Abstract

As a practical theologian and researcher in the field of ‘natural’ disasters, as well as being a disaster responder chaplain, I am often confronted by, and have to confront, the nexus between theology/philosophy and “real life” in extremely traumatic contexts. The extreme suffering that is often the consequence of catastrophic natural disasters warrants solutions that can help vulnerable populations recover and adapt to live safely with natural hazards. For many practice-based responders, speculative theological/philosophical reflections around situations that are often human-caused seem predominantly vacuous exercises, potentially diverting attention away from the empiricism of causal human agency. In this article, I explore a middle ground involving a nuanced methodological approach to theodicy that is practical but no less intellectually demanding, that is theological more than philosophical, practical more than theoretical; a middle ground that also takes seriously the human culpability as causal for the human, and some would say the divine, suffering from disasters. I will include in this exploration my ethnographic fieldwork following the catastrophic earthquake to hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti in 2010.

Highlights

  • The opening words in the title of this paper, taken from the Epistle of James 2:18 (ESV 2002), are part of a larger statement where the author, by constructing an imaginary conversation between two persons, contrasts a theoretical faith with a faith that works, a faith where the beliefs lead to concomitant actions

  • Denis Alexander has added his theological reflection (Alexander 2008, pp. 277–92) to address the issues of natural evil and suffering. This focus maintains an academic obsession for solving the mystery of suffering and evil while distracting from the more obvious and immediate human causation, which, if addressed constructively and responsibly, could relieve large amounts of suffering and losses when natural hazards occur

  • I conclude that a practical theologized theodicy that incorporates elements of liberation theology can serve a therapeutic recovery more constructively than philosophical theodicy ever can

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Summary

Introduction

The opening words in the title of this paper, taken from the Epistle of James 2:18 (ESV 2002), are part of a larger statement where the author, by constructing an imaginary conversation between two persons, contrasts a theoretical faith with a faith that works, a faith where the beliefs lead to concomitant actions. This focus maintains an academic obsession for solving the mystery of suffering and evil while distracting from the more obvious and immediate human causation, which, if addressed constructively and responsibly, could relieve large amounts of suffering and losses when natural hazards occur This focus diverts attention away from the empirical evidence for the benefits accrued from adaptation, and cultural transformation As an academic theologian, I am used to the discourses on the metaphysical problem of God, evil and suffering, and on theodicy, and finding no satisfactory philosophical solution Such discourses frequently follow in the wake of some catastrophic event, and the focus is inexorably, so it seems, upon God: why God allows terrible things to happen even to good people, why God cannot or will not prevent suffering, why God allows nature to become so wildly out of control

The Problem
Toward a Solution
Conclusions

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