Theological Ramblings

Who’s to blame for the life that tragedies claim?
No matter what you say it won’t take away the pain
That I feel inside, I’m tired of all the lies
Don’t nobody know why
It’s the blind leadin’ the blind.
Guess that’s the way that the story goes,
Will it ever make sense somebody’s gotta know,
There’s gotta be more to life than this,
There’s got to be more to everything
I thought exists¹

It’s sad to look at the world and see evil. It is heartbreaking to watch and hear about murder and death and violence. It is difficult to formulate an effective response in the face of such terror and horror and loss. Words cannot adequately express the emotion which accompanies these events. Inevitably the questions are raised: How can someone do this? How can God allow such evil? Isn’t God strong enough to prevent this? Who is to blame for this tragedy?

I’d like to start by answering the last question first: Who is to blame? The answer is simply the shooter. Society, his parents, his teachers, friends, the police, the university - none of these did anything to cause him to commit these atrocities. Contrary to his claim in the letter, nobody made him do anything. He is responsible because he made the choice to act. Now, this may beg an important question in your mind. You might ask, “How can you, Mike, as a Calvinist claim that this man is responsible for his actions because of his choice? Wasn’t he predestined to do this? Wasn’t he elected for this fate?” These questions I will answer later - either at the end of this post or in another one. I would rather deal with the other pressing questions in this note, because my hope is that maybe someone affected by this event will stumble upon this site and find words of hope and comfort from this.

I would like to start off by affirming that God is not passive. He does not sit back and watch. It should be obvious to everyone who is here that I do believe in God, and I believe that the one true God is YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that this God sent His only Son, Yeshua - Jesus the Christ - to become sin for us that we who are sinners can exchange our depravity for his righteousness and be justified before God. In the ultimate act of His aggressive love for humanity, God sent Jesus with one purpose in mind: the cross! Because of this act - and because this act did not conquer Jesus, rather Jesus conquered death by His resurrection on the third day - the power of sin and death is broken and all who come to God Sola Gratia (by grace alone) Sola Fide (through faith alone) in Solus Christus (in the blood of Christ alone) are forgiven. That is the message of the Bible, of the Gospel, of Christianity and of this website. If you take nothing else from this site, get that Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead to conquer its power so that you could be forgiven. That is the hope I wish to convey to the world.

But how can evil like the Virginia Tech shooting occur? How can sin in any form occur? How can this active God who did not hold back His only Son for us allow this to happen? In short how can bad things happen to good people?

This act, and others like it, are the very result of the first evil act ever recorded. That’s the simple answer. In the very beginning were the two: Adam and Eve, and these two had a simple rule: Don’t eat from that tree. They couldn’t resist, and the apostle Paul records the result in Romans 5.

Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned–

So we call this event tragic because it happened suddenly. It came upon us unexpectedly - out of nowhere, if you will. People all this week, and continuing on for the weeks and months to come are going to be talking about how this could have been prevented? Could a psychologist have identified his mental illness and done something to stop it? Could his professors have noticed some oddities in his work? Could his classmates have been alarmed by his anti-social behavior? etc, etc, etc. The problem with this kind of analysis is that it is devoid of understanding of the major point of this passage: Death has spread to all. Paul is mostly talking about spiritual death - where we are stillborn at our physical birth such that we are incapable of responding to God’s call unless we are awakened unto life - but physical death is still a prevalent and real consequence of the fall. This is tragic, but it happens to all. Death is a way of life. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 7:

Ecclesiastes 7:1-3
A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

The wisdom of Solomon in this passage is that death happens - it’s a way of life. This may sound like a callous thing to say to someone who has just lost a loved one, but realizing the Truth is always liberating. People die. Only two people who have ever lived escaped a physical death (supposedly) - Enoch and Elijah. So there’s really no hope that we can escape physical death (apart from the rapture) unless maybe your name starts with E, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, if I were you. The point simply is this, death is a consequence of our rebellion to God.

Still, why can’t death be put off? Why do people have to die young? Why does a disgruntled milk man have to kill children in an Amish school house in Pennsylvania? Why do two teens have to plant bombs in their school and attack fellow students with guns in Colorado? Why does a kid have to take a gun to school in San Diego? Why do teenagers have to be killed in a prayer meeting in Paducah, Kentucky?

None can escape this death. It will come to all. The hope God has presented is this - your sins can be forgiven. While physical death can no more be averted than taxes, spiritual death can be. If you are a believer, and you know someone who was a believer who died in the Virginia Tech incident, claim the promise of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

and 1 Corinthians 15:51-55

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

And oh unbeliever who struggles with the weight of this death; who struggles against the weight of sin; I encourage you that there may yet be hope for you. These promises can be yours too, if you would only believe by faith. Read with me the rest of Romans 5:

Romans 5:15-19
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

I ask you today to have faith alone in Jesus Christ. He has given His life for yours. If you disagree, you are by no means obligated to do anything. I do not hope to persuade you with words, only to be used by the Spirit to convict your hearts. If the Holy Spirit is making you alive today, please respond to Him.

Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering ‘no’ to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of Yeshurun, for helping me to be upright. I pray through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen²

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1. Verse 3 of ‘Youth of the Nation’ by POD
2. A Puritan Prayer