You couldn't make this up!!!

[Gob]

About 35 teenagers have been injured when the upper level of a church in the US state of Mississippi collapsed during a worship service.

Witnesses at the Freedom Baptist Church in Myrick described hearing a rumbling sound before the collapse.

None of the injuries were life-threatening, but 20 were brought to hospital for treatment, officials said.

About 80 young people were inside the church's Family Life Center when the floor collapsed on Wednesday evening.

Jones County Sheriff Alex Hodge said the drop was about 12ft (3.6m) to the ground floor.

The accident occurred about 19:20 local time on Wednesday (01:20 GMT Thursday)

Pastor Tommy Davis told the Chronicle newspaper: "It's got to be said that no-one was seriously injured, no-one was trapped. God's hand was certainly taking care of the kids who were in that building."

[MajGenl.Meade]

I just shake my head. No, I do this too:

No, wait. Also this:

[rubato]

God tried to kill them by causing the building to collapse.

God tried to save them from what he did.

Can religious people reason at a level comprehensible to adult humans? Not in 2,000 years of trying.

yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

Not exactly (surprise!) rubato. Although I do not agree that the nice man's statement is accurate (being far too simplistic), I do understand the reasoning. It would be something like this:

Man lives in a fallen world and is imperfect. What man does is always imperfect. Some men constructed a floor that was insufficient for the job of holding up the assembled persons. The accident occurred (and Sue U will be taking the case). By God's providence, those who fell through the floor suffered no great injury.

(There are alternatives: the leaders/assembled persons imperfectly allowed too many people to stand on the floor, exceeding its rating and so on).

Now you and I may not agree with that assessment but it is reasonable if the first premise is true. I agree with the first premise but reason differently from it and in a way that is, oddly, more along the same lines as you. I reject the pastor's implication that this was in any way more of a "miracle" than if all or some had been badly hurt or even killed. Because God is sovereign over all things, His providence applies to all things.

That is, I believe that (say) given a busload of believers skidding off the road and heading toward two immense trees, God isn't going to change the trajectory so that the bus passes safely between them. It will either do that or smash up horribly depending upon the manner in which the event occurred - trajectory, speed, ground conditions, the effort of the driver to steer. God does not (I think) do favours for Christians - indeed, sometimes it seems the very reverse. Ask Joan.

Of course, I'm bound to be thinking imperfectly so might be wrong about this.

[Sue U]

The accident occurred (and Sue U will be taking the case).

Well ...

By God's providence, those who fell through the floor suffered no great injury.

See, that's a problem right there ... God's providence is denying me the opportunity to make a living. Why does God hate me so? If God were truly beneficent, those people would be seriously hurt AND have my card in their pockets.

[rubato]

Not exactly (surprise!) rubato. Although I do not agree that the nice man's statement is accurate (being far too simplistic), I do understand the reasoning. It would be something like this:

Man lives in a fallen world and is imperfect. What man does is always imperfect. Some men constructed a floor that was insufficient for the job of holding up the assembled persons. The accident occurred (and Sue U will be taking the case). By God's providence, those who fell through the floor suffered no great injury.
... "

If an omnipotent deity wished his providence to be more effective he would have used it to build the building better.



yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

The accident occurred (and Sue U will be taking the case).

Well ...

By God's providence, those who fell through the floor suffered no great injury.

See, that's a problem right there ... God's providence is denying me the opportunity to make a living. Why does God hate me so? If God were truly beneficent, those people would be seriously hurt AND have my card in their pockets.

yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

If an omnipotent deity wished his providence to be more effective he would have used it to build the building better.

yrs,
rubato

I'm surprised you believe God constructs buildings. Bit of a weird belief that.