In Defense of God in light of Haiti

If the Christian God exists then how do you explain the suffering and death in Haiti?
A meditation by Dr. Norman R, Wise
The suffering and death in Haiti due to the earth quake of 2010 are very great. The devastation of the earthquake is equal in many ways to an atomic bomb being dropped on that nation. The pain of the children and families of Haiti has touched the heart of humanity and opened up a sea of aid to this impoverished nation. Is there any way to reconcile this event with the existence of the Christian God?
Haiti of course is just being used as an illustration of the problem of suffering and evil. That problem could be sent forth in the following manner.
1. The Christian God is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect.
2. If God is omnipotent, then God has the power to eliminate all evil.
3. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists.
4. If God is morally perfect, then God has the desire to eliminate all evil.
5. Evil exists.
6. If evil exists and God exists, then either God doesn't have the power to eliminate all evil, or doesn't know when evil exists, or doesn't have the desire to eliminate all evil.
7. Therefore, the Christian God doesn't exist if evil exists.
This argument however has been answered by Dr. Alvin Plantiga and other philosophers by pointing out that the elimination of some evil might produce a greater evil or prevent a greater good from occurring. If this reality is allowed then this argument against the existence of a Christian God fails to prove its point.
The argument in response would be:
1. The Christian God is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect.
2. If God is omnipotent, then God has the power to eliminate all evil that would not lead to a worst evil or a greater good but would not prevent any evil when doing so would lead to a greater evil or the elimination of a greater good.
3. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists and what evil is necessary to allow for the purpose of avoiding a greater evil or attaining a greater good.
4. If God is morally perfect, then God has the desire to eliminate all evil that is not necessary to lead to the prevention of a greater evil or a greater good.
5. Evil exists.
6. If evil exists and God exists, then the evil that exists does so in order to prevent a greater evil or establish a greater good.
7. Therefore, it is logically possible that the Christian God could exist.
There is no way to prove absolutely that the evil that occurs in our world does not avoid some greater evil or prevent some greater good. A claim to have such knowledge would seem to require omniscience. Without such proof then the logical argument against the existence of the Christian God fails to prove its point.
Now these logical arguments seem far removed from the suffering, pain, and death in Haiti. While logically valid it is very hard to feel they address the main issues that we face when confronted with such massive suffering. It just seems to us that the “Christian God” if He exists should prevent such catastrophes from happening.
Some people describe the Christian view of God as God is the Father of humanity and we are His innocent children. If this is the case then why would a good Father allow His children to suffer as human beings suffer on this planet? Either God is an abusive parent, a crippled and powerless Dad, or perhaps we are orphans abandoned to die. But, if this is the Christian story then it is hard to see how we can view God as competent and of good character.
However, no orthodox Christian would agree with this summary of their story about the world. Since it is the existence of the Christian God in particular that is being challenged by the events in Haiti then it would be important for us to know the characteristics of this deity and see if catastrophes like Haiti argue against the existence of the God taught by Christianity. If according to Christians the relationship of God to the world is more complicated than these simple approaches would suggest; then this could help us see how people can rationally believe in the existence of the Christian God in a world filled with suffering, pain, and death as illustrated by Haiti.
The Christian world view can be summarized as having four key concepts. These key concepts are wise creation, moral fall, just judgment, and merciful redemption. These four concepts find their focus point in the idea of the “Kingdom of God”. The purpose of creation is to establish this Kingdom which can only be established through the historical process of creation, fall, judgment, and redemption. It is through these four concepts focused on the “Kingdom of God” that Christians historically have developed their paradigm of reality.
