an einstein concept

For what i feel are obvious reasons, i usually don't read Myspace bulletins that look like forwards. My friend Steve tends not to pass around anything that doesn't have a little depth to it, however, so i figured i'd check this one out as i'm always interested in what he has to say about something. Since he, along with two others, shared their thoughts on this particular story, i thought i'd go into a little more detail and share my thoughts on what each of them had to say. What's your take?

A university professor challenged his students with this question: Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes, sir," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question, professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

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 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 (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again, you are wrong, sir; darkness does not exist either. 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. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is 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 uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. 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 not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. 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.

The young man's name -- Albert Einstein

Myles' take: If evil is simply the absence of God, how can that be if God is supposedly everywhere? If he's everywhere then there is no absence of him so therefore he did create evil as far as christian's are concerned. what's up.

Jim's take: Well then you can say that god is simply the absence of evil, thus to sum up the whole situation you can go back and forth just as equally. Religion was created by man for man to create order in society just like you would find in any rule or law to create a state of mind. That state of mind is that your consequences will dictate your course of action. I think that the existence of religion is really sad because that clearly shows that the human mind needs a fictional figure that they call "God" to be their ultimate say of what they can or can not do. Think for yourself!! Thats the biggest problem is that they dont want to think, they would just rather label everything to comfort themselves. If everyone just believed in being a good person then I wouldnt be ranting and raving on this stupid ass bulletin.

Steve's take: In agreement with Einstein cold darkness and alike in actuallitydo not exist. But its a problem of terminology. Many mistakes are made because of the wording of text. Things like Cold darkness and emptyness do not actually exist but the ideas of such do exist. These words are nouns. A noun is used to describe a person place thing or IDEA. This argument is not tangable it is a matter of litteracy. In the same sence, time does not exist. It is simply a way to keep track of what possition the planet is in. I will never say religion is a bad thing. Christianity is a system of beliefs that must be interpreted by the reader. Jim's right. Think for your self, but rule nothing out. Were we created all at once by a magic god, unlikely, but the further back in history you go, even back to the big bang theory, you have to ask. What banged and where did it come from? Until that question has a concrete answer with some type of evidence, then the existance of God is a distinct possibility. But remember "God" is just another noun expressing an idea.

Audrey's take: Most people consider Einstein a genius. I think he was simply blessed with common sense. His eyes were open to the obvious, which is practically a gift in a world where mankind has made everything more complicated than it has to be. I believe his argument was well said and put things into perspective even for me.

Myles - God created choices, not evil. When he placed the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden, he gave one man and one woman the choice to eat its fruit or not eat its fruit. In this way he has, since the very beginning, given us free will. In the same way, he has given us all the choice to accept him in our hearts or not accept him, and if we do not accept him then he has no influence over the things we say and do. This is where "evil," or the lack of the presence of God, comes into play. That's not to say that this "evil" only comes from non-believers - even Christians shut God out on a daily basis, selfishly making decisions based on their own desires of the flesh. So God is everywhere, but he can't influence your spirit if you've chosen not to let him.

Jim - I disagree that "God was created by man for man to create order in society." As you said, we have laws in place to accomplish just that, so technically as far as creating order is concerned, we have no need for a God. But if i asked you "why do we need order?" you'd probably answer "because without it, there would be nothing but chaos and bad things would happen." There's your evil. And now we're back to square one: where does evil come from? It's an idea, the absence of God; therefore, God is necessary. And i think i've already established the fact that God gave us free will. (By the way, i can't help but notice what an impassioned argument you had for this "stupid ass bulletin.")

Steve - Thanks for adding "time" to the list, i hadn't thought of that and you're right - it doesn't exist. I'm sure it's obvious that i don't agree that God is just an idea. The Bible says that God is a living Spirit. He is not unfeeling - he expresses love, laughter, sadness and forgiveness to name a few - but he is also unchangeable and not subject to emotions like man. And for the record, i always smile every time you ask "What banged and where did it come from?" :)