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Science vs Faith
"LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with Jesus Christ." The professor of philosophy, an atheist, pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
"Are you Christian, student?"
"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." (Consider Genesis Chapter1:31: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.)
The professor says, "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? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could... in fact most of us would if we could... God doesn't."
[No answer.]
[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? Can you answer that one?"
[No answer]
The professor is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?" In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. "Let's start again."
"Is God good?"
"Er... Yes."
"Is Satan good?"
"No."
"Where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."
"God made Satan, didn't he?" "I think we're going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen. Tell me. 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 those terrible things - do they exist in this world? "
"Yes."
"Who created them? "
[No answer]
The professor suddenly shouts at his student. "WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!" Then, in a still small voice, he said: "God created all evil, didn't He?"
[No answer]
The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails. Suddenly the professor breaks away to pace the front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.
"Tell me," he continues, "How is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time? All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn't it?"
[No answer]
"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?" Pause.
"Is God good?"
[No answer]
"Do you believe in Jesus Christ?"
The student's voice cracks, "Yes, professor. I do."
The professor says: "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you seen Him? "
"No, sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard Jesus?"
"No, sir. I have not."
"Have you ever felt Jesus, tasted Jesus or smelled Jesus... in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?"
[No answer]
"Answer, please."
"No, sir, I'm I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"...yes..."
"That takes FAITH! The professor smiles. "According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that? Where is your God now?"
[The student doesn't answer]
"Sit down, please."
Defeated. The Christian sits down..
Another student raises his hand. "Professor, may I address the class?"
The professor smiles. "Ah, another Christian in the vanguard! Come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering."
The student looks around the room. "Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I've got a question for you if that's okay. Is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies, "There's heat."
"Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, there's cold too."
"No, sir, there isn't."
The professor 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'. You 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."
"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'. You 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.
"Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
"What is night if it isn't darkness? What are you getting at...?"
"What is night if it isn't darkness? What are you getting at...?"
"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes..."
"Wrong, 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 does not exist. If it did, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you...give me a jar of darker darkness?"
Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young man, "Would you mind telling us what your point is?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
"Flawed...? How!""
"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
The class is all ears.
"Please do explain," replied the professor.
"You are working on the premise of duality," the student 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 pointing out that it is one of the most disgusting tabloids you can buy. "Is there such a thing as immorality?"
"Of course there is...."
"Wrong again. 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 student pauses.
"Evil the absence of good?"
The student 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 would that be? The Bible tells us that it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over evil."
The professor says, "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 student replies. "Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Do you believe that we have evolved from a monkey?"
"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course I do."
"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes?" The professor remains silent.
"Professor. All previous attempts to explain how the process works have failed. 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...have you quite finished?" replied the professor.
"So you don't accept God's moral code to do what is right?"
"I believe in what is - that's observable science!"
"Ahh! SCIENCE!" says the student. "You rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Your view of "science" is a premise which is flawed..."
"SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" ...The class is in uproar.
The student remains standing until the commotion has subsided. "No sir, I mean, your view of science is flawed. To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean?"
"The basic law of physics says matter can neither be created nor destroyed, and yet in spite of that, you believe in "spontaneous generation" of the entire physical universe! Spontaneous generation of vermin was disproved centuries ago. Talk about straining at a gnat and swallowing the camel!
"Biogenesis is "observable science" as you say--life has only been observed to come from other life of like kind--and yet you apparently still believe that that is exactly what happened--in spite of science--that life somehow came from non-life and that animals gave birth to children of other kinds!"
"Biogenesis is "observable science" as you say--life has only been observed to come from other life of like kind--and yet you apparently still believe that that is exactly what happened--in spite of science--that life somehow came from non-life and that animals gave birth to children of other kinds!"
The professor begins, "I believe that science will eventually...."
"That science will eventually prove that matter can be created, that life can come from non-life," interrupted the student. "Sir, that's not science--that's Faith! What you believe is the exact opposite of "observable science"!
"Your faith is in what you are calling "science". My faith is in God who created "science". Make no mistake, we're both operating from faith."
"Your faith is in what you are calling "science". My faith is in God who created "science". Make no mistake, we're both operating from faith."
There follows a long pause....
"And sir!, the student went on. "Don't You create failure?! I mean, you set a standard for passing this class, sir and those who don't meet it, fail! Isn't that right? So by setting a standard and utilizing your previously expressed philosophy--you create failure! Professor, I mean has anybody ever flunked this class"?
"I may well be looking at such a someone right now", the professor said!
"Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's mind?" The class breaks out in laughter. "Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's mind... felt the professor's mind, touched or smelled the professor's mind?"
No one appears to have done so.
The student shakes his head. "It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's mind, whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol and science, I DECLARE that the professor has no mind." The class is in chaos. The student sits... Because that is what a chair is for, and begins filling out a drop slip.
THE END
The student shakes his head. "It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor's mind, whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol and science, I DECLARE that the professor has no mind." The class is in chaos. The student sits... Because that is what a chair is for, and begins filling out a drop slip.
THE END