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Today, two weeks after the Newtown Tragedy, I welcome Pastor T.E. Hanna as a guest blogger to reflect on the Sandy Hook shootings and to tackle a few tough faith related questions.
T.E. Hanna is currently completing his final term as a Masters of Divinity student at Asbury Theological Seminary. In addition to his studies, he serves the church in two roles: as Senior Pastor at one location and as Director of Student Ministries at another. Follow his blog at OfDustAndKings.com or connect with him on Google+.
The God Who Wasn’t There: Answering The Newtown Tragedy by T.E. Hanna
Since December 14, when the unimaginable horror of the Sandy Hook shootings first reverberated throughout the news media worldwide, people have gathered to mourn, to cry, to rage, and to question. The very attempt to make sense of such an insensible atrocity seems an effort in futility, yet the following days would be marked by a news media consumed with just that. Sometimes, the answers just aren’t there.
As much as we wish to know why, for many of us the questions run even deeper. After all, we serve a God who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and good. Surely, if God is all-knowing, then He knew this tragedy was about to take place. Surely, if God is all-powerful, then He had the capacity to stop it from happening. Surely, if God is good, then He must have felt compelled to stop that man from walking into an elementary school with an arsenal, and systematically executing innocent children. So then, why did this take place? Somehow, in light of the suffering born that day, the standard response that “He has a plan” seems to fall short and rings hollow.
I don’t pretend to know why this happened. Some things are too big for mere mortals to grasp. However, as I slowly recover from the shock, I find solace (and, perhaps, a few answers) from remembering the following truths about our world, our God, and who we are called to be:
- We live in a broken world. This is at the heart of our faith. In the beginning, when God created all things, He created them and declared them to be “good.” It was in the garden where this created order became usurped, as the archetypal couple chose to know not just good, but evil as well. Thus, evil was invited into creation, and brokenness marred our world. The first result was murder – fratricide, even – as Cain chose to execute his own brother. Evil is a part of our world. Sandy Hook was an expression of evil.
- We worship a broken Lord. The God we serve does not separate Himself from our suffering. Rather, He entered fully into it. The moment of our redemption came not in spite of evil, but because of it. Jesus was betrayed, abandoned, illegally arrested, secretly tried, grotesquely tortured, and then executed in agonizing fashion despite being declared innocent. It was evil that put Him on that cross. Jesus suffered at the hands of evil. We, who experience evil now, do not suffer alone.
- Brokenness brings redemption. It is a marvelous thing that this man who raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, cleansed the lepers, made lame men walk, cast out demons, and healed women with chronic blood issues, also rose from the dead Himself. This was more than an animated corpse – this was a complete transformation into a glorified body. And yet, in spite of this glorious transformation, He still bore the scars of His crucifixion. It is these very scars we now look at and see as beautiful, for it is “by His stripes we are healed.” The same principle holds true in our own lives. Our ability to act as healers in a broken world most often flows out of our own ragged scars.
- Brokenness is temporary. Pain is not the final picture. Just as evil was never an intended part of the created order, neither is it permanent. The time will come when this dualism will be divided and judged, when brokenness will be made whole, and when evil and pain will be replaced with laughter and peace. This may provide little comfort in the immediate, but what it means is this: we live with a glorious hope.
So where was God in Newtown? I believe God was there in the midst of it. I believe He was with the teachers, who embodied the fullest picture of love as they sacrificed themselves for their children. I believe He was with the children, cradling them in His arms as they faced the darkest moment of their lives and, for many of them, welcoming them Home. I believe He was with the parents, the survivors, and all the victims who now face a long road ahead of them. I believe He is still with them, seen or unseen, offering comfort in the midst of grief.
And, I believe He is with you and me, walking with us as we struggle to make sense of the insensible, calling us to give life to our scars, and inviting us to become agents of healing in a world that is so evidently broken.
Want to read more of T.E. Hanna’s theological insights? Check out his blog at OfDustAndKings.com: reflections on God, His Kingdom, and what it means to be human or connect with him on Google+.
