The tragic events surrounding last Tuesday’s terrorist attacks should not be interpreted as an expression of God’s anger against America, says Dr.  Angel Rodriguez, a leading Seventh-day Adventist Biblical scholar. “Tempting as it is to speculate concerning the role of God in those events, we must simply acknowledge that they were the result of the presence of evil in this world,” says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez’ comments come just a few days after well-known Christian television evangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson speculated, on air, that, “God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.”

Naming pagans, abortionists, feminists, homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People for the American Way, Falwell said, “All of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.’” Falwell and Robertson have since backed away from their controversial comments, saying their “theological” observations have been widely misunderstood or misconstrued.

But the controversy has illustrated the perception among some people of an avenging God, who had a direct hand in the destruction of last week’s terrorist tragedy, says Rodriguez.

“While we deplore the constant assaults on Christian values in American society through secular philosophies and action groups, we do not believe the terrorist attacks were a direct result of the waning spirituality in America,” says Rodriguez, who is an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute, located at the Adventist Church’s world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.

“We also believe God can bring good out of the chaos created by irrational assaults on buildings and human lives,” adds Rodriguez.  “He can make us more sensitive to the need to strengthen our relationship with Him, realizing that our ultimate refuge is found in His loving Care. He can use the result of evil to invite us to forget ourselves, pray and work for others, and to unite the nation.”

“A tragedy like the one our nation has experienced should motivate our leaders to serious reflection in an attempt to understand better why we have become the object of such hatred that led to this crime against humanity,” he adds. “God can bring good out of an unspeakable evil, without either being its cause or part of the process of justifying it.”

Spiritual questions raised by the events of the past week were also addressed by Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, who spoke to church members around the world this weekend via a special satellite uplink.

“It is important to remember that God only knows precisely how the future will develop and how events will play themselves out,” said Paulsen. “It helps no one, and it does not help the mission that God has entrusted to His church to carry out, for you or I to become overly speculative about that which is yet to happen. We are called on to be vigilant, to be sober, and to carry on with His mission until He comes.”

Paulsen also emphasized the positive contribution church members can make in the wake of the tragedy—humanitarian care, pastoral support and prayer, and a strength that comes from the assurance that good will ultimately triumph over evil.

“As believers, we are a people of hope and we speak the language of hope, faith, and belief in the future, even as we face such a distressing moment as we are now faced with,” said Paulsen.

He reassured viewers that, “God has not abandoned humanity; far from it! He has an immeasurable commitment to humanity, partially disclosed in the gift of his Son, and He is there to help.”