Wise Creation
The Christian God is the creator of the world and is the source of its order and design (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-6). The Christian God is one of morality who due to His omniscience understands the eternal and unchanging logic of good and evil and has chosen the good. All of these realities exist within the Christian God who is eternal and outside of time.
The Christian God created humanity for the purpose of reflecting the nature of the Eternal in time and forming a community of peace. Part of this reflection was that humanity was to choose good over evil even as God has eternally chosen the good over evil. We were to be like God by being dedicated to righteousness even as God is dedicated to righteousness. As we lived in a righteous community we would be God’s kingdom come to earth.
Moral Fall
However, in every possible world that could be conceived by an all knowing God when humanity is given the greater good of having free will they always use it to rebel against God as their king and choose to follow evil instead (Romans 1:18 -32). All human beings have wandered from the path of righteousness and fell short of reflecting the glory of God into creation. Humanity is a moral failure in every possible world.
The only way to eliminate this evil would be to eliminate the good of having beings made in God’s image and able to experience free moral will. Since the purpose of creation was the establishment of “The Kingdom of God” and this kingdom could only exist if human beings made in God’s image existed; it became necessary to allow this moral evil if the end was ever to be achieved. God could have made a perfect zoo lacking creatures of free choice but the positive good of the Kingdom of God would have been lost.
Righteous Judgment (mixed with mercy)
The result of this rebellion against God was that the judgment of suffering and death was passed on humanity due to their moral rebellion. The order of creation became mixed with chaos. Moral transgression acted as a physical and spiritual cancer in God’s creation bringing with it disorder, disease, and death. However, in mercy God restrained the full effects of evil and allowed human beings to live in a “stay of execution” in which they might repent of their rebellion and return to God.
God also choose to suffer the rebellion and sin of humanity as He patiently waited for them to find repentance. Their evil caused God’s holy soul pain and sadness. Yet, God loved His enemies and was merciful to those who had rebelled against Him. Instead of the world being turned over to the full chaos which should have resulted from moral rebellion against God, the earth normally provides for the needs and even the pleasures of humanity (Matthew 5:44-48). The vast majority of human beings are blessed by this common grace and mercy of God every day that provides their needs through creation even as they rebel against God.
From a Christian point of view human beings are not God’s children. We are the sworn enemies of God and His Kingdom. We are the terrorist of the universe against the Kingdom of peace. The suffering, pain, and evil in this world are physical signs of that rebellion. The suffering in the universe is not worst because God patiently waits for us to repent of this rebellion and has mercy on us even in our rebellion. God would be justified morally in releasing the ten plagues of Egypt on every square foot of the planet every day due to our moral rebellion. Catastrophes are not surprising from the Christian point of view. What is surprising is how few catastrophes we suffer as rebels against God’s kingdom.
Merciful Redemption
From a Christian perspective the current world is not paradise but could be seen as place for a purging process that seeks to rid humanity of their moral rebellion. In this life there is some pleasure and some pain. The pleasure when rightly experienced reminds us of paradise and the pain reminds us that we have lost paradise due to our moral failure.
The purpose of this historical process is that we will eventually as humans evolve into those who will choose righteousness and avoid evil. This process requires forgiveness of our rebellion and conversion into consistent citizens of God’s kingdom. Only those who are citizens of God’s kingdom are God’s adopted children. This process includes the death of Jesus the Messiah on the cross for our moral rebellion and His resurrection as proof that the demands of justice have been satisfied. God choose this path of pain and suffering not just for humanity but for Himself as well. The cost of attaining the kingdom would be the necessary pain and suffering of history.

