HOMESCHOOL ON THE INTERNET
This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago at USC. There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God couldn't exist. His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic. For twenty years, he had taught this class and no one had ever had the courage to go against him. Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever 'really gone against him' (you'll see what I mean later). Nobody would go against him because he had a reputation. At the end of every semester, on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students, "If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!"
In twenty years, no one had ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He would say, "because anyone who does believe in God is a fool. If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. Such a simple task to prove that he is God, and yet he can't do it." And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces. All of the students could do nothing but stop and stare. Most of the students were convinced that God couldn't exist. Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.
Well, a few years ago, there was a freshman who happened to get enrolled in the class. He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about this professor. He had to take the class because it was one of the required classes for his major and he was afraid. But for 3 months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said or what the class thought. Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped.
Finally the day came. The professor said, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, stand up!" The professor and the class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom. The professor shouted, "You FOOL! If God existed, he could keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!" He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away, unbroken. The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man and then ran out of the lecture hall. The young man who had stood up proceeded to walk to the front of the room and share his faith in Jesus for the next half-hour. 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and of his power through Jesus.
Comments
From: Robyn Rose
Email: RobynRZ@aol.com
Date: 20 Mar 1998
Time: 09:24:21
"Besting" atheists at their argument games is not hard. Why wouldn't God make it easy? Atheists are guilty of what they accuse believers of being guilty of. They say believers are "magical thinkers" - believing in a magical being. They say that believers are "illogical thinkers" - having superstituous beliefs.
But what is more magical than believing that this creation began itself. Everything in this world of existence is dependent on cause and effect. You can never observe any effect that has no cause. Have you ever seen sunlight from a non-existent sun, or heard a song from a non-existent bird, or seen waves on a non-existent sea? The "effect" of an existent world cannot manifest itself without a "cause" and since "causes" always come from a previous "effect" in this world, the first "cause" must be transcendant - from a place greater than within the limitations of this world. A belief in a transcendant Cause is not magical, it is reasonable, rational. A belief that somehow this universe popped into existence is magical.
What is more illogical than believing that intelligent life can arise from unintelligent nature? Can a part of a whole possess something that the whole does not possess? That is illogical. Clearly the existence of intelligence implies an Intelligence beyond mere nature as Creator - that is pure logic.
As to the professor who says that dropping chalk will "prove" God does not exist because He does not intervene, one can easily point out to the professor that the act of the chalk consistently dropping and breaking is ample proof of the existence of God. Just as a painting proves a painter and a book proves an author, an organized, intelligent universe filled with physical laws proves an Organizer, an Intelligence, an Establisher of Laws. The chalk is obediant to this organization, intelligence, laws of physics, each and every time - thus, proving the very nature of God - Omnipotent, Omnipresent.
My advice: Never let atheists intimidate you. God has sufficient proofs of the reality of Himself. He is All-Sufficing!
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