stream of consciousness

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Here are some things on my mind this Friday morning:

•The tragedy of the Oklahoma tornadoes dominated the headlines. I have nothing to say at this point, other than, “I’m so, so sorry,” to offer my prayers, and find ways to help.

•John Piper probably should have stopped there. He put out this tweet that got a lot of people upset. The following two tweets, posted consecutively, are simply passages of the Bible: @JohnPiper: ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and a great wind struck the house, and it fell upon them, and they are dead.’ Job 1:19@JohnPiper: ‘Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.’ Job 1:20

•A subsequent furor erupted–predominantly among anti-Calvinist, and generally liberal bloggers and pundits. They attributed to Piper either 1) the intent of blaming the victims, and 2) the insensitivity of “going Job” too soon.

•He did nothing of the sort–and I’d like to say that most of his critics responded to the Oklahoma tornadoes with their version of a biblical explanation before he did. It’s fair to question Piper’s response to things in times past. But, he DID NOT blame the victims of Oklahoma. His critics know this, or have perhaps forgotten the plot of Job. The very plot of Job is his plight despite his innocence. How then do Piper’s tweets suggest guilt of the victims? Doesn’t those verses rather suggest their innocence?