Holly Michael's Writing Straight 
“Pain is not the final picture. Just as evil was never an intended part of the created order, neither is it permanent”
Nice point. Our eternal perspective shall remove our vision from worldly suffering to see a Celestial City beyond our temporal existence. God is wonderful that He should love us so much.
Thank you for you points-of-view.
@emanatingjoy
Rick
Thanks Rick!
I’ve often wondered if the hope we have of a redeemed creation would be nearly as meaningful had we not experienced the realities of living in a broken one. Joy and love is so much sweeter when we understand the pain of hatred and evil.
Thanks Rick!
I’ve often wondered how well we can truly appreciate the hope of a redeemed creation without experiencing the stark realities of living in a broken one.
Sorry for the double post, I didn’t realize my first post was awaiting approval! Oops!
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Good points. I had similar thoughts, though yours are probably more coherently laid out. 🙂
http://thatsajennstory.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/the-slaughter-of-the-innocents/
Very well written! I’m looking forward to having you back over at OfDustandKings by the way! I enjoy reading what you write. I posted a video by Mike Huckabee which basically said the same thing you did if you want to check it out:
http://inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com/2012/12/17/where-was-god-in-the-newtown-connecticut-shooting/
Hi Austin!
I actually saw when you posted this, as I was poking around on ICB a few days ago when they published my article on sacrifice. I haven’t had an opportunity to sit and watch what he had to say, though. I’ll have to go check it out! Thanks!
Awesome post. Such a tragedy. I can’t even begin to imagine what the people of Newton are going through. Thanks for sharing.
God bless,
Darlene
I believe God was there to take care of the souls of the children who were slaughtered. Many people ask where was God and why did he not stop it. Why should God stop anything coming down on our heads anymore? He is not allowed in schools, on our street corners, in our court rooms. His word is not even allowed in most churches anymore, replaced by politically correct versions of man. People often cry in America now days when they see judgments coming down on us. The children were being spared, while the people were being judged for our sins. Where was God on 9/11 or during Hurricane Katrina was asked during those events too? The ones in the astrodome during Katrina was some of the most vile human beings imaginable. Rapes, assaults, murders, and drugs abuse was not uncommon in the dome. God protected any true christians in those atrocities. He was kicked out of public life and because of our sin lifted the hedge of protection we enjoyed for so long. As more time goes on, the more wicked people get, the more people forsake God in response to his wrath, the more unimaginable the judgments and wrath become.
Hi James!
I think you expose a fair point in the cultural tendency to seek to remove God from the public sphere, contrasted with the equal tendency to question His seeming lack of involvement when these type of horrors take place. Certainly, there is a double standard at play.
I wonder, however, if we don’t draw into question the character of God when we begin to attribute occurences such as this to His wrath. After all, if sin is really the central issue, why punish the children? If the argument is that those children were immediately ushered into heaven and therefore “spared”, then how do we think about the children who survived and are now dealing with the psychological trauma of the horrors they witnessed?
No, I am far more apt to attribute this atrocity to the very real existence of evil in a broken creation. NT Wright makes a powerful argument in his book “Evil and the Justice of God” where he suggests that, really, the core issue in scripture is how evil infected a “good” creation and what follows is God’s response to it. While we certainly see judgment in the midst of this, the grand climax is the extension of mercy to that that same sinful creation – mercy extended because God took that judgment upon Himself. It was from the cross where Jesus called for forgiveness for the very ones who crucified Him.
Just my thoughts.
God has always allowed wicked men to do his will. You can see that in the story of the Babylonian Exile and how God used Babylon to bring his wrath down on Israel. God does know hearts and understands that tougher times are coming. The children he knew could not stand what was coming he spared. The ones who could he allowed to go through what they went through to strengthen them later in life. This is a spiritual war and the devil is getting so much more in control over the hearts and souls of humans that even children are being seriously effected.
The tribulation is coming and that will be a time of unequaled evil that ever was or ever will be. To say that God is not allowing these things to happen as part of judgement or wrath is to call in question the character of God as well. If we do not question who God is, how will we ever know him.
