On September 11, 2001 two commercial airplanes were hijacked by Islamic
terrorists and, with passengers on-board, deliberately flown into the
World Trade Center in New York City. Both flights originated at Logan
International Airport in Boston. A third plane flew into the Pentagon
but a fourth, intended for the White House, crashed instead near
Pittsburgh due to courageous passengers fighting the terrorists.
Within minutes, high temperatures from burning jet fuel caused the twin
towers to collapse, killing almost 3000 innocent civilians-- mostly
Americans, but also citizens from about 80 countries. Hundreds of fire
fighters, police officers and emergency care workers also died when
one-million tons of steel and concrete buried them alive as they worked
to save others. That evening President George W. Bush declared that
America was now at war against international terrorism.
There is nothing anyone can write that can adequately describe the
horror of these tragedies. Nor can words possibly convey the extent
of
the human suffering, sorrow and loss that was caused by these insane
and evil acts. And as time passed, one word began to be heard above
all
others: "Why?" Why had this happened? Why would anyone do such a thing?
Why would people commit such inhumane and horrible deeds? Why?
MUSLIM TERRORISTS
-----------------
As information later became available through the news media, America
learned that 19 demented Islamic despots had deliberately sacrificed
their lives in misguided compliance to a non-existent deus whom they
believed wanted America destroyed. Even worse, later information
disclosed that these evil men were part of a much larger group of
terrorists in networks extending across 60 countries, and composed
of
some several hundred thousand Islamic extremists.
Fueled by crazed passion and a warped sense of Islamic destiny, these
terrorists perceive Mohammed's writings (the Koran) to mandate deeds
of
inhumane savagery so demonic, as to stem from the pit of hell itself.
Lathered by misguided frenzy, these Muslim extremists view America
as
"the Great Satan," terrorists as "holy warriors," and Allah as
"commanding" every kind of atrocity and abomination that their twisted
minds can hallucinate.
MORAL DECADENCE
---------------
America's moral decadence was debated long before September 11.
Abortion for non-medical reasons of convenience, the ban on prayer
in
public schools, removal of the 10 Commandments from government
buildings, public acceptance of homosexual behavior as a legitimate
alternate life style, and legalization of hard-core pornography from
"sea to shining sea" all contributed to the growing perception that
something was morally wrong in America long before the Twin Towers
were
ever destroyed.
In hindsight, we know that each of these moral compromises helped
reinforce Islamic extremist belief that the "Great Satan" was
contaminating their holy lands, and that "Allah" was commanding them
to
stop it. Here then, is at least one moral component to the September
11, 2001 tragedy viz., Islamic extremist resolve to remove Western
contamination from their "holy lands" by eliminating the moral
decadence that they believed the "Great Satan" America was infusing
into their culture. Yet in seeking to destroy America, on September
11
these terrorists mindlessly slaughtered about 7000 innocent civilians
from some 80 countries. In doing so, they became the very evil that
their warped minds sought to eliminate.
THE QUESTION OF JUDGMENT
------------------------
In the wake of America's recovery, two prominent American clergymen
made comments that implied the September 11 incident may have been
linked to another moral issue-- that of America's moral decadence.
Their remarks suggested that God may have used the horrible senseless
massacre of September 11 to judge America, and may have even played
a
role in its advent. Although they later rescinded their comments, the
thought that they kindled, and that later rose to national prominence
raised this question: Had God stopped protecting America? This question
was discussed in the church, in the press, and on numerous TV talk
shows: Had God judged America?
Of course in itself, this question invites several other questions.
For
example, Did God ever protect America? And if he did, why would He
stop
protecting America now? And beyond this, How could a loving God allow
innocent people and children to suffer and die? These and related
questions are often asked when calamity occurs. But they are often
asked by people who are uninformed about the God of the Bible. Not
only
do such questions create conflicting answers, but they bring as many
opinions as there are people to voice them. The opinions differ because
we each perceive "god" as sharing our moral views. Since these views
differ among people, so too do the "gods" we believe share them.
MANY GODS MEANS MANY OUTCOMES
-----------------------------
Ignorance of the Bible's teachings invites moral relativism and, with
it, the freedom to create our god in whatever image we envision him
to
be. If one's god is loving while another's is harsh, then this latter
god is seen by the person who creates him to do harm that another,
more
loving god would never be seen to do-- at least in the mind of one
who
creates him. Since there can be as many gods as people who create them,
the question as to whether or not god would judge America has, in the
last analysis, as many answers as there are people.
However having said this, there is of course, the God of the Bible.
This is the God of the Hebrews-- the Holy One Who gave the world Ten
Commandments embedded in writings that have not only remained unchanged
over 5000 years of human record, but with prophecies confirmed by
historical and archeological evidence uncovered IN the past 150 years.
