God’s Existence Doesn’t End Where Tragedies Begin

Last updated on: July 24, 2023 at 9:46 am by Chrissy Marks

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God’s Existence Doesn’t End Where Tragedies Begin 2023-07-24T09:46:16-04:00 Chrissy Marks

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A common argument opposing the existence of God is that if God exist, why do terrible things happen ? Especially, why do bad things happen to good people, or people who otherwise did not deserve it. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a well-respected astrophysicist, and public personality. He once argued Gods existence by discussing the tragic earthquake of Lisbon, Portugal in 1755. Dr. Tyson argued that based on the events of Lisbon, God either does not exist or if he exists, he is not an entity that has our best interest at heart. The massive earthquake of Lisbon occurred on November 1st ,which in the Catholic faith is All Saints Day. The earthquake almost destroyed the entire city, and due to the quake, a tsunami followed shortly after. 40,000 people were killed, many infrastructures were destroyed and 10,000 people from nearby Morocco died as well. Several cathedrals, where people were gathering, were destroyed while the parish died within. The event was horrific, especially to a culture that knew little about earthquakes of this size at the time.

Is it Gods Fault?

Dr. Tyson presents interesting opinions, however the occurrence of terrible events is not always attributed to the fault of God or proof that there is not one. These infrastructures that collapsed upon the Lisbon people were built by man. This is not to say that the citizens deserved what happened in any way, but with free will comes beautiful creations as well as potential tragedies. The sinking of the Titanic, which during the early 1900s was the largest ship ever built, has sparked a renewed interest. Recently, a submarine imploded on its way down to see the Titanic remains. The implosion killed all its passengers. Is God to blame for the sinking of the Titanic? Is God to blame for the passengers of the submarine who died trying to view it? Do these events make Gods existence impossible to fathom?

God is real, but so is man…

Like the events in Lisbon, though these are all tragedies, they are still not proof that God does not exist, but rather that man does. The Titanic was a man-made ship run by individuals who believed it could not sink. The passengers of the submarine implosion were warned prior to going into the ocean that there were threats to their mission. The passengers ignored the warnings from others. As with the cathedrals crashing down in Lisbon, this is not to say the submarine passengers got what they deserved, but rather every time an unfortunate event happens it does not mean God is not real. Analyzing these events and what went wrong can help to gain clarity once we get past our own emotions. When good things happen, many people may thank God but when bad things happen, as Christians we should not have the knee jerk reaction to turn on God, but rather look to him for support. Also, look at what we can learn from previous tragedies so that the events do not repeat themselves. For instance, though earthquakes still happen, we are now more prepared for them than we were in the 1700s. Depiction of Lisbon 1755 Earthquke.

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