What is Chastisement?
Written by Geoff Carlin. 30th January 2005. All opinions are his and his alone.
In the wake of one of the most widely known natural disasters in living memory, the Great Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, there have come a series of extreme articles and rants on the Net and in the Media from various ‘religious’ sources, who really should know better, to the effect that this natural disaster was a punishment or chastisement from God meted out for sinful behaviour. Let us look at their arguments and refute them.
Argument 1. “The Great Indian Ocean Tsunami was God’s punishment on His children”
We have no need of a God who would treat his children in this manner, indeed I declare such a God, who would punish his children, does not exist except in the minds of the superstitious, the spiritually addicted, the fanatics, the fools and the fearful. Natural disasters happen. We inhabit a dangerous and violent environment. A tsunami is a consequence of an underwater landslip, or earthquake, that occur as the tectonic plates move against each other as God’s mighty work called Creation proceeds. God’s children, us, the whole human race, have enough to contend with given the problems of surviving in the environment we call Earth, and the constant attack on Humanity by the devil and his forces, without God turning on us!
Those who claim that the Tsunami was a punishment from God are guilty of a regrettable sin against God. They are inferring He has no compassion, that he restricts His Love and is without Mercy. They snatch hope away from the hearts of the oppressed and suffering and grieving - those who sow despair are far from any understanding of God. I beg all of them, of whatever Faith, to repent and rethink their perception of He Who Is our most loving God. I declare that the Tsunami was not a punishment from God, it was indeed many things to many different peoples in different locations, but it was not a punishment from God.
Consider the continuing revelation of God’s Truth, the Hebrews believed that plagues, defeats, famines – whatever – were punishments from God, they recorded such in the scriptures, which we accept today as representative of the transmitted Word of God. To the Hebrew mindset, in ignorance of the mechanics of Creation and the Universe, and given Hebrew culture (e.g. “Thou shalt not kill”, a conditional commandment, it meant “Thou shalt not kill another Hebrew”), it seemed just and proper that God appeared to afflict sinners or whosoever punitively. The scriptures are layered, mankind has grown, through childhood and adolescence, the interpretation of the transmitted Word of God demands an adult and intelligent analysis, and understanding. To be blunt, any disturbed and limited person, any difficult child of God, can extract passages of scripture, out of context, and blend them to support whatever agenda, or motive, that preferentially advances their particular purpose. With this in mind, we now move from the ancient Hebrew concept of punishment to the more modern Christian view of Chastisement.
Argument 2. “The Great Indian Ocean Tsunami was God’s chastisement on His children”
To refute this statement we must understand what chastisement means. There is no doubt God chastises his children, but as a loving parent – there are many scriptural references which support this. Take any thoughtful Concordance and look at Damnation (severe punishment), in mine there are 13 references. Look at Love, in my Concordance there are over 700 references. Beware of those who seek to justify their chastisement/damnation claims and theories by using scripture, they are manipulating sections of scripture whose meaning(s) may be sublime and mysterious and set in a very definite context. God’s love may sometimes be perceived as a ‘tough love’ but it is love, it is never destructive to any soul. My wife Margaret sees “chastisement” as a process consisting of correction leading to clarification that leads us into truth. This is a lifelong process as we pilgrimage through this life to God. God encourages us in this journey, thankful as we repent and change our ways and follow His way. He is delighted when we rid ourselves of petty habitual sins; He hardly waits for an opportune moment to strike us with a thunderbolt or a tsunami or a meteorite! Our Lady has asked us to tell people not to regard God in such a way -vengeful, wrathful, revengeful - God looks on every soul individually and God is all Love and Mercy.
1. Remember this, He Loves us individually.
2. Remember: CHASTISEMENT consists of CORRECTION; leading to CLARIFICATION; that leads to TRUTH.
Quote from recent writings by Margaret:
“Most people misunderstand the word chastisement and interpret it in a negative way, seeing it as a punishment, some kind of bad experience. Chastisement is hard for us only in that it brings us away from, or out of, a situation that is comfortable, even pleasant, for us, but dangerous – we are guided back on to God’s path. We are shown the right way, taught in a sense, corrected in our attitude and/or behaviour – so that we can live a life that conforms as best we can, in humanity, to God’s Will, to the Truth. Chastisement aligns itself with Jesus’ Beatitude “Blessed are the pure in Spirit, they shall see God”. If I am chaste I shall live in God’s Light, His Truth penetrating right into my soul – I would of course have to be perfect to be pure!
It is often very painful to be corrected, to see the truth of ourselves, perhaps the pain which comes in the sense of punishment - but it is our pain, our realisation that the way we are is not good for us, it is not pleasing to God. The truth can be, often is, painful. When we correct our children it is often not a pleasurable experience for them or us, but they do better for the experience.”
An inspired view into the nature of Chastisement can be found in the novena of the Holy Spirit written by Edith Stein, extract follows:
Are you the ray
Go to http://www.ewtn.com/faith/edith_stein.htm for information on Edith Stein.
That flashes down from the eternal Judge's throne
And breaks into the night of the soul
That had never known itself?
Mercifully relentlessly
It penetrates hidden folds.
Alarmed at seeing itself,
The self makes space for holy fear,
The beginning of that wisdom
That comes from on high
And anchors us firmly in the heights,
Your action,
That creates us anew:
Holy Spirit ray that penetrates everything!
Her prayer is here http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/novena/Stein_spirit.htm
The many natural catastrophes that occur are not chastisements from God. The Tsunami was not the chastisement of those beautiful people by God. There is sorrow, so much sorrow in the waters. Heaven is all joy, not annihilation of the life on the Earth. Heaven consoles. There must be no doubt in the God of Love and Mercy and Beauty and Joy who does not wish anything but goodness for His children on the Earth. God wishes His children to live life to the full – this does not mean being swept away in an earthquake – we must all pray, for those who suffer and will suffer. Our world is heading for further catastrophes; this is inherent in the nature of Creation where we exist precariously. We are the stewards of this Earth and have a very poor record in looking after our environment and all the life it contains. I believe we can, as Our Lady has told us, counteract such catastrophes by prayer and good works and good example; not prayer alone, but prayer is the essence. Stewardship is prayer and good works allied with sensitive and sensible management of our world. Good stewards would institute a worldwide tsunami early warning system, and appropriate population drills, amongst many other things! We were told:
“Tell all ‘You are blessed indeed by God who loves you with unfathomable love’. Asia will be grateful for help because the need meets the desire; the need is equal to the desire. Do indeed help these poor unfortunate people. The Heart of God is big and strong and powerful beyond all catastrophes. Every catastrophe in the heart of man explodes in the Heart of God and still He is Strong and still He weeps and still He has Joy, especially in the hearts of those who are faithful, and still He sorrows…” 1st January 2005.
We urge everybody to pray and do good works, multiple small good effects in the microcosm combine to affect the Macrocosm intimately and powerfully.
Footnote: the purpose of tsunami in Creation? Possible answers. Go to
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10008178
“Tsunamis help atolls to beat rising seas”
You may also wish to look at http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=65065 for a considered overview of the whole situation.
Love’s Embrace © 30th January 2004.
Back to Articles