“Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus
Christ.”
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?
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,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”
“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 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 endeavour, 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.
The young man’s name, Albert Einstein