God was not punishing those children. He was sparing some, and giving the survivors something to grow strong for in the future. Some will overcome their obstacles and be strong christians during the tribulation, some will not overcome it. The ones who do not overcome it do so because they chose not too, not because they cannot. I do believe the parents and the nation are being punished though. We plan to home school our children because we do not feel that a godless and anti-family organization called public schools should indoctrinate our children. The parents who sent their children off to public school like that should have thought of the spiritual and physical dangers of schools before sending their children off to them.
Jesus did die for everyone but we have to accept his gift to receive it. I do appreciate getting to talk with you on here. I hope all is going well for you, take care and God bless.
Beautiful post. Thank you!
It’s a really good interpretation of the tragedy that occurred….God is most definitely in the midst of his suffering people…Diane
Beautifully written TE. Thanks for weighing in on this important topic.
Very well said. Wish this would be what is reported in the media! Encouraging.
That’d be nice. Thanks for comign by and reading TE’s posting.
Great points you make T.E. in this post. While it sometimes is hard to swallow what happened in Newtown, I have no doubt God was there. To say otherwise is to say that God is not truly omnipresent.
I like your point about Jesus having the scars on His glorified body. What is more amazing than the fact that the scars were still upon His body, is the fact that Jesus chose to let those scars remain! As He chose to die on the cross, He chose to bear the scars of what what was done to Him on His body.
The scars of Jesus are like an open letter to first the Apostles, and then the rest of us…see what I have done for you, understand how much I love you. If I have done this for you, I will never leave you.
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This is very nicely done and well written. However I do have one question for you.
“Pain is not the final picture. Just as evil was never an intended part of the created order, neither is it permanent”
To me, part of your reaction to this was a reminder that Christ showed that the pain and suffering in this world is not permanent and that a newly restored world will someday come about where none will suffer.
If I have read this correctly then let me now ask, who enters into heaven and do any become condemned to hell?
I ask because if this applies only to Christians then it still seems that there is a problem that is deeper than the one of why a good, moral, omniscient, omnipotent God allows evil in this world.
There is then the question of why, when God knew that Adam and Eve would sin and the perfect world he created be broken, did he choose such a method of repair and redemption in which not only would many, and possibly most, people would not only suffer greatly in this world but continue to suffer in the next?
Just FYI, I am on vacation and access to the internet is rather random. Should you choose to respond please be patient if it takes me a bit to respond back. I am interested in your answer though because, as I said, you wrote one of the better Christian responses and I also appreciated your response to my blog on this tragedy.
This is a great question, and one that is often troubling to many Christians as well. I don’t mean to hijack Holly’s blog by linking back to one of my own articles, but I think the question is bigger than what I can fairly deal with in the limitations of a comment response. So, here is my take on hell:
http://ofdustandkings.com/2012/03/14/hell-doctrine-of-a-loving-god/
Sorry Holly. I don’t mean any disrespect by linking to my own blog here. If you see it as a breach of etiquette, feel free to remove the comment.
No problem. I appreciate your thought inspiring comments.
Since I started on this blog I thought it best to respond on this one too.
I appreciate the link to your blog and, as usual, find it an intelligent and well written one, and one that is concerned about how the God of the Bible and Christianity works in the world. However, I am afraid I still have some issues with this concept.
Let me respond by quoting two sections of your blog on Hell.
“That dark part of ourselves is slowly becoming exposed to the light of Christ, and if we participate in the work that God is doing in us, we discover ourselves slowly being moved from selfishness to self-less-ness; from people of pain to people of love.”
“If we take this same idea, and expand it to eternal implications, we wind up with two very polarized communities. One such community is marked by transformation, made up of people who have yielded themselves to the life-altering power of the Holy Spirit, and together have formed the citizenry of a godly kingdom whose central defining element is love. On the other end of the spectrum, we find those whose desire for personal autonomy over and against the life-sustaining power of the Holy Spirit results in a kingdom whose citizenry have instead become consumed by their own darker natures. Such a kingdom would be an eternal witness to the depths of horror humanity is capable of. When the separation of the citizenry takes place at the final judgment, the kingdom of outer darkness, fueled by our own inner darkness, would rightly become an existential hell.”
