[Faith-talk] "Does God Exist"

[Everett Gavel]

Long, but nice.
Everett


Does God Exist


"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," 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 : "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."

Without allowing the student to answer, the professor
continues: "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred?
Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in
this world?"

The student: "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 is confident: "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 actually 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 endeavour, are you not teaching
your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a
preacher?"

The class is in an 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 smelled 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.




"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says
the Lord, thoughts of peace and not for evil, to give
you a hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11