《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， 上帝為什麽不延長病人的生命，他的善是如何體現的。 這篇文章讓我聯想起一個真人真事，寫在我給娓娓轉的這篇文章的留言裏：
所以，根據同樣的邏輯推理回答這位教授的問題：邪惡是因為拒絕接受上帝而產生出來的，是人出於無知所作的選擇。
這段兒科學與信仰的對話很精妙地揭示出，人活著都是靠信仰， 隻不過或者信仰上帝， 或者信仰達爾文或別的什麽人而已。總要選擇一個。
關於上帝是否醫治幫助病人， 何時和如何醫治，也不能從常人一般理解的角度去看待上帝的作為。
我們教會本月刊上登載了和我們有來往的一位夏威夷牧師寫的懷念愛妻的見證。 他妻子癌症兩年以後最近去世歸天家。這位周姐經受了癌症對身體的痛苦折磨， 但也同時經曆了神的恩典保守。他們的兒子兒媳先後辭去在波士頓的工作，回到夏威夷工作，和父母住在一起， 便於天天照顧。 周姐自己在病中寫了很多的信函給她自己教會的弟兄姐妹，以及他們曾經幫助訪問過的歐洲， 中國教會的弟兄姐妹，分享她病中對上帝之愛的領受，直到去世，她一直都傳出的是鼓舞人的愛的信息。
她的丈夫在懷念文章中說：“妻子絕對不是一位超強的女性，但她確是一位肯付上上代價，又願意單純信靠上帝的姐妹， 我為妻子感到無比的驕傲。”
“妻子一生的年日雖然不長，確是多姿多彩。 在與癌症的搏鬥中，她的身體是一天天衰敗，但裏麵的生命確是一天比一天豐富而美麗。 她給家人，朋友，與弟兄姐妹留下許多美好的回憶與榜樣。 她用自己的生命教我們怎樣麵對苦難，怎樣麵對死亡，又怎樣珍惜活著的每一天。她是很多人的好姐妹，是兒子的好母親，是我所愛的妻子，更是我和兒子最好的朋友。 為她豐富，光彩而美麗的一生，我感謝上帝，也將永遠懷念她。”
上帝確實沒有讓周姐的肉體生命延長，但是，她的生命已經永遠地活在親人朋友的記憶懷念當中了，成了帶領人們麵對疾病，麵對死亡的榜樣。 這個價值有多少，無法估量。 如今周姐雖然離開親人，但解脫了肉身的痛苦，享受去天家與主同在的喜樂，和主賜她的榮耀冠冕。上帝愛她的方式也隻有從信仰的角度才能理解。
保羅在被監禁羅馬監獄中時說：“我活著就是基督， 死了就有益處”。肉身的生死不是影響他心情的原因， 保羅願意把他生命生死時限的事情完全交與主的手中，順服他的安排。他自己什麽環境都能因主而喜樂， 並且寫信給腓力比教會的人們， 要他們也“靠主喜樂”。
周姐和保羅有同樣的生死觀， 活著就是基督，死了就有益處。如果我們都能像他們這樣麵對生死的考驗，那就沒有什麽可恐懼的了。
我希望自己有生之年能學到他們的精神。。。
謝謝娓娓分享這段十分精彩的對話，我收藏了，將來也和別人共享， 特別是年輕人。。。
祝新周愉快！
