Science & God

[Snowflake]

Lately there has been a lot of discussion on faith on the board, thought this would be the place to share something my great uncle sent to me yesterday:

SCIENCE & GOD

"Let me explain the problem science has with God." The atheist professor

of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You're a God believer, 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 teachings say I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. 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."

"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 God believer who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this God 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 falters. "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?"

Again, the student has no answer.

"Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "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. "Do you believe in God, son?"

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "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 God?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your God?"

"No, sir. I have not."

"Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God or smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Yet you still believe in him?" thundered the professor

"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, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything labled "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 degrees. 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 endeavor, are you not

teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion

has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other students, 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 smelt the professor's brain? No one appears

to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical,

testable, 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." The class breaks into a

deadening applause

"Continuing further, Sir, when GOD created the universe he made a set of

rules which governs every living organisms, categorized in his own way.

For some, life is a predestined, well programmed journey of life. For

others, like humans, the rules of life are the direct results of their

own actions, words, thoughts or/and conducts. So, Sir, happiness, sadness, good, bad, sickness, good health, poverty and abundance, is man's own doing unto himself. The wrong and bad happenings in man's life, is nothing but the lack of righteousness in his way of life."

It pays to have faith in God ....

Evil is not the opposite of Goodness...it is the absence.