Monday, 9 January 2012

God vs Science

'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? 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 fellow. 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.'
 '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 get down 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 its 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.
You may have read this parable before, claiming to be a product of a book by Albert Einstein. Einstein never wrote the book titled "God vs Science" in 1921.  He wasn't an atheist, but wasn't what you would call religious, to say the least:


"Even though the realms of religion and science in themselves are clearly marked off from each other, there are "strong reciprocal relationships and dependencies" as aspirations for truth derive from the religious sphere. Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. A person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations to which he clings because of their super-personal value. It seems to me that what is important is the force of this superpersonal content ... regardless of whether any attempt is made to unite this content with a Divine Being, for otherwise it would not be possible to count Buddha and Spinoza as religious personalities. Accordingly a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance of those super-personal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation ... In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be..." source

I love Einstein's scientific mind. He spent his life trying to understand what gives energy "mass", and its relationship to time. We'll get into E=mc² later on.

1 comment:

  1. This should be a great ride. I'll be following along here. :)

    ReplyDelete