In reading this I find myself still left with one question and two questions/observations.
1) Are Christians – those who accept Christ – the only ones who are “moved from selfishness to self-less-ness; from people of pain to people of love”?
I have known many Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, Atheists, etc who are selfless people, loving and giving. From this blog I would get the impression that such people do not exist.
2) You seem to be acting upon the basis that there are only two possibilities – either a person is a selfless and loving person and that can only come about from a belief in Jesus and God or that they are unbelievers of some type and therefore are “consumed by their own darker natures”.
What about a third possibility (and possibly more) of those who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus or even in the existence of God and who are also though good people who care for others and who have sacrificed of themselves for others? What community do they go to – can they go to the heavenly one or are they condemned to the hellish one even though they did not act selfishly in this life and cared and loved and helped others in this life?
3) This still does not seem to get to the heart of the matter. God created the system knowing how it would work out. He knew that Adam and Eve would fall and mar his perfect creation with sin. He also knew that most people would not know of him and of Jesus’ power of redemption.
Given this knowledge, why set it up so that anyone would suffer for eternity, even if the hell they are suffering is of their own making?
Thanks for your patience and I hope that you do not feel me to be abusing it. I do tend to keep conversations going when I am enjoying them as I am this. I also, I admit, have a failing (well, more than one, but only one is relevant here) – I have a decided tendency to have the last word.
In my defense i will say that it is usually not with the intent to “win” but out of rather bizarre sense of politeness. It would be rude to ignore someone talking to me. It would also be rude to not respond honestly and openly. This sometimes causes me to carry on conversations for too long.
Let me also be up front with any reading this, I am an atheist. However, i am not doing this with the intent of trolling but for a more Socratic reason, to challenge beliefs and thinking – both of the reader and also, more importantly, my own. It is why I enjoy reading well written and thought out works that present ideas and views different than my own.
For what it is worth, on two atheist facebook pages I am on I do the same in regards to many of their comments on Christianity and Islam, and religion in general. In fact, some believe me to be a closet theist of some sort or other.
Anyway, thanks for your patience.
Hi Befuddled!
I’m going to respond to these three points – again, I think they are highly valid questions – but let me begin with two observations. First off, these are BIG questions. Any response to these made here will be cursory at best, and understandably incomplete. I will attempt to offer a decent gloss, but be aware of the limitations in this space. I may actually take some of these questions and offer a deeper response in individual article later on – if I do, I will respond here with a link to those articles as well, if Holly gives permission. Secondly, the nature of these discussions inevitably expands exponentially – one response triggers several questions; the response to those questions trigger several more questions to each response, etc. etc. If that happens here, I would rather take those questions and build an article series rather than increasingly lengthy and involved comment responses. Having said that, here are my thoughts…
1. Are Christians the only ones “moving from selfishness to self-less-ness”?
I am what is labeled a “soft inclusivist” in theological circles. That is, I believe salvation (which I define as freedom from our own darker natures, ie sin) is the result of relationship with Jesus Christ and the inner working of the Holy Spirit. This is different than accurate theology. In fact, I believe that a person can be completely wrong about their theology, and still respond to the saving grace of Christ. In other words, salvation comes from submission to Christ in a relationship context, NOT BY BELIEVING “CORRECTLY”. This is not a new view, and is faithful to Scripture and Christian orthodoxy. If this is an accurate interpretation, it extends to those outside the Christian tradition who may still respond to the saving grace of Christ within their own context. Granted, I very firmly believe that Christianity has the best understanding of God and humanity, but I also think that God is much bigger than the box we try to put Him in.
As a secondary note by way of clarification, I am not arguing that only Christians have goodness in them. Rather, I am suggesting that EVERYONE has both good and evil in our being. I believe that grace is what allows us to grow in the direction of selflessness. Without it, I believe we slowly become more inwardly focused as a natural part of human behavior. An eternity of this development one way or the other yields those communities I discussed earlier.
2. I think I dealt with this above… it is not accurate theology that saves, it is responding to the grace of Christ which allows us freedom to become all that we were intended to be.
