《The professor and a student》
Now this is critical Thinking!
The professor 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 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 (5)
senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.
Have you ever seen Jesus?"
"No sir. I've never seen Him."
"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."
" 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 (-458 Fahrenheit) 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 he 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.
If you read it all the way through and had a smile on your face
when you finished, mail it to your friends and family.
PS: The student was Albert Einstein.
是啊， 上帝为什么不延长病人的生命，他的善是如何体现的。 这篇文章让我联想起一个真人真事，写在我给娓娓转的这篇文章的留言里：
所以，根据同样的逻辑推理回答这位教授的问题：邪恶是因为拒绝接受上帝而产生出来的，是人出于无知所作的选择。
这段儿科学与信仰的对话很精妙地揭示出，人活着都是靠信仰， 只不过或者信仰上帝， 或者信仰达尔文或别的什么人而已。总要选择一个。
关于上帝是否医治帮助病人， 何时和如何医治，也不能从常人一般理解的角度去看待上帝的作为。
我们教会本月刊上登载了和我们有来往的一位夏威夷牧师写的怀念爱妻的见证。 他妻子癌症两年以后最近去世归天家。这位周姐经受了癌症对身体的痛苦折磨， 但也同时经历了神的恩典保守。他们的儿子儿媳先后辞去在波士顿的工作，回到夏威夷工作，和父母住在一起， 便于天天照顾。 周姐自己在病中写了很多的信函给她自己教会的弟兄姐妹，以及他们曾经帮助访问过的欧洲， 中国教会的弟兄姐妹，分享她病中对上帝之爱的领受，直到去世，她一直都传出的是鼓舞人的爱的信息。
她的丈夫在怀念文章中说：“妻子绝对不是一位超强的女性，但她确是一位肯付上上代价，又愿意单纯信靠上帝的姐妹， 我为妻子感到无比的骄傲。”
“妻子一生的年日虽然不长，确是多姿多彩。 在与癌症的搏斗中，她的身体是一天天衰败，但里面的生命确是一天比一天丰富而美丽。 她给家人，朋友，与弟兄姐妹留下许多美好的回忆与榜样。 她用自己的生命教我们怎样面对苦难，怎样面对死亡，又怎样珍惜活着的每一天。她是很多人的好姐妹，是儿子的好母亲，是我所爱的妻子，更是我和儿子最好的朋友。 为她丰富，光彩而美丽的一生，我感谢上帝，也将永远怀念她。”
上帝确实没有让周姐的肉体生命延长，但是，她的生命已经永远地活在亲人朋友的记忆怀念当中了，成了带领人们面对疾病，面对死亡的榜样。 这个价值有多少，无法估量。 如今周姐虽然离开亲人，但解脱了肉身的痛苦，享受去天家与主同在的喜乐，和主赐她的荣耀冠冕。上帝爱她的方式也只有从信仰的角度才能理解。
保罗在被监禁罗马监狱中时说：“我活着就是基督， 死了就有益处”。肉身的生死不是影响他心情的原因， 保罗愿意把他生命生死时限的事情完全交与主的手中，顺服他的安排。他自己什么环境都能因主而喜乐， 并且写信给腓力比教会的人们， 要他们也“靠主喜乐”。
周姐和保罗有同样的生死观， 活着就是基督，死了就有益处。如果我们都能像他们这样面对生死的考验，那就没有什么可恐惧的了。
我希望自己有生之年能学到他们的精神。。。
谢谢娓娓分享这段十分精彩的对话，我收藏了，将来也和别人共享， 特别是年轻人。。。
祝新周愉快！
