I believe it to be accurate because no God can be seen. Study every religion and you will see that men created all the religions and all the Gods. Moslems, Buddhist, Hindus etc all see and feel their God perhaps even better than the way some Christians see, interact, and feel the presence of their own God.

Your write up is nice I must say but it answers little.

The problem is that 80 percent of Christians do not know the Christian history or how the bible was written most just believe that it came from heaven

Moses never wrote anything in genesis and your writing just confirms that. I just wonder why genesis is still called and believed to be the first book of moses when truly the authors are unknown. Some of the teachings of Jesus are good. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Remember the same Jesus never condemned slavery. His messages were based on the level of morality that were acceptable at that time. Our level of morality as out grown that of the bible today. In the old testament the bibleGod advocated slavery, tribalism, racism, rape etc of the non Jews. These vices that we frown at today because the people that wrote all the biblical stories wrote the stories based on their culture, level of morality and how they viewed the world and thought life should be lived. Pls read the old testament again if you haven't, read it up and tell me how you guys still associate the God that is talked about in those books with mercy or love. A God that will instantly kill people because they looked into an ark, harden a persons heart and punish him and other people around him for hardening the persons heart clearly does not understand what love or mercy is. The people that wrote those stories never knew that the world was going to change so much and that their writings were going to be exposed to so many people long after they have died, in fact they never knew other regions existed in the world apart from theirs. Now to genesis 1. It says in the beginning God created the universe, the question is what beginning?

~Lady~:

There are energies that cannot be seen and are being tapped by the energy companies to create power for us. Just because it cannot be seen does not mean it doesn't exist. My thoughts cannot be seen but it exists. The only way you can see my thought is when I create something out of it, that's how man came to be. We are the thoughts of God.[/b]Thoughts cannot be calculated.

The people did not write it to the world, they wrote it to a certain people with certain traditions and culture and they were to in turn explain it to their descendants. Stop being angry that they didn't write it to the world, [b]most of them thought what they could see was the world. You can't fault them for that, and it certainly isn't enough reason to not listen to them

~Lady~:

Space cannot be seen and neither can time or air, but we are very much aware that they are real. So that point makes no sense.

~Lady~:

Also there are many ways in which God reveals himself to many people, they are not man made. Just because writings exists does not mean that it must be made up. If so, then scientific facts are also made up.

~Lady~:

That is why there are misinterpretations here and there, and also why not just anyone can pick up the Bible and read and understand. Even though some people would like to think so, it's not true.

Out of curiosity, just where did you come by this knowledge? from the bible of course, of which you have also said

my point being that if those who wrote such statements had some deficiency in knowledge which you have sincerely pointed out, what assurance can anyone have that the rest of what they wrote is not spurious? and while I do agree that they should be listened to, I see no reason why their writings should be given any iota of credibility when it turns out to be largely self contradictory.

You've made no point here Lady, as you have rightly pointed out that we are very much aware that space, time and air are real and anyone who does not beleive in their existence is (in a consensus of opinions a looney).
But pray, what tiny, itsy bitsy bit of evidence is there for the existence of God that will not degenerate into absurdity? I mean, most proofs and logic for his existence end up also disproving it for example the age old infinite regression argument

Perhaps that quote in the bible should be changed to read thus, "The fools says in his heart that time does not exist"

Sheesh Lady, we are not going down that route of delusional visions and urban myths are we? How can scientific facts be made up with all the technological advancement you see everyday based on those various principles mankind's knowledge has built up over time?

True Catholic you are Lady, that was the same reasons given for the strict separation between the Laity and the clergy isn't it? only problem was that the so called catholic priests of that time were as confused if not even more confused than the charlartans we have around these days.

Why should God create all men and then make it only possible for some subset of men to be able to understand his message to humanity at large? leaving the remaining people subject to exploitation and intimidation by these "Superior Men". Very soon you'll tell us God created the class structure, well he did anyway if the bible is to be beleived

If the God you are talking about actually existed, then he is the greatest author of confusion you can have and is deserving of no respect from anyone at all.

~Lady~:

Don't be so stupid to make such an ignorant assumption. I know about these energies because Exxonmobil has an ad running about these energies, turn on your t.v. you'll see it too. It is also called science duh.

