Do you remember where you were ten years ago on September 11 as you heard of the attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon? Televised images of people fleeing and buildings crumbling seared into our national consciousness. Where was God in this attack? Where was God on September 11?
The question is not a new one. It arises in the face of natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina and the Japan tsunami) and moral atrocities (think of the many victims of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and other, perhaps more petty but no less deadly, dictators). The question was formulated following the devastating Lisbon earthquake of 1755: if, as Christians believe, God is good, and if he is all powerful, could he not have prevented the quake? Continue reading “Where Was God on September 11?”