Question about Natural Disasters
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whirlingmerc
Puritan Board Sophomore
We live in a sin broken world, so natural disasters still go back to moral rebellion against God.
Does disaster come upon a city unless the Lord has done it. Amos 3:6
In the brokenness of the world the moral causes of the disasters may be very far removed from those who the disasters touch as far as cause.
A baby might experience a bad situation and have nothing to do with the cause.
A restraint or discipline would not be an evil and so Jonathon Edwards family can experience tuberculosis or small pox and talk about 'kissing the rod'
Some things like blindness, Jesus said of one case, happened for the glory of God and not because of sin
Does disaster come upon a city unless the Lord has done it. Amos 3:6
In the brokenness of the world the moral causes of the disasters may be very far removed from those who the disasters touch as far as cause.
A baby might experience a bad situation and have nothing to do with the cause.
A restraint or discipline would not be an evil and so Jonathon Edwards family can experience tuberculosis or small pox and talk about 'kissing the rod'
Some things like blindness, Jesus said of one case, happened for the glory of God and not because of sin
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Peairtach
Puritan Board Doctor
Yes. The Bible calls natural disasters, accidents, sickness, trouble, and all sorts of "bad things" evil or evils. Check out a concordance. These are not moral evils, which are sins against God, by fallen men and devils, but have been imposed on the creation by God and are, also, part of His providence, to remind us that we have sinned and to chastise or punish us, to teach His elect to embrace the Gospel and persevere in sanctification. See e.g. Genesis 3 and Romans 8.
A lot of/most Reformed and other Christian people correctly make this distinction. If e.g. you fall ill it is an evil, but it is not an evil as in a sin. If you steal something from a shop it is an evil in the sense of a sin.
If you're accidentally hit by a car, that is a non-moral evil too, but these aren't usually called natural evils because unlike sickness, earthquakes, etc, they don't involve the natural world. Such things could maybe be called non-natural evils/calamities of God's providence (?)
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Since the original post was about natural disasters, a few kinds of those would be tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos. I don't understand how these have "moral causes". Could you explain?
The word "evil" occurs in the Bible over 600 times. That would be a big list to look through. Could you instead provide some specific examples, especially with regards to natural disasters mentioned in the original post?
TheOldCourse
Puritan Board Sophomore
Such "disasters" are usually in Scripture associated with the wrath of God against sinners. They have moral causes in that God visits such judgments upon the earth on account of man's sinfulness.
Peairtach
Puritan Board Doctor
You could also use a topical index or a lexicon, available online, if that would be easier.
E.g. Deut 31:17; Psalm 90:15; Isaiah 45:7.
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Does this mean that "natural disasters" only occur against sinners?
What about the book of Job where the start of the book gives the record of God's conversation with Satan, and the resulting disasters / "evil" against him?
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a natural disaster is. In the part of the world I live in a volcano exploded about 5000BC. And then a different one exploded in 1980 and 57 people were killed. Is one classified as a natural disaster because people were killed and the other is not? Is that what makes it "evil"?
I looked up evil in a concordance and I came across Isaiah 45:7. In the KJV, Isaiah 45:7 says, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." The "evil" that is spoken of in this verse has to do with calamity.
Psalm 90:15 says, "Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil." Affliction would be a kind of evil.
Peairtach
Puritan Board Doctor
No. Natural disasters and other evils like car accidents can happen against saints, too. But these evils are turned to our chatisement and sanctification by God, and lead to eternal good. E.g. The fact that saints have to go through death is for their sanctification.
If there are no humans around when a natural disaster occurs it isn't a natural disaster or natural evil to us, but it may be to e.g. a family of racoons.
Why are natural disasters and all the other pains and troubles of this life called evils in the English language and in the Bible, along with sin being called evil? You'd have to study the word "evil" in English and also, again, in the Biblical languages. The etymology of "evil" in English, Greek and Hebrew.
As Christians we would say that all the pains and troubles of this life, and natural disasters and natural evils can be traced back to moral evil or sin. But that may not necessarily be the reason why they're called evil/evils.
The answer may be that the word "evil" means a "bad thing" in two senses. A bad thought, word or action, or a bad occurence.
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