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June-July, 1970
and property damage soared to the
$2,000,000,000
mark.
Why
Disasters?
But why do eartbguakes and other
national calamities strike with such
fury? W hy the untold suffering?
In devastated Yungay, sorne anguished
survivors were seen cursing God, raising
their shaking, clenched fists to heaven.
lnsurance companies avoid philosoph–
ical argument by lumping all "natural"
disasters under thc term "act of God."
But wbat about tbe assumption of
a vengeful, wrathful God
ca11sing
such
calamities?
It might be interesting at this point
to take an objective look into the Book
accepted by believers in God as their
source of knowledge about God.
Does it really warrant the idea that
the God of the Bible is a vengeful
God venting divine wrath upon those
who displease or anger him - a God
possessing the get-even hatred of an
emotional human out of control ?
No, not at all.
The Biblical teaching would allow
that God, being Creator and Ruler of
all the forces of the universe, possesses
the power to send a tornado, if he so
desired . But
wo11Jd
he?
The Biblical narrative relative to the
prophet Jonah speaks of a great wind
sent by God to stop the prophet when
he tried to run away from his com–
mission (Jonah
1
:4).
But one certainly
would not be warranted in reading into
this narrative any acts of hate on God's
part.
Rather, for Jonah's own good, he
was brought to a willingness to convey
a warning that, it is stated, saved count–
Iess thousands of lives.
One may also read, in the first chap–
ter of the Book of Job, tl1at God, on
one occasion, allowed Satan to bring
severa! disasters, induding a wind–
storm, upon Job's children. But it is
also noted, in this passage, that God
set a limit on how far Satan might go.
Although Job was bereft of all his
possessions, his own Jife and that of
his wife were spared. Yet this Job
narrative shows, beginning chapter 38,
the
reason
for allowing the calamities
that befell Job - to teach a needed
lesson for his own good, after which
everything was restored twofold.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
A further and comprehensive study
of this Book, the Bible, shows definitely
that it portrays a God of love who
does, on occasion, allow evils and
punishments to fall- but always that
any punishments sent directly by God
are
CORRECTIVli,
for the good of the
punished, never vindictive in hate.
The Scriptural teaching is that God
has set in motion definite laws. When
acts of man violate those laws, man
brings on himself the evil that auto–
matically results. The writings of wise
King Solomon state (Ecclesiastes
9:
ll),
that time and chance happen to us all.
In the New Testament, Jesus is
quoted giving two exan1ples of disasters
that befell certain peoplc, stating
emphatically that the disasters did not
happen as acts of a vengeful God
because their sins were greater, but
indicating that the calamities were due
purely to time and circumstance -
uncaused by God directly.
Scientists have been warning us that
mao is upsetting the weather patterns.
He is denuding the landscape. There
are almost limitless side-effects of
modero technology - filling the air
with pollutants, putrifying the lakes and
rivers and water supply, exploiting
the land, upsetting the ecological life–
cycle io the soil. Thus man upsets
nature's balance, and the results can be
disasters.
A
research of Biblical revelation
warrants only thc representation that
for nearly
6,000
years God has gen–
erally kept to a direct hands-off poücy
in regard to world events - the evident
purpose being to allow mankind to
write his own lessoo of cause and
effect through experience. He has, in
other words, allowed time and chance,
usually man-caused, to bring occasional
destruction.
Many Biblical scholars, on the other
haod, are quick to claim that God does
offer protection to those who rely on
h1m.
For those who might be intcrested
in further Biblical teachings in this
area, we suggest you write for the
free reprint of an article titled "Why
Must Men Suffer ?" This most basic
question has baffled mankind for ages.
This article gives the plain, logical and
true answer. O
47
~od
from the Editor
(Contimted from page
1)
lowa.
1
had been born aod reared
m
Des Moines.
One day my uncle was explaining the
merits of businessmen's cooventions.
1
saw a
PRJNCIPLE
of tremendous magni–
tude in what he said.
"Business, generaliy, operates on the
competitive basis," he was explaining.
"A
businessman develops an idea. He
finds that it is practica! - it works!
It
increases his sales volume. The average
businessman will treat this as
TOP
SECRET.
He doesn't want any other
businessman to discover his idea -
especially a competitor. He wants it all
for himself.
"But, over in anotber town another
man in his line of business thinks up a
different idea. Jt reduces his costs,
thereby increasing his profits. Now sup–
pose these two men attend a convention
of businessmen in their line. Suppose
they give up their selfish policy of keep–
ing their ideas and methods top secret.
The first businessman
SHARES
his ideas
with the second. The second man shares
his cost-cutting technigue. Now each
man has the
TWO
ideas. Each man
increases his sales and also reduces bis
costs. Each one has
DOUBLED
his stock–
in-trade. But when severa! hundred
businessmen attend a convention, and
severa! of them give speeches, sbaring
their ideas and successfully used meth–
ods with others, everybody profits and
nobody is harmecl."
Of course, today, in actual practice,
th:tt principie is still the professed
pur–
pose and reason for the conventions.
But too often today, conventions have
degenerated into opportunities to get
away from home and have a hi larious
time with wine, women, and song.
But I never forgot my uncle's illustra–
tion showing that
giving, sharing, help–
ing
othen
PAYS
far better than the
selfish, wholly competitive way.
1
have explained many times how I
Jearned, through continuous surveys of
business and social conditions, that