportive environment” (pp. 47-48). For Levenson, these adversarial forces were not vanquished in primordial times, but continue to pose a challenge to the creator. Thus, as in the days of Noah when a flood destroyed the world, the destructive force of Katrina came as a defiance of God, not as a manifestation of God’s will.

A third view is that God is limited in what He can do. Harold S. Kushner, in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People (New York: Schocken Books, 1981), said that we cannot ask God “to change laws of nature for our own benefit, to make fatal conditions less fatal” (p. 116).

According to Kushner, people cannot pray for the impossible or the unnatural. He also believes that pockets of the chaos present in Genesis still remain today. Events in nature follow fixed natural laws but once in a while events happen that follow outside of the natural order. A hurricane does not reflect God’s choice. Hurricanes happen at random and this is another form of chaos. Thus a hurricane is not “the will of God, but represents that aspect of reality which stands independent of His will, and which angers and saddens God even as it angers and saddens us” (p. 55).

A fourth view accepted by many people is that the hurricane was a punishment of God upon the sins of the people of New Orleans. In the same way that God punished the generation of Noah with the great flood and punished the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with an earthquake, God was punishing the people of Louisiana (or our nation) for their sins.

The Old Testament teaches that natural disasters can be understood as punishment for sins against God. In his prayer at the dedication of the temple, Solomon gave several reasons for people praying in the temple. In his prayer to God, Solomon said: “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and . . . when famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers . . . and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act. When they sin against you–for there is no one who does not sin–and you become angry with them and if they have a change of heart . . . and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly;’ and if they turn back to you . . . then from heaven . . . hear their prayer and their plea, and . . . forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you” (1 Kings 8:35-50).

Natural disasters can be understood as divine punishment. But how should we understand what happened in New Orleans and the communities in the Gulf States? The arguments presented above may be valid ways of understanding the devastation caused by Katrina, but are these views the right answer to what happened? I believe there is another way of understanding the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Next week I will present another way of understanding the work of God and the tragedy caused by Katrina.


Other Posts on Hurricane Katrina:

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The Looting of New Orleans


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Evil, Flood, Judgment, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disaster, New Orleans, Pain, Suffering

The Looting of New Orleans

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina was worse than projected. The graphic images of people struggling for survival are heart-wrenching. The destruction of the communities along the Gulf Coast is overwhelming. People everywhere have been touched by the suffering, the despair, and the depth of misery faced by the victims of Katrina.

One sad thing in this wretched situation was the inadequate preparation of local, state, and federal agencies to deal with the situation. After disaster struck, the governmental agencies were ill-prepared for the unprecedented chaos that followed. If one lesson can be discerned from this tragedy, is that the local, state, and federal governments must learn how to prepare better for emergencies, those created either by natural events such as Katrina or by man-made catastrophes caused by terrorists. We were caught unprepared on 9/11 and in New Orleans. The lessons taught by the chaos in New Orleans should be learned, discussed, and incorporated into any planning for future emergencies.

The devastation left behind by Katrina created what an editorial in The New York Times called “a total breakdown of organized society.” As a result of the lawlessness in New Orleans, the city descended into a condition that can only be classified as anarchy. Women are being raped, citizens are being attacked, people are being killed, and groups of destructive individuals are plundering stores and ransacking homes already devastated by the storm.

In the chaotic situation that followed Katrina, people were taking food, water, medicine, and clothes from stores. When men, women, and children are confronted with the pains of hunger and thirst, people will forgive those who are forced to commit larceny just to survive. But when armed marauding mobs go on a rampage and loot stores for plasma televisions, arms, jewelry, and other things that are not a necessity for survival, people cringe.

The seeds of violence and anarchy seen on the streets of New Orleans were planted long ago by people who reject the notion that moral values should be taught in school. To many people, the notion of morality has to do with poverty, homelessness, AIDS, racism, and other social evils. The truth is, none of these social evils should exist in our country. Americans are a compassionate people, willing to help the needy in our midst.

The moral values that change people come from another direction. The Bible says: “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild” (Proverbs 29:18). The same Hebrew word translated “run wild” also can be translated “become ungovernable.” This verse in Proverbs expresses the truth that when people do not live by God’s Word they cast off restraint, and this is what is happening in New Orleans.

Walter Kaiser, in his book Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), commenting on this passage in Proverbs said: “Can we in our day and generation recognize that the very same results come from biblical and theological illiteracy? Surely, there is deep concern about a society that seems to have lost its moorings. Our cities and towns have become more like human jungles in which we devour each other for little or no apparent reason. Only a word from God can save us from the path of self-destruction that we seem to be on” (p. 78). Kaiser also said: “The price for allowing a famine of the word of God to fester is that an outbreak of evil appears in almost all the other areas of life” (p. 82).

