Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-02-02

problem of pain by the hand of Provi-
dence is beyond their solution. They
wonder If good God can be the MAKER
and preserver of a world in which such
disasters occur
This problem of suffering is as old as
| Job. Tt has arrested the attention and
! confused the rec sonings of men in ali
ages In undertaking to solve the prob
lem all sorts of theories have been pro-
posed Some minds have reached an
atheistic conclusion. affirming that there
is no God and that such calamities could
not happen il there were a good and pow
erful God the Creator and Preserver of
all things. Some have adopted the doc
trine of dualism, declaring that there are
both good and evi! Power forever in
lconflict with each other. and that in the
unfolding of events the Evil One is
loftimes victorious. Polytheistic concep-
ltions have also been accepted as the ex-
lplanation of the mixed conditions of
pleasure and pain in the universe
Minds which have refused all atheistic,
dualistic. and polytheistic notions con-
corning such things. have seen in these
visitations of Providence the punishment
of the wicked for their sins. This was
the theory OF Jobs friends about his sore
and multiplied sorrows. Unable to deny
the goodness or the power OF God. they
found in the griefs OF she man Of Uz
proofs positive of his secret sins, al
though God had said Of him that there
was none like In him in all the earth,
perfect and upright man who feared God
and eschewed evil" This ancient heresy.
which the book of Job so thoroughly dis
proves viii be applied by some to the
case of the men of Calabria and Messina;
they will see In the earthquake judg-
ment from heaven against Calabriau
crimes and Sieilian sins.
Such was the view of some who came
10 the Saviour telling him Of the Cali
laeans whose blood PLATE had mingled
with their sacrifices and of the eighteen
upon whom the tower in Sloan fell
The Master did not deny that there was
a moral purpose in those grievous events,
but he showed its purpose was not neces-
sarily a punishment of those who had
lperished, but rather a call to repentance
to living sinners.
II we start with the assumption that
Gods chief concern should be for human
comfort, and that mans highest good Is
found In exemption from pain. we viii be
forced to adopt some one of the erro-
neous views which have been mentioned.
If suffering is the worst evil and comfort
the highest good, the world has certainly
been made by a bad God or weak God
or else there is no God at all IL Is quite
certain that there Is and always has been
the children of men.
BY earthquakes alone multiplied millions
have been destroyed. No less than ou,VOo
people persisted in the great Lisbon earth
quake In l755. In 1852 the entire island of
Sicily was shaken by one of the most
dreadful earthquakes known to history
and ffty-four cities and towns We're ut
terly destroyed. In the same year Jamai-
ca was visited on June 7th with similar
l ~ less
In the latter part of the 18th century
Calabria suffered the loss of 10000 OF its
people by a great earthquake. 1t Is said
that as many as twelve or thirteen earth
auakes, more or. less destructive OF hu-
man life and property. occur every year,
and IT is we'll known that the surface OF
the globe Is never entirely free from
earthquake forces of greater or smaller
power. In some quarter or another or the
globe tremOrs are going on all the time
No part of the world is exempt from
them. They have been less known in
Egypt than anywhere else, but even there
was felt one of considerable power in
1740 Holland, with its loose, alluvial de-
posits has been shaken by them.
tits estimated that above 100000 peo-
pie have been killed by earthquakes since
men began to make historic records of
events. In 715O John Wesley published a
1 striking DISCOURSE on the 'OduSc dilu Sul e
of Earthquakes. which may be found in
his works today. 1t is little that the sci
entists can tell as about these awful
phenomena, and It is certain the great
| Wesley threw no light on the physician
causes swhi0ha produce them.
Reference is made OF the earthquakes
OF the past to remind rs that the recent
calamity in Sicily and southern Italy pre-
sents no new problem to reason or faith.
but raises only the same old question OF
suffering which has engaged the thoughts
of the wisest and best men of all former
ages. No advance of thought or progress
of science carries us beyond the reach of
the fundamental facts and problems of
life by which men have always been
confronted. Faith i'm other days has re-
NAMED mistaken in the presence Of these
perplexing questions and appalling facts,
and we in our time are called upon to
solve no new problem .-
But perhaps the question Of pain in the
world comes home to the heart of our
, self-indulgent age more keenly than 1t
did to any former generation. Ours is a
time OF great material prosperity and
comfort, when pain is regarded as the
| greatest possible evil, and softness, ease
and enjoyment are esteemed as the great
est possible blessings This spirit In
fects our religion, and we have been for
| years indulgtng Sentimental SORT OF the
4 oIogy which would not endure the
thought that the God OF love could be Sc
we're about anything. The God of this
pulpy theology has been kind Of mag
nified Eli who allowed his wicked sons,
Hophni and Phinehas. to desecrate the
most sacred things and debauch a nation
without a punishment more sharp than
| a mild expostulation. OF course to such
an age and such theology a visitation
like the recent earthquake comes as n
most perplexing problem. 1t confounds
and sets at nought all sentimental the
cries of an easy@going God.
1t will be a, blessed thing il these
earthquakes of recent years in California,
Martinique and Italy can shock us into
| common sense again. and teach us that
God can be severe as we'll as gentle
Foolish and shallow men have refused
TO believe in the eternal punishment
which is clearly revealed in the Scriptures
because they could not. as they have
said, ''see how a loving Father would al
low such pain" Can they see any more
clearly how loving Father can allow
the horrible pains and deaths which have
fallen upon the people of Messina? In al
our theories of nature and religion we
may as we'll make room for the thought
that a loving God can be severe. God
does not esteem pain the worst evil nor
| ma inIessness the supreme good.