God vs. Science: A Story
(Edited
to restore the story more nearly to the dialogue of the actual
incident.)
"The atheist professor
of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks
one of his new students to stand.
'Is God all-powerful?
Can God do anything?'
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?'
'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.'<1>
The student does not
answer, so the professor continues. 'He doesn't,
does he? My brother was a religious man who died of
cancer, even though he prayed to God to heal him.
How is this God good? Can you answer that one?'<1>
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.
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?'
'Evil's everywhere,
isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?'
'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.'
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 God, 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 God?'
'No sir. I've never
seen Him.'
'Then tell us if
you've ever heard your God?'
'Have you ever felt
your God, tasted your God or smelt your God?
Have you ever had any sensory perception of God?'
'No, sir, I'm afraid I
haven't.'
'Yet you still believe
in him?'
'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? '
'And is there such a
thing as cold?'
'Yes, son, there's
cold too.'
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. 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 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, tasted
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, if science says you have no brain, how
can we trust your lectures?'
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 applied
knowledge. It is
just like darkness and cold, a word that man
has created to describe the absence of
applied knowledge.
God did not create evil. Evil is the result
of what happens when man does not have
knowledge 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 class was complete for the
day.
The student was Albert
Einstein
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