“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 does not exist.
What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?” The student does not
answer.
empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God does not exist.
What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?” The student does not
answer.
“Sit down, please.”
The Christian sits...defeated.
Another student 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.”
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?”
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 quiet.
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 than that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we
would be able to go colder than negative 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, it’s just the absence of it.”
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 than that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we
would be able to go colder than negative 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, it’s just the absence of it.”
Silence. A pin dropping might be heard 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?”
getting at?”
“So you ‘believe’ in darkness?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, but science says you’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something,
it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light,
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 it
to me in a jar. But you can’t give me a jar of darker darkness, can you
Professor?”
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 it
to me in a jar. But you can’t give me a jar of darker darkness, can you
Professor?”
Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before him. This
would indeed be a good semester.
would 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...”
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.
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 God as a concept, 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?”
example, there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You
are viewing God as a concept, 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...”
“Again, I’m sorry sir, but you are wrong. You see, immorality is merely the
absence of morality. Is there such a 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?”
absence of morality. Is there such a 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 shade of red. He is so angry, he is
temporarily speechless.
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 that
it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil.
We are allowed to choose the the love of God or the independence from or the
absence of the love of God. “There is nothing greater than love. God is love and
God is good. If He is good, then the ultimate act of his goodness would be to
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 that
it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil.
We are allowed to choose the the love of God or the independence from or the
absence of the love of God. “There is nothing greater than love. God is love and
God is good. If He is good, then the ultimate act of his goodness would be to