Bob White: Blame human choices, not ‘acts of God’

WACO—Human choices and actions—not “acts of God”—typically turn natural events into disasters, Christian geophysicist Bob White told a Stewardship of Creation symposium at Baylor University.

“Disasters happen when God’s good processes go wrong because of human agency,” White told the Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture. “Disasters are interesting because they really bring into sharp focus the relationship between God the Creator, his creation and us, his creatures.”

White, a professor of geophysics at the University of Cambridge, delivered the W.H. Brian Jr. Family Lecture at the event sponsored by Baylor’s Institute for Faith and Learning.

Disasters: ‘Products of human agency’

White, director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, eschewed the term “natural disasters,” emphasizing natural events such as volcanic eruptions and floods have positive effects on the ecosystem and make the Earth “a fertile and inhabitable world,” but they often have devastating consequences on people when individuals misuse power.

“Disasters are products of human agency—and usually not the agency of the people who suffer,” said White, author of Who is to Blame? Disasters, Nature and Acts of God.

Often, natural events are predictable, and loss of life is preventable, he noted. However, he cited multiple examples—throughout history and in recent times—illustrating how the poor and vulnerable suffer disproportionately from natural events due to abuse of power and unjust distribution of resources.

Christians have a responsibility to minister to those who suffer as a result of injustice, he asserted.

For example, he noted the 2010 earthquake in Haiti claimed at least 230,000 lives, compared to about 60 who died when an earthquake of comparable magnitude occurred in Loma Prieta, Calif., in 1989 and a stretch of freeway collapsed. More than 99 percent of the fatalities in Haiti were due to poor construction, political corruption and poverty, White said.

However, he added, Christian groups have been instrumental in rebuilding in Haiti and in alleviating much of the suffering after the earthquake.

Furthermore, White emphasized the interdependence of the world and the shared environment—as well as shared responsibility for the impact human beings make on it.

“We’ve built our prosperity on the back of burning carbon. … Climate change causes more extreme weather events­—floods and droughts,” he said.

Likewise, White asserted, cycles of famine occur naturally, but people suffer due to lack of access to the resources that are available elsewhere.

“There is enough food in the world for everybody. It’s just not equitably distributed,” he said.

What does the Bible say?

Turning to Scripture, White examined the biblical examples of Joseph and Job in the Old Testament and the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels.

Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery before he rose to power in that foreign country and used his influence to help his people cope with famine. Job suffered from disasters and pestilence, not because he was evil but as a direct consequence of his righteousness. Both stories emphasize the sovereignty of God, who is capable of bringing good out of bad circumstances, White asserted.

In the Gospels, Jesus refused to subscribe to the prevailing view that linked the suffering of others with specific sins, in all instances, White said. Rather, he used those circumstances to call individuals to examine their own lives and turn to God.

White acknowledged the brokenness of the world, but he insisted Christ inaugurated the coming of God’s kingdom and pointed to the promise of a New Creation in which “God will come to dwell with his people.”

In that New Creation, White predicted, humanity will enjoy the “awesome” display of volcanic eruptions and other demonstrations of God’s power without fear of suffering due to human agency.