Abscences
By Carol C. Harder
When a university professor challenged his students with the question – “Did God create everything that exists?” – a student stepped up with the reply – “Yes, He did!”
“God created everything?” the professor responded.
“Yes, sir,” replied the student.
The professor challenged the student with the answer, “If God created everything, then God created evil. – since evil exists – and, according to the principle that our works define who we are – then God is evil.”
The student backed off, and the professor, his ego no puffed up, boasted to the rest of his students that he had proven – once more – that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and made the request of the professor, “My I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” the professor replied.
Student student stood and asked of the professor, “Professor, does cold exist?”
“What kind of question is this?” huffed the professor. “Of course cold exists. Have you never been cold?”
The students snicked at the young man’s question and the professor’s cocky response.
The young man, undeterred, replied, “In fact, sir, cold DOES NOT exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold – is in reality – the absence of heat.
“Heat is what makes a body – or matter – have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (or -460 degrees Fahrenheit) is the total absence of heat – and all matter becomes inert and incapable of a reaction at that temperature.
“Cold does not exist. ‘We’ have created this word and the use of it to describe how we feel if we have not heat.”
The student then asked a second question of his teacher, “Professor, does darkness exist?”
Again the professor noted that yes, “Of course it does.”
The student jumped on that comment and said, “Once again, you are wrong, sir. Darkness DOES NOT exist either.
“Darkness is in reality – the absence of light. Light we can study – but not darkness. You cannot measure darkness.
“A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present, correct?
“Darkness is a term used by humans to describe what happens when no light is present.”
Finally, the man asked his third question, “Professor, does evil exist?”
The professor cautiously answered, “Of course. As I have already said, we see evil every day. It can be found in the daily example of one’s inhumanity to another. Evil is in the multitude of crime and violence around the world. These can be nothing else but evil.”
The student’s response? “Evil does not exist, sir – or at least – it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God.
“It is just like the cold, or the darkness – a word humans created to describe the absence of God.
“God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart.
“It is like the cold that comes when there is no heat – or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”
Completely owned by the student’s points, the professor sat down before the student.
And that student’s name?
Albert Einstein