In light of the natural disasters in Christchurch and Japan, we may be asked by others, or be asking ourselves, what part does God play in these events? Fretheim, professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary, has brought together two lecture series delivered in 2008 and 2009 to address this issue.

His thesis is that in Genesis 1-2 creation is not understood as a finished product or a static state of affairs but as a dynamic process in which the future is open to a number of possibilities and in which God’s engagement with creaturely activity is crucial for creational developments.

God’s creation is meant to go somewhere; it is a work in progress. Built into the very structure of things is the potential of becoming something more and even something different. In the development of such a universe, God chooses to involve that which is other than God, from human beings to earthquakes, tsunami, periodic extinction of species, volcanic eruptions, and storms galore. All of these “creatures” of God participate with God in the continuing creation of the world.

Fretheim acknowledges that choosing this way of creating the world will inevitably entail both human and animal suffering. In other words, human suffering may (indeed, is likely to) occur in our world because of the way in which God has chosen to create the world. He sees the book of Job as recognizing this connection. It explores various factors related to Job’s suffering and will finally emerge with the viewpoint that his experience of suffering has to do with the nature of God’s creation and the way in which it continues to be created.

In effect, human suffering, even suffering such as Job’s, may occur in a good, well-ordered, and reliable creation, because this world is not a risk-free. In other words, one clear response as to why Job is suffering is that God’s created order has significant chaotic elements that carry potential danger to human health. And God has chosen not to manage this world to make sure that no one gets hurt by it. God will let his creatures be what they are created to be, and in their finitude, human beings will have to struggle with that reality.

– David McLeod

By Terence E. Fretheim
Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010.
ISBN: 978-0-8010-3893-8