~Lady~:

Funny enough when I read it, I don't see the contradiction. Could it be that you have a one sided view of it and fail to see how and why this book came about? Or maybe you just want to read what you want to it. Or maybe you haven't studied the Bible and the history of the people writing it. Maybe you need to know what they were trying to convey, for example, the story of Cain and Abel isn't really about two literal brothers but about Israel and their surrounding nations. Want to know more about that?

~Lady~:

My point is just because it isn't seen doesn't mean it isn't real. Maybe you should have read what the person whom I was replying to said, before you jumped into my post to spill crap.
Dude said, God isn't real because he cannot be seen, I put a hole in his argument stating that space, time air, and such cannot be seen but they are very much real. Where am I leading to? I want so called intelligent people to stop being elementary in their postings.

Well then bindex must be a fool, because according to him, if it cannot be seen then it isn't real. Seriously follow the posts before you start spilling nonsense.

That way you get to know why a person is reply the way he/she is replying and exactly what he/she is replying to, instead of doing amaebo work.

Are you even sure you know what point you're supposed to be making?

~Lady~:

I'm sorry what? I don't get you, what strict separation? First you don't understand the Bible and you seriously think you can dabble into the mystics of it?

~Lady~:

First of all, God did not create anyone that way, man chose that to become that way. That is what everyone is missing. When you read the Pentateuch you all miss one very important part of it that explains why things were the way they were. There is a sharp contrast between the Old Testament and the New Testament isn't it? You guys can't complain about the principles in the New Testament, actually you live by it. There is a reason why Christ had to come and it's right there in Genesis 3. When you guys understand that particular Chapter you will understand why everything turned out to be this way.

~Lady~:

That is where I was trying to get to with Bindex until the lot of you started adding your own jara to the discussion.

~Lady~:

Man is the greatest author of confusion, go and read Genesis 3 and tell me what you get from it.

I sincerely hope this is not typical Davidylanish behavior seeing as it is that I made bold the statement I was referring to which was (for clarity's sake) your authoritative statement that we are the thoughts of God.

Are you affirming my belief that the bible is predominantly an historical (but possibly not completely factual) account of the origins of the Jewish people? if you are then I have no contrary opinion but if you are saying it is the word of God meant for the whole of mankind then time has shown that it is grossly inadequate just as the Yoruba tales of Ogun, Sango, Oya and Igbo's Amadioha are historical but not factual relics of the various Nigerian cultures or the various Gods in Greek and other ancient mythologies.

I don't think Bindex has ever implied that only visual proofs are authentic, atimes in attempting not to wax lyrical, people summarise their posts and some of the meaning is lost. You're welcomed to insult me anytime though it doesn't do any justice to my idea of a Lady.

I was pointing out the historical fact that the old roman catholic church did not encourage members of the laity to read the bible as it was supposed to be only understood by priests and other members of the clergy hence one of the reasons for Martin Luther's rebellion (revolutionary dude the guy was, I'm sure if he was born in these days he wouldn't be a christian at all)

That account of the origin of sin is fraught with contradictions in itself, I will leave it to Bindex and Chris to trash that out with you because I'm sure once we start, you will start to point out a thousand and one differenct meanings of the forbidden fruit (plain old shaggin explains it for me everytime as it does seem like eating a forbidden fruit at the first time with all the anticipation and anxiety at being caught in the act).

I do like the New Testament and beleive the world would be a better place if more people could be like Jesus, the dear old soul always stressed the important things in life and in my opionion never even intended to start a religion per se, it is unfortunate we don't have a book he really wrote as I personally beleive he was mostly misunderstood in his sayings.

No vex, I love giving you an hissy fit (makes my day everytime when you flare up and become totally unladylike, it is rather a pity you are not giving me much of the satisfaction today). And you do tend to run away from our discussions but now yu're in a corner since you started this thread so I have an opportunity to beat you black and blue.

I disagree totally Lady, it is unfair to make a villain out of the victim (assuming the story were true)God is still not absolved of responsibility as to why he chose to put the forbidden fruit in a Garden with two innocent kiddies while ensuring the grounds of the garden were insecure enough to allow the serpent's entry. For a supposedly perfect being, he did a thoroughly shoddy job, Adam and Eve should be suing for damages at being the butt of a bad joke by a very cruel mind.

Time and matter is existence.

