Science & God
Let me explain the problem science has with God." The
atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his
class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
*"You're a God believer, aren't you, son?"
"Yes sir," the student says.
*"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 teachings says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. 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."
"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed
person if you could.
Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't." The
student does not answer, so the professor continues.
"He doesn't, does he? My brother was a God believer
who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to
heal him. How is this God good? Hmmm? Can you answer
that one?" The student remains silent.
"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes
a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the
student time to relax.
*
*"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
"Er... Yes," the student says.
"Is Satan good?"
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."
"Then where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me,
son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make
everything, correct? "
"Yes."
"So who created evil?"
Again, the student has no answer.
"Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All
these terrible things,
do they exist in this world?" *
*The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"So who created them?"
The student does not answer again, so the professor
repeats his question.
"Who created them? "
There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks
away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is
mesmerized.
"Tell me," he continues. "Do you believe in God, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks.
"Yes,professor. I do." The old man stops pacing.
"Science says you have five senses you use to identify
and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen
God?" "No sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your God?"
"No, sir. I have not."
"Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God or smelt
your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of
God?
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?" thundered the
professor "Yes."* "According to the rules of
empirical, testable,demonstrable protocol, science
says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that,
son?
"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my
faith."*
* * *
"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the
problem science has with God. There is no evidence,
only faith."
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking
a question of his own.
"Professor, is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"And is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No sir, there isn't."
The professor turns to face the student, obviously
interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The
student begins to explain.
"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 wewould be able to go colder
than -458 degrees. 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 across the room! A pen drops somewhere in the
classroom, sounding like a hammer.
* *
"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing
as darkness?" " "Yes," the professor replies without
hesitation."What is night if it isn't darkness?"
*
*"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,
wouldn't you?"
*
*
The professor begins to smile at the student in front
of him. This will be a good semester.
*
*
"So what point are you making, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical
premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion
must also be flawed." The professor's face cannot hide
his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"
"You are working on the premise of duality," the
student explains. "You argue that 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 can't even explain a thought. It
uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen,
much less fully understood either one. 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, just the absence of it.*
*
"Now 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 begins to shake his head, still smiling,
as he realizes where the argument is going. A very
good semester indeed! "Since no one has ever observed
the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove
that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you
not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a
scientist, but a preacher?" The class is in uproar.
The student remains silent until the commotion has
subsided.
"To continue the point you were making earlier to the
other students, let me give you an example of what I
mean."
The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in
the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?"
The class breaks out into laughter.
*
*
"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. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,science
says that you have no brain, with all due respect,
sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we
trust your lectures, sir?"
*
*
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at
the student, his face unreadable!
*
*
Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man
answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."
The class breaks into a deadening applause
*
*
"Continuing further, Sir, when GOD created the
universe he made a set of rules which governs every
living organisms, categorized in his own way. For
some, life is a predestined, well programmed journey
of life. For others, like humans, the rules of life
are a direct results of their own actions, words,
thoughts or/and conducts. So, Sir, happiness, sadness,
good, bad, sickness, good health, poverty and
abundance, is man's own doing unto himself. The wrong
and bad happenings in man's life, is nothing but the
lack of righteousness in his way of life.
Let me explain the problem science has with God." The
atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his
class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
*"You're a God believer, aren't you, son?"
"Yes sir," the student says.
*"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 teachings says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. 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."
"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed
person if you could.
Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't." The
student does not answer, so the professor continues.
"He doesn't, does he? My brother was a God believer
who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to
heal him. How is this God good? Hmmm? Can you answer
that one?" The student remains silent.
"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes
a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the
student time to relax.
*
*"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
"Er... Yes," the student says.
"Is Satan good?"
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."
"Then where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From... God..."
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me,
son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make
everything, correct? "
"Yes."
"So who created evil?"
Again, the student has no answer.
"Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness. All
these terrible things,
do they exist in this world?" *
*The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"So who created them?"
The student does not answer again, so the professor
repeats his question.
"Who created them? "
There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks
away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is
mesmerized.
"Tell me," he continues. "Do you believe in God, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks.
"Yes,professor. I do." The old man stops pacing.
"Science says you have five senses you use to identify
and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen
God?" "No sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your God?"
"No, sir. I have not."
"Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God or smelt
your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of
God?
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?" thundered the
professor "Yes."* "According to the rules of
empirical, testable,demonstrable protocol, science
says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that,
son?
"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my
faith."*
* * *
"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the
problem science has with God. There is no evidence,
only faith."
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking
a question of his own.
"Professor, is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"And is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No sir, there isn't."
The professor turns to face the student, obviously
interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The
student begins to explain.
"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 wewould be able to go colder
than -458 degrees. 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 across the room! A pen drops somewhere in the
classroom, sounding like a hammer.
* *
"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing
as darkness?" " "Yes," the professor replies without
hesitation."What is night if it isn't darkness?"
*
*"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,
wouldn't you?"
*
*
The professor begins to smile at the student in front
of him. This will be a good semester.
*
*
"So what point are you making, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical
premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion
must also be flawed." The professor's face cannot hide
his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"
"You are working on the premise of duality," the
student explains. "You argue that 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 can't even explain a thought. It
uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen,
much less fully understood either one. 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, just the absence of it.*
*
"Now 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 begins to shake his head, still smiling,
as he realizes where the argument is going. A very
good semester indeed! "Since no one has ever observed
the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove
that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you
not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a
scientist, but a preacher?" The class is in uproar.
The student remains silent until the commotion has
subsided.
"To continue the point you were making earlier to the
other students, let me give you an example of what I
mean."
The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in
the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?"
The class breaks out into laughter.
*
*
"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. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,science
says that you have no brain, with all due respect,
sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we
trust your lectures, sir?"
*
*
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at
the student, his face unreadable!
*
*
Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man
answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."
The class breaks into a deadening applause
*
*
"Continuing further, Sir, when GOD created the
universe he made a set of rules which governs every
living organisms, categorized in his own way. For
some, life is a predestined, well programmed journey
of life. For others, like humans, the rules of life
are a direct results of their own actions, words,
thoughts or/and conducts. So, Sir, happiness, sadness,
good, bad, sickness, good health, poverty and
abundance, is man's own doing unto himself. The wrong
and bad happenings in man's life, is nothing but the
lack of righteousness in his way of life.
