Ted Talks: How Could a Loving God Cause Horrible Natural Disasters?

In the days following the tragic South Asian tsunami of 2004, the Rev. Tom Honey pondered the question, “How could a loving God have done this?” Here is his answer.

Honey’s appeal goes far beyond his own congregation. For years he was the vicar of the church in Oxford attended decades earlier by the Christian thinker C.S. Lewis. The Reverend Honey built a reputation there for thoughtful sermons that disdained cliche or easy answers. They were often willing to grapple with the darker side of life — pain, loss, grief — and the challenges these presented to the concept of a loving God.

These challenges were dramatically highlighted by the devastation of the Indian Ocean tsunami of late 2004 in which some 300,000 people died, making it one of the worst natural disasters in human history. The sermon penned by Honey shortly after was eloquent and powerful enough to win him an invitation to come speak at TED.

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