Haiti and the Bible

It happens after every natural disaster: "Why does God let these things happen?" some people say. And some reply, "These people are cursed by God and deserve to die." Cue hatred.

It happened in Haiti. As you know, a recent earthquake there killed upwards of 100,000 Haitians. The true number killed will never be known. Earthquakes bury their own dead. Evangelist and founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network Pat Robertson responded by saying that the Haitians had made a "pact with the devil," and thus, implicitly, deserved whatever they got.

Voodoo is, unfortunately, fairly prevalent in Haiti. However, by percentage, Haiti is overwhelmingly Christian. I'm not saying that the bare statistics prove that Haiti is a righteous country, but I don't believe, as Robertson does, that Haiti did something especially bad to warrant this act of God. Were Satan-worshippers prevalent in pre-Katrina New Orleans? Of course not! Were they in pre-Earthquake 'Frisco? Again, no. Thus, Robertson's theory that only extreme, devil-worshipping sin merits this sort of catastrophe is disproved.

As a Calvinist, I believe that every unredeemed person deserves death. I'm not going to apologize for that. The fact that many people, including Christians, believe that they are entitled to 80 years of comfort is rather discomfiting. As Job would say, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away."

But Haiti is no worse than New Orleans or Indonesia when it comes to sin. The fact that many people fail to realize is that every second of life is a blessing from God. What's more, this is not an obligation for God. He chooses to bless his creations, and he chooses not to. The Christians who died in Haiti will rise up with the saints on the Last Day and be rewarded. The unbelievers who died in Haiti will likewise meet their just punishment, the same as we. True, life is bleak for those left behind on this island, but that's where affluent Western Christians come in: HELP HAITI! Christ did not command us to help the Christian poor, or the white poor. He commanded us to help the poor.

But don't believe me. Believe the Bible.

"Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

--Luke 13:1-5

Revelling in Revelations

The Dokime Academy class New Testament Survey, in which we read, discussed, and were tested on every book in the latter part of the Bible, is finished as of today. Today, the students took the final test on the book of Revelations. 

I am ashamed to say that our discussion of Revelations was the first time I had studied it carefully, and what an amazing book I found it to be! The fantastic imagery, the science-fiction plot, and the dripping symbolism were zapped into sharp relief by the fact that everything in that book is going to happen.

So, as a science-fiction fan, I admit that Revelations is the best science-fiction work of all time, and the only true one. I had to fight, while I was reading the book, the urge to conceive of every development as a plot twist in some Passion of the Christ-like epic--which I planned, in my arrogance, on developing. However, the story is a scriptwriter's nightmare and, well, there's a rather large and devoted fan base out there who might take issue with me if I made a sub-par movie out of it. And any movie, made by fallen human hands, would be sub-par, even based on such literally divine material. I can imagine the headlines "MASSIVE BUDGET OVERRUNS AS BRATRUD TRIES TO ADAPT REVELATIONS." It sounds almost as probable as "MAN SUFFERS REPETITIVE STRESS INJURY WHILE DRAINING OCEAN WITH THIMBLE." 

All in all, I think I'll leave the book alone. I'd never get studio backing, and it just wouldn't work as an Indie flick. Plus, what would be the point? We will all experience this story. We will all live it out. Because it is the conclusion, the massive summer blockbuster conclusion, to a sixty-six book series with billions of ardent fans through the centuries. A series that tells a story that defines everything about who we are, where we live, and where we're going.