Essay [Video Essay] God and The Tsunami

2011.03.15 07:56

운영자 Views:17474

God and the Tsunami
By Minyanville Staff - March 15, 2011 02:11 PM

DailyFeed

The news, footage and photographs from Japan have been overwhelming and often unbearable, no matter how close one's connection to the Tohoku region or one's distance from it. For many people the disaster raises serious philosophical issues, for the faithful (of any religion), doubts.

In the days following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, in which more than 300,000 people lost their lives, Tom Honey, the Canon Pastor of Exeter Cathedral, in the UK, found it necessary to address the question that many were asking then, as they are now: How could God let this happen? His response, in which he challenges the notion of an "almighty" being, feels relevant again today.

Click on the video below to hear his moving lecture.

Honey's talk may be thought-provoking and helpful to audiences in the West of any religious order, and perhaps even non-believers. In Japan, however, where there isn't a tradition of putting one's faith in a single all-powerful God, the question of "why" is less likely to dominate the public conversation.

The world has been watching in astonishment as the Japanese react to the disaster with patience and a stoic attitude, but it's helpful to remember that what we're seeing is not a lack of emotion. As Glenda Roberts, an anthropology professor at Tokyo's Waseda University, told the AP: "It strikes me as a Buddhist attitude ... Westerners might tend to see it as passivity, but it's not that. It takes a lot of strength to stay calm in the face of terror."

Additionally, as Honey says, quoting the Archbishop of Canterbury , "The people most affected by devastation and the loss of life do not want intellectual theories about how God let this happen. If some religious genius came up with an explanation of why these things do indeed make sense, would we feel happier? Or safer?"

Probably not.

I want to

Update Delete List

Comment 2

운영자

2011.03.15 09:01

한 영국 Catholic priest의 약 20분간 길이의 연설인데,
Religion에서 벗어나서 church-obssessed 않된 흥미있는 이야기입니다.
Only if you have time.....

Comment Update Delete
이한중*65

2011.03.15 09:17

WM,
Thank you for putting this video on our page.
Every word he said certainly strikes our hearts including mine.
These are the questions we all modern intellectuals are battling with
personally and collectively.

What he said resonates loud in my heart particularly because I was going through for years
and to some extent still going through before I found faith in Catholic church.

The book I once introduced on this page a couple of years ago, "The Case for Faith"
by Lee Strobel, deals with those questions raised here in greater depths and breadths
in a very systematic way.

Charles Templeton, who started out in evangelism as an equal partner of Billy Graham,
was striken with these doubts in 1930's and could not overcome and left preaching
and became a novelist. This man is still living and was interviewed by Lee Strobel in the book.
It is a paperback, and I would like to once again recommend it to anyone interested.

Lee Strobel was an atheist, a lawyer and a journalist who took two years off
just to prove that there is no God Christians are talking about,
winding up becoming a Christian while doing his exhaustive, investigation worldwide.

Comment Update Delete

List

No.	Subject	Date	Author	Last Update	Views
Notice	How to write your comments onto a webpage [2]	2016.07.06	운영자	2016.11.20	18194
Notice	How to Upload Pictures in webpages	2016.07.06	운영자	2018.10.19	32349
Notice	How to use Rich Text Editor [3]	2016.06.28	운영자	2018.10.19	5928
Notice	How to Write a Webpage	2016.06.28	운영자	2020.12.23	43842
405	연평도 의무관 님 [5]	2010.12.02	추재옥*63	2010.12.02	8261
404	[황순원 단편] "소나기" [7]	2010.12.18	운영자	2010.12.18	5884
403	어느 산골 소년의 사랑이야기 - "소나기" [4]	2010.12.17	운영자	2010.12.17	8974
402	An Unforgettable Christmas Story - 派獨鑛夫 [4]	2010.12.21	운영자	2010.12.21	7238
401	[현진건 단편] 고향 [3]	2010.12.21	운영자	2010.12.21	6689
400	[Christmas Story] 크리스마스의 기적 [1]	2010.12.23	운영자	2010.12.23	9490
399	[re] 누님으로부터의 새해 Greeting [5]	2011.01.02	운영자	2011.01.02	7295
398	새해를 마지하며 [5]	2010.12.31	운영자	2010.12.31	7560
397	My New Year's Resolution [6]	2011.01.01	장원호#guest	2011.01.01	5457
396	[Essay] 월남학생의 눈물 [4]	2011.01.06	Rover	2011.01.06	7687
395	[Essay] 한국인들의 단점 - 김진홍 목사 [2]	2011.01.09	Rover	2011.01.09	8784
394	미주동문 찾아오는 정운찬 동문 (전 SNU 총장, 전 국무총리) [4]	2011.01.10	조동준*64	2011.01.10	7489
393	[Essay] 내게 오기를 준 국밥집 간판 / 이제석 [3]	2011.01.18	Rover	2011.01.18	7966
392	최고의 ‘숙취 해소제’는 술 마신 다음 날 운동 [1]	2011.01.28	Rover	2011.01.28	8652
391	[Essay] 왜 한국인은 행복해하지 않는가	2011.02.01	Rover	2011.02.01	9691
390	[한국 현대 단편] 7월의 아이들 - 최인훈 [2]	2011.02.06	운영자	2011.02.06	5877
389	[한국 현대 단편] 고향 / 현진건 [2]	2011.02.20	운영자	2011.02.20	5988
388	[시사평론] 타이거 맘과 대전 아줌마 [5]	2011.03.03	임춘훈*63문리대	2011.03.03	26301
387	죽엄을 표현하는 漢字 단어 [8]	2011.03.09	Rover	2011.03.09	7718
»	[Video Essay] God and The Tsunami [2]	2011.03.15	운영자	2011.03.15	17474

First Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Last Page

Write

Tag

Essay [Video Essay] God and The Tsunami

Comment 2

운영자

이한중*65

**이한중*65**