Tom Faranda's Folly

Latest book read “the Doors of the Sea”

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by

Tom Faranda
in

Most recent read is “The Doors of the Sea” subtitled, “Where Was God in the Tsunami?” It’s written by an Eastern Orthodox theologian, David Bentley Hart. And it’s a fine work that demands careful reading. I read and then re-read it.  It is short (109 pages), lyrical and literary. The title tells it all. Hart’s book is an expansion of an op ed piece he wrote entitled “Tremors of Doubt: What Kind of a God Would Allow a Deadly Tsunami?” that was published in the Wall Street Journal, on the last day of the year in 2004.

Here’s a link to the op ed piece, at opinionjournal.com OpinionJournal – Taste to give you a taste of the book. You may have to register to get on the site – it’s easy and free.

The title "The Doors of the Sea" is a loose reference to Job, chapter 38.

Comments

2 responses to “Latest book read “the Doors of the Sea””

  1. cory Williamson Avatar
    cory Williamson

    Tom:
    Reading the excerpt of “The Doors of the Sea” made me feel as if I were in my garden on Mt. Airy again, weeding the tomatoes while discussing theology with Judy Anderson, at work on her own side of the fence. A wonderful metaphor, that post and rail fence, for it separated us as neatly as do our beliefs. How is it possible, I always asked her, that two such essentially decent persons could differ so fundamentally in their opinions on faith and religion.
    I, for one, see no hand behind the tsunami, any more than I do behind my daughter’s dark hair, or my son’s blue eyes. Hair, eye, and skin color, for that matter, simply are, in the same way that your family and mine are simply here on the same block, without design or meaning. That said, I look to no existence other than this one, and thus attempt to devote my energies to the possibilities of the day, which in this case, include reaching out to a neighbor in difficulty, and offering my hand.
    Cory

    Reply
  2. tom faranda Avatar
    tom faranda

    Cory
    Thanks for your comment. Yes I can easily picture you and Judy discussing the meaning of it all over your respective tomatoes!
    I must take issue though; with your suggestion that everything exists “without design or meaning.” You cannot see pattern and design in nature? Isn’t the analysis and description of pattern and design, one of the essentials of science? Are not theories such as quantum mechanics, relativity (it is the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s paper on general relativity), evolution, and the periodic table in chemistry, all related to design and some type of “meaning”?
    Are you suggesting that EVERYTHING is just some random accident? Even bracketing off any theological notions … Howzat?
    Faranda

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