To somehow glorify Himself, did God "will" into being a violent, terrifying and carnivorous “mother nature” dominated by parasitic disease, suffering, decay, corruption and diabolical cruelty?
As the issue relates to human free will and salvation, the various arguments for and against Calvinism usually revolve around Total depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and Perseverance of the saints. However, the ramifications of this issue extend far beyond the salvation of souls. For example, did Satan and other spiritual beings rebel against God’s will in the primordial past and do they now abuse their authority over certain aspects of creation? Does Satan, who holds the power of death (Heb 2:14) and is the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30-31; 16:8-11), exercise a pervasive, structural and diabolical influence so that all of creation descended into the bondage of evil? Should the pain-ridden, bloodthirsty, sinister and hostile character of nature be attributed to Satan and his army, not to God? Is God grieved by what has been done to His creation? Is God permitting, for a time and within limits, certain consequences of rebellion and corruption caused by both fallen angels and the humans who join them? Or, to somehow glorify Himself, did God simply “will” into being a violent, terrifying and carnivorous “mother nature” dominated by parasitic disease, suffering, decay, corruption and diabolical cruelty?
G. J. Romanes provides a good description of the animal kingdom: “teeth and talons whetted for slaughter, hooks and suckers molded for torment – everywhere a reign of terror, hunger, sickness, with oozing blood and quivering limbs, with gasping breath and eyes of innocence that dimly close in depths of cruel torture.” W. E. Stuermann gives an equally sobering description of nature’s web of interacting events: “The web unravels as often as it is woven in order. Frequently and brutally its threads are ripped in sudden and disconcerting manners, and the orderly tapestry of life unravels, leaving men broken by disaster and despair. Chaos looms before them and stretches to the horizons of their lives.”
The intrinsic, pervasive and unmitigated cruelty of “mother nature” is an event that has happened. Therefore, by the fundamentals of Calvinism, God willed it to happen! Is such a conclusion consistent with your image of the Christian God? Look around. Did our good, omnipotent God create the inherently violent and terrifying system we see in nature, a system rife with sickness, suffering and death – a system red in tooth and claw? Does nature itself appear to operate contrary to the character of God? Does the world at every level appear to be at war? Does the world appear to be permeated and corrupted at all levels by an evil influence? Did Jesus believe that someone else had been given authority over this world and Jesus Himself must repair, reconstruct, restore and repossess?
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