What word from God can “save us from the path of self-destruction that we seem to be on?” How about some of the words found in the Ten Commandments? But some people in our society do not want our population to hear the words of the Ten Commandments. In the debate about the Ten Commandments people ask: which version should we teach: the Catholic, the Protestant, or the Jewish version?

The fact is, when it comes to “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15), this commandment is in all three versions. The same is true with ”You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20:17). The commandment dealing with coveting is concerned with the actions of the heart and mind, those actions that lead to the possession of that which does not belong to one’s self. The prohibition against coveting another person’s property is intended to prevent envy, greed, or lust, the kinds of behavior that lead to abuse and crime.

How unfortunate that our society has lost those principles that made our nation great. The desire to possess what belongs to another person cannot be regulated by the government or be enforced by the good will of human beings. The truth of the Commandment against coveting can only be inculcated in the hearts of people when the Commandment is taught and learned.

Terence Fretheim in his book Exodus (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1991) wrote: “Only God can look upon the heart, can observe the presence or absence of obedience within the human spirit. In the commandments one has to do most basically with one’s relationship with God. Or to put it in other terms, sin against one’s neighbor is not simply an interhuman matter. It involves God, and the passion with which God can respond is soon to be noted” (p.239).

There is no other solution to the looting of New Orleans. Unless our hearts and minds are transformed by God’s Word, the looting will go on until we learn that we do “not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).


Other Posts on Hurricane Katrina:

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The Looting of New Orleans


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Evil, Flood, Judgment, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disaster, New Orleans, Pain, Suffering

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

Hurricane Katrina has struck the Gulf Coast area with a destructive force never seen before in our country. Fellow citizens everywhere join in prayer and solidarity with the people of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana in their hour of need. Thousands have been touched by the power of this storm. The loss of lives and property is beyond understanding. The pain and suffering caused by Katrina cannot be expressed in simple words.

The media has provided a great service by giving the people of the United States and the world graphic views of the devastation caused by Katrina. Reporters risked their own lives to bring live pictures during and after the onslaught caused by Katrina. One reporter on Fox called the aftermath of the devastation “a natural disaster of biblical proportions.” A reporter on CBS called the devastation “apocalyptic” while another reporter on CNN, with tears in her eyes, said that she had seen “Armageddon.”

It is not surprising that members of the media are using biblical terminology to describe what is happening in these three southern states, for their descriptions of what is happening is very close to the biblical events that are behind the words they use.

For instance, when the reporter spoke of “a natural disaster of biblical proportions,” his words may be a reference to the great flood that happened in the days of Noah (Genesis 7), to the destruction by fire of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), or even to the ten plagues that afflicted the people of Egypt during the Exodus (Exodus. 7-10).

When the reporter described the destruction caused by Katrina as “apocalyptic,” he was referring to the events that will happen in the last days before the second coming of Christ. These events are mentioned in the book of Revelation. The word “revelation” is a translation of the Greek word apokalypsis. The English transliteration of the Greek word is “apocalypse” and the adjective is “apocalyptic.” The apocalyptic disaster is described in detail in Revelation 15:1-16:21.

When the reporter saw the devastation caused by Katrina and said that she had seen “Armageddon,” she was referring to the battle of Armageddon, the final battle between the forces of good and evil that will happen in the last days (Revelation 16:16). In popular usage, the word Armageddon has become a reference to the catastrophes that will happen on earth near the end times. The word also refers to any great loss of life caused by natural disasters or wars.

The most amazing thing about those reporters who used biblical terminology to describe the devastation caused by Katrina is that most of them probably had no idea of the biblical context behind the biblical terminology. Here is why: what is the common theme behind “a natural disaster of biblical proportions,” “apocalyptic,” and “Armageddon”? The answer is: judgment!

The flood came as a result of the sins of the generation of Noah’s day. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of the immorality of the people who lived in those two cities. The plagues came as a judgment on Pharaoh and his people because of the oppression of the Israelites. The battle or Armageddon and the plagues of the book of Revelation will come as part of the final judgment upon the people who refuse to abandon their sins and acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

Did the reporters say that Katrina was sent by God to judge a sinful city? I doubt it. They probably were just using words they learned in their studies. I am sure they did not see Katrina as a divine judgment upon the city of New Orleans.

There is a lesson for us here. The lesson we learn from this is that people must be careful about how they use words. A word spoken at the wrong time can be as sharp as a sword. The wise man said: “Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing” (Proverbs 12:18).

So, where was God in this tragic event? Next week I will discuss how natural events such as a hurricane can exist in this world created by a loving and caring God. Until then, let us pray to God and ask for grace and strength for those who are suffering because of the devastation caused by Katrina.

Other Posts on Hurricane Katrina:

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 1

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 2

God and Hurricane Katrina - Part 3

The Looting of New Orleans


Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


Tags: Evil, Flood, Judgment, Hurricane Katrina, Natural Disaster, New Orleans, Pain, Suffering