Does Evil Exist?

[natman]

Does Evil Exist?

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 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 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 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.

[MatthewNeal]

Very cleverly composed piece!

I love the logic and the demonstration of the faulty assumptions of the professor.

However, I checked on http://truthorfiction.com and found the story itself to be fictitious. So, while it can be a very interesting piece, we can't promote it as a factual story.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/e/einstein-god.htm

Matt

[natman]

I don't think it was ever intended to be seen as "fact", but to provide an apologetic exercise to those that encounter atheists in their lives.

We are told that we are to always be prepared to give an answer for the hope the lies within us, with gentleness and respect. This is a good example, although I'm not sure I would have used the professors brain as part of the example.

[jochanaan]

...I'm not sure I would have used the professors brain as part of the example.

Oh, I don't know; I've sat under some professors for whom the premise that they had brains had to be taken on faith.

But I'm glad you didn't present it as a true story. I'm increasingly suspicious of the "stories based on truth" circulating the Web these days.

[pugiofidei]

As much as I would love to think the student in this tale routed materialist philosophy, alas it is not the case; very few philosophical mistakes are easy to refute, and this one's no exception. After all, the Professor's brain is theoretically visible; a well-weighted brick to the head would prove that!

[Md06john316]

I have never seen that before, but that was good.

[DaveT]

not that it would do much good, since evolution pushers are not willing to admit there may be a master designer no matter what proof may be brought to bear on the subject. but if a christian has the right ammunition he can shoot all the professors arguments full of holes so big they'd look like swiss cheese. And that without getting anywhere near a discussion of faith and religion.

One of those bullets would be the facts about how a living cell is made, combined with the best math brains there are. Asking the question "what are the chances such a structure could have evolved?"

The result? The number was so astronomical they decided it might as well be mathematically impossible. It's called "irreducible complexity"

creationscience.com is the best book I ever read on creation/flood science. Walt has an ongoing offer to any and all evolutionists for an open published debate of evolution versus creation on a strictly scientific basis. And so far no takers. The big guys in it know they can't win against real science. There's just too much evidence stacked up against them.

By the way. An old friend of ours told us about a friend of his years ago who was a bulldozer operator in Arizona. He was hired to level a site for a shopping center. In the process he uncovered some giant human skeletons in the rock. He thought the university would want it, so he contacted them. The professor took one look and said "destroy them".
They were in the wrong place, didn't fit the theorys. Such things have been termed "ooparts" for "out of place artifacts" of which there are a great many in this world. Artifacts that if taken into account would prove something entirely different than what the professors of evolution are desperately trying to "prove". ----RDT

[Thulcandrian]

It's my opinion that people rarely base beliefs on actual reason, but on repetition, convenience, acceptability, or just what they hear first. When it comes to questions of God, creation, and Jesus, I think the evidence is clearly on our side, but anyone who has not received Grace still has his or her mind blinded by Satan. I know I'm diverging a little, but I've run into that problem a few times in conversations with friends. Reason without revelation is sometimes hardly reason at all, and only gets one so far.

I'm thankful to have the evidence, though, to strengthen my faith and to be ready to give an answer when someone does ask!

[DaveT]

Exactly; We tend to believe what we are told, especially when it's a trusted person doing the telling in a factual manner. Like a teacher, or parent, or pastor. Researching everything for ourselves with an unbiased mind is time consuming, sometimes hard to do, and few people get it done or even realize the need to do so. many don't know how to start doing it. But the worlds educational system is so packed with lies it's necessary to do a lot of research to get the truth.

I was homeschooled in a manner that taught me to always question, research everything, and keep learning. (my mother was that way to a great extent and passed it on) So I, and my brother, are constantly seeking more info on whatever we're interested in, and have learned and done a lot of stuff.
If I start telling the results of our research to anyone in a few areas I could quickly bewilder their mind and loose them, because it's so drastically different that we're being told by the professionals in such areas. areas of medical technology, energy technology, agriculture, and religion mainly.
I have to try to break things down into simple terms and just tell a little at a time. And some of it I've decided is not worth the time spent talking about it, because heaven is not that far away and getting there is far more important than anything else. There we will learn about everything. -----------RDT

[JimShedd112]

Dave, the story of the giant human bones found in Arizona is intersting, if true. However, if again the story is true, we will never have actual proof since they were destroyed, or at least ordered destroyed by the learned professor since their existence didn't fit predetermined theory(s).

I do believe evil exists and can be seen everyday among those who harm or molest children, as an example. The 9/11 hijckers were another example of pure evil - they carried out murder in deference to teir religious belefs but preyed upon innocent men, women, and children for no reason beyond the pure evil within their own minds and souls, justified by their particular religious teachings. Is that sin? I believe sin is simply another word to describe evil. So yes, evil is sin.

Jim