The Kingdom of God
It is clear that Jesus the Messiah, the founder of Christianity did not see any conflict with a world of suffering and the existence of God.
As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:3-14 ESV)

A world without pain, suffering, false teaching, wars, famines, earthquakes, and persecution would prove that the Christian God does not exist. Jesus the Messiah who founded Christianity clearly believed that the world would suffer such things and had to experience them before the final peaceful kingdom of God could be established. Christianity teaches that what one should expect in the current state of the world under God’s judgment for moral failure is famines and earthquakes to occur. When they do occur, Christians understand that this is normal due to the current rejection of God’s kingdom by human kind. Such suffering is sad but expected. It does not surprise a person thinking from a Christian world view or seem inconsistent with their philosophy of life. Christians believe that this suffering will end when humanity makes peace with God and His kingdom.
We have rebelled against the law of the kingdom of God which is to love one another
The Christian God has delegated to humanity the proper stewardship of this planet and to show love for each other. Part of humanity being made in the image of God is they were given the responsibility to rule this planet (Gen 1:28-30). The Christian God would be there to help, support, provide inner strength and wisdom in response to prayer, and teach wisdom; but not micromanage.
God would establish the laws of nature that humanity could learn and use to increase their effectiveness in being stewards of this planet. These laws would be God’s normal and predictable way of bringing order to the physical world. God would and could at times directly intervene; but these would be rare occasions. Most of God’s work would be done very subtlety and through people. Human beings were entrusted with this part of the Cosmos and expected to bring God’s kingdom to earth.
God is restraining moral evil in humanity so that we will not be as depraved as we could be if left to ourselves. God is intervening in an active way in history, by keeping humanity from practicing self destruction, anarchy, and social chaos. This intervention is done without taking from humanity their ability to make moral choices or to suffer consequences due to those choices.
So when we look at the suffering of the world we need to ask how much of it could have been prevented if human beings had loved their neighbors as themselves and been good stewards of the resources of the planet. Rather than judging God; it would seem better to judge ourselves. If the world community had made it a top priority to make sure the infrastructure of Haiti was stronger, the people fed, an economy established, a just government developed and proper housing provided then much of the suffering of this earthquake would have been avoided. What does Haiti tell us about our moral failure as humanity? A Christian view of the Haiti would focus not on God’s failure but on humanities moral failure in this catastrophe.
Now that we have a better understanding of the Christian view of the world we can understand that it has always justified the existence of evil by looking at the historical process as a necessary evil in order to bring about the greater good of God’s eternal kingdom. God could not just create out of nothing instantly this kingdom because this kingdom had in it characteristics that required a process in order to mature and bear fruit. Only by going through this painful historical process could God create what God wanted, which was a greater good.
If one was to eliminate all the suffering and pain in this world which is caused by a lack of human beings loving each other, it would be fair to say that a very significant part of suffering and pain would end. Catastrophes are rare compared with human exploitation, selfishness, greed, abuse, wars, and violence. All of this evil is here because human beings are given the freedom to operate as moral agents. We can choose to love our neighbor or not to love our neighbor.
This evil could only be eliminated if the greater good of having people being able to make moral choices was eliminated. Only by eliminating our freedom could God eliminate this evil which would be a greater evil than allowing it. If humanity was not given free moral choice we could never progressively evolve into being consistently righteous. This would make the establishment of the kingdom of God which is the purpose of creation impossible. A greater good would be lost.
Also we must see that the elimination of all pain and suffering would also eliminate the opportunity to grow in our trust in God, to do good and show compassion to those in need. James the brother of Jesus the Messiah writes:
“My friends; maintain a positive outlook, even if you have a lot of trouble and suffer catastrophes. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith in God tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. If any of you need wisdom about suffering trouble and catastrophe, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking. “(James 1:2-5)

Again, the Christian world view expects life to have trouble, suffering, and catastrophes. It would teach people not to expect a world without such problems until the final kingdom of God is established and the moral rebellion of humanity ends. It also acknowledges that our normal reaction to such events is to doubt God’s wisdom, goodness, or existence. Such events challenge us to keep a positive outlook trusting in God to work all things together for good.


In such times of trouble we will have the opportunity to show love to the hurting, clothe the naked, and feed the hunger. Human beings would not be as compassionate if there were no times of trouble, suffering and catastrophe. This would be another good lost if all suffering and evil were eliminated. Not allowing any villains would also keep anyone from being a hero.

The book of Job, one of the most ancient expressions of faith, makes clear that the anguish of soul and the need of understanding in the midst of suffering are not new. There appears from this book to be at least six sources of anguish in our lives. Five of these are outside of our control. These five are when other human beings hurt us and abuse us, when disasters occur such as hurricanes and earthquakes, when we lose economic security, loss of our health and physical well being, and the loss of loved ones in death.

The last part of our anguish we do control. That is the psychological impact of the other five sources of suffering. We will decide to interpret illness, poverty, catastrophe, suffering, and abuse into a “story” or “grand narrative” and out of this we will gain either comfort or more pain. Faith in God working all things together for good is seen as a healthy psychological approach to such times of anguish. Such a belief allows our anxiety to drop, our hope to survive, and depression to be abated. Faith that a greater good is coming from our pain helps us have less stress and anguish of soul about our pain.

One of the elements that impacts a Christian view towards suffering is that physical death is not seen as an end. Physical death is significant, but the soul of the person survives their death and then that soul lives on forever after being judged for what was done in this life. So death is not annihilation but transition into another aspect of existence.

