張子江牧師

每當有災難發生時﹐人總是問這個問題﹕[上帝在那裡 ] ﹖問這問題時是有一個假設﹐就是如果上帝在那裡的話﹐祂仁愛的本質不會讓這些事情發生。九一一事件後﹐基督徒跟非基督徒都同樣問這問題﹕[上帝在那裡] ﹖這次東南亞海嘯之災後﹐人一樣照問﹕[上帝在那裡] ﹖

筆者不能也絕對不敢說有容易的答案。這類問題所牽涉的範圍很廣﹐有神學､哲學､神的本質､人是善是惡､倫理學等因素在內。我們只能以我們極之有限的腦袋去思想出一個答案﹐這答案亦肯定不能滿足每一個人的期望和想法。

神是慈愛和憐憫的神﹐這是無可置疑的事實。聖經在多處地方﹐清楚顯明神是慈愛的神﹐祂愛人愛到一個地步甚至差遣祂的獨生兒子降世﹐死在十字架上﹐擔當了世人的罪﹐叫每一位願意相信祂的人﹐可以不至滅亡﹐反得永生。聖經亦讓人看到神和耶穌都是滿有憐憫的神。祂要讓小孩子到祂的面前蒙祝福﹐他不願人餓著肚子回家﹐所以有五餅二魚餵飽五千人的神蹟出現。毫無疑問﹐神是慈愛和憐憫的神。

從聖經中﹐我們也看到神另一種的本質﹐這本質是人常常刻意､或非刻意去忽略的﹐這就是神公義的本質。公義本質的慨念是不容易解釋﹐簡單來說就是神不能跟罪惡在一起﹐神跟罪不能和平共存﹐那裡有罪﹐那裡就會有神的懲罰。假如神不懲罰的話﹐是祂自己的事﹐跟他的主權有關。其實﹐在人類歷史當中﹐神並沒有按人犯罪的嚴重性來懲罰人﹐不然的話﹐人都沒法生存下去。這也實在反影出神慈愛的一面---高度性的長久忍耐。 當神要懲罰的時候﹐程度極可能是災難性的﹐正如他在礦野殺死了大批不斷向祂反叛的以色列人。這好像是跟祂慈愛的本質背道而馳﹐很多人都不能接受。亦有很多人錯誤地相信﹐因為神的本質既是慈愛﹐神不會且沒有這種權柄去嚴重懲罰。他們卻忘記了神公義的本質不能不斷地接受挑戰而不會有結果。這類的辯論不會有結果。事不離實﹐神的公義不能長久受到挑戰而沒有結果。我們亦不應肯定後果不會嚴重。

我不能說､亦沒有權柄去說每一次的天災都是神的懲罰﹔但我亦不會否定這可能性。聖經很清楚的說明﹐神的道路不是我們的道路﹐祂的意念不是我們的意念。"天怎樣高過地﹐照樣﹐我的道路高過你的道路﹐我的意念高過你的意念。" 我們這些極有限的人﹐對於無限的神的行動﹐是無法完全去明白。與其問﹕[神那時在那裡﹖]﹐倒不如問﹕[神啊﹐為甚麼會這樣] ﹖答案是很簡單﹕[我不知道] ﹐但要肯定神是在宇宙中。如果不是神在宇宙中﹐何來會產生這樣巨大的能力﹖為甚麼的答案亦不容易。如果神是祂所說的神﹐所發生的事必有原因在背後﹐可能這原因我們不會完全明白。

我們儘管去找答案﹐我們可能都找不到。我們可以嘗試﹐但答案未必是對。聖經說我們如今彷彿對著鏡子觀看﹐糢糊不清﹐到那時 (將來跟耶穌在一起的時候) ﹐就要面對面了。我們如今知道的有限﹐到那時就全知道﹐如同主知道我一樣。這是跟我們極有限的本質有關。

以九一一的事件為例﹐事發後我在沉思﹐究竟神要給美國人一個甚麼訊息﹖我想了一段頗長的時間﹐作了一些我所領受的感想。我不能說這是必然的答案﹐但這是我個人的感受。

美國是一個以基督教立國的國家﹐在鎳幣上都刻有我們信靠神的字。但隨著時日的過去﹐在人權和個人自由的名義下﹐神已被打入冷宮﹐在整個美國人的生活中﹐神的地位再受不到尊重。
現今已不能在公開的場合禱告﹐不能在公開的場合讀聖經﹐不能在聖誕節公開展覽馬槽之景﹐甚至不能用聖誕這個字﹐又要從效忠宣誓詞中除掉上帝兩字。不但如此﹐自從一九七三年到二零零四年底﹐以尊重婦女個人自由為名﹐美國國內已扼殺了四千四百六十三萬八百三十個在母腹中的胎兒。其他如黃､賭､毒等事則不在話下。全美國國人都渴望神的祝福﹐試問﹐在這樣不把神放在眼內的情況下﹐神會祝福美國嗎﹖以政教分離為理由﹐一個基督教國家反抗神已到了一個史無前例的程度。九一一事件可能是神用來警告美國要回歸到神的懷抱中的一個訊號。我不知道﹖但肯定不是神在那裡的問題。九一一後美國人禱告的熱潮一度令我感到鼓舞﹐曾幾何時﹐又好像煙燒雲散。