THE HOLY BIBLE
--------------
Although written on three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe), in
three languages (Hebrew Aramaic and Greek), and over thousands of years
by people of widely diverse economic, social and educational background
who lived and died before others were born, nonetheless the Bible's
message brings supernatural coherence in three parts: (1) The Old
Testament says man has an incurable human sin problem, but that God
has
a solution. (2) The Gospels' announce God's provision for sin arrived,
and His Name is Jesus Christ. (3) The Epistles (Books after the
Gospels) reveal Christ is Coming again to eradicate evil on earth.
That's it. That's the Bible. Regardless of one's religious beliefs or
view of Christ-- He's its Centerpiece. His Passion is outlined in
Isaiah 53, details of His Crucifixion are peppered throughout the
Psalms, and the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah's Coming are
identical to the New Testament prophesies of Christ's Second Coming.
Moreover unlike any other human who walked the earth, Christ not only
claimed Deity-- but provided "proof" by bodily rising from the grave
3
days after being publicly put to death.
Of course many if not most of us reject this claim. But virtually all
skeptics fail to examine its historical warrant. In point of fact,
it
is as secure as history can make it. Here's an uneducated Beggar who
never traveled more than 200 miles from where He was born, and yet
the
Y2K crisis forced an entire world to spend one-trillion dollars just
because He was born (the zeros in 2000 trace to Christ's birth). Even
Mohammed walked in Christ's Shadow (the Koran was penned 640 AD).
ONE TRUE GOD
------------
But why reference geological, archeological and historical evidences
that support Bible credibility? And what has any of this to do with
God's possible role in the September 11 incident? The answer is that
these evidences point us not to a whimsical parade of anemic deities
as
numerous as the human conjectures that spawn them, but instead to an
all-powerful, Holy, Just and Eternal God who made heaven and earth
and
the life they contain. In speaking of Himself, the Bible (Isaiah 43:13)
records: "Even from eternity, I am He; I act and who can reverse it?"
This is the God of the Bible-- a Divine Being Who instructs a moral
code of absolute do's and don'ts across hundreds of generations of
mankind. In history the Bible is an anvil that has withstood thousands
of years of hammers. The hammers are gone, but the anvil remains--
and
it offers us well-defined, unique, unambiguous, time-tested moral rules
that can be rationally applied to investigate the question of God's
role in the events of September 11. Thus the question before us is
this: Did the God of the Bible Judge America on September 11, 2001?
LOVE OR WRATH?
--------------
But even here we encounter confusion, due to the popular practice of
selecting those Bible passages that describe God one way, while
ignoring other Bible texts that paint a different portrait. In John
3:36, for example, the Apostle John warns of God's wrath yet provides
assurance of God's Love in 1 John 4:8. Is God a God of wrath, or Love?
Wrath lends support to the belief God judged America September 11,
whereas Love makes us ask: How could God have let this happen? After
all, does not God have power to do whatever He wants? But this same
Apostle also writes (1 John 3:3-4) that God is pure. If God can do
anything, why does He not rid the world of the sin that He hates?
One answer is that many of us see God as a placid halcyon. They
conceive of God as some ill-defined wimp whose love becalms Him into
accepting human sin, no matter how abominable. This view not only
teaches that God played no role in the September 11 tragedy, but that
His Love prevents Him from ever inflicting harm on human beings. God
is
seen here as tearfully sitting on the side-lines, grief-stricken at
the
horrible pain and suffering unfolding before His eyes, as His Love
embraces the decision of 19 terrorists to willfully inflict harm on
their fellow human beings.
But does the Bible describe God with Love so vast as to render Him
accepting of anything and everything we do? God is indeed a God of
Love. But there is another side to His nature. The God of the Bible
is
also a Holy God (Isaiah 6:3) whose Love can never embrace what His
Holiness must condemn. Moreover, the God of the Bible testifies that
He
is the only true God: "I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart
from
me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5). If, therefore, we seek to learn
whether the God of the Bible judged America on September 11, we must
abandon our intuition, and study what God reveals about Himself and
His
judgments in the Bible.
DOES GOD KILL THE INNOCENT?
---------------------------
Most Christians believe they know the God of Scripture (the Bible)
and
say: "No, God did not judge America on September 11." They argue that
innocent people were killed that day, including toddlers, and that
God
would never do such a thing. But does this view align with what the
Bible teaches? From our human perspective, this argument seems
perfectly reasonable. But should we conclude that the God of the Bible
did not judge America because innocent people died? The answer is no.
