‘In spite of all this, we will yearn for You’: Reflections on God’s involvement in events causing great suffering

Abstract

This chapter considers God’s involvement in shocking events affecting human communities. It considers classic responses by Elie Wiesel, Rowan Williams, Etty Hillesum, and David Blumenthal. The chapter draws a distinction between moral and natural evil and proposes that this distinction leads to a difference of emphasis within the range of responses a shock event will elicit. It goes on to consider God’s culpability in respect of natural evil and proposes that a full and authentic Christian response to natural disaster must make theological and liturgical space for acknowledgement of that culpability, drawing on the resources of the Jewish tradition to do so. The chapter’s conclusion is that reflection on the impact of traumatising events and honest, unsentimental reflection on God’s ways with the world should lead not only to a richer vein of Christian contemplation but also to radical and paradoxical answers to the question as what should be prayed in time of disaster.