Children who die and whose souls would be innocent of sins have nothing to fear at God’s just judgment. Christians depend on God to treat each soul with at least justice and for many with extreme mercy. Temporal catastrophes are seen as less significant because human souls are eternal. No human being ever ceases to exist due to a temporal catastrophe. Therefore, while suffering in this life is seen as significant and steps should be taken to eliminate it whenever we can to aid others, Christians do not see it as the ultimate evil. The lack of a righteous character in human beings is a greater evil than a hurricane, flood, or earthquake. Our greatest crisis is moral not physical.

Foundational to Christian thought is that God has permitted suffering and evil in order to attain a greater good. There is purpose, potential, and power in all pain. There is no pointless pain. This faith is tested during times of catastrophe but is the basis of gaining wisdom about such difficult and painful events.

We will face such painful events. That is without a doubt. But it does matter if we face them with faith or in unbelief.

The suffering in Haiti is just from a Christian point of view, because it is believed that every square inch of our planet should suffer catastrophe daily due to our moral rebellion. Christians know that they will not normally be made exempt from the general suffering which all humanity may experience due to this rebellion. They are forgiven and been adopted as God’s children but have been called as Christ was called to share in the suffering of a rebellious planet. Their role is to show how to trust God in the midst of the darkness of pain, suffering, and death. They are to be a light to the rest of the world to demonstrate how to love God and others in the midst of catastrophes, suffering, and death.


How does this apply to Haiti?

So what good could come out of the earthquake in Haiti? Christians would first say that only God can really tell us the answer to this question. God alone is wise enough and all knowing enough to really be able to tell us how each event fits into this grand plan of establishing the kingdom of God on earth.

We can however speculate. The suffering has already led millions around the world to demonstrate more compassion than they were doing before the earthquake. For all we know 100 years from now the history of Haiti may record the earthquake of 2010 as the catalyst that ended poverty in Haiti, helped establish a just and stable government, and brought about a golden era in Haitian history. Those who are now suffering will not have suffered in vain.

God’s main concern is the development of our character and our love for justice. As the prophet Micah summarized.

The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands: "See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly have a relationship with your God." (Micah 6:8)

The pain, death, and suffering of this earthquake may become leveraged by God’s providential work in history to bless the Haitian people from this point forward. It has created an event that calls upon us to act in mercy towards the Haitian people and to seek to establish justice in their nation. At the very least the earthquake has created the emotional leverage and potential for such a golden age for Haiti.

If this opportunity for good is lost it will be due to the immorality of humanity. Sometimes, God provides us an opportunity for good through a catastrophe and we fail this moral test. This is the greater catastrophe. This however is not a failure on God’s part but on our part. Every catastrophe is telling us to repent, to love our neighbor, and to seek God.

This is the main idea that Jesus the Messiah taught concerning catastrophes. He said;

“About this same time Jesus was told that Pilate had given orders for some people from Galilee to be killed while they were offering sacrifices. Jesus replied: Do you think that these people were worse sinners than everyone else in Galilee just because of what happened to them? Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don't turn back to God, every one of you will also be killed. What about those eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse than everyone else in Jerusalem? Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don't turn back to God, every one of you will also die.” (Luke 13:1-5 CEV)

Catastrophes are not to teach us that those who suffer catastrophes are worst sinners than those who do not suffer catastrophes. No instead it is remind us that we should suffer the same fate and except for the mercy of God would have suffered the same catastrophe. It is appointed for every human being to suffer death and then face the just moral judgment of God to give an account for their lives. We should be focusing on our own personal need to repent and make peace with God and not be judging others. We should demonstrate this repentance by showing love to others and especially those in need in Haiti. This should be our response to the catastrophe in Haiti. This would be a part of the greater good that could come about through the suffering in Haiti.

Why does the problem of suffering and evil not destroy faith in a good God?

It is clear that times of great suffering, death, and catastrophes challenge our faith in a good God. It is normal for people to have moments of great doubt and anguish in the midst of suffering. The Bible itself records songs of “lament” part of which is struggling with the problem of evil and pain (see the book of Job, Psalm 73). Why do some people see the problem of evil and pain as a “faith killer” that justifies their lack of faith in any “good God” while other people reconcile their faith in a good God with the existence of suffering and evil?

