An atheist philosophy professor paused and asked one of his new students:
“You are a Christian, or my son?”
“Yes,” said the student.
“So do you believe in God?” Asked the professor.
“Absolutely.”
“Is God Good?”
“Of course he is.”
“Is God Almighty? Can he do anything? “
“Yes”
“Are you good or bad?”
“The Bible says I’m angry.”
The professor grins confidently. “Aha! The Bible!”.
He pauses for a moment.
“Then I have a question. Let’s say there is someone among us who is sick and you can heal him. Would you do it Would you help him? “
“Yes I would.”
“So you are good …!”
“I would not say that.”
“Why wouldn’t you say that? You would help a sick person in need. Most of us would if we could. But not God. “
The student doesn’t answer, so the professor continues.
“He doesn’t help, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer even though he prayed to Jesus to help him. How can this Jesus be good? Can you tell me that?”
The student said nothing.
“You can’t answer that for me, can you?” Asked the professor.
He took a sip of water from the glass on his desk to give his student time to think.
“Let’s think again, young man. Is God good? “
“Uh, yes,” said the student.
“Is Satan Good?”
Without hesitation, the student said “no”.
“Then where does Satan come from?”
The student hesitantly replied, “From God”.
“Correct. God created Satan, didn’t he? Tell me my son Is there mischief in this world? “
“Yes…”
“Evil is everywhere, isn’t it? And God is responsible for it, isn’t it? “
“Yes”
“So who created all this evil?” Asked the professor. “If God created everything, then He created evil too. Since evil exists and we define ourselves through our actions, God is evil. “
Again the student had no answer.
“Are there diseases? Immorality? Hate? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they? “
“Yes”
“Who made all of these things?”
The student said nothing, so the professor repeated his question.
“Who made these things?”
Again no answer. The professor turned away from the student and crossed the room.
“Tell me,” he asked another student. “Do you believe in Jesus?”
In a frail voice, the student said, “Yes, I do, Professor.”
The old man stopped.
“Science says that we have 5 senses with which we perceive the world around us. Have you ever seen Jesus? “
“No, I never saw him.”
“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard him.”
“No I have not.”
“Have you ever felt, tasted or smelled Jesus? Have you ever perceived Jesus in a different way? “
“No, I’m not afraid.”
“And yet do you believe in him?”
“Yes”
“Well, according to our generally applicable rules of science, God does not exist … What do you think of that, my son?”
“Nothing,” replied the student. “I only have my faith.”
“Yes, faith,” repeated the professor. “And that’s the problem science has with God. There is no proof, only belief. “
The student paused for a moment before asking his professor:
“Professor, is there such a thing as warmth?”
“Yes”
“And is there cold?”
“Yes my son. Cold also exists. “
“No, it doesn’t exist.”
The professorship turns visibly interested to his student. The room suddenly went quiet.
The student began to explain.
“You can have a lot of warmth, a lot, you can have super warmth and mega warmth, infinite warmth, white warmth, a little warmth or no warmth at all, but we have nothing that we can call cold. We can have -273 ° C, which is not warm, but it doesn’t get any colder. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise it would be colder than -273 ° C. We can examine everything that has or transmits energy. Heat is what objects transmit energy or make it possess. –273 ° C is the absolute absence of heat. As you can see, cold is just a word we use for the absence of warmth. We cannot measure cold. We can measure heat in units of temperature because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of warmth, just the absence. “
There was silence in the room. Somewhere in the classroom, a pen fell to the floor, which sounded like a hammer blow.
“What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness? “
“Yes,” said the professor without hesitation … “What is night when it is not dark?”
You’re wrong again. Darkness in itself does not exist. It is the absence of something. You can have little light, a normal amount of light, bright light or flashing light. But when you have no light at all, that’s called darkness. If that weren’t the case, darkness could be made even darker, right? “
The professor smiles at the student in front of him.
“It’s going to be a good semester. So what are you getting at, young man? “
“Yes, Professor. I would like to say that your point of view is flawed from the outset. As a result, of course, it is ultimately faulty. “
The professor is visibly surprised. “Wrong? Can you explain that to me in more detail? “
“They assume that one is the opposite of the other,” explains the student. “They say there is life and death, a good and a bad God. They assume that God is something earthly that we can measure. Science cannot even explain such a thing as a thought. Electricity and magnetism are necessary for a thought, but a thought could not yet be observed, let alone understood. To assume that death is the opposite of life is stupid because death in and of itself is not something that exists. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence. “
“Well, you say … are you telling your students that humans are ape descent?”
“If you speak of evolutionary history, young man, then yes!”
“Have you ever seen evolution with your own eyes?”
The professor shakes his head, still smiling, knowing what the student is getting at. “It will be a really good semester.”
“Since no one has been able to observe the process of evolution themselves, don’t you just teach your students their opinion? Aren’t you more of a priest than a scientist now? “
The class is in great turmoil. The student remains silent until the class is quiet too.
“Let me give you an answer to the argument you made earlier with my fellow student.”
The student looked around the room.
“Is there anyone here who has ever seen the professor’s brain?”
The class bursts out laughing.
“Is there anyone here who has ever seen, felt, touched, tasted, or smelled the professor’s brain? Nobody, I guess.
According to all the rules of research, science says you have no brain, with the utmost respect Professor. So if you don’t seem to have a brain, how can we trust your teaching? “
Now there is absolute silence in the room. The professor stares blankly at the student. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he answers:
“I think you just have to believe that.”
“Now you’re talking about faith. Indeed, belief exists… ”said the student.
“Well, is there such a thing as evil?”
A little uncertain, the professor replies: “Of course there is evil. We experience it every day. It’s human nature. Every day we see evil as it shows itself in the form of crime and violence. Such things are nothing but bad. “
The student replies: “Evil does not exist. At least it doesn’t exist as such. Evil is just the absence of good, from God. It’s like the absence of heat or light. A word man invented to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is only the condition when one does not have God’s love in one’s heart. It’s like the cold that prevails when there is no warmth. Or the darkness that prevails when there is no light. “
The professor sits down.
The student was Albert Einstein.