3. Why set it up so that anyone would suffer for eternity, even if the hell they are suffering is of their own making?
The classic response to this is “free will”, but that often rings hollow if it is not unpacked further. The central attribute of God is love. The central driving force of “love”, then, is to be poured out upon a beloved. It is as “the beloved” that we were created.
There is a second attribute to love, however. Love desires to be loved in return. Additionally, the interesting thing about love is that it is only meaningfully returned when it is freely given. Thus, free will requires the capacity to reject that relationship. This is what we see in the Adam and Eve story… and I think that story is designed to be reflective of all of us. We are left to choose our future, and God allows us that choice.
I also need to mention that there is a difference between omniscience (all knowing) and predestination. It is possible for God to know the future without removing our abilities to choose. I will be dealing with this more fully in another post.
Feel free to respond and ask anything, but I will most likely respond to anything further by arranging some blog posts to interact with them in more depth.
Thanks for your response here T. E. Hannah. And I must agree with you that this is spiraling into more and more questions that involve more and more detailed responses. For the most part I will just wait for your next articles on some of these issues and respond to them then. Let me though just, quickly (at least for me 🙂 make a few comments.
1) I am glad to see you taking a more inclusive view of salvation and not going strictly by theology. The strict theological position, in my view, is impossible to reconcile with a moral God.
By this I understand that you look at behavioral changes such as a concern for others, working to help those less fortunate, love for their fellow humans, and so forth rather than intellectual allegiance to a set of theological beliefs. Although you believe Christianity best exemplifies this, by these standards a Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, etc could also then wind up in heaven.
If I am incorrect in this, please let me know.
2) As for free will and predestination that is not my main point on this one. Whether God predestines it or not, something is causing that person to behave in such a way that God can predict that person’s behavior. God is not forcing the behavior, but since he knows all of the elements that go into that person’s personality and the influences now being brought to bear on that person than he know what that person will do in any given situation.
If so, then can a person be truly held responsible in the sense of being eternally sentenced to Hell?
A couple of questions may suffice to illustrate what I mean:
– Did Judas have free will in choosing to betray Jesus? If so, what would have God done if Judas had chosen to not betray Jesus?
– God made Adam and Eve as perfect humans with free will, or at least that is my understanding. Yet despite being perfect they still chose poorly and as a result broke God’s perfect creation. Given this, then why do you think that several thousands, millions or however many humans in heaven will not also someday choose poorly? Will their free will be taken away so that they cannot choose poorly? Will it be because Satan is defeated, in which case why shouldn’t the blame and punishment have rested more on Satan in the beginning?
3) Finally, one more thought – instead of a hell for anyone why not just allow those who have shown the ability to love and care for others to live on and those who are doomed to destruction then cease to exist after death? I know that I would not like the the thought of a hell were I in heaven.
For that matter, why not the same with Adam and Eve in the beginning?
And as you said, one questions leads to three and three to nine; each requiring a more complex and detailed answer.
And I also see that I have not been as succinct as I meant to be. My apologies. Let me just end this by saying that I have enjoyed this and that I enjoy your blog. I keep up with several different religious blogs – Muslim, Christian, and so forth – in addition to atheist ones. I enjoy the variety of thoughts and views that this affords me and feels that this allows me better insight to our common humanity and common human desires, needs, and wishes.
I look forwards to seeing some of your thoughts on the above topics in the future as well as your thoughts on other issues.
Again, thanks.
Hello Pastor Hanna, thank you for taking the time to help us understand the tragedy.
