caywhy:
An 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 there’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? 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 d own 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 flawed.’ 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 it 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
every day. 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. The student was Albert Einstein.