An Act of God
You, the first person to encounter my chronicles for at least four thousand years, beware. Do not feel honored by your primacy in reading the revelations of my Ixian storehouse. You will find much pain in it. Other than the few glimpses required to assure me that the Golden Path continued, I never wanted to peer beyond those four millennia. Therefore, I am not sure what the events in my journal may signify to your times. I only know that my journals have suffered oblivion and that the events which I recount have undoubtedly been submitted to historical distortion for eons. I assure you that the ability to view our futures can become a bore. Even to be thought of as a god, as I certainly was, can become ultimately boring. It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will.
—Inscription on the storehouse at Dar-es-Balat
An Act of God declares God or nature caused a natural disaster to occur…that this event was outside the hands of humans…if we call a natural disaster an Act of God what should we call an event of great fortune that defies nature to the extent that it would be considered outside the hands of humans…events that took intervention from outside creation?
God gets the “blame” when things go tragically awry in nature….should He then get the “credit” when the opposite is true? Obviously this term Act of God is one of legal terminology but the concept is one that humans have wrestled with for ages. If God acts within His creation are we simply puppets or pieces upon His game board? Or are we free agents capable of our own free determination in our thoughts words and actions? Of course this also arises the question of nature vs nurture.
These are titanic questions…actually was the Titanic sinking an Act of God? Did God cause the design of the ship, its manufacture and command it along with its passengers to be in the location it was as well as the iceberg then force its sinking and the death of so many of its passengers? Are we simply puppets or programs doing what we are commanded? Or do we have genuine freewill?
Certainly as God is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (including us of course) and is Almighty we are not absolutely free. Beyond creating and sustaining God does interact with His creation. He speaks to people and has done miracles…for example God performed many miracles as He set the Jewish people free of their slavery in Egypt, and then of course there is His personal visitation as Jesus…acts of God…
Does God force your fashion disaster in the morning? How about your bad hair day? Is God to blame that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a disaster on ice? Some people when sinning have declared “the devil made me do it” but some would fatalistically blame God for their sins…
Although we are not absolutely free we are sufficiently free, God does touch people’s lives and does interact with historic events but He also does allow us genuine freewill. The Factor of the Fall is frequently underestimated by people…when Adam and Eve declared civil war against God in the Garden of Eden this began the distortion of creation…our weeds and rotting decay have devastated the universe…everything in creation is broken…Earth and humans included…therefore human actions, in their act of war against God have caused natural catastrophes…life since the Garden is one long natural disaster…a natural consequence…an act of humans…
God has absolute foreknowledge, He not only knows everything that will happen He also knows every potential outcome etc…however His knowledge does not mean that He forces everything to happen…Some desire absolute freewill, this would require the non-existence of God (including in His initial creative acts in our universe). God is a Personal Being that has chosen to interact with His creation. You may know that a persons hand will get burned in the fire but it does not mean you forced them to put their hand among the flames…some would say you don’t learn until you feel the heat…
Some like the idea of being puppets as it makes them feel they are not responsible for their actions. Others have the felt need that a superior being is absolutely in control of absolutely everything (often these persons also fall prey to conspiracy theories about forces among us that are puppet masters)…
I suggest to you that there are indeed times when we can say “that was an Act of God.” Then there are other times when we can say that was human or natural in its catalyst…Yes God is Sovereign of the universe and under His sovereignty He allows us sufficient genuine freewill. There is I recognize a tension in this…it is not as neat and tidy as some would like…I suggest this is part of its sublime beauty…when the finite attempts to wrestle with the infinite often the finite will find Mystery…God is in control but He is not a control freak…
Now let us prepare for a different twist on the same theme as we visit MAX
