In the Life of...

God & Evil

Came across this story today, and I think it has some good things to say about our concept of God, sin, and evil.

The 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? 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 a 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 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," 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."

"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."

There was 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 teachingyour 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 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 Garden

I would like to pose a question that may seem straight forward. If we have the knowledge of good and evil, then why don't we use it to choose good? If we truly saw evil for what it was, and had full knowledge of it, then why would we not choose against it?

     Sometimes I think Christians feel we would be better off without the knowledge of good or evil. But was that knowledge really the sin? This may seem like a silly question. We all know that the heart behind our actions is what God really sees. So what was Adam and Eve's sin? I believe their sin, and therefore ours as well, lies within our choice for equality with God. Somehow Satan convinced them that they deserved everything that God is. That somehow they deserved to be on an equal playing field.

     So we made the terrible choice of taking what was God's, and walking away. We lost our immortality and our intimacy with God, and He lost Us. He lost our love. So sin entered the world, but we often forget we still have this knowledge of good and evil. So why don't we use it? It amazes me that during the times we need that awareness, the whole picture of sin, if you will, is in the midst of our struggles. Why is it that during those times we see nothing at all? During those times it's as if we have no knowledge, or we refuse to use that knowledge. All we see is what we want. And all we wonder is how we can justify attaining that thing we want so badly.

     The knowledge of good and evil is not bad, and it is not what causes us to sin. Adam and Eve's sin was self-autonomy, thinking they were equal to God. It is in our false since of equality that our sin really lies. Every sin that we commit buds from this. We think somehow we deserve more. But our sin doesn't stop there. Not only do we want to be equal with God, we want to be higher than everyone else. Why is the greatest commandment to love the Lord with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself? Because it is the only thing that leaves no room for sin.

     So why, now that we have this knowledge of good and evil, do we refuse to use it? I mean, we gave up our immortality to have it, so why don't we take advantage of that knowledge? Instead we tuck it away. Hoping that by ignoring it, we can somehow shoulder less guilt. Somehow we can say to God, I didn't know, or I didn't think it through. We lost our eternity for a thing we never wanted. Our knowledge of good and evil is our biggist curse, not because we have it, but because we refuse to use it. We had to use our sin to obtain it, so naturally we push it away so we can continue our sin.

    God gave us what we truly wanted. He always does, the Bible promises that over and over. He gave us over to our desire to be our own god's, and thus we were given the power to choose what we want. The problem was not with the ability to choose, it was that in our choice we seperated ourselve's from God. Man can never, and will never choose God without God first choosing Him. So now that God is out of the picture, we are completely destitute.

   For my fellow Christians, you know where the story goes from here. God sent His son to bridge that gap. And getting back to my original quandry, we do not use the knowledge of good and evil because to do so we would quit sinning. And to do that we would give up our own self-automy, something that will not happen until the day we meet our Lord. So until then, we strive to bring God closer and closer into our own reality, so that His presence will guide our choices and sanctify our walk. This is what it means to be a Christian. We all have times when our flesh wins over our commitment. But we cannot push away the knowledge and truth in our hearts to briefly entertain our flesh. As they say ...Ignorance is bliss... and although I don't really believe that, I have to think that our knowledge of sin raises the consequences of giving into our flesh. In other words, we as Christians have the most to loose. Just something to think about...