OLAADEGBU:

If you are looking for an unmistakable evidence of the existence of God you need to look at the nation called Israel today. This evidence confirms what God has said in the Bible, which reveals to us how nation came to be in the past it predicted both the present and future incidents. If you want to now about God's time table you need to look at the nation of Israel today.

http://www.timesofnoah.com/israel.html

~Lady~:


Seriously were you lying about being open minded or what?

I really don't want to continue this discussion with you because you really do not care, you don't want to be open minded, and you don't want to see it from a different persepective. You only want to rant and vent to everyone. You want to rant and vent call your mother or girlfriend or anyone close to you who's willing to listen.
I have no time for internet rantings. Stop deceiving yourself and me, by saying that you're going to be open minded. You aren't, you don't want to, at least be truthful with yourself if not me.

@m_nwankwo
Sadly sir its not every answer science has, the big bang is something I never bother myself with because I feel most of it is speculation. That said I really have no qualms if there is a God like you believe and I will never cease to give my honest opinion about issues, maybe he will find me and let me know these things you know.
For now four things drive me
To live
To love
To learn, and
To leave a legacy.
We live and we die.
Cheers.

You must have missed the answer to this in the joke or did you not see that this was one of the questions by the professor. No where does God say he created evil, you'll have to show me seriously.

lawyer:

@lady

Well, your mistaken and i will show where it is written in the bible that God created Evil

Isaiah 45:7 , “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”

There you have it!

Bastage:

No. Time and matter is only perceived existence. It's all we have to compare with but there's absolutely no evidence that it's the only conduit for existence. You've got to think outside of the box and there may well be something outside of that box that can be referred to as God.
Science cannot disprove God just as Faith cannot prove Him.

Now to genesis 1. It says in the beginning God created the universe, the question is what beginning?

wirinet:

correction, genesis never said God created the universe, It says in the beginning god created the heaven and earth. Now how do you think the person/persons who wrote genesis knew the extent of the universe, when they thought you could see the whole round earth from a mountain top. the whole world to them extend to only the middle east and parts of Europe.

Also the earth as a dry land was created later and not in the beginning, also heaven (firmement) was also created later, and mot the beginning.

~Lady~:

Now there are two parts of the Bible, there's the Old Testament which is the actual historical account of the Jewish people. It records their interaction with God and their laws and their mistakes as well as prophecies and all that. Now buried in the Old Testament are all of mankind's salvation (the jews don't see it that way though even though it is explicitly expressed), those are what are called the prophecies. The New Testament is the accomplishment of those prophecies located in the Old Testament. But majority of the Old Testament is the historical account of the Jewish people and that's not meant for all people. But our salvation is also buried in there so we won't get rid of it, the New Testament is meant for all people. That's why you see the change from all these strict dietary laws and jewish culture and customs to acceptance of all people and their cultures. Originally that is how it was always supposed to be, but because of the stubbornness of man (Genesis 3), they restricted the salvation to just the Israelites when it was not meant to be so.

They misinterpreted the 10 Commandments and that's how they ended up with 613 or so laws, it wasn't meant to be so. It was very simple, they made it complicated. God permitted them to do certain things, because they needed to fall on their faces and learn hard lessons just like the rest of us, they were a stubborn people.

~Lady~:


Now as for it being the Word of God. It is our belief that we can't do anything without God. Even me writing this is not by my grace, but by God's grace. So even though it is written by men, it contains information that we can all learn from. It is our belief that it is by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that these men put these stories or narratives into writing. Just enough was written down, everything wasn't written down or accepted as inpsired, but exactly what was needed was put down. That's why we call it the Word of God. Not that he actually wrote it or actually spoke those exact words, but just for the mere fact that these writers were inspired by God himself to write these things down, we call it the Word of God.

[/quote]

Hmmm, sorry I made that wild accusation (possibly a relic of my past pentecostal affiliations), you did give a genuine enough explanation of why the early catholic church appeared not to encourage the reading of the bible by the laity though I must say that as a result, it must have given quite some power to the church clergy to control other people. Some major power those guys had, they must have actually felt like God most times as they even knew the innermost secrets of people's minds and knew the gory details of what was going on with their church members very easy to become tyrannical with such power don't you think?

~Lady~:

You'll be amazed, there really is only one meaning, and it has nothing to do with sex or fruit. And there is no garden of eden, it will never be located. These people were good with symbols you know. But as you say we'll leave it.

