A University professor at a well-known institution of higher learning challenged his students with the following question, “Did God create everything that exists?” A student bravely replied, “Yes he did!” The professor cautiously asked once again, “God created everything?” “Yes sir, he certainly did,” the student replied. The professor then posed his indictment, “If God created everything; then God created evil. Since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil.” Dumbfounded, the student became quiet and did not answer the professor’s hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, began boasting he had proven once again the Christian faith was a myth.
It was then that another student raised his hand, “May I ask you a question, professor?” “Of course”, replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, “Professor, does cold exist?” The professor responded, “What kind of question is that? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?” The other students began to snicker. 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. Every object or body 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 F) is the total absence of heat. And all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Therefore, cold does not exist. We created the word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.”
The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?” Again the professor responded, “Of course it does.” The student replied, “Once again you are wrong, sir. 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. We determine how dark a certain space is by measuring the amount of light present. Darkness is simply 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 a bit unnerved, the professor responded, “Of course it does, as I have already stated. We see it every day. It is in the examples of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. Those manifestations are nothing else but evil.” The young student replied, “Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. Like darkness and cold, it is 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.” Speechless, the professor sat down.
The apostle Peter wrote to the Christians of his world, “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
The young student’s name that made such an amazing apologetic – Albert Einstein. Obviously, Albert had studied more than just mathematical equations and theories of relativity. In a world desperately needing truth, let us prepare ourselves to adequately defend and share our faith with gentleness and respect.
To His Glory,
Pastor Bill