Interviewed by the Ignorant, Part 1

“Which is it? Either God is all-powerful, but He doesn’t care about the people of Japan, and therefore they are suffering. Or, Does He care, but He is not all- powerful?”

This is a question asked of Rob Bell by Martin Bashir on MSNBC. All Rob Bell had to say was this is a paradox that is better left alone. My next six posts will be my response to this question.   

To begin with, just asking that question betrays any true knowledge of God. Anyone who truly knows God would never ask such a question. This question is nothing but an attempt to have God painted in a bad light. Nevertheless, biblically there are several things that can be said in response.

1. God’s purposes and plans are beyond human comprehension.

Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

For those who are finite in understanding, and finite in wisdom, and finite in knowledge to question the One who is infinite in understanding, and infinite in wisdom, and infinite in knowledge is foolish. You are saying that God must either be limited in power or uncaring. That is making an assumption based on very limited information. Imagine all you could possibly know is a letter in a book. You may know the letter, but only God knows the word that letter is a part of, the sentence that word is a part of, the paragraph that sentence is a part of, the page that paragraph is the part of, and the book that page is a part of. You cannot be critical of the Author of the book when all your knowledge is limited to one letter. You don’t know enough about God, His ways, or His purposes to accuse Him. Romans 11:33-34, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgmets and how inscrutable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?" Who are you to scrutinize the actions of Him who is inscrutable? You cannot even begin to fathom why God does all that He does. And that leaves you in no place to make foolish assumptions about God or His character.