I would like to hear your view of what the forbidden fruit in the garden meant, though I doubt if it was completely symbolic cos of the reference to the Euphrates river which implied some sort of physical location. The sex angle is quite plausible with all the nudity and stuff, seems God ended up directing the first Indecency flick or started up the first nudist resort.

[quote author=~Lady~ link=topic=225454.msg3403118#msg3403118 date=1233292545]
That's how the world was supposed to be in the first place but Genesis 3 happened, everything was fine until Genesis 3. Humph man, have to go an ruin everything. I could be sipping mojitos and margaritas in the carribean by now not worrying about a thing. geez.

~Lady~:

Hahahaha ROTFLMBAO AGAIN!!!!
DUDE THERE IS NO GARDEN!!!
Ok duduspace, bindex, everyone, I am off for a vacay, so won't post until I get back. I'll try to though. Smooches.

You are sounding very authoritative with your assertions but your basic premise for these assertions is belief and not fact and that is the issue with them, it is also unfortunate that the line between belief and fanatism is a very thin one

Belief is fine if not fanatical, but leave that room for the possibility of it being untrue (wholly or in part). I will still allow my kids to read the bible and bring them up on bible stories (would even allow them to go to church with the wifey who will be a christian) it is good for building up their characters but as they grow older we will sit together as a family and think things through

Hmmm, sorry I made that wild accusation (possibly a relic of my past pentecostal affiliations), you did give a genuine enough explanation of why the early catholic church appeared not to encourage the reading of the bible by the laity though I must say that as a result, it must have given quite some power to the church clergy to control other people. Some major power those guys had, they must have actually felt like God most times as they even knew the innermost secrets of people's minds and knew the gory details of what was going on with their church members very easy to become tyrannical with such power don't you think?

I would like to hear your view of what the forbidden fruit in the garden meant, though I doubt if it was completely symbolic cos of the reference to the Euphrates river which implied some sort of physical location. The sex angle is quite plausible with all the nudity and stuff, seems God ended up directing the first Indecency flick or started up the first nudist resort.

Wouldn't we all, rather than having to watch all those bombs falling in Gaza or some looneys blowing themselves up with a lot of bystanders all in the name of an imaginary entity no one has ever seen.
Man usually messes up everything anyway and (according to you) God did make us stubborn when he gave us a free will, what is the purpose of giving a free will if it is not exercised?

Babe, yu must be living the life taking a vacay in the midst of all these job redundancies. Take it easy though and watch your calories, don't want that exquisite figure 8 balloon out into a figure 30.

If I were to cast my vote for a miracle it would definitely be how lady manages to post without seeing the obvious contradictions in her musings, its like using duct tape, any thing can be joined together
Save some mojitos for me senorita!

~Lady~:

Dude it is a fact, that the Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is a fact that the Old Testament contains prophecies about the salvation of the world (the New Testament). It is a fact that the Old Testament contains information about the legal system of the Jewish people. It is a fact that there were only 10 laws that were oversimplified into 600andsomething laws.
It is not an assumption, it is a fact. This isn't about belief, this is what any historian or researcher or anyone who combs carefully through the Bible will see. Geez this is what you said too.

~Lady~:

True, there are those clergy who abuse their power. The office is to serve the laity not abuse them, fortunately there are Catholic laity like myself, who will be quick to remind them that they are servants and not gods. You'll be amazed how many Catholics do that, especially after the sex scandals, we took control after that.
I do thank God for my Priest though. And I pray for him, and do pray for laborers in the field, no one can appoint themselves, they have to be chosen by God, unfortunately few are not heeding that call.
God help us all.

~Lady~:

Lol, you have quite an imagination. The garden of eden isn't an actual physical place, but a state of mind or spirituality if you wish to call it that. The forbidden fruit is knowledge, it is not an apple or mango or orange, I am trying to see the best way of explaining it, so bear with me. Ok I'll try using the devil's words to explain it (lol).
The devil talking to the woman tells her that if she eats of the tree she will have knowledge like gods, knowledge of what is good and what is bad. The woman wanting to eat the fruit desired wisdom, this fruit was going to give her wisdom, and she wanted it. Immediately they ate it their eyes became open and then they realised they were naked, they could now tell wrong from right, and they were no longer pure as they were made to be. They no longer trusted God as they were created to do.
When God came to converse with them they hid and God asked them why they were hiding, and they told him and he asked them how they knew, everything points to the knowledge of them, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. Unfortunately they already had perfect knowledge, what they thought would be knowledge ended up being destruction, instead of knowledge they gained pain and death. So the wisdom they were looking for wasn't actually wisdom it was foolishness and they didn't know it until they got it.

