interesting story- faith matters
the story's alittle long but it's really super nice..about how we cant base everything on science.enjoy.
the atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class;then asks one new student to stand."you're a catholic?anglican?christian?,arent's you son?"
"yes sir," the student says.
"absolutely."
"is God good?"
"sure!God's good."
"is God all-powerful?can God do anything?"
"yes."
"are u good or evil?"
"the bible says i'm evil."
the prfessor grins knowingly.
"Aha!the bible!"
he considers for a moment.'here's one for you. let's say there's a sick person over her and you can cure him. you can do it. would you help him?would you try?"
"yes sire, 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 could not answer, so the professor continues.
"he doesn't, does he? my brother was a Christian who died of cnacer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good?hmm?can you answer?"
the sudent remained 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."
"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 repeates his question.
"who created them?"
there was still no answer.suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom.the class is mesmerised.
"tell me,do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"he continues.
the student's voice betrays him and cracks,"yes professor. i do."
the old man stops pacing.
"science says you ahve 5 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 u've ever heard your Jesus?"
"no,sir. i have not"
"have you ever 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 exitst. 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, 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 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 do not have anything called 'cold'. we can hit -458 degree celsius,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 thing as darkness?"
"yes,"the professor relpied 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 ahve 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's the point you're 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're 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 that 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 evloved from a monkey?"
"if u're refering to evolution, 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 realises 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 remained silent till the commotion has subsided.
"to continue to 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 who has seen the professor's brain?"
the class breaks out into laughter.
"is there anyone who has heard the professor's brain, felt, touched or smelt the professor's brain?"
no one appears to have done so.so, according to the established rules of empirical,stable,demonstrable protocol,science ssays that 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 anwers."i guess you'll have to take them on faith."
so much for someone's "seeing is believing."then again, we never saw the existence of his brain before either.
the atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class;then asks one new student to stand."you're a catholic?anglican?christian?,arent's you son?"
"yes sir," the student says.
"absolutely."
"is God good?"
"sure!God's good."
"is God all-powerful?can God do anything?"
"yes."
"are u good or evil?"
"the bible says i'm evil."
the prfessor grins knowingly.
"Aha!the bible!"
he considers for a moment.'here's one for you. let's say there's a sick person over her and you can cure him. you can do it. would you help him?would you try?"
"yes sire, 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 could not answer, so the professor continues.
"he doesn't, does he? my brother was a Christian who died of cnacer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good?hmm?can you answer?"
the sudent remained 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."
"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 repeates his question.
"who created them?"
there was still no answer.suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom.the class is mesmerised.
"tell me,do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"he continues.
the student's voice betrays him and cracks,"yes professor. i do."
the old man stops pacing.
"science says you ahve 5 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 u've ever heard your Jesus?"
"no,sir. i have not"
"have you ever 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 exitst. 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, 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 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 do not have anything called 'cold'. we can hit -458 degree celsius,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 thing as darkness?"
"yes,"the professor relpied 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 ahve 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's the point you're 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're 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 that 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 evloved from a monkey?"
"if u're refering to evolution, 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 realises 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 remained silent till the commotion has subsided.
"to continue to 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 who has seen the professor's brain?"
the class breaks out into laughter.
"is there anyone who has heard the professor's brain, felt, touched or smelt the professor's brain?"
no one appears to have done so.so, according to the established rules of empirical,stable,demonstrable protocol,science ssays that 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 anwers."i guess you'll have to take them on faith."
so much for someone's "seeing is believing."then again, we never saw the existence of his brain before either.
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