Did God cause this typhoon to strike the Philippines? (poll)

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We learn from the Bible that God has many reasons why He brings calamity.
Isaiah 10 is a good example because it reveals several purposes.
For instance, God sometimes uses it to exercise His wrath upon entire nations:
verses 5-6,
“O Assyria, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.”

Sometimes God sends calamity in order to give unbelievers (in this case the king of Assyria) an opportunity to swell with idolatrous pride:
verses 7-11,
*"Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?

As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?"*

Sometimes, God sends calamity in order to exercise His judgment on individuals at a later date:
verses 12-13,
*" Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man."*

Sometimes God sends calamity to deliver His people from depending on something other than the true and living God:
verse 20,
" And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth."

I do not doubt that the purposes of God’s providence are as infinite as His mind.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
Well, I’m sorry but I saw my father that night as surely as I had porridge for breakfast this morning. To me it’s a fact. It may not be to you, but I know what I experienced.
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Bob, I don’t doubt the fact that you saw your father but it does not follow as surely as you had porridge for breakfast that he is in hell. In purgatory just a vision of hell is more than enough to make anyone repent! :eek:
How much free will have you got in a typhoon with a 6 metre wall of water coming at you?
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As much as you have always had! But of course you don’t have the opportunity to exercise it… 🙂
 
Jaberwocky said:
The claim that “God alone exists” is first a claim we must accept to agree with some of the conclusions you have said.

There can be given no actual evidence to prove that claim and surely there is no reason to accept many who make the claim as being a valid authority on the subject. So I think to even accept it and then presume what to do and which questions are unanswerable would be to speculate idly.

The Catholic Church on the other hand, which is the only reasonable authority to assent in such matters because of her authority from Christ (who demonstrated his authority by dying and rising from the dead and many other miracles), has settled the question that all creation is not just illusions but that definitely do exist.
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👍 "God alone exists" is true in the sense that nothing would exist without God. The meaning of “exists” is different when applied to He Who Is.
 
tonyrey said:
How can God alone exist if He created us in His image and likeness. Do we have no lasting or real substance or meaning in heaven - or hell?
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It is a paradox. On the one hand, “Common folk are but a breath, great men an illusion. Weighed in the scale, they weigh less than the dust.”

On the other hand, “Yet you us the little less than gods.”

I suppose the aspect of the human which is mere passing dust is destroyed and vanishes. Yet, the part in the image of God is immortal and imperishable.

The typhoon can only destory the part of man which is dust, and therefore the ‘unreal’ part. The immortal part remain untouched. For this reason, the typhoon is only a disaster in the world of appearances, of puppet show of shadows and dust- since the Real, the immortal soul and God, remain unharmed.
 
Qoeleth said:
The typhoon can only destory the part of man which is dust, and therefore the ‘unreal’ part. The immortal part remain untouched. For this reason, the typhoon is only a disaster in the world of appearances, of puppet show of shadows and dust- since the Real, the immortal soul and God, remain unharmed.
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Although you might not be so sure if you were in the Philippines and your wife and children had been swept away.

Pope Benedict spoke of the need for humanism, and so did Pope Francis recently. The Catholic Encyclopedia says “Believing that a classical training alone could form a perfect man, the Humanists so called themselves in opposition to the Scholastics”, while Wikipedia has “Christian humanism emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, his social teachings and his propensity to synthesize human spirituality and materialism. It regards humanist principles like universal human dignity and individual freedom and the primacy of human happiness as essential and principal components of, or at least compatible with, the teachings of Jesus.”

Not sure exactly what the popes mean by humanism except that real life problems don’t get solved in other-worldly ivory towers. 🙂
 
Qoeleth said:
…I suppose the aspect of the human which is mere passing dust is destroyed and vanishes. Yet, the part in the image of God is immortal and imperishable.
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How about the resurrection of the body?
 
tonyrey said:
How about the resurrection of the body?
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To be honest, I don’t know. But, still the loss of mortal life, while it appears to be a disaster, in absolute terms, I feel it is not.

Eventually, everyone’s mortal life will reach an end. Either, then, disaster is the universal lot of mankind- or, the loss of mortal life is not really a disaster at all, in the context of Absolute Reality.
 
Estevao said:
Simple question, did God, in his infinite love, wisdom, power and benevolence cause that typhoon to smack a hugely Catholic country like the Philippines? ?
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Not a simple question.
Which of Aristotle’s four causes are you referring to?
Or do you additionally mean “allow”?

PS - Why should a hugely Catholic country be exempt from natural events?
 
If He didn’t actually cause it, He certainly could have prevented it.
 
Qoeleth said:
To be honest, I don’t know. But, still the loss of mortal life, while it appears to be a disaster, in absolute terms, I feel it is not.

Eventually, everyone’s mortal life will reach an end. Either, then, disaster is the universal lot of mankind- or, the loss of mortal life is not really a disaster at all, in the context of Absolute Reality.
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That thought is no consolation for those afflicted by the typhoon. Ivan in Dostoevsky’s novel made the point that nothing will ever erase the suffering of innocent children.
 
inocente said:
Although you might not be so sure if you were in the Philippines and your wife and children had been swept away.
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True. But I would certainly be doing my best to convince myself that their immortal souls had gone to a better place, and that, while their bodies had been destroyed, what “Really Mattered” about them continued, untouched. Perhaps even I would make myself think, that this event, and this whole broken universe, were mere shadows compared to the Changeless Reality of God’s Love.

Sometimes it is good to retreat into the ‘ivory tower’, to rise above the pain of life.
 
tonyrey said:
That thought is no consolation for those afflicted by the typhoon. Ivan in Dostoevsky’s novel made the point that nothing will ever erase the suffering of innocent children.
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A little perhaps, I hope. No philosophy can kill the pain of loss entirely. But, by believing this world is an unreal illusion, or a bitter exile, some of the pain can be taken away.
 
Qoeleth said:
True. But I would certainly be doing my best to convince myself that their immortal souls had gone to a better place, and that, while their bodies had been destroyed, what “Really Mattered” about them continued, untouched. Perhaps even I would make myself think, that this event, and this whole broken universe, were mere shadows compared to the Changeless Reality of God’s Love.

Sometimes it is good to retreat into the ‘ivory tower’, to rise above the pain of life.
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That is impossible when you have witnessed the suffering and death all around you.
 
Qoeleth said:
A little perhaps, I hope. No philosophy can kill the pain of loss entirely. But, by believing this world is an unreal illusion, or a bitter exile, some of the pain can be taken away.
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Death forces us to face the harsh reality of life.
 
inocente said:
… Not sure exactly what the popes mean by humanism except that real life problems don’t get solved in other-worldly ivory towers.
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“Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.” - Terence
(“I am a human being, I consider nothing that is human alien to me.”)
 
tonyrey said:
Bob, I don’t doubt the fact that you saw your father but it does not follow as surely as you had porridge for breakfast that he is in hell. In purgatory just a vision of hell is more than enough to make anyone repent! :eek:

As much as you have always had! But of course you don’t have the opportunity to exercise it… 🙂
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We may as well agree to differ on the business of my father’s fate.

On the business of choice, obviously I’ve got more opportunity to exercise choice now, since I’m not being threatened by a typhoon (or cyclone as we call them here, hurricane in the states etc).

Still I thought it was interesting that today’s mass reading mentioned earthquakes, wars and the like.

Temple Destruction Foretold
…"When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. "For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. "But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.
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Bob_Crowley said:
We may as well agree to differ on the business of my father’s fate.
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In other words only God knows.
On the business of choice, obviously I’ve got more opportunity to exercise choice now, since I’m not being threatened by a typhoon (or cyclone as we call them here, hurricane in the states etc).
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Still I thought it was interesting that today’s mass reading mentioned earthquakes, wars and the like.
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Temple Destruction Foretold
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There is no mention of God **causing **natural disasters.
 
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