Monday, December 27, 2004
Read this story some time back, and just remembered it today...
A college professor who hated Christians loved to ridicule them during his lectures. One day, he asked the class (and aiming the question at the Christians), "How many of you believe that God exists?" A number of hands shot up, some faster than others. Then he mocked, "If God exists, and He is good, then why is there so much evil in the world?"
Silence.
Then a hand shot up. "Yes, young man, you have a question?" asked the professor in response the raised hand. The young student stood up and said, "Sir, does cold exist?"
The professor was mildly shocked, but remained his composture and replied, "don't be stupid, of course cold exists! It is the main reason why so many of you are wearing sweaters and jackets and the like in the lectures! Can you not feel it around you; even you are wearing a jacket!" The student then replied, "Sir, to tell the truth, cold does not exist by itself. We may feel it, but it is merely the absence of heat or warmth."
The student then asked another question. "Sir, does darkness exist?" Again the professor was amused and further infuriated at the waste of his precious lecture time. "Of course it exists! Should I turn off the lights in the lecture theatre, it would surround you immediately!" The student then replied, "Sir, to tell the truth, darkness in and of itself does not exist. In your words, you would have to "turn off the lights" for darkness to fall upon the lecture theatre - darkness is simply the absence of light."
Then came the clincher; the student proceeded to ask, "Sir, does evil exist?" The professor smiled to himself, having anticipated the question as a follow-up to his initial argument. "Of course evil exists; we have witnessed it throughout history, through men like Hitler, or evil deeds such as genocide - can you prove that it does not exist?"
The student then delivered the final blow to the professor's ego. "Sir, with all due respect, evil does not exist. What we see in your examples: men like Hitler, and the act of genocide, are merely the product of evil. Evil is simply the absence of God."
And the student sat back down.
simply jon.pondered @ 7:49 pm
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