god vs science!
By revdauphinee
@revdauphinee (5703)
United States
November 12, 2007 5:13pm CST
A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, "Let me explain the problem science has with religion." 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," 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 Bible says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! 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 him? 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 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?"
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?" The professor continued, "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."
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 onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, 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 Jesus?"
"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? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"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, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 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 the lowest -458 degrees."
"Every body 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 (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. 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 endeavor, 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 student, 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, stable, 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."
"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"
Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. 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.
4 people like this
12 responses
@dianagnes (1088)
• Singapore
13 Nov 07
yes..Science do have connections with God.Just see,those scientists who have find out how the God have relations with that,and thats a miracles for them to convert to Islam.
@revdauphinee (5703)
• United States
13 Nov 07
God (the real one not Allah) help them if they become muslim!
@Perspectives (7131)
• Canada
12 Nov 07
Wow I am not sure where you got this...but I absolutely love it and thanks so much!
I have cut and pasted it and will certainly pass it along to others that I know will benefit from it. My hubby and I have a strong spiritual dimension to our lives...but have friends and acquaintances that are agnostics. This is a delightful, powerful, thought provoking piece and it is something well worth reading.
Great discussion..and a wonderful post!
Raia
@revdauphinee (5703)
• United States
13 Nov 07
thank you it came from a friend of mine i loved it so much i thought y,all would also
@Springlady (3986)
• United States
13 Nov 07
Hi rev,
I have read this before and it is awesome! Yes, God is very real!
Thank you so much for sharing!
God bless!
1 person likes this
@revdauphinee (5703)
• United States
13 Nov 07
thank you it came from a friend of mine i loved it so much i thought y,all would also
@varunkrishna007 (1909)
• India
14 Nov 07
I think both concepts are inter related.i believe god is a source of energy that has created the whole universe and also life in earth and the main source of science is energy.you might not believe in religious concepts about god that doesnt mean you are an aethist.we see people worshipping idols and stone.people mistake that that particular idol is god but infact what i feel that idol motivates us to think about god.the aim of the idol is to point our concentration to the universal source of energy which i call as god.but what we see entirely different.i really dont believe in worshipping idols,but i believe in worshipping god through these idols.and ofcourse science is study of energy.through science we study different things and phenomenon in life ,in fact our ultimate aim is to reach god through science,hence science and god are inter related.
@4monsters4me (2569)
• United States
13 Nov 07
"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."
--sorry I don't buy it. This whole post is a dig at non-believers. I am not evil because I don't believe in god and neither are any of my atheist friends. They are all good, caring people. I have met many mean spirited, horrible woman online that call themselves Christians though. They supposedly have god's love in their hearts but they are the rudest, most vile people I have ever met. So, no, I don't buy it.
This is just religious propaganda.
@4monsters4me (2569)
• United States
13 Nov 07
Your argument doesn't effectively counter the argument made in the post.
I can call myself a doctor; does that make me one even if I give you an aspirin? Those supposed Christians obviously had evil hearts despite what they said to the contrary.
--true, but your argument was faulty to begin with because you assume anyone without god is evil and that is far from the truth. It is just your opinion. Lack of belief in god does not equal evil just as belief in god does not equal good people.
1 person likes this
@4monsters4me (2569)
• United States
13 Nov 07
springlady--why are you stalking me?
You are right. I don't want to believe in your god. Religion does not make sense to me and I am a logical person. Plus I wouldn't believe in your god if I did believe in religion. Your god would never be my god. In fact before I became an atheist I did believe in god, just not the Christian god. I was a deist (I realize that now). I don't believe what I was taught in Catholic school.
And I do rule my own world. I make the decisions. I control what I do or don't do. If something wonderful happens in my life I am sure to thank whoever is responsible, not some imaginary person in the clouds. If something bad happens I have only myself to blame, not satan, not god.
I am a human and proud of that. I take all credit for the good that I have done and responsibility for the mistakes and harm I have caused. My children came from me, not god. I live a good life. I am kind and caring, loving, loyal and giving. I live life to its fullest and don't have to worry about some invisible being passing judgment on me. I am much happier as an atheist than I ever was as a believer.
@Springlady (3986)
• United States
13 Nov 07
4monsters,
You don't believe because you do not want to believe. You do not want to obey God. You want to run your own life which is very dangerous.
I pray you will come to know the Lord.
God bless.
1 person likes this
@friendship (2084)
• Canada
14 Nov 07
It's very good explanation. I really like it. Thanks for sharing this.
@nadinetannous (138)
• Australia
13 Nov 07
I consider myself an agnostic and have tended to wonder about the existence of God and evil in the world. I really enjoyed the article as it gave a theologically philosophical argument for the existence of God.
I would not really say this is religious propaganda as it gave 2 sides to an argument. In the case of this article, there just happened to be a "winning" side. If the students response was not added, then would that not have made it secular/ atheist propaganda?
Nadine.
1 person likes this
@pixie817 (1)
• United States
8 Jun 09
There has been a spat going on between religion and science for hundreds of years. Whenever a new fact comes about that could disprove part of a religion, religious authorities have been known to do whatever is necessary to silence the spread of that news. in modern times however, churches cannot do nearly as much but hae learned to accept some facts as they come in.
Unfortunately though, it is a little bit harder to get through some of the church's followers that to believe in science has become the more logical thing to follow. A lot of people still believe that what they have read from a book or heard from another person, which bottom line is what religion is. At the end of the day, science and religion are incompatible.
The only way to solve the incompatibility is to find a way to have a scientific method to prove that a Creator exists. A method such as this has been shown by Michael Laitman. He explains his method on his website http://www.laitman.com/2009/01/faith-and-science-are-incompatible/ .