George W. Bush: Theologian-in-Chief?

The New York Sun has an interesting editorial on President Bush and the theological implications of Hurricane Katrina.

Here are some highlights:

While leading the logistical work of disaster preparedness and recovery connected with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, President Bush has been doing some important yet little-noticed theological work as well, helping a nation of believers in a benevolent God grapple with the age-old "problem of evil."

The president confronted the theological issues most directly in remarks last week at Washington National Cathedral. "Through prayer we look for ways to understand the arbitrary harm left by this storm, and the mystery of undeserved suffering. And in our search we're reminded that God's purposes are sometimes impossible to know here on Earth," he said, resorting to the idea of God's purposes as mysterious and unknowable - a more modest view than that of those who claim to know that the hurricanes were a divine punishment for a specific transgression.

Even then, rather than leaving this perhaps difficult thought as a final note, the president quickly moved to a more reassuring line of explanation. "Yet even as we're humbled by forces we cannot explain, we take comfort in the knowledge that no one is ever stranded beyond God's care," Mr. Bush said. "The Creator of wind and water is also the source of even a greater power - a love that can redeem the worst tragedy, a love that is stronger than death."

You can read the rest of it here.

Whatever you political persuasion, one must admit that Bush is serious about his faith.