Hiroshima – 60 years today

At 8:15 am on August 6^th 1945 the Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” the first nuclear weapon to be used in an act of war. Hiroshima was obliterated. It is estimated that 100,000 to 150,000 died instantly, being evaporated by the nuclear blast. In the years to follow at least another 50,000 to 100,000 died from radiation poisoning and the effects of the blast. Nine days later the Emperor of Japan surrendered and World War II was over.

Personally, I wrestle back and forth over whether this bombing was justified. Thousands were dying in WWII and an invasion of the Japanese mainland most likely would have brought hundreds of thousands of more deaths. Yet, does the end of the war justify the means used to end it? Is Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified in the lives that were saved? This is the paradox of the atomic weapon. In destroying countless lives, countless others were saved.

Regardless of whether one sees the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as wrong or not, as Christians we must always remember them. We must remember the lives that were lost and we must remember the lives that were saved. Most importantly we must see this event as a reflection of the sinfulness of humanity. Hiroshima is a logical outworking of our wretched condition. Apart from Christ, life is hell. Without a Savior those who are facing eternal damnation will face an eternity of Hiroshimas infinitely worse than anything imaginable. Yet, for those who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ there is hope even in Hiroshima. Christ is to be found in the despair of this life. And because of his coming into this world there is now hope and life for those who believe.

The message of Hiroshima is one of sin and misery. But the good news of Jesus Christ is that within that sin and misery there is hope and life, even in the midst of Hiroshima.