GN Commentary: January 15, 2010 - Pat Robertson on Haiti: A Bible Fact Check

God has a plan to bring order and peace to this world. And all those who have died—in tragedies or not—will live again and experience God's ways in action. You'll find this plan in the pages of your Bible.

Related Resources

The Haitian Earthquake: Where Was God?
As we see heart-wrenching photos and video of the Haitian earthquake disaster, we are once again left to ponder the age-old questions: "Where was God? How could a loving God let this happen?" These questions seem to have no answer—but do they?

Haiti's Tragic History Contributes to Its Calamity
If you read about the turbulent history of Haiti, you'll understand much of why Haiti is Haiti today.

You, Me and Haiti... On the Tightrope of Techno-Society
What would we do if we faced such a crisis? With our dependence on all the modern conveniences, I think we would be even less prepared to cope.

Repentance: A Profound Turnaround!
Previous articles in this series showed how we attain biblical understanding and spiritual growth through prayer, Bible study, meditation and fasting. What do we do then? This article shows how we must further use and apply that understanding!

Is God Indifferent to Human Suffering?
If God is all-powerful, He could easily prevent disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods, droughts and volcanic eruptions. But He lets them happen. Why?

Why a Loving God Allows Suffering
If God is truly a God of love and mercy, why does He not intervene? Some have concluded that God simply doesn't exist. The answer, however, is much more complex. What does the Bible reveal about the causes of suffering?

Coming: An End to Suffering
Why is the world awash in suffering? How did the world come to be in such sad shape? Most important, what will bring the end to human misery?

Video Transcript

TV evangelist Pat Robertson is turning heads with comments he made about the devastating earthquake which ended the lives of tens of thousands of Haitians. He blames the tragedy on an alleged 200-year-old deal with the devil, saying, "…they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.' True story. And so the Devil said, 'Okay, it's a deal.'"

Let's take a look at another quote, this one from the Bible. An early first-century Roman governor of Palestine, Pontius Pilate, had brutally slaughtered some Galileans as they performed ritual animal sacrifices, mixing their blood with their animals'. Snippets of news spread to those near Jesus Christ, who were likely speculating about the cause of the tragedy. "Those sinners. Those Godless Galileans. They deserved what they got."

Christ's reply was cutting. "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:2-3, NIV).

Christ's response was not, "Well, they had it coming," but instead, "What makes you think they deserved it more than you?" Christ forced the news bearers to take a look at themselves. He continued—referring to another current event, asking, "Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:4-5, NIV).

Those who lost their lives in this Haitian earthquake, or the Asian tsunami, or the World Trade Center attack or the European Holocaust or any other tragedy did not deserve death more than we do.

We have all sinned, and unless we repent, we too will perish.

Here's the good news. God has a plan to bring order and peace to this world. And all those who have died—in tragedies or not—will live again and experience God's ways in action. You'll find this plan in the pages of your Bible. It begins with repentance.

It begins...with you.

If you would like to help the people of Haiti, here are some resources you can use.

For GN Magazin, I'm Larry Salyer.