Consider what God reveals of Himself in Scripture: "I, the Lord your
God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the
fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but
showing love to thousands who love me and keep my commandments" (Exodus
20:4-6). Although nothing in this text implies that God judged America,
it does teach that toddlers and infants can be the innocent victims
of
the sins of past generations. If this be true, how can one cite the
deaths of innocent people to conclude that God did not judge America?
Did not innocent Egyptians suffer plagues of blood, frogs, gnats,
flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and even death of
their firstborn because of Pharaoh's sins (Exodus 9:14-16)? Were not
innocent people including the sons and wife of Jehoram also struck
down
when the Lord punished him for his sins (2 Chronicles 21:12-15)? And
what of God's wrath against Judah? The Scripture says that He "spared
neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all
of
them over to Nebuchadnezzar" (2 Chronicles 36:15-17).
Are we to believe that innocent people didn't die when God uprooted
the
entire nation of Israel (2 Chronicles 7:19-22)? Or consider Deuteronomy
28:15-68). Innocent women were ravished (v.30), and innocent children
were eaten (v.53-55). Moreover, verse 59 reads: "the Lord will send
fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged
disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses." Were not such
descendants innocent?
CAN MAN FATHOM GOD?
-------------------
Clearly these verses do not say God judged America at the World Trade
Center on September 11. But what they do show is that the idea should
not be dismissed because innocent people including toddlers (and even
some infants) died in that horrific incident. God is God, and no human
being can rationally question Him. Doing so is not unlike goldfish
questioning a nuclear test-ban treaty in Geneva. All we know is that
in
the Bible, Judgments by God reach across sins of past generations to
impact the innocent. But how can the destruction of innocent people
be
reconciled with a God of Love? And how can a God Who is Love punish
children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation?
The Bible's answer is as unexpected as it is complex. The text as
quoted is incomplete. The actual text reads: "to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love to thousands who
love
me and keep my commandments". The Bible seems to divide mankind into
those who hate God, and those who love Him. But it goes further. It
reveals that God is able to see things in the future we can't-- much
like having Xray vision of the root of two twigs covered by snow in
the
mid of winter; one root an apple tree, and the other a bramble bush.
Here on earth we humans must wait till Spring arrives for the snow to
melt, and then see which twig grows into what. Not so with the God
of
the Bible: "for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done
anything good or bad- Jacob I loved but Essau I hated" (Romans 9:11-13).
Here God declares His love and hatred for two people who are not yet
born! Although God's Choice of Jacob over Essau is vindicated by the
decisions each later made, their existence as people illustrates a
basic revelation of the Bible viz., the existence of good and evil.
HUMAN DEPRAVITY
---------------
Jews, Christians and Muslims each accept the existence of good and
evil. However they differ in its origin, character and application.
Their response also varies: Christians emphasize mercy; Muslims stress
justice, and Jews respond with both. Nonetheless general agreement
does
exist on a related revelation penned by David: "I was brought forth
in
iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5).
This text echoes events found in Genesis (the Bible's first Book) known
as "the fall of man"-- events that help explain the apparent conflict
between the Love of God, and His wrath.
In Genesis, God creates man perfect (Genesis 1:27), grants "Adam" broad
freedoms throughout a flawless garden (Genesis 2:16), and then
instructs him how to avoid death (Genesis 2:17). But an evil
intelligence (Genesis 3:1) called Satan or the devil (Revelation 12:9)
deceives Adam into disobeying God in a way that now brings sin to the
world (Romans 5:12) by the means of human flesh (Romans 7:14-25).
Since Adam was created perfect, he was free to choose wrongly-- but
he
was not under compulsion of his flesh to do so. However, as a result
of
what he did, all humans are now conceived (by sperm) into a state of
depravity (Psalm 51:5). However, since Jesus was virgin born (Matthew
1:18, Luke 1:34-35), his flesh (Hebrews 2:14) was free of sin (Hebrews
4:15. This is why Satan "has nothing" in Jesus (John 14:30).
But all of this brings us to the following quagmire: How can man be
depraved (Romans 3:10-18), and yet be created in the Image of God
(Genesis 1:26)? We are thus confronted with not one-- but two
dichotomies: The first that of good and evil, and the other, that of
God's Image and man's depravity.
What is the doctrine of "depravity?" And what does it have to do with
the September 11 WTC attack, and the question of God's possible role
in
the tragedy? The doctrine of human depravity states that given the
right circumstances, man is capable of the most vile acts imaginable.
The senseless slaughter of innocent men, women and children at the
WTC
by 19 Islamic extremists is the most recent example of its validity.
In Part 2, we examine the reason for the existence of good and evil,
and the paradox of humans that are created in God's Image, but yet
born into a state of depravity.