There are many reasons for this but let us list a few of them since this may help us understand this whole question from another perspective. First we must recognize that the problem of suffering and evil is not some new threat to faith. It is not as if there was some scientific experiment done that discovered the “problem of evil” and now modern people for the first time are aware of its existence. No, ancient poems that were being sung at 2000 BC had as their main theme the problem of suffering and evil. So if this problem was going to be a faith killer for the majority of human beings then it would have happened long ago.

Yet, faith in a good God has continued to endure despite the presence of suffering and evil in the world. C.S. Lewis comments that in light of the suffering in this world it is hard to even imagine how the idea of a good God evolved without supernatural revelation, yet it has persisted even in the darkest times of suffering. It seems clear from the history of humanity that catastrophes, suffering, and death will never destroy faith in a good God.

This is true in Haiti today. If the earthquake was going to kill faith in a good God any where it would seem that it should kill faith in the Haitian people. But with every church building in ruins we find congregations gathering to worship God, seek comfort for their losses, pray for strength to endure, ask God hard questions about “why” this occurred, express anger at God in the hope of finding answers to their pain and finding encouragement in hearing the Bible. So faith in a good God is not dependent upon not experiencing bad events.

Some people when they suffer catastrophe do lose faith but other people would claim that their faith actually grew. People of faith will go through a dark night of the soul and struggle with doubts because of pain, suffering, and death but in the end reconcile their trust in a good God with the painful events they have experienced. The strongest faith will actually be experienced at times by people who have suffered the most.

The reason for this is that people believe in a good God for many different reasons. If a person believes that God has responded to their needs at some critical points in their life with psychological or physical help then they view the current suffering from a perspective of trust in God. People that have personal experiences and even what they would call relationships with God believe in God for a host of rational and emotional reasons. All of their faith is not in one basket. One disappointment does not lead to them abandoning God.

Their faith was not born in a problem free world. They did not live in paradise when they first came to faith in God. They came to faith in God knowing they lived in a world of suffering and evil. Some experience of suffering or evil may have actually motivated them to seek God. As the saying goes there are no atheists in fox holes.


Now if a person does not believe in God, has been disappointed with God, or is angry with God then they perceive human suffering and evil as justification for their negative assessment of God. If a person’s experiences with God and religion have been disappointing, frustrating, abusive, and hurtful then arguments from the problem of evil fit well within the life story that they have created which either denies God’s existence or looks upon God s lacking both character and competence. Some people would say they do not know if God exists but if God does exist they hate Him.

Dr. Julie Juola Exline of Case Western Reserve University has done research on people experiencing anger towards God. It is normal for people of faith to get angry with God over pain, suffering, and catastrophe. It is customary for part of the prayers of people who believe to be “Why?” and “How long”. Prayer is often not “tame” but rather pointed and even challenging. She found about 63% of people admit to times when they became angry at God. She also found some atheism to be “emotional atheism” which really reflected people who were angry at God and expressed that anger as a profession of atheism. For an emotional atheist saying they did not believe in God was their way of executing justice or revenge on God for His failure of them or others.

Believers in God normally could process their anger and “forgive God” over time for what they perceived as a failure on His part or come to reconcile themselves to trusting God again after some event disappointed them. Emotional atheists had a harder time ever letting go of their anger and this led many times to intense feelings of bitterness and anxiety. The problem of suffering and evil as related to God is one of significance to the psychological health of human beings.

These questions and the psychological struggle they produce for human beings are not new. They have been around as long as human beings have been around. There is no reason to think that people will abandon their faith in a good God simply because evil, catastrophe, and suffering exist. Faith in a good God has always existed with people knowing evil and suffering existed as well.

Conclusion:

What would a logical defense of the existence of the Christian God look like? Here is a basic outline.

1. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good.

2. God’s purpose in creation was to form the redemptive Kingdom of God through history.

3. Humanity freely authored evil into this world as part of that purpose.

4. Humanity’s evil; is what has brought into reality, all abnormal suffering .

5. God has not yet eliminated every evil because to do so would make the creation of the Kingdom of God impossible and thus eliminate a greater good. One of the good things that is gained from God delaying the Day of Judgment is that this gives humanity more time to repent and increases the population of the Kingdom of God. If God eliminated evil prematurely from history, it would abort or diminish His plan to establish the Kingdom and make all the suffering of history unjustified.

