God versus Science
@Professor2010 (20156)
India
January 19, 2011 3:33am CST
As a Professor of Physics, I have greatest regard for Albert Einstein, who is famous for his Theory of Relativity. Albert Einstein wrote a book titled 'God vs. Science' in 1921.
Here is a dialogue between Einstein as student and his Professor.
"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 hit 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. 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 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 Every day 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.
PS: The student was Albert Einstein.
Friends, sorry for making this discussion lengthy, I have not made any changes.
If you read it all the way through and had a smile on your face when you finished, I will be so happy.
[i][b]I am going Tirupati this evening, will read your responses after I come back.
Thank you so much in advance.[/b][/i]
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


2 people like this
11 responses
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Well read once more
Thank you so much for your view
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@_sketch_ (5742)
• United States
24 Jan 11
I have read it just fine. You still really haven't actually said anything. But from reading others' responses it seems that people think that Albert Einstein was a Christian, which he was not.
@asliah (11137)
• Philippines
24 Jan 11
hi,
people now are divided into two parts,
there are people who believed in science and not in God,
and there are people also still believed in God.
even me "sometimes" i asked myself if God really exist or just science only...
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Be sure, god exists
Thank you so much for response.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
23 Jan 11
This is the first time that I've ever read this piece of writing. However, I do have to say that is amazing. It really does take a strong person to be able to stand up and say that the only reason that evil exists is because of the existence of good. I tend to think that people are inheritly evil because of the presence of sin from the time that we are born. It is only because of the conscious decisions that we make which make us good.
1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Thank you so much for sharing your opinion.
We must take wise decision always
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
I am happy you liked it.
Thanks.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@nicolas0349 (73)
• Thailand
20 Jan 11
Hello Professor
this topic is really interesting . .
I myself as a christian , i know that God do exist. and there is good and bad.
if there is no good then there will be no bad.
bad things sometimes happen in our lives cause God wants to test us .
and God wants us to come to him and trust him .
1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Welcome to mylot and my discussions
Thank you so much for your opinion.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Just faith Lakota madam
Thanksh.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@kalav56 (11464)
• India
19 Jan 11
Thank you professor for this discussion; I got a forwarded email on 15th Novemeber 2007 where the same story was given but the ending was different. THe student was supposed to be our respected expresident Abdul Kalam. Now is the quote of yours taken directly from EIstein's book ? I would really like to know who this student is.
1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Kalaji
This came as forwarded mail from another professor, it sais Einstein as student, not Prof Kalam..
Thank you so much for the information.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
19 Jan 11
This is the first time that I have read about this and I could say that I am really amazed by the issues at hand. It is really fascinating and educating indeed. Thanks for sharing this input. It is really thought provoking and makes you weigh down things.
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Hats off to this great man friend.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
All scientists believe in God, becoz He is the greatest scientist lol
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


@LovingLife139 (1504)
• United States
19 Jan 11
What a beautiful post. I wasn't expecting the twist near the ending, and I liked that. I have always had the greatest respect for Einstein myself...a Christian and a believer in science, not to mention a vegetarian!
I am one of those Christians who loves science. I think God and the sciences work extremely well together...in fact, I believe many sciences are God's greatest creations. Astronomy, anatomy, physics, etc. are all interesting subjects that I don't believe could be so interesting nor as complex without God involved.
I believe in evolution, yet I believe God created it. I believe in evil, and yet I realize God has given us free will in which to create it. Anything that happens does so with reason, and I think this all has to do with His plan. As for the free will versus His plan, I think we're all playing a chess game with God...one with which we have free will to choose our next move, yet He's a couple thousand steps ahead of us.
To believe in science without God or in God without science is to be disrespectful to the complexity of God's ability. I realize there are non-believers out there, and I respect that. Yet, I think science without God is just another materialistic interest in the world...with God, it's amazing.
Great post. 
I am one of those Christians who loves science. I think God and the sciences work extremely well together...in fact, I believe many sciences are God's greatest creations. Astronomy, anatomy, physics, etc. are all interesting subjects that I don't believe could be so interesting nor as complex without God involved.
I believe in evolution, yet I believe God created it. I believe in evil, and yet I realize God has given us free will in which to create it. Anything that happens does so with reason, and I think this all has to do with His plan. As for the free will versus His plan, I think we're all playing a chess game with God...one with which we have free will to choose our next move, yet He's a couple thousand steps ahead of us.
To believe in science without God or in God without science is to be disrespectful to the complexity of God's ability. I realize there are non-believers out there, and I respect that. Yet, I think science without God is just another materialistic interest in the world...with God, it's amazing.
Great post. 1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
24 Jan 11
Beautiful response in great details
Thank you so much for sharing your opinion.
Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.


1 person likes this






Professor ‘Bhuwan’. .
Cheers have a lucky day ahead.





