[RR] Fw: FW: Questions

brrice Fri, 9 Apr 1999 19:09:55 -0400
-----Original Message-----
From: Debra Lynn Baker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Brenda & Russ Rice <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Friday, April 09, 1999 6:18 PM
Subject: Fw: FW: Questions
>
>Does God exist?
>
>
>"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? "
>
>"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 smelt 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 vie 
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
>silent, a 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 smelt 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, stable,
>demonstrable protocol, science,
>
>I DECLARE that the professor has no brain."
>
>The class is in chaos.
>
>The Christian sits... Because that is what a chair is for.
>
>
>


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[RR] Fw: FW: Questions

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