7 Reactions to the Las Vegas Shooting Massacre

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Tuesday, October 03, 2017

Russell Moore

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, posted an entry on his website warning about calling the tragedy an act of divine justice.

"After a natural disaster or an act of terror, one will always find someone, often claiming the mantle of Christianity, opining about how this moment was God's judgment on an individual or a city or a nation for some specified sin. Jesus told us specifically not to do this, after his disciples asked whether a man's blindness was the result of his or his parents' sin. Jesus said no to both," wrote Moore.

"Those self-appointed prophets who would blame the victims for what befalls them are just that, self-appointed. We should listen to Jesus and to his Apostles, not to them. Those killed in a terror attack or in a tsunami or in an epidemic are not more sinful than all of the rest of us."

Moore added that when Job asked why he suffered "God did not fully answer him. God instead spoke of His own power and His own presence. That's exactly what we should do."