In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity, as reported in Jeremiah 31:31-34, every human being can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
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"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 a 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.
P.S. The Internet
“grapevine” has been circulating the unsubstantiated claim that the student was
Albert Einstein, but since there is no way to establish this claim, let us set
the rumor to rest. It doesn’t matter who the student was, or whether the
incident ever happened at all. The scenario remains brilliant; so enjoy it and
feel free to pass it on to your heart’s content….
Furthermore, there is no substance to the further claim that Albert Einstein
wrote a book titled 'God versus Science' in 1921, the year Einstein won the
Nobel Prize. So let’s set this rumor to rest too. Whenever you receive such
flamboyant claims in an email note by Internet, check it out first on Snopes or
Urban Legends or Hoax-Slayer…. Check it out before thinking of sharing it with
others and do yourself and everyone else a favor – don’t mindlessly forward
anything you receive on the Internet no matter how sensible its declarations or
claims may seem to be.
In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity, as reported in Jeremiah 31:31-34, every human being can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.
© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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