~Lady~:

And sex is not a bad thing, infact it is very good. It is one of the most beautiful gifts we have, imagine being able to give life, and to bring life into th world, I mean that is just beyond great. Do you know how precious that is?
The problem is that it is abused, it is a beautiful gift that has been tainted. It has become pornography, masturbation, homosexual acts, pedophilia, prostitution, and fornication.
It is a beautiful gift that should be shared with one person, how can you give the same gift to plenty of people? It is no longer a gift, it no longer has any worth.
So don't believe all those people that say sex is bad, it is actually good, and it is beautiful, beauty shouldn't be abused.

~Lady~:

Lol, he didn't make us stubborn o, we chose to be stubborn. We can use our free will to do good u know. You can do good for the rest of your life, free will isn't exercised because we do bad. Free will is exercised in a decision making process, a person can do good all his life and that would be free will.

~Lady~:

Ah no o, me i dey suffer, but I don't work as much, so i enjoy life more. I am still a student. I don't believe in watching calories, I believe in eating amala with okro ad stew all day and night. Seriously, I just make it to the gym every morning, I am not one of those girls who desire to be skinny, I choose to be healthy, and toned up. I do admit I am not as toned as I used to be, after my accident I couldn't do as much as I used to so my body pretty much isn't the same, but I am getting there again. Don't worry they figure 8 is still there, it just needs some toning that's all. But who cares my baby loves me this way, and I love myself, and my mama loves me.

Lady2:
I thought this would be a good joke. It certainly made me laugh. Hahaha

God vs Science

'Let me explain the problem science has with religion.' The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

'You're a Christian, aren't you, son?'

'Yes sir,' the student says.

'So you believe in God?'

'Absolutely.'

'Is God good?'

'Sure! God's good.'

'Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?'

'Yes'

'Are you good or evil?'

'The Bible says I'm evil'

The professor grins knowingly. 'Aha! The Bible!' He considers for a moment. 'Here's one for you. Let's say t here's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help
Him? Would you try?'

'Yes sir, I would.' 'So you're good, !' 'I wouldn't say that.'

'But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't.'
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?'

The student remains silent. 'No, you can't, can you?' the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

'Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?'

'Er, yes,' the student says.

'Is Satan good?'

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. 'No.'

'Then where does Satan come from?'

The student falters. 'From God'

'That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'

'Yes'

'So who created evil?' The professor continued, 'If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.'

Again, the student has no answer. 'Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?'

The student squirms on his feet. 'Yes.'

'So who created them?'

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. 'Who created them?' There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. 'Tell me,' he continues onto another student. 'Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?'

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. 'Yes, professor, I do.'

The old man stops pacing. 'Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?'

'No sir. I've never seen Him.'

'Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?'

'No, sir, I have not.'

'Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?'

'No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't.'

'Yet you still believe in him?'

'Yes'

'According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?'

'Nothing,' the student replies. 'I only have my faith.'

'Yes, faith,' the professor repeats. 'And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.'

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. 'Professor, is there such thing as heat?'

' Yes.

'And is there such a thing as cold?'

'Yes, son, there's cold too.'

'No sir, there isn't.'

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. 'You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.

There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.' 'Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.'

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer. 'What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?'

'Yes,' the professor replies without hesitation. 'What is night if it isn't darkness?'

'You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word.'

'In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?'

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. 'So what point are you making, young man?'

'Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be fl awed.'

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. 'Flawed? Can you explain how?'

'You are working on the premise of duality,' the student explains, 'You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought.'

'It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.'

'Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?' 'If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.'

'Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?'

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

'Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?'

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

'To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.'
The student looks around the room. 'Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?' The class breaks out into laughter.

'Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.' 'So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?'

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. 'I guess you'll have to take them on faith.'

'Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,' the student continues 'Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?'

Now uncertain, the professor responds, 'Of course, there is. We see it everyday It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.'

To this the student replied, 'Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.'

The professor sat down.