Professing to be wise, they became fools (Romans
1:22)
"LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with Jesus Christ."
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."
"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.
"Ahh! 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 them? "Would you try?"
"Yes sir, I would."
"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."
"Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you
would...
in fact most of us would if we could... God doesn't."
No answer.
"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?"
No answer
The elderly man is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?" He
takes a sip of
water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. In
philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones.
"Let's start again young fella. Is God good?"
"Er... Yes."
"Is Satan good?"
"No."
"Where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?"
The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair and
turns to
the smirking, student audience. "I think we're going to have a lot
of fun
this semester, ladies and gentlemen." He turns back to the
Christian.
"Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? Did God make everything?"
"Yes."
"Who created evil?"
No answer.
"Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All
the
terrible things - do they exist in this world? "
The student squirms on his feet.
"Yes."
"Who created them? "
No answer.
The professor suddenly shouts at his student. "WHO CREATED THEM?
TELL ME,
PLEASE!" The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the
Christian's face.
In a still small voice: "God created all evil, didn't He,
son?"
No answer.
The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and
fails.suddenly
the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an
aging
panther. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues,
"How is it that
this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?"
The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the
world. "All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the
torture, evil, the death
and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the
world, isn't it,
young man?"
No answer.
"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?" Pause. "Don't
you?" The
professor leans into the student's face again and whispers, "Is God
good?"
No answer.
"Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I
do."
The old man shakes his head sadly. "Science says you have five
senses you
use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen
Him? "
"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... in
fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?"
No answer.
"Answer me, please."
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"You're AFRAID... you haven't ?"
"No, sir."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"...yes..."
"That takes FAITH!" The professor smiles sagely at the
underling. "According
to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says
your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God
now?"
The student doesn't answer.
"Sit down, please."
The Christian sits...Defeated.
Another Christian raises his hand.
"Professor, may I address the class?"
The professor turns and smiles.
"Ah, another Christian in the vanguard! Come, come, young man.
Speak some
proper wisdom to the gathering."
The Christian looks around the room. "Some interesting points you
are
making, sir. Now I've got a question for you. Is there such thing as
heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No, sir, there isn't." The professor's grin
freezes.
The room suddenly goes very cold.
The second Christian continues.
"You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat,
white
heat, a little heat or no heat but we don't have anything called 'cold'.
We
can hit 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 458. 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. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.
"Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
"That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness?
What are you getting at...?"
"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes..."
"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 and give me a jar of it. Can you...give me a jar of darker
darkness,
professor?"
Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before
him.
This will indeed be a good semester. "Would you mind telling us
what your
point is, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed
to start
with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
The professor goes toxic. "Flawed...? How dare you...!"
"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
The class is all ears.
"Explain... oh, explain..."
The professor makes an admirable effort to regain control. Suddenly he
is
affability itself. He waves his hand to silence the class, for the
student
to continue.
"You are working on the premise of duality," the Christian
explains."That
for example 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 cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity
and
magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them. 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, merely
the
absence of it."
The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor
who
has been reading it. "Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids
this
country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?"
"Of course there is, now look..."
"Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality.Is
there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of
justice.Is
there such a thing as evil?"
The Christian pauses. "Isn't evil the absence of good?"
The professor's face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is
temporarily speechless.
The Christian continues. "If there is evil in the world, professor,
and we
all agree there is, then God, if he exists, must be accomplishing a work
through the agency of evil. What is that work, God is accomplishing? The
Bible tells us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free
will,
choose good over evil."
The professor bridles. "As a philosophical scientist, I don't view
this
matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I
absolutely
do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as
being
part of the world equation because God is not observable."
"I would have thought that the absence of God's moral code in this
world is
probably one of the most observable phenomena going," the Christian
replies.
"Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! 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
makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent,
stony stare.
"Professor. 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
priest?"
"I'll overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical
discussion.
Now, have you quite finished?" the professor hisses.
"So you don't accept God's moral code to do what is
righteous?"
"I believe in what is - that's science!"
"Ah! SCIENCE!" the student's face splits into a grin.
"Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed
phenomena.
Science too is a premise which is flawed..."
"SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" the professor splutters.
The class is in uproar. The Christian remains standing until the
commotion
has subsided. "To continue the point you were making earlier to the
other
student, may I give you an example of what I mean?"
The professor wisely keeps silent. The Christian looks around the room.
"Is
there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?"
The class breaks out in laughter. The Christian points towards his
elderly,
crumbling tutor. "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. The Christian shakes his head sadly.
"It
appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's
brain
whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, testable,
demonstrable protocol, science, says the professor has no brain."
The class is in chaos.
The Christian sits... Because that is what a chair is for.
An atheist has a reason, but no hope for his reason. A hypocrite has a
hope,
but no reason for his hope. A Christian has a reason for his hope and a
hope
for his reason; and, I might add: Life with Christ is an endless hope.
Without Christ, is a hopeless end.
Jesus Is The Reason For The Season.