Category: philosophy/religion topics
The university professor challenged his students with this question: "Did God create
everything that exists?"
A student bravely replied "Yes, he did!"
"God created everything?" the professor asked.
"Yes sir," the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil
exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God
is evil."
The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he
had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"
"Of course," replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"
The professor replied "Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man 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. Everybody or object
is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a
body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the
total absence of heat. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe
how we feel if we have no heat."
The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "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.
In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study
the various wavelengths of each color. 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. Isn't this correct?
Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see
it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the
multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are
nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "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 darkness and cold,
a word that man has 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's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes
when there is no light."
The professor sat down. The young man's name --- Albert Einstein.
The commonly held belief is that god did create everything. Therefore, it follows that he created good, and the abscence of it, light, and the abscence of it, and heat, and the abscence of it. So there ya go. Point refuted.
Agreed. also, if darkness is the absence of light, and cold is the absence of heat, then isn't evil, by that logic, the absence of good? Not god? I actually thought that was either a typo or a play on words for a minute there.
hahahahahahaha this was great... love it! :)
Considering that in his own biographies and writings, Einstein refuted all claims of believing in god, and actually called anyone who thought he did believe in god a moron (paraphrasing there), I'd take this story with a grain of salt. Considering then that einstein failed much of college, and was a patent clerk before filing his findings on relativity, I would take it with two grains of salt. Considering then that I find it difficult to believe that Einstein would actually quote a number for absolute zero, because scientists have not actually reached it and thus proven it, I'd take it with three grains of salt. Considering then that I find it practically impossible to believe that a professor of physics and or math, which are the mainstays of Einstein's college career and thus most probably to be the class he was taking at the time, would not know that cold does not exist Etc. I would take it with four grains of salt. Considering then that, assuming this was not a math or physics class, that cold actually does exist as a sensory medium of relativity, which is exactly what einstein created a theory of, I would take it with five grains of salt. Considering then that most professors have the professionalism to keep their religion out of classes, especially at a time when atheism was not well received, I would take it with six grains of salt. Considering that you just swallowed six grains of salt, I'd throw this story out for being too salty.
Its a cute story, I'll give you that. But there are dozens of stories like it about einstein. People want to believe that he was a christian and devoutly obedient to God. However, if you actually take the time to read his writings, you will see that he was in no way religious, save for the religion of the beauty of nature and science.
Exactly. it's just that; a cute little story, like a lot of those Email forwards, passed on with some story about a person, or a group of some sort, put together to make you believe something, buy into something, and sometimes for nothing more or less than to get you to forward it on to others.
And again, I would love it if someone could answer my question: if cold is the absence of heat, and darkness is the absence of light, then isn't evil the absence of good?
No, evil is simply an act which is considered to be outside the realm of the word right based on the society in which it is performed. That is to say, one act can be both good and evil. For example, walking around naked in america is considered disgraceful, perhaps not evil, but bad none the less. However, if we were to move that naked person to a south pacific island, it would be considered quite natural.
so no, evil is not the absence of good, it is the absence of perception of being morally correct.
For me personally, evil is anything that is harmful to me and/or those I care about.
It's an interesting story. I don't have the time or inclanation in this case to research Lightning's refute of it, but the idea, whether true or false does raise some interesting questions. There are as many perceptions of good and evil as there are stars in the sky. Perhaps evil is the abcense of good, or even the absense of God. To me, evil is merely the antithesis of Good. We all have the potential to do good, and evil. For such as I, good is anything that brings me closer to God. It creates peace, hope, charity and trust. Evil is the exact opisit. Yet the idea of good and evil is still a matter of perception. It's no question that God committed acts in the Old testament which, on the surface seem evil. Even sometimes when one digs a little deeper, they still seem wicked. And it's no question that much "evil" has been done in the name of good. In all honesty, I'd say Impricator has the right idea, though even in that case, what may not harm someone in his perspective may in fact be doing harm. I think this is why philosophers have been going in circles for centuries when answering this question. But I personally believe there are universal guidelines on good and evil. Rape, for instance is never justified. Unfortunatley we live in a world where the gray no-man's land between good and evil is expanding to blot out both.
Right, I meant to say, what I myself consider harmful to myself and those I care for.
But even rape, an act which is disgusting to us, has been considered right in some cultures. In ancient sparta for example, it was the basic description of a marriage right. No one thought less of it, or thought it disgusting. That doesn't make it evil, it just makes it something we feel has no place in our society.
To use the example from the story above, there are two versions of the word cold. There is cold which is the absence of heat, which does not scientifically exist. then there is cold as a perception. You can say, I feel cold, and you aren't lying, you feel cold. Ice water is cold, beer is good when its cold, iced tea is best served cold, we all have a generally agreed upon range at which all those substances are actually cold.
Evil is the same way. There is evil which is the antithesis of good, which is a very black and white subject and I doubt many people actually think it is possible to point to a single act that is all good or all bad. Even the nazis had some good come out of the concentration camps. If you've ever had hypothermia and survived, thank the nazis, they discovered how to do it. Then there is evil as a perception. This is rape, which we consider to be an evil act, and our society generally agrees.
Am I making any sense?
This is a pathetic platitude. It has no value, so the fact that people cling to logically flawed pieces of text such as these for moral support is extremely disturbing .
At the end of the day, what have you gained by taking this text in to your life and sharing it with the world? the only thing I see is a false and unjustified sense of warm cosy comfort.
Should this be the kind of thing that helps you sleep at night, more power to you.
Though as for me, I'll stick to logic, thanks.
You are making sense Lightning. I can see where you're going, but in my mind, there really are certain things that I consider purely "evil". WHile it is true others may not consider them as such. Certainly good can be born of evil deeds, but I'd hardly consider any good that came out of all that suffering worth that very suffering.
Oh I agree with you, there are things I consider pure evil, like people who bring infants into movie theaters that aren't showint child films, that's evil. However, not everyone thinks its evil, and just because I do, doesn't make it evil.
Fact of the matter is Evil is a subjective concept.
Also this story never happened. Historians discount stories like this as nothing more then flights of fancy.
LOL. Agreed.