6. Jesus came as God incarnate and suffered the agony of the hell fire for His people. God has suffered infinitely more than all His creatures put together because of evil. This demonstrates both God’s commitment to establishing the peaceful kingdom of righteousness and His deep loving compassion towards those who have rebelled against Him. It requires this demonstration of Gods’ love to win the moral loyalty of humanity so that they will consistently choose righteousness over evil. This allows humanity to be citizens of the kingdom of God and freely not fall into sin. Only in redemptive love can the heart of human beings be won to produce consistent righteousness, thus the need of the history of salvation in order to produce the kingdom.

7. God uses suffering for kingdom purposes and therefore no suffering is without some kingdom purpose. There is no pain without a kingdom purpose. This includes the suffering now in Haiti due to the earthquake.

8. When Jesus returns justice, mercy, and righteousness will fully manifest themselves. All evil will be eliminated from God’s kingdom and all unjust suffering will stop.

9. Therefore, God exists; He is all powerful, all knowing, and infinite in goodness. Evil exists at the present time due to God’s kingdom purpose and good long-suffering nature, and God will eliminate all evil from His kingdom once His purpose has been accomplished.

10. God’s allowing pain and evil to exist in creation has produced the greater good of the redemptive Kingdom of God. Only because God allowed pain and evil did the greater good of God’s kingdom come into existence. Therefore, God is all powerful and all good even though evil and suffering exist.

It is my belief that this is a logical and biblical answer which demonstrates that the existence of the Christian God is consistent with the existence of evil and pain.

A parable

Once upon a time there was a husband and wife. The wife became pregnant one day after making love with her husband. Now the wife understood the nature and process of pregnancy but her husband did not have any knowledge of pregnancy or babies at all.

The husband begins to worry about his wife. She is sick every morning and is gaining weight. Her husband tells her he hopes she will get well soon. She explains that she will be sick for nine months. She outlines how she will get heavier and more uncomfortable. She even warns him that she may die at the end of this process. The husband asks her if there is any way to stop this illness. The wife says there is but she does not want to end the process because the pain and risk of pregnancy is worth the birth of their baby. The husband never having seen a baby has a hard time understanding what could be worth all that his wife is suffering. He has real doubts about the wisdom of pregnancy but is assured by his wife that if the baby is born then he will be satisfied that all of this difficult and painful process is worth it.

After nine months the woman gives birth to a child. The father watches as the new life is born. In that moment he sees the value of all the suffering and affirms that this process was worth the pain. Seeing the baby made the process of painful pregnancy justified.
From a Christian point of view the cosmos has become pregnant with God’s “Kingdom Child” and the process of giving birth to this Kingdom has put the cosmos in a sick and unstable state. However, this process is necessary for the Kingdom must be born out of great tribulation. This has always been the faith of the Christian church.

“They strengthened the believers and encouraged them to remain true to the faith. "We must pass through many troubles to enter the Kingdom of God," they taught. “ (Acts 14:22 GNB)

Therefore, it does not seem we can make the existence of suffering inconsistent with the Christian view of God since suffering plays such a significant part of the Christian view of the reality. Christianity has always presupposed that it was only my passing through many troubles that the Kingdom of God could be achieved. Because of this the existence of evil and suffering is perfectly compatible with a Christian view of the world.


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Did Haiti Make A Pact With The Devil?

