[Gathnet] an encouragement. . .

eg 2mcgath at cox.net
Wed Jan 20 10:13:18 EST 2010


One of our deacons forwarded this and maybe you've seen it before, but if
you have or have not, it is still worth reading.

 

 

 

 

You will like this one. Even if you have heard it before. It is a true
story. 

A Professor starts his class with this: 

'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 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 down 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. Everybody 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 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. 

If you read it all the way through and had a smile on your face when you 
finished, mail to your friends and family with the title 'God vs. Science' 


PS: the student was Albert Einstein 

Albert Einstein wrote a book titled God vs. Science in 1921...  

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