Today, I'm posting one of my favorite stories from a man I greatly admire:
Did
God create everything that exists?
Does evil exist?
Did God create evil?
A University professor at a well known institution of higher
learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create
everything that exists?"
A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!"
"God created everything?" The professor asked.
"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God
created evil and, since evil exists, and according to the principle that
our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."
The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's
hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with
himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the
Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand andsaid, "May I ask you a question, professor?"
"Of course", replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked,"Professor, does cold exist?"
"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you
never been cold?"
The other students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the
laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of
heat. 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 (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and
all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature.
Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we
feel if we have no heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness
does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light.
Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism
to break white light into many colors and study the various wave lenghts
of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe whathappens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil
exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have
already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples 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.
Does evil exist?
Did God create evil?
A University professor at a well known institution of higher
learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create
everything that exists?"
A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!"
"God created everything?" The professor asked.
"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God
created evil and, since evil exists, and according to the principle that
our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil."
The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's
hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with
himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the
Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand andsaid, "May I ask you a question, professor?"
"Of course", replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked,"Professor, does cold exist?"
"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you
never been cold?"
The other students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the
laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of
heat. 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 (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and
all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature.
Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we
feel if we have no heat."
The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness
does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light.
Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism
to break white light into many colors and study the various wave lenghts
of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe whathappens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil
exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have
already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples 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.