Did Haiti make a pact with the devil and was this the reason they have suffered.
"They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another,”
Rev. Pat Robertson
I. Did the Haitian people make a pact with the devil?
Bois Caïman (Haitian Creole: Bwa Kayiman) is the site of the Vodou ceremony presided over by Dutty Boukman on August 14, 1791. The stated purpose of the ritual was to attempt to overthrow French rule, which was based on slave labor. This occurred during the French Revolution and not during the rule of Napoleon the Third (20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) so Dr. Pat Robertson’s story is not a true story.
According to the official "History of Haiti and the Haitian Revolution", in 1791 the following events occurred:
A man named Boukman, another houngan (male priest of the voodoo religion), organized on August 14, 1791, a meeting with the slaves in the mountains of the North. This meeting took the form of a Voodoo ceremony in the Bois Caiman in the northern mountains of the island. It was raining and the sky was raging with clouds; the slaves then started confessing their resentment of their condition. A woman started dancing languorously in the crowd, taken by the spirits of the loas. With a knife in her hand, she cut the throat of a pig and distributed the blood to all the participants of the meeting who swore to kill all the whites on the island. On August 22, 1791, the blacks of the North entered into a rebellion, killing all the whites they met and setting the plantations of the colony on fire. However, the French quickly captured the leader of the slaves, Boukman, and beheaded him, bringing the rebellion under control.
It is widely accepted as the starting point for the Haitian Revolution. The ceremony was first documented in 1814 by Antoine Dalmas in his book History of the Saint-Domingue Revolution.
This was a pagan ceremony and was based on the beliefs common in Africa. It was not a “pact with the devil” since it was not done from the framework of the Christian faith. Like most pagans there was a religious ceremony which sought for magical strength and victory over their enemies by making as sacrifice. This had more to do with the idea that the “spirit of the warrior” which was in the ceremony would come into those who drank the blood. Christianity unfortunately was identified with slavery and oppression.
II. Is it right to think that people who suffer disasters are worst sinners than those who do not suffer such disasters?
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. (Luke 13:1 ESV)

And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? (Luke 13:2 ESV)

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3 ESV)

Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? (Luke 13:4 ESV)

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5 ESV)
III. Does God judge us for what our ancestors did?
The word of the LORD came to me: (Ezekiel 18:1 ESV)

"What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? (Ezekiel 18:2 ESV)

As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. (Ezekiel 18:3 ESV)

IV. Christian Response to Dr. Pat Robertson’s comments

Dr. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas said, "It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God's actions as a judgment against this person or that person. … Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people pray for these people and to help them."

Franklin Graham, the evangelist son of Billy Graham and president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, said he also disagrees with Robertson's assessment.

Graham's group is working in Haiti to provide humanitarian relief and, Graham said, he plans to go to the country in the coming days. "He must have misspoken," Graham said of Robertson. "But we need to get on the path of helping people right now. God loves the people of Haiti. He hasn't turned his back on Haiti."


IV. The faith of Haiti

Religions:
Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% note: roughly half of the population practices voodoo
The Struggle of Haiti
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation. While the economy has recovered in recent years, registering positive growth since 2005, four tropical storms in 2008 severely damaged the transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector. US economic engagement under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, passed in December 2006, has boosted apparel exports and investment by providing tariff-free access to the US. HOPE II, passed in October 2008, has further improved the export environment for the apparel sector by extending preferences to 2018; the apparel sector accounts for two-thirds of Haitian exports and nearly one-tenth of GDP. Remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling nearly a quarter of GDP and more than twice the earnings from exports. Haiti suffers from high inflation, a lack of investment because of insecurity and limited infrastructure, and a severe trade deficit. In 2005, Haiti paid its arrears to the World Bank, paving the way for reengagement with the Bank. Haiti is expected to receive debt forgiveness for about $525 million of its debt through the Highly-Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative by mid-2009. The government relies on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability. (CIA Factbook)




V. Responding to the need by sending funds to Samaritan Purse

The first Samaritan’s Purse cargo plane arrived in Haiti Wednesday with emergency relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake that rocked the country on Tuesday. The initial shipment included shelter material, hygiene kits, and water purification kits, as well as members of our disaster response team.

Our team is comprised of veterans of many disaster responses, but even they were shocked by what they encountered when they arrived.

“The streets are full of people that have no home to go back to,” said Dr. David Gettle, medical advisor. “They’re running out of food, fuel, and water. The situation is desperate and tense, and there is tremendous suffering.”

Three more flights with personnel and critically needed relief supplies landed Friday. Staff arriving included our team leader, two water engineers, and eight medical personnel to join Dr. Gettle.

Samaritan’s Purse deployed a disaster response team just hours after one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the Caribbean in decades to help with water, shelter, medical care, and other emergency needs.

“The damage is staggering in a nation where three out of four people live on less than $2 a day,” Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham said. “The people of Haiti need our help like never before.”

We are partnering with HCJB Global, a medical ministry out of Ecuador that will be sending six doctors to join our medical advisor. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is deploying chaplains from its Rapid Response Team to help our team meet spiritual needs.


http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/responding_to_haiti_earthquake/#