-Caveat Lector-
SCIENCE V. GOD: A DEBATE
Origin: Unknown
Forwarded by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Professing to be wise, they became fools . . . "
"LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with Jesus Christ." The
atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one
of his new students to stand.
"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
"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."
The professor grins knowingly. "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 say that? 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)
"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? Hmmm?
Can you answer that one?"
{No answer}
The elderly man is sympathetic. "No, you can't, can you?" He takes a
sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. In
philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. "Let's start again, young
fella."
"Is God good?"
"Er... Yes."
"Is Satan good?"
"No."
"Where does Satan come from?" The student falters.
"From... God..."
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he?" The elderly man runs his bony
fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking, student audience.
"I think we're going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and
gentlemen."
He turns back to the Christian. "Tell me, son. 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 the
terrible things - do they exist in this world? "
The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"Who created them? "
{No answer}
The professor suddenly shouts at his student. "WHO CREATED THEM?
TELL ME, PLEASE! "The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the
Christian's face. In a still small voice: "God created all evil, didn't He,
son?"
{No answer}
The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails.
Suddenly
the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging
panther. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues, "How is it that
this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?" The professor
swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world. "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,
young man?"
{No answer}
"Don't you see it all over the place? Huh?"
Pause.
"Don't you?" The professor leans into the student's face again and
whispers,
"Is God good?"
{No answer}
"Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor. I do."
The old man shakes his head sadly. "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 your Jesus?"
"No, sir. I have not."
"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelled your Jesus
...
in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?"
{No answer}
"Answer me, please."
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"You're AFRAID... you haven't?"
"No, sir."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"...yes..."
"That takes FAITH!" The professor smiles sagely at the underling.
"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science
says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your
God now?"
The student doesn't answer.
"Sit down, please."
The Christian sits... Defeated.
Another Christian raises his hand. "Professor, may I address the class?"
The professor turns and smiles. "Ah, another Christian in the vanguard!
Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering."
The Christian looks around the room. "Some interesting points you are
making, sir. Now I've got a question for you. Is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"Is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No, sir, there isn't."
The professor's grin 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'. 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. 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. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.
"Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?"
"That's a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn't darkness? What
are
you getting at...?"
"So you say there is such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes..."
"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 and give me a
jar of it. Can you... give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?"
Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before
him.
This will indeed be a good semester. "Would you mind telling us what your
point is, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to
start
with and so your conclusion must be in error...."
The professor goes toxic. "Flawed...? How dare you...!""
"Sir, may I explain what I mean?"
The class is all ears.
"Explain... oh, explain..." The professor makes an admirable effort to
regain control. Suddenly he is affability itself. He waves his hand to
silence
the class, for the student to continue.
"You are working on the premise of duality," the Christian 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
who has been reading it. "Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this
country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?"
"Of course there is, now look..."
"Wrong again, sir. 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 Christian pauses. "Isn't evil the absence
of
good?"
The professor's face has turned an alarming color. He is so angry he is
temporarily speechless.
The Christian 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 is that work, God is accomplishing? The Bible tells
us it is to see if each one of us will, of our own free will, choose good over
evil."
The professor bridles. "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 Christian
replies. "Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! 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 makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student
a silent, stony stare.
"Professor. 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.
Now, have you quite finished?" the professor hisses.
"So you don't accept God's moral code to do what is righteous?"
"I believe in what is - that's science!"
"Ahh! SCIENCE!" the student's face splits into a grin. "Sir, you rightly
state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science too is a
premise which is flawed..."
"SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?" the professor splutters.
The class is in uproar.
The Christian remains standing until the commotion has subsided. "To
continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I give
you an example of what I mean?"
The professor wisely keeps silent.
The Christian looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who
has ever seen the professor's brain?"
The class breaks out in laughter.
The Christian points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor. "Is there
anyone
here who has ever heard the professor's brain...felt the professor's brain,
touched or smelled the professor's brain?" No one appears to have done so.
The Christian shakes his head sadly. "It appears no-one here has had
any sensory perception of the professor's brain whatsoever. Well, according
to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says the
professor has no brain."
The class is in chaos.
The Christian sits... Because that is what a chair is for.
"Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
"Without faith it is impossible to please God..."
Hebrews 11:6
==========================================
CONNECT THE DOTS
Dot Bibee ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Knoxville, TN Ph/FAX (423) 577-7011
"To Deny the Constitution is to Provoke Revolution"
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