Perhaps in order to appreciate unity – Christ consciousness, we as humans must learn to understand and experience the duality of existence. In the beginning there was logos, the one voice. In order for the “ONE” to know itself in all of it’s divine expressions, God allowed polarity or the law of opposites, as parabled by Cain and Abel. In our purest essence (spirit), we are all one. However, living in this crucible called Earth has certainly taken it toll; the purpose of living is to know oneself through the evolution of consciousness itself. When we stop listening to our hearts, all manner of evil are allowed to express it’s role… as a teaching device. Since we as a collective people choose to ignore murder as a sin, God, or existence has to up the ante and reinforce this critical lesson: we are not separate, by hurting others we ultimately hurt ourselves. In this case, I hope the murder of children will be the final straw, and we’ll finally wake up to the fact that murder in any way, shape or form is WRONG. Christ’s love will certainly open up our collective hearts, if people choose to accept. Perhaps it’s high time we all pray more, love more, have more faith in Christ, be silent and still, and let our actions do the talking. St. Francis expressed it beautifully, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Be frugal with our words and nurture others with our divinity, love. That is the only change possible to stop this madness, and we must start with ourselves.
Overall, I am in agreement with your assessment of the problem which deals in large part to the human condition (conditioning). If you would like to add or correct my thoughts, I am open to communication. Thanks again for this opportunity to know you through Holly’s wonderful special guest blog. God Bless!
There are some interesting thoughts in here, and I’d be interested to hear you expand a bit on what you mean in a couple of these ideas. I may be reading concepts into your response, but I seem to pick up elements of Gnosticism and Hinduism infused with the Christian theology reflected here.
If I may reflect on a few of the thoughts detailed here…
The λογος (logos) is more than a singular voice. As depicted in John 1, the logos is the independent personification of God in Jesus Christ. I am not sure what you mean when you speak of the “one” and all its divine expressions, especially when some of those divine expressions seem to be us. In Hinduism, there is “one” god – the Brahmin – from whom all other gods derive, and from whom all of creation similarly derives. Thus, the goal in Hinduism is to eliminate one’s karma and be reunited in “our purest essence” with the Brahmin.
In Christianity, however, there is no dichotomy between our physical bodies and our spiritual existence. Thus, Christianity speaks of a resurrection of the body, not merely of some spiritual transcendence. Christ leads this in a physical resurrection, where Thomas can place his fingers in Jesus’ scars and his hand in Jesus’ wounded side. Redemption in the Christian tradition is of the whole person – body, mind, and spirit – not of the casting off of some sin-infested shell.
That said, sin infects every aspect of our being. We see it spiritually in our isolation from God. We see it mentally/ emotionally in our cognitive limitations as well as our inner moral battle. We see it physically in the presence of disease and, eventually, death. Sin, left to fester, results in death in all of these areas – physically, morally, and spiritually. Resurrection, however, breathes new life into a fully restored creation – with a glorified body, a cleansed moral conscience, and a restored relationship with our creator. To identify only one of these as our “purest essence” is to miss gaping holes in our personhood. The naturalists do it by defining our entire being in terms of biochemistry. The solipsists do it by defining our entire existence as a mental projection. The gnostics do it by villainizing the body and elevating the spirit as the only true essence of our being. Christianity, however, recognizes a sort of personified trinity – mind, body, and spirit – and redemption reclaims the fullest expression of the three.
What I do very much agree with, however, is the central thrust of your comment – that we are connected. The creation narrative in Genesis 1 carries a deep-rooted theological truth about our purpose and identity: that we were created for relationship, in tripartite manner. We were created for relationship with our creator (“let us make man in our own image”), for relationship with one another (“male and female He made them”), and in relationship with creation (“let them have dominion”). Just as it can be incredibly debilitating to strip our personhood down to just one element (mind, body, or spirit), so can it be devastating to our created purpose to restrict it to one relationship (God, humanity, or creation). We only truly know ourselves in terms of all three “persons”; we only truly discover our purpose in terms of all three relationships.
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“Sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing.” E Tolle
love that. so true!
I like the comments by Maria who said that ”sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing”.
What I do know is that if you look at such tragedy and disasters in the world what becomes apparent is that everything falls away and compassion and love flood in. The main focus becomes to help one another. There is no thought of anything else. All that happens becomes for the greater good. At least, that’s how I see it and it brings me great comfort at such times and, hopefully, it will bring comfort to those suffering the loss of their loved ones, family and friends. The goodness of humanity, then, takes over when all else seems hopeless. Out of evil comes good.
Absolutely, Diane. Thanks for stopping by.
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