Bad Theology

God gives sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. – Matthew 5:45

Assigning moral blame for natural disasters is a hallmark of bad theology.

Pat Robertson blamed the earthquakes in Haiti on the Haitians because they had made a “pact with the devil”.

Jerry Falwell blamed the 9/11 attacked in New York on “pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians and the ACLU”.

John Piper claimed that the tornado the damaged Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis was God’s judgment for the ELCA’s openness to the LGBTQ community.

That’s called bad theology. That is not the character of the God revealed in Jesus.

And that kind of bad theology isn’t the exclusive possession of conservative theologians. In the last few days, I’ve heard more than a few progressive Christians gleefully proclaim that President Trump’s Covid-19 infection is God’s justice.

Really? A failure to practice social distancing or wear a mask? Sure. But God’s justice? Nope. That’s just bad theology.

To all my fellow liberal/progressive brothers and sisters I say, do you want to know what good theology sounds like? It sounds like remembering that God loves all people, including Donald J. Trump, and that we all, as followers of Jesus, are called to pray for his healing.

Jeff Marian serves as lead pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN