Calamities seen in the light of sacred scripture.Dennis Behreandt's article "Why Does God Allow Calamities?" in your December 26, 2005 issue was interesting. But also consider that in Genesis 1:28, God has just created humanity, and He tells them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. And He states specifically that they are to "subdue/dominate" creation. This implies that the powers of creation, left to themselves, would not always be orderly, but that under the benevolent be·nev·o·lent adj. 1. Characterized by or suggestive of doing good. 2. Of, concerned with, or organized for the benefit of charity. control of sinless humans, they could be kept so. (For example, plate tectonics plate tectonics, theory that unifies many of the features and characteristics of continental drift and seafloor spreading into a coherent model and has revolutionized geologists' understanding of continents, ocean basins, mountains, and earth history. would not have involved catastrophic events.) When God created the human persons, His decision was that the first couple's use or misuse of all with which they were endowed en·dow tr.v. en·dowed, en·dow·ing, en·dows 1. To provide with property, income, or a source of income. 2. a. would affect the entire human family that was to descend de·scend v. de·scend·ed, de·scend·ing, de·scends v.intr. 1. To move from a higher to a lower place; come or go down. 2. from them. God endowed these human creatures with the faculty of free will. This is so important a power that God will never interfere with it. This is shown by the fact that He allowed His first creatures to misuse that faculty, to commit the sin we call original, and thereby to lose the integrity with which they were created. And what they lost included that benevolent dominion over the powers of creation. Their loss affected not only themselves but also every human being who was to live on this Earth forever after. Creation is no longer fully subject to man's dominion, and God does not prevent the sad consequences of man's misuse of free will; rather, He works to bring good out of evil. The natural disasters, and those flowing from human sinfulness, which occur on our Earth can be better understood in the light of the teachings of Scripture. FR. DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. WECHTER Houston, Minnesota Houston is a city in Houston County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,020 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²), all land. |
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