Soul Sustenance: When Disaster Strikes, People Look To Science And Religion For Answers

As we approach the end of the year, we look back to a year with many natural disasters that struck the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico with mighty force , causing deaths and billions of dollars in destruction. In the aftermath came the deep philosophical questions people often have following catastrophic events.
Those questions usually revolve around religion. People of faith wonder why God would let something so horrendous happen. On the other hand, non-believers point to natural disasters as evidence that God does not exist; reasoning that a higher power would have compassion and not allow harm to innocent people.
“Some people may call natural disasters acts of God, but they are not acts of God,” says J.C. Faris, author of the new book, Once Upon A Time 13.81 Billions Years Ago (www.onceuponatime1381.com), an extensive look at creation and the inner workings of the universe from both religious and scientific perspectives. “This is the creation at work, and it’s just part of the process that occurs throughout the solar system and the whole creation itself. God can intervene, but he wouldn’t intervene to interfere with the process.”
There are scientific factors behind earthquakes (shifting plate structures in Earth’s surface) and hurricanes (the collision of divergent weather patterns).
Some see disasters as a form of God’s punishment for human sin. As theologians note, the Bible contains numerous passages expressing that God caused natural disasters for this reason.
“In the Bible, God was known to become upset with mankind,” Faris said. “He did punish. But he made everything for eternity, and the punishment comes for some after death, determined by God and depending on choices a person made. “In making everything for eternity, there was a caveat in there; initially, everything was innocent. But there was the Big Bang of human consciousness, which became known as free will, and this is the point where humans became proactive.”
There are also doomsayers who think natural disasters indicate the end of the world as we know it is near. Some reference the book of Revelation as biblical prophesy in this context.“There are people that want to be headline-grabbers for their own benefit and/or their cause,” Faris said. “Even Stephen Hawking said we need to be able to get off the planet; that it’s going to end. But that’s not the way it works. The Earth has been around for 4.54 billion years. The only thing that’s really going to affect the Earth a few billion years down the road is the expansion of the sun, and at some point the Earth will become too close to the sun.

“By that time, there might be other planets that become inhabitable.”

About J.C. Faris

J.C. Faris is the author of Once Upon a Time 13.81 Billion Years Ago(www.onceuponatime1381.com), an examination of the universe, its creation and how it all works from the perspectives of both religion and science. A graduate of Ball State University with a B.S. in anthropology, Faris did graduate school work in biology, chemistry and human anatomy at the University of Louisville. A man with diverse interests, he’s a former U.S. Army officer, has owned large businesses and is a guest instructor at Ball State. He’s been a frequent speaker and TV guest and hosted a weekly radio show.