Thursday, March 22, 2007

A thought provoking email

I received a nice email the other day. This is the kind of email that gets sent around to everyone. One of those "feel good" things. Some of those emails really annoy me because it's apparent that the only reason for their creation is to harvest email addresses for the purposes of sending spam and viruses.
This one didn't come with any threats that if you don't send this to everyone you know then you must be ashamed of Jesus (emotional blackmail). It didn't promise any "Blessings/miracles/etc will happen for every ten people you send it to.
It may have had those things originally but they were removed before it was sent on and a hooray to whoever did.

Anyway, I have been thinking about it a lot. Then I read Rachels latest Blog post "Agreeing with Lies" which reminded me of this email again. So instead of "emailing" everyone I decided to post it here. Enjoy:

Does evil exist?

The 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.

________________________

OK, the above has been sent around for ages. It was credited to be from Albert Einstein but I doubt it. If you check it with Snopes.com you will see just how atheist that web site's contributors are; but I believe them when they say there is no reason to believe Einstein said it.
What they can't negate is the reasoning in the email. The Snopes commentary is very belittling to people of Faith in general and yet again I point out they apparently found no fault with the reasoning. Only the use of Einsteins name and the fact that there are so many stories about nasty atheist professors.

The way I see it, when someone attacks the speaker instead of the words spoken; it is a sure sign that what was spoken has hit the mark.
Anyway, the point of all of this is only to give you something to think about on your own. Something to search the Scriptures for in an attempt to know God more fully.

I know what I think. The question is: What do you think, and more importantly: why?

Will (I'm no Einstein) Donaldson.

5 comments:

Joel Hayes said...

A great post Will, But it wouldn't suprise me to find out that Eistein made the statement. I guess will really never know for sure. Call me some time or I'll call you soon.

Joel Hayes said...

I ment to say "we'll" Really never know

Will H. Donaldson Family said...

As the Lord is willing, I'll call you soon!

Anonymous said...

Hi, really liked the new one here. I don't remember receiving that one. It's very good and thanks for sharing it here. And Rachel's was terrific. BUT,,,I have a question if you all don't mind??? What about the angel of light or the devil or satan, lucifer, lord of the flies, etc??????????? someone dropped the ball in class. the questions shouldn't have stopped there. Anyone have any questions or answers for me on this??? And this other comment: I have been told or taught lately, according to my instructor in Apologetis class, "Everything is Knowable". That gave me a lift that has been rolling around in my mind and spirit since then. So from now on we should keep that door open? PLEASE CALL!!! you know you are glad when you do and life goes by to fast for Love. ;~)bd

Will H. Donaldson Family said...

In context of the email everything still applies. Satan rebelled. to Rebell is to be against God. To be against God is to be in the absence of God. etc. We all know what it is to be living without God and perhaps to even have rebelled. In those times we recognize now what those "God-Less" states were. There is sin and then there is Godlessness; beyond that, There is actively fighting God in a vain attempt to thwart Him. That is in the absence of God. The "Father of lies" was born out of evil. That is to say he didn't become the "father of lies" until after he rebelled against God, and being Godless -against God- makes satan evil.
To sum up, satan seems to fit into the premise of the email just fine.
Will I'll call you soon mom! Donaldson