A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, ‘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? 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 studen t 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 scien ce 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 bod y 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 i nto 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 violenc e 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.
Glenda Lord-Wright