另一個需要稍稍討論的問題---人無辜的問題。每次災後﹐總有很多人說很多無辜的人死亡。人是否真正的無辜﹖按照聖經的立場﹐人人都犯了罪﹐虧缺了神的榮耀﹐世上連一個義人也沒有。

東南亞的災難為甚麼會發生﹖我不敢回答這問題﹐但我確信背後必有原因。神必定在那裡。可能是神要全人類重新再思人的本源﹐人生存的目的﹐人死後的命運。人宜三思。

Rev. David C. Cheung

Whenever tragedies occur, people always asked the question of "Where is God at that time?" This pre-supposes that if God had been there, He being the benevolent and loving God, He would not have allowed such things to happen. So many people, Christians and non-Christians, asked that question after 911. The same is true after the S-E Asian tsunami in December.

I do not pretend that there is an easy answer to such a question which involves theology, philosophy, ethics, the nature of God, the nature of men etc. However, I will try to do the best I can to look at that question from different perspectives. The "so-called" answer will not satisfy every person.

It is absolutely beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is a loving God. From the perspective of the Bible, God is the God who loves and cares to the extent that He would send His only begotten Son to the world to die for the sins of the world so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. It is also shown in the Bible that God and Jesus have such compassion that they love to have children come to them to be blessed. Jesus would not even want to see the multitude go home hungry; he performed the miracle of five loaves and two fishes to feed the five thousand people. There should be no doubt whatsoever that God is a loving and caring God.

From the Bible we also see another nature of God which people tend to neglect, either deliberately or non-deliberately, and that is God's righteousness. The concept of God's righteousness is very difficult to explain except for the simple fact that God cannot tolerate sin. God and sin cannot co-exist; where there is sin, there is punishment. If God does not punish, it is His sovereignty. In fact, in the course of human history, God has not punished the world in accordance with the severity of sin the people of the world has committed, otherwise none of us can exist. That reveals God's loving nature-a high degree of tolerance and long-suffering. When God seeks to punish, the scale can be calamitous---e.g. killing thousands of His own people when they repeatedly rebelled against Him. It seems to be contrary to His loving nature, as many people like to believe. Many people also wrongly harbor the idea that God has no right or simply will not punish because of His loving nature, neglecting the fact that His righteous nature cannot be repeatedly tested without any consequences. Naturally, such debate can go on till the end of times. But, the simple fact is that God is the very righteous God whose nature cannot be repeatedly tested and rebelled against without any consequences. Neither should we preclude serious consequences.

I am not saying and I do not have the authority to say that every human tragedy is the result of God's punishment; neither will I rule it out. But as the Bible pointed out God's way are not our ways, and His thoughts, our thoughts. "As the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts "declared God. We as finite human beings cannot fathom when, how, where the infinite God will act? So, instead of asking the question of "Where is God at that time", we can only ask the question, "O God, why?" The answer is simply, "I don't know." God is not absent from the universe, He is always there and everywhere. Had it not been for God, a power of such magnitude would not have happened. There is no easy answer to why as well. However, if God is the God as He claims to be, there must be a reason despite the incomprehensibility of the issue.

Inasmuch as we try to seek an answer, we may never get one. All we can do is to try and the answer may not be right. The Bible says that now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully. Again, this attributes to our finite nature versus God' infinite nature.

For example, after 911, I try to think what is God trying to tell America? I came out with the best answer I can. I can never claim that this is the right answer, but some kind of a conclusion based on what my finite mind can come up with.

America was founded as a Christian nation. In God we trust is the motto on the coins. Yet, as we look at America today, in the name of human right and personal freedom, God has been driven away from almost every spectrum of human life. Prayers and scripture readings are not allowed in public places and gatherings, display of the nativity scene is banned, fighting to leave the word God out in the Pledge of Alliance, even the word Christmas cannot be used. Not only that, from 1973 to the end of 2004, 44,630,800 fetuses had been aborted. 44million lives have been killed in the name of the right of women. We do not need to mention other sins like pornography, fraud, homicide etc. How can God bless America even in all our hearts and minds, we want God to do so. In the name of separation of church and state, the rebellion against God in a Christian country like America has reached unprecedented level. The 911 catastrophe may be God's strong warning to America to return to Him, I don't know. It is not a question of "Where is God?"

Another idea we need to explore a little bit. During tragedies, people say that many innocent lives are lost. Who is really innocent? From the point of view of scripture, no one is innocent because we all have sinned come short of the glory of God, and there is none righteous. From that angle, no one is really innocent.

As to the Tsunami, I don't know why it happened, but I know that there must be a purpose, which we may not be able to fathom, and God is definitely there. I believe that now may be high time that the human race needs to re-think of where their origin is, the reason for their earthly existence and what